The Bedroom: Kickstart Your Cleaning

Welcome to your bedroom cleaning video. Feel free to play this and listen to my voice while you clean, listen and pause as you work through your tasks, or watch this video through and then clean. Whatever suits you best!

I love it when my bedroom is clean; and when I say clean, I mean warm, welcoming and stress-free. The bed is made, there’s no laundry on the floor and things are neatly positioned where they belong. This is a space I can sleep soundly in, knowing I don’t have to worry about a mess. It never feels good to sleep in a messy, stuffy space. Our sleep is so important to our wellbeing, that anything we can do to foster a better night’s sleep, well I think it’s a worthy investment of time. Cleaning a bedroom is fairly straightforward and with a bit of direction, you’ll have it done in no time.

In my bedroom, the challenges I face are keeping on top of clothing that I still want to fling on the floor, making sure the items in my room don’t pile up and become disorganized on the dresser and night table and of course, that my bed is made. These are what I’d call my MIAs for the bedroom. Because it feels so easy to say ‘I’ll do that tomorrow, I’m too tired to do it before I go to bed’ and there’s a bed conveniently placed right in front you, you choose to sleep. We’ve got to find ways to break those little habits that build up over time and lead to a mess. Remember, messes are magnetic!

Head over to your bedroom now. Have a look around and think about your MIAs or most important areas in here. What makes you annoyed, stressed out, frustrated or irritated in terms of the mess in your room?

As you know, determining MIAs is the first step of the Maker Method and if you’ve got the book, fill out the little MIA quiz on page 7 to help you get a sense of focus for the bedroom. Take a minute to do this – it’s important to know where you need to spend your time. Great. Now that you’ve done it, consider your bedroom cleaning plan of action: What are you going to focus on? What are the products, tools, and techniques you need to use in this space? What are you going to schedule for another time? It makes a lot of sense that you’re doing this now, it saves you so much time in the long run!

Take a moment now to set your intention for the cleaning by visualizing what you want. I want you to focus and get in the zone for cleaning – the more prepared you are mentally, the more likely you are to achieve amazing results. And guess what? The bedroom is one of the easiest spaces in a house to clean, so that’s a bonus! Go stand in the middle of your bedroom and close your eyes just for a moment, and imagine what your space would look like ideally, if it were cleaned to your liking. Imagine the bedroom – in your mind’s eye – very clearly – exactly how you want it to look. Having a clear picture of what your space looks like – only as clean as you want it to be – is half the work. Imagine what you want your bed, dressers, closet, night side tables and seating areas to look like. In your mind’s eye, look up, around the ceiling and corners, vent, light fixture, all the way down to the floors and baseboards. Remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Great. You’ve set your goal, and that’s what you’re going to work toward.

Now we’ll move onto the second step of the Maker Method, PTTs, or products, tools and techniques. Do you need to plan any loads of laundry, like linens, while you work? Do you need to spend more time folding in wave 1 before you get to the actual cleaning? Oh, if laundry is your nemesis, I have an entire chapter on it in the book – it’s chapter 12! And, I talk about dealing with the famous ‘chair’ on page 162.
While the bedroom is easy to clean, consider what you will need product and tool wise to clean it, that way you have what you need and can get moving quickly. Before you start cleaning, if you have the book, I recommend skimming the bedroom section to prime yourself on the quickest way to do things. You can find it starting on page 155.

To get yourself in the mood, consider playing music or a podcast and lighting a candle or diffusing essential oils. Open a window if the weather permits. Make sure you’re dressed comfortably, have used the washroom, have a drink prepared and have everything distracting turned off. Right before you begin, look at your bedroom and just remind yourself that in about 20 minutes, it’s going to look gorgeous and welcoming. You’ll want to rest and fall asleep in here!

As always, head over to your starting point and begin your cleaning. Making the bed is one of the first things to do, and I outline the perfect bed-making technique on starting on page 159. Follow the waves to tidy and organize, and then clean, to keep yourself on track. I find wave 1 takes the most time in a bedroom and by the time I’m through that, I can do waves two and three very quickly. I also like to fold and put clothing away during wave one, so spend time doing this before going onto the other waves. Have a peek at your ceiling vent, ceiling fan, baseboards and even the closet – does anything need extra attention today? You be the judge! While cleaning, take a moment to evaluate the clothing, items and products in your room – do you still use them and like them? Is anything you don’t wear, like or need anymore? If you feel your cupboards and drawers are bursting, perhaps this is the time to book in a closet cleaning.

As you’re working, pause for a moment, and just remind yourself how proud you are for dedicating this time to cleaning your bedroom. You deserve a peaceful and relaxing space and you’re getting it! By investing this small chunk of time, you are giving yourself the gift of a clean room. And we all know how nice it feels to come into a clean room. It’s heavenly!

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As you wind down cleaning your room, remove the items you’ve used to clean, replace any items you’ve removed and put the final finishes on your space; fluff the pillows, straighten the bedding, make it look perfecto. A well-made bed is the hallmark of a clean room. The floors are the last to be done, and you can either vacuum, or vacuum then mop. Smile, ear-to-ear, pat yourself on the back, let out a little spirited cheer, or do a quick dance. Whatever you need to do, you deserve to congratulate yourself and ride the feel-good vibes of your efforts. Your bedroom looks ready to receive you and help you have a peaceful night’s rest.

The bedroom needs daily cleaning attention – but not too much. It’s a simple space to keep clean; it’s just a matter of developing a few good daily routines – which take mere minutes. Of course, there are the bigger jobs that need doing and you can schedule those in easily. I like to clean my room shortly before going to bed, so integrating cleaning into my before bed routine is a natural fit for me. I discuss daily routines on pave 257 through 259, and I think you can learn a lot from these ideas, and tweak your own routines.

Of course, there will be those one-off jobs in the bedroom which you should schedule in throughout the year, like cleaning the vents, washing window coverings and changing over your wardrobe. Take some time to do this; set it on autopilot and don’t think about it again! Look at your MIAs and also at your scheduling chart on page 274 and see what you want to include in your monthly, quarterly and annual cleaning schedule. Scheduling and routines is the third step of the Maker Method – what gets scheduled gets done.

You’ve done it! Now, your bedroom probably looks and feels a little too relaxing – naptime, perhaps? I am so proud of you! Great work, next up, we’re going to the home office!

If you want to dig deeper and start taking your cleaning a bit more seriously then check out our E-Book Bundle! It encompasses 3 fantastic e-books (Complete Guide to Essential Oils, My 3-Wave Cleaning System, 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes) that will get you started in the right direction!

Please share your journey with me by using #KickstartCMS and tagging me on Instagram and Twitter using @CleanMySpace and @MelissaMaker, share your photos on Facebook, or send me an email to info {@} cleanmyspace.com . I’d love to know how this is helping you!