Minimalism: Wake Up Happy.

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. 

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Do you ever open your eyes in the morning and immediately feel overwhelmed by the day?

There are a thousand things that, can, stand in the way of each of us waking up in a state of bliss. Kids, chore list, work, family or marital frustrations, politics, the news, neighbors, friends or 'frenemies' etc; (in no particular order might I add) can all add to an immediate state of unease and unrest. 

Our home, our bedroom, should be a place of complete serenity.  A place to come to at the end of the day and shed the stress, anxiety, fears and discomforts in exchange of peace, renewal, calm and the promise of another day filled with opportunity and possibility. 

There are still days for me, that I must actively work at keeping "it" out. My children still wake at impossible hours (ready and raring to go; or, on unfortunate days awake, starving and unhappy with the world), we still catch the morning news (with a wish to stay current and the promise to turn it off when it begins to grate at our nerves), my husband and I still wake feeling unsettled in ourselves which inevitably rubs off on the other, and the chores....they never end. Despite this, there have been changes in our lives that, has led to happier wakings.

Minimalism. Intentional Living. The purposeful home. Whatever label you identify with results in the same...having less stuff allows for more of what we want. 

I want to wake up happy. 

In pursuit of this desire. Our bedroom got a total overall, the most recent overhaul from two weekends ago. It is hard to believe that there was a time where our room included a huge dresser filled with items, a packed closet full of clothes, a large tote full of pictures, artwork and nick knacks, 3-4 decorative pillows etc;

  

Now I wake to this...

In our two bedroom home we have opted for the smaller of the two rooms, leaving the master bedroom for the three little ones to share. It holds a few of our favorite things, there are two pull out drawers for clothes under the bed and a small closet that houses all our clothing (including seasonal...we enjoy a full 4 seasons here!)

We kept the headboard simple. A vase from the Czech Republic, my jewelry box (birthday present from my husband), our wedding shadow box, and a single plug cord for my phone. We opted for no alarm clock as my phone performs the same function and is required when responding to calls for the fire department. 

The top two shelves, along with the bottom shelf is our entire book collection (adult books). This took many years and required a concerted effort as my husband and I love to read! (Some books did end up making their way to my husband's classroom,as his keeps were all math/science/physics related it made more sense to house them there in the end.) What remains we love, we make use of our kindle, and more importantly get our "smell and feel" of a good book from our beautiful local library when the mood and need suits. The third shelf holds my "call out" dress and pager, this way I can roll out of bed with an entire set of clothes in hand without disturbing my husband more than I need to. 

In my opinion, there are few things that make a space feel serene and welcoming better than a plant.  Working as an air purifier, adding a touch of color and keeper of some beach gems, which can be found nestled on the top of the soil, this plant is meant to be noticed. Plus, it partners well with my husband's Go board, his own beautiful handiwork (completed with guidance from my Dad). 

At the start of this process, back in 2012, I had few expectations of what was ahead of us. I did know, however, know how I wanted to feel. It took years, conversations (both with my husband and myself) to determine what it is that makes us happy, to look at the cost of what we were keeping and to lose the guilt over the "things" that were keeping us from the life we wanted to live. The process is not complete, we welcome what comes, knowing what is now possible. 

I'd like to encourage you to take a critical eye to your bedroom and ask yourself...what makes me happy? Does what I have in here, in this room, in my safe haven...does it help or hinder?




UPDATE: Nov 24, 2016
BEFORE PICTURE from October 2016