Master Bedroom Makeover – Therapy for Bipolar - The Beginning.....

OK – So my husband is Bipolar. And there is nothing wrong with that. It’s not a disease you can catch or that you bring upon yourself. Some people just have it. It’s there trial to overcome. And those of us who love people who suffer from Bipolar ….. it’s our trail to try and help them as we live with it too.  I also suffer from depression, it really started with PG – and I have been dealing with it ever since.

That being said …  I searched for ways to help my husband live a more normal life. I researched, and I prayed to be guided to things that will help us.  I am not sure where all this started. I was reading somewhere about minimalism I think, and about how it helped someone with what they described as depression. Have less, and having less mess, helped them overcome their depression.  And that got me thinking.

We have small kids. Toys everywhere! Not as many toys as some of their friends. But still – they make a mess of whatever they can get their hands on. And I like it. It helps them use their imagination. I don’t want to squash that. So how can I make a room that the kids can’t mess up?

Finally my thoughts turned to my husband and my bedroom.  Probably the most overlooked room in the house. We have never had the nice looking matching bedroom.  You know… the dresser’s all match, the headboard matched, the comforter, sheets and pillow all go together, and curtins that looked good in the room. When we had money it always went to the kids or something the family needed. Nothing for our bedroom, we always sacrificed that first – so often it wasn’t even a thought.  And our bedroom was sort of the dumping ground for other stuff that we cleaned when we did the rest of the house. Then we could close the door and have company over. (Raise hands how many of you do that too!?) * A side note … we do have a bedroom set at the moment. It’s my parent’s spare bedroom set, and they are using their spare room for something else right now … so it’s on lone…..

So here is it – it’s all is messy glory. Our bedroom the day I decided that I would turn out bedroom into an oasis away from the world, to try and find a better balance in our lives.   I walked into our bedroom and took pictures right as it was. To be honest, it looked like this or worse most of the time.

 I mean really - who could relax at the end of the day in that room?  It was more like turn out the lights and hide from the world.  Not really the best way to live a happy and fulling life.  There wasn't much change that I could afford to do that day. But what I could afford to do was clean and minimize. I took everything out that didn't need to be there. The huge storage rack - gone, my kids dirt and clean laundry piles - gone! (I have been working hard with them since that day in the picture teaching them to do laundry and put it away. My 7 yr old ... is getting it. 4 yr old, not so much. But given time and effort on my part, they will!) And I just love a made bed.

 This is how it looked by bedtime that day. And the good news is it has stayed mostly this clean ever since then. Its probably been about 4 months total since the day these pictures were taken.  :)

That night I spent time on pintrist looking at master bedroom ideas. Colors mostly, because paint was about all I could afford in the near future. And that is OK.   I somehow stumbled across this picture. I am not sure how since it was a bathroom, but it fit the feel of what I was looking for.

Now what I was looking for .... it’s hard to explain because I wanted a feeling. I wanted to feel away from the hustle and bustle of life. I wanted to feel detached from the world and its worry's.  I wanted it to look nice - so you enjoyed walking into the room. But simple so it didn't overwhelm you.  I liked the color schemes. White on top, purple for the top half of the bedroom and grey on the wainscoting (I have always been a sucker for wainscoting). It looked like it would be nice to walk into - but it’s not so busy as to overwhelm you. I felt like I was looking back into time - into a simpler time.  And that is what I wanted. I was sold. It was so different from what we normally had in apartment living, that being able to paint was a wonderful treat for us! And when i showed my hubby he was all on board with this picture. He is awesome.  (I might add that he read somewhere that people who sleep in purple bedrooms have more sex ... so he thought the purple bedroom idea was perfect. LOL Men ....)