Room by Room: The Master Bedroom

Sarah, who admins our group on Facebook, suggested that we take some time to look at each room in the home like we highlighted the Kitchen. I thought this was a grand idea. Let’s go room by room through the house thinking about function and beauty.

To start, a couple of caveats:

·        All homes are a bit different. Older/newer, bigger/smaller, opulent/simple, and they all have unique nooks and crannies. For now, we’ll be dealing with the basic rooms.

·        Throughout time women have had to utilize every square inch of their homes as much as they can, so if you have a room doing double or even triple duty, don’t worry, that’s normal.

Since I’ve never thought about specific rooms in this hyper-focused way before, I’m going to focus on two things: function and beauty. Function is the use and goal of the room. Beauty is the ability of the room to warm and engage the human soul in a way that is unique to your family. Both are our responsibilities in the home as the homemakers and housekeepers.

Following Lawler’s wise example, let’s start in the master bedroom.

This is the room where you and your husband sleep and spend intimate time together. If you have been blessed with a husband, your focus on this room shows your appreciation for his labors to provide and protect you and yours. If the Lord has blessed you with kids, your focus here provides them with stability. Kids are the most secure when they know Dad and Mom are good.

If you have neither a husband nor children, this room is probably your most private place within the home, the place friends and family don’t enter or don’t enter often. That’s a good thing. You need places of respected privacy. As such, it should be given special focus and honor.

Function: Private retreat. It was ingrained in me as a child that my parents’ bedroom was sacrosanct. We had to have permission to enter it and we always entered with a bit of fear and trepidation because it was the room where my parents disciplined us, as it was a private place. This provided my homeschooling mother of five a retreat from the non-stop noise and my parents a private place to have “discussions.”

Having a private room in a family is important, but many master bedrooms have to do double duty. They may have to hold extra storage as the biggest room in the house, or function as the office or sewing room.

However you settle on the functions of this room, make sure you add a certain “sacredness” to it.

This can be done in simple ways:

·        Make the bed

·        Keep surfaces as clear as you can

·        Keep its bathroom clean

·        Dust it

·        Limit access and use as you can

·        Start in this room, don’t let it get the short end of the stick

Beauty: Clean and pretty are the two ways to make a room special. This doesn’t have to follow Pinterest, perfection, or a trend (minimalist, grannycore, cottagecore, etc.). It should appeal to you and yours. I do think that because this is an adult bedroom, the bed and sleeping should be the first place you start. This means investing in linens and caring for them. Having a good mattress and creating a bed that invites you to come rest is important.

I like throw pillows, but I’ve seen many a bed that had too many. It became a chore to make the bed. Find a balance. If you have lots of kids, hit the ground running, or always put the bed being made as the last chore on the list, often leaving it undone, keep your bed ‘décor’ simple. Clean lines are always attractive.

Appropriate blankets according to the season, your sleeping habits, and the amount of AC you use are a must, but please make sure they all coordinate. Yes, they absolutely need to keep you warm, but please make sure they’re pleasing to the eye, and that they’re inviting. Nowhere in creation has God only made things functional. He always makes things functional and beautiful. We should do the same. When we layer beauty over function, the whole environment is lifted and suddenly the bedroom is a place you want to be.

If you have a black thumb in home décor, at the very least get a bed-in-a-bag. The quality is not as great, but at least everything works together. Don't be afraid to ask more decor-gifted friends for suggestions. Your taste is your own, but if you were to give your gifted friend the parameters to work within, they could turn up something beautiful for you. [1]

Other things to consider are plants, art, rugs, tables, and lamps. You can slowly build your look, don’t panic. Start with the hand-me-downs, pick up things off the curb, and DIY your room. It doesn’t matter how you go about it, just make sure you go about it.

Clean and appealing, that is the important thing.

I would also recommend keeping this room as calm as you can, especially if you have kids and homeschool. Calm is personal on many levels but think about sleeping. You don’t want to walk into the room and feel revved up or overwhelmed. It doesn’t make for a good night’s sleep. If you have to let this room multi-function, then do your best to keep the workspaces tidy. Trays to corral and make things look purposed. Desks with lids. Covers to drape over projects. Closet doors shut.

Think about this room as your retreat, your place of privacy and calm. Seek to make it restful and enjoyable to look at and be in.

The master bedroom is a key room in the house. Often it gets our last gasp of effort when it should get our first, because, single or married, it is the inner sanctuary of the home.

[1] Shout-out to Sarah for suggesting making the suggestion to get advice from others!