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Rooms are used for different purposes—often at the same time. In order to decide what should stay and where, you need to identify the different activities that take place within each room and divide them into zones. Once you begin organizing, these zones become the center for specific items related to the designated activity. Then, it becomes immediately clear where things belong, where to find things and where to return them.
Sample Zones for Master Bedrooms
Sleeping
Relaxation
Clothes
Shoes
Off-season clothes and shoes
Reading

Quick Tips for Your Bedroom
Make it a room for grown-ups. Remember, it's your space. Get rid of the kids' toys and clothing. They have the rest of the house, the master bedroom should be yours alone.

Bring back the romance. Increase those aspects of the master bedroom that add to the romance and get rid of anything that doesn't enhance the idea of an adult retreat and haven. For example, this may mean making the room less of a media center and more of a relaxation zone. Set the tone for your romantic getaway from the cares and hassles of daily life!

Make the bed. The bed is a zone in and of itself—the sleeping zone. A well-made bed encourages order and inspires calm.

Beware of what's under the bed. Don't let the dust mites fester. Drag everything under the bed into the middle of the room. If you need anything to stay there, place them in clear containers with lockable lids. Revisit six months later. If you haven't needed what's under there, get rid of it.

Clean the closet. We wear 20 percent of our clothes 80 percent of the time. To weed out the ones you don't wear, turn all of the hangers in your closet one way. After you wear an item, turn the hanger to face the other way. Get rid of the clothes on the hangers that haven't been turned in the last year.
Excerpted from It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh. Copyright ?? 2007 by Peter Walsh. Reprinted by permission from Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published 01/01/2009

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