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Started 1 year ago by akcorcoran
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djk
Member

oh goodness I am the queen of living life from my bed. In fact, still on holidays here and was lounging in my pj's in bed reading until 2pm today. It looked cold out. ;)
The DH brings coffee to me every morning, and today coffee was followed by tea, then water glasses, and eventually a beer before dinner. Livin' the life, I tell you:) However I take out all the empty cups/glasses/clothing tags/paper etc. as I go. Strange, our bedroom is also our living room and also our office, but I have no place for garbage here. I just carry everything to the kitchen the next time I walk there for a beverage refill. The corner of the desk catches all sorts of bits and bobs which might live there an hour before I take them away. Never thought about it.

If your bedroom is on a different floor from the main kitchen garbage/recycling, and far from the next basket (probably the loo?) then I can see how it could be useful to have a basket in the bedroom

I would rather put a tiny bin under a bedside table or in the closet to collect pesky little things like the clothing tags, than have a larger bin. I like the one you posted a link to, but if it is right by the bed the top will get cluttered and the inside empty, just like Ella said. Maybe move it elsewhere in the room and use something else as a bedside table?

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

I live in a small but long apartment, with my bedroom at one end and the kitchen (and trash/recycling) at the other, so I know that taking stuff to the trash from the bedroom can be a pain sometimes. I generally do what others mention as well: clean out the top of my nightstand every morning. That way nothing piles up. The odd time I know I'll probably accumulate trash in the bedroom (e.g. just recently I was cut down with the flu, and spent a couple of days pretty much entirely in bed), I bring a bin liner to collect all of it and then toss everything once I can face getting out of bed again.

My boyfriend, however, has allergies, so he uses up tissues like it's his job, and had a bad habit of not taking them to the trash. So for a while he had mountains of tissues forming on his nightstand, which would eventually spill over onto the floor, and I'd inevitably have to clean up. Many arguments later, I convinced him to reorganize his nightstand (we each have a 2-drawer one), put a divider in the bottom drawer, and use one side of it as a trash bin until he gets around to taking his junk to the proper trash bin. It works reasonably well (no more tissues all over the place!) but he still needs to be badgered sometimes into emptying that bin...

All this to say, having a trash/recycle bin in your bedroom isn't a bad idea if it fits your needs, but not sure bigger is better. Would you be able to come to some sort of compromise -- e.g. use small bins, and make a habit of cleaning them out every morning? If you have room under your bed, maybe have a couple of shallow bins tucked underneath? That might solve both the esthetic issue and the tipping over.

Posted 1 year ago #
maxinemarshall
Member

A dumpster would do the job too, wouldn't it?

Posted 1 year ago #
ninakk
Member

Hey, what the hell is your problem, maxinemarshall?

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

Tissues are harsh on the nose. I used to have a pile of old, worn, soft cotton hankies that were just the thing for colds or allergies. I'd use them until they got too grotty to use any longer, then throw them in the wash.

When they got TOO old and worn, I moved to something even better: linen hankies. I made them out of my grandmother's huge old white linen dinner napkins, which I had never used (cut them into fourths and did some handhemming). I do use the linen hankies all the time.

There's something about linen that feels comfortable next to the skin.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

@Zora -- I agree - or, more to the point, my red and achy nose agrees with hankies over tissues. But the boyfriend has never used hankies, and his allergies would probably mean we'd need to keep hundreds of them or do laundry daily (as opposed to weekly), so in our case tissues are the lesser evil I guess. He doesn't seem to have a problem with them being too harsh, but it's all a function of what you're used to, right?

@maxine -- would be great if we could keep this discussion civil. You've made your point, and unless you have something constructive to add, I don't see the sense in adding fuel to that fire.

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

topic hijack:
anita, has your BF ever used a neti pot?
i got one a few years ago...spent some time mastering the technique...and now i wouldn't be without it.
i don't use it all the time.....but it is invaluable for colds and flu, and as soon as i get off an aeroplane, i use my neti pot and i am convinced it has cut down my incidence of post-flight colds.
i've turned a lot of snifflers onto the neti pot.

Posted 1 year ago #
xarcady
Member

akcorcoran, it sounds to me as if your problem is that you don't have a system for getting the Coke cans and recycling out of your room and into the regular household stream of trash and recycling. If your bedroom is a distance from the kitchen or garage or wherever you store this stuff, that's not surprising.

Several people have suggested that you take care of this stuff daily. It's worth a try to see if that works for you. If it doesn't, try weekly, say the same day as when you change the sheets. If you can tie this tidying activity to some other regular tidying or cleaning or housework that you do on a regular basis in your bedroom, you have a pretty good chance of making it a habit.

Once a week, I dust and vacuum my bedroom. That's the day I tidy it up--take books back to the study, recycle catalogs and magazines, take random things that have found their way into my room back to where they belong, fish out the cat toys from under the bed. Nothing stays out of place for more than a week if I keep on top of things. And it makes it easier to dust and vacuum, because the floor and all the horizontal surfaces are clearer.

Or you can try to work your bedroom into the regular trash and recycling system that you already have. How and when do the trash cans in the rest of the house get emptied? Who empties them? How can you work your bedroom trash and recycling into this system?

But you also mentioned that you have back problems. Don't overlook pain or stiffness as a reason why you aren't getting certain jobs done. If your back is part of the problem, look for other ways to clear the stuff out of your room. Have your children help you if necessary. Check with your doctor about new treatments.

I injured my knee a few years ago and although it is better now, it will randomly "go out" on me once or twice a year. Then I have a month or two where every step hurts. A lot. It is much harder to get things done when you're in pain. So don't beat yourself up over this if it is hard for you to carry things. Instead, seek alternate solutions. You could always give up the Diet Coke, for instance. (Just kidding!)

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

I will also vouch for the neti pot. I have dust and pollen allergies and the neti pot really helps.

The other thing that really helps is enclosing the mattress in plastic and washing the mattress cover, pillows, and linens regularly. Also clearing out the house so that there's no place for dust to hide. No cloth sofas or chairs (just leather), no carpets on the floors. Stick with hardwood or tile. Carpets and upholstery hold dust.

I used to sniffle constantly and spend lots of money on allergy pills. Then my packrat ex-husband moved out and I was able to declutter and deep clean. Most of my allergy problems went away.

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

Neti pots are the best!

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

@bandicoot, Zora, pkilmain -- I had not heard of neti pots before this. It looks both promising and intimidating, but I'll mention the idea to the bf and see what he says.

He has dust and cat allergies, and we have 2 cats. He's on allergy meds and has gotten a lot better, but it's made me obsessive about cleaning. So yes, hardwood floors, no carpets anywhere, no drapes or other dust-gathering window treatments (thankfully some of our windows are skylights and the rest can't really be seen from the street, so no need to cover them), vacuuming is done compulsively, cats are brushed regularly and have their favourite sleeping spots lined with terry cloth blankets to catch as much hair as possible, and an air purifier is on 24/7 in the bedroom. I think I could be more diligent about washing the linens weekly, though. Hmmm...

Sorry for the topic hijack!

Posted 1 year ago #
akcorcoran
Member

No worries - nothing to add on the neti pot topic, especially because my father is an allergist so growing up and even now, me and my family are pretty well treated! :-)

I appreciate everyone's thoughts - well, the extreme majority of thoughtful and constructive ones. One observation I'd make is much like one's bedroom, I think this area and how people treat/handle it is quite a personal perspective. Makes sense to me, I suppose. And, it's difficult because everyone's bedroom proximity to other trash, recycling, kitchens, etc is different.

I have written down a few approaches and am going to try what is likely a combo of them. Hopefully that should do the trick before i spend any $ on the issue. Thanks for your suggestions!

PS Added: Anita, if your bf is allergic to cats and you still have two, he must really love you. :-) And, I mean that as a compliment, not as a snarky backhanded insult. As an allergist's daughter, I have heard a lifetime of discussion of how cat dander is one of the most difficult allergies to treat because it is so fine and airborne and often causes severe symptoms. Even when not life-threatening, many with cat allergies, especially strong ones, make the heart-breaking decision to place their cats with other families to help improve their allergy life. It sounds as though you go to such thorough and thoughtful measures to help reduce his allergy suffering, so I can tell you love him very much too. :-)

Posted 1 year ago #
xarcady
Member

Akcorcoran, my brain has just not stopped thinking about your problem. (Why, I don't know.) And it's come up with a couple of thoughts.

Is part of the problem the difficulty in getting several empty cans from your bedroom to the trash/recycling? Two or three cans would be easy to handle, but if you have five or six, they are awkward to hold and tend to want to roll away from you. And if you have to carry other things as well, it becomes even harder. If you line whatever container they are tossed into with a plastic bag, that would make it much easier to transport them--you'd be carrying one bag instead of five cans. Take the bag to the trash/recycling bin and you're done.

You could also do the same thing with a container, say a small trash can. Take the can downstairs with you in the morning, dump the contents, and then (and this is the hard part for me) immediately put the can on the bottom step, to be taken back upstairs the next time you go.

The easier you make the transport go, the better the chance that you will be able to make this a habit. Good luck!

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

@akcorcoran -- Thanks for your kind words. He's a great guy, and it saddens me to see him suffer because of my love for cats. We got the cats together, and he had the final say in it after I'd started to resign myself to catlessness, so he loves them too and it was a conscious decision that he'd live with his allergies. We try to keep the house as allergen-free as possible, and he's getting much better, which is a small relief.

Good luck with your bedroom solution, and keep us posted!

Posted 1 year ago #

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