apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

yea! exciting to see my blurry photos posted. since the color issue of my bedroom was brought up...i'm looking for opinions. the office is currently violet, but we're moving the bedroom in here...my husband has a huge to-do list for switching the rooms around, so i'm wondering if the violet color would look good with the rug pictured above and could save us the time (and expense) of painting? thoughts?

ok- so getting called out on the front page of AT chicago should give me the kick in the pants needed to get rid of some of those chairs. Why can't I love something small- like paperweights?

I have made my lists, bought flowers, did my deep cleaning, and started my blog- chairs and posted befores on Flickr.

Now comes the hard work! I can't wait

Without being in the violet room -- with the rug -- it's difficult to say if it will work. From the photographs, it seems like the rug "reads" as a medium brown. That's basically red/yellow, with a lot of black. The lilac has a lot of blue (as well as red). So, any color scheme is going to be complex.

A triad color scheme is violet-orange-green. It sounds vibrant, but remember that your violet is very light. A green that's more to the yellow side might work with the rug -- something like the color card that's second from the left. Maybe a bit more to the green. Would you be willing (able?) to find bedding in that color? There's more color options in paint, so in the end it may be easier to just repaint the room.

I've made my repair list (does "need more light in 3 of the rooms" fall under repair, or decor???) ; I've sat for 10 minutes in both the living room and the bedroom, follow the link above (thanks, sarahc!!!) to see the questions that raised ; I've mopped and vacuumed... Flowers will be bought tomorrow, because I forgot on Wednesday (mid-week grocery day).

Putting one item outside. Well, can't follow that to the letter, because that's not how things are done around here, but I have a few (very few) things I can donate. Last year, and leading up to my move in March, I decluttered so ferociously that there's very little left that can go. Which is, in itself, a reason to celebrate! I do have a bunch of recycling that needs to go out -- does that count?

earth-friendly cleaning products -- checkmark there. I usually use baking soda, or vinegar, so that I don't upset my allergies, so I'm okay. Except for laundry detergent. I currently use Tide Free, because I know my skin can cope with that. I'm leery of trying anything new, just in case, but would like to have something earth-friendly. (Quandary...)

I'm eager to do stuff in the kitchen -- there needs to be some deep treatment in there, for sure!

After reading this post and all of the comments, I'm super excited to get started in the kitchen. I also have my list. I still need to mop my floors (this weekend). I know what I'm bringing "outside" (I'm giving a papasan chair away to a friend who is moving into her first apartment). I bought a cute little bouquet of flowers that looks pretty on my table.

Tonight I'll sit for 10 minutes in the awkward half of my living room :P Maybe it will give me some inspiration for what the heck to do in here.

ps. I'm zarprey on flickr.

I'm also done with the floors, but I have not had a chance to sit for ten minutes anywhere yet. I will do it tomorrow after I buy flowers. Smallcitybeth: I have been very happy with Method laundry soap from Target.

Francesca -- thanks for the recommendation. One question, is the Method laundry soap scented? I can't do scented. (allergies are such a pain...)

I'm off to look at mango/zarprey's photos. Now I remember that Cure = sleep-deprived... there's so much interesting stuff to look at and to learn!

Smallcitybeth:there is one that is unscented, some are natural scents. I also have Method handsoap, unscented. Im green to the extent that I worry very much about what goes down the drain into the environment, but since I have worked in labs all my life I'm not fearful of chemicals and I use them sparingly. I mostly make my own cleaning solutions. I have looked at a few photos, not all of them. I look at photos when a specific problem is mentioned in the thread.

bbt- it is hard to tell if the rug will look good with the purple walls. If you have any purple paint left, paint a largish cardboard with the color and plop it in the middle of the rug when it is dry: you should be able to tell.

Fransesca- What do you use to clean your oven? I have used lemon juice and baking soda and it removed alot of the icky stuff, but not all. Any other ideas? I am green to a point. I have a problem with chemicals in cleaners (they make me wheeze and get dizzy) but I do use them sparingly.
If I could just get my husband to stop squirting lysol everywhere........

cure wise progress-
did my floor deep cleaning ( I don't own a mop- don't want one. My friend has a cleaning business- the big expensive McMansion houses. She swears by handwashing on the floor and she's right)
Got my ideas, style tray, and kitchen area budget worked on.
Started my blog and Flickr pics.
Bought flowers, made dinner at home on a Fri night, and sat in various rooms and thought.
Made my long list of items to be fixed.

Now, I am going to work on organizing my fabric. I probably have 200 yards of assorted fabric for my art in my workroom. Something has to be done and it's cold outside.

lorijo, I'm lucky to have a selfcleaning oven: high temperature will ash just about anything. I have read somewhere that covering residues with salt and baking on high will loosen the crud. I have never tried it though.
I did my kitchen and bathroom floors by hand also, but routinely I use a light mop.

moryse - thanks for the comments. you're mentioning the 'complex' color scheme is making me think i definitely have to paint. just 'cause i don't want to be bombarded the second i walk into my bedroom...

francesca - thanks. i feel like an idiot 'cause i just realized this morning that i'm walking back and forth between two rooms looking at the color...i'll be moving the rug into the purple room tonight to see what it looks like...pregnancy has apparently affected my brain cells.

i just realized that i must be doing a hybrid deep treatment and one room cure since i've done things on both lists! i guess this is okay since my apartment is so tiny. i have my basic cleaning routines down so hopefully this won't be too taxing.

urbanconjure -- I seem to be doing a mini One Room Cure as well as my intended Deep Treatment, too. I think that often happens. When I did my 10 minute "sit" in a part of my living room I'd never sat in before, in front of the TV with my back to it, I started thinking, and my thinking has turned into a bit of a one-room cure on the living/dining room. I've done a lot of musing on that issue this weekend, and I'm looking forward to doing the things that I've come up with (there are details ad nauseum on my blog, http://serenityathome.blogspot.com)

As for my Deep Treatment, I am very pleased to be able to announce "The Recycling has left the building". That may not seem like a big deal to anyone but me, but I'd been piling up 2 litre (2 quart) plastic milk jugs (clean, I assure you), until I had 44 to take to the recyling thingy today. It made an enormous difference to the kitchen cupboards and counters where they had taken up residence, and it made a great difference to my state of mind, too. So, having done that this afternoon, this evening I was able to clean the counters well (and they look so nice now!), and rearrange the dishes so that there's a small cupboard space now dedicated to lunch-making supplies. Much better than having them sprawled on the counter. Tomorrow evening I intend to tackle cleaning out the fridge.

That blog link likely won't work with the bracket in it... this is what it should be

http://serenityathome.blogspot.com

I'm really enjoying blogging my cure (although I tend to have too much fun blogging, and spend not enough time curing...) I tried to set it so that anyone could comment, but that doesn't seem to have worked. Too bad, because I thrive on comments and plenty of them!

Sorry, beth, I tried to leave a comment but blogger wouldn't let me:

here's what I said:
Hey--your blog looks different! Cool template.

Well done on the decision to purchase the side table. And how much more convenient for you to be in the same biulding as the Aged Ones.

Do they have drapery rods in their apartment?

Alana -- yes, there were drapery rods in my parents' apartment when they moved in 16 years ago. In fact, they bought the drapes from the previous tenant, so there were even drapes. There were also drapery rods in my apartment before I moved in, because when I viewed the apartment the lady had drapes, on rods. I saw them with my own eyes. She also had inexpensive slat blinds on the small bedroom window, and a transparent brown plastic/vinyl roller blind on the larger bedroom window (my study). They painted before I moved in. Took down the drapery rods (and they were not in the apartment, maybe they were in bad shape?), took down the slat blinds and left them in the bedroom closet, and left up the brown plastic blinds (I took those down myself. Didn't like 'em one bit...) The lady down the hall from me also had to have draperies and rods installed -- must be a new thing to leave the apartments with no way of hanging curtains. (Something I've never encountered before in the 34 years I've been living in rented accommodations of one sort or another...)

Wow that was a long answer to one simple question. WordyBeth strikes again.

If you pay to have rods installed, you might be very unlikely to leave them behind when you move out.

Good point, Lady J.