apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

my biggest problem is overhead lights. I'll post a picture this week and ask for help. The second biggest problem is my husband clutter: he has yet to learn to let go of his possessions.

After a pretty slow couple of weeks I feel like I'm finally starting to make headway again. A few things have come in that I ordered - my orange Jonathan Adler soap dispenser arrived today (way cuter in person!) and I think I have finally zeroed in on 2 dresser possibilities that are attractive and within budget. Coming in to the Cure, needing a dresser was the #1 thing I wanted to get and I have been trying to find the perfect one since June. I ordered a cute overdoor rack for my coats and yesterday I found the perfect sheets. Plus I fell in love with the Pottery Barn sheets posted here today and may pick up a second sham in that pattern to complement my Dwell ebay find!

Not that the Cure is all about buying things - it's just that, having moved into my first apartment in June, I came into the Cure missing a lot of necessary items (curtains? a coffee table? a filing solution?). This process has really acted as the impetus for me to buy them - instead of hemming and hawing about how much they cost and do I *really* need them ... I know that it will be worth it in the long run. Coat racks are important, y'know. Especially in Chicago.

I have been doing a lot of filing and organizing as well. I built a Fira box for office supplies that I am going to hang on the wall beside my bookcase below a mail sorter. It's a little wonky, but it does the trick.

I'll update with pictures later in the week when I get a few more things together. And see my blog for more in depth info if this wasn't too long winded for you!

http://une-vie-en-rose.blogspot.com/

Diving in headfirst, it is -- I had this afternoon off to take my Dad to a medical appointment, and wonder of wonders, we didn't have to wait around at all! So I had the whole afternoon to myself. Bliss.

I'm in the process of washing all the bedding, and while that's in the machine I've decluttered the bedside tables (not that I have much clutter after my huge pre-move purge, thank goodness), vacuumed out the facial-tissue-dust from the drawers, vacuumed the mattress, vacuumed the floor.

My Bedroom Cure is mostly about cleaning this go-round. I look forward to when I can do the luxurifying. But I'm definitely in a more positive space about Bedroom Week than I was yesterday. I am grateful for that.

(i'm intruding on the cure, sorry!)
i hate our small closet/drawers. during winter i always feel like i have to be *perfect* to keep clothing neat. having a very temperamental apartment laundry* doesn't help.

i am trying to cut down on my clothes, as its mostly me who is the trouble.

* yes, i know i'm lucky to have an apartment washer/dryer. :-)

Olga, I know what you mean. When I moved into my tiny apartment I felt like a slob if one thing was out of place. And it does make a difference when you don't have wide open spaces. But sometimes you just have to embrace the clutter...just don't let it get out of control ;)

That said, getting rid of clothes really helps. I didn't think I wanted to give anything a way but I went through my closet last month, taking away anything I hadn't worn in more than a year, and came out with a huuuuge pile.

I agree with ma vie en rose -- purging clothes makes such a difference. I purged out of necessity, since I have lost weight (yay). I still have 30 pounds to go, but 20 pounds are outta here. So very very few of my clothes from last fall/winter fit. At the moment I have a very sparse wardrobe, but it sure makes organizing the closet and dresser easier!

Speaking of easier, I just "cleaned my room". The process bore very little resemblance to the process by the same name that I experienced as a child, or even a few years ago. The aftermath of decluttering makes all the work of decluttering so worthwhile. Ahhhhhh! yay.

I am having such a hard time. With a toddler and a baby running around it is hard to keep anything in it's place. I also want to create a landing stip but money is tight. AHHH!!! I want to do so much with limited funds.

Other: lack of sunlight / windows - Our 3rd floor bedroom windows are positioned above a dumpster in an alley. The pollution from the diesel dumptrucks leaves a layer of soot on our window screens and windows causing them to be nearly opaque. Even the underside of our shade is dirty. Cleaning the windows is difficult b/c they are old oversized sash type windows and it only takes about 3 or 4 days for them to be filthy again. We keep 3M indoor plastic on our windows year-round to keep the pollution from entering the room itself. Does anyone else have a similar issue and have you found solutions? Thanks!

SMM, I'm not sure how helpful I'll be since I don't have direct experience with a similar issue. But you should buy an air purifier for that room and maybe you could cover the dirty windows with some pretty window films? That way you don't have to look at the dirt, and it will also block the less-than-appetizing view. I'm thinking of doing something similar - as the first 3/4 of my view in my apartment is blocked by a brick wall/roof. I loved NotMartha's recent post on the Design*Sponge guest blog on the subject:

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2007/10/window-films.html

Hitting my second (or third? fourth?) wind after a few weeks that were a bit more difficult schedule- and/or health-wise. I'll do some minor general cleaning and tidying in the bedroom, but my major act of BR curing was deciding this weekend that I'll definitely be purchasing a new mattress sooner rather than later. Not happening this month, but shortly. A bed will follow soon thereafter.

Mostly, though, I'm going to work on finishing all my little livingroom projects for the duration of the Cure.

Clothing - I find the purge cycle has to be pretty continuous. Things have a way of wearing out or ceasing to fit (the lifestyle or the body) when you're not looking, and keeping things current does wonders for my sanity. Limited storage space is a useful motivator in that respect. I currently have the mixed blessing of a much larger closet than I've ever had before. I'm not complaining at all, but I want to make sure that the luxury of so much extra space doesn't start to enable bad wardrobe management.

week 7? already? we had a sudden cold snap here in nola (lows in the 40s) and pre-move closet purging has left me with nothing to wear. what fits doesn't look like me anymore and what does look like me is too big. so, by necessity the closet is on the agenda this week. i actually made a style tray for my wardrobe and that made me calmer. the artist in me gets really out of sorts if her wardrobe is off. i got the bookcase for my vanity put together (except for the doors). will order the decals for that corner. the ottoman arrives tomorrow. it remains to be seen if it will live in my bedroom or the living room. i bought side tables for the bedroom that ended up being too big. still have curtains rods to install and curtains to hang and lots of little details. will make a master list and get to it. all of that along with noveling and a big freelance writing assignment. i'm a bit overwhelmed, but energized at the same time.

Well it's a good thing I didn't have anything to do in my bedroom -and I'm close to being done in my kitchen- because due to a family emergency I have to get in my car and drive to Austin Tx ( I don't fly anymore). I may be gone weeks. I'll finish the kitchen project when I return.
Good luck and have great end of cure parties- I wish I could be here to end this cure with all of you. I'll be reading about it though- and I may be posting pics of my little brothers place because I may have to get it ready to go on the market down there and it needs some work. I may need ideas and some help.

I've had to take a week off from the Cure, and last weekend was out of town, so I'm struggling to get back into the groove. There's so much left to do! Thankfully, there's not much to do in the bathroom, and I started the bedroom early because it made sense to combine rug-cleaning and other tasks. Happily, I came home to a message that my newly-recovered chairs are finally finished!

It was nice to see more pictures up on Flickr. Soon I'll take some photos of my in-progress office, which is minimally functional at the moment. I'm going to need some help with decisions about what art to hang and where to hang it.

My biggest problem is that I'm living in the attic of our home while my 2 daughters live in the real bedrooms. There's muslin tacked over the rafters and raw wood on the floors. Where's my motivation? It's like living in a garage!

Sigh...

mavieenrose, Thanks for pointing out the window films - what a great idea! We do have a fairly heavy-duty Austin air purifier in our living room, but haven't invested in a second one quite yet. We've got the same brick wall blocked view as well, so I can relate. Good luck with your view fix.

not martha is one of my favorite bloggers: her guest blog on design*sponge on window film was terriffic

lorijo, I'm sorry you're missing out on the cure (but be comforted - you still accomplished a lot!) and hope you and your family are OK.

SMM, I'm glad my suggestion was helpful... good luck yourself! ;)

And I agree with you Francesca, I just loooved that post. It makes me wish I had more awkward windows! My favorite was the film with the tree print (I'm afraid they'd clash with my curtains though).