apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Glad I could be so inspirational! ;) I do hope I am not the only one with "loose ends", but seeing my quote up at the top there has become my motivation to buckle down and make major progress this weekend on the growing list of things not-yet-done. Luckily I've got both days more or less free, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be productive. But for now I'm off to fulfill another Cure duty - dinner at home! We're making steak 'n potatoes and I've vowed to myself that I am going to learn how to cook a steak properly once and for all.

Everyone else, keep us updated this weekend!

I finished my bathrooms yesterday- they were actually in really good shape, just a few outdated products to throw out was all I had to do. This week I also cooked at home 3 days- a roast one day, steak soup another, and enchilada with chili and rice on the other. I actually love to cook, so it's not a big deal, I just wish my son wanted something other than peanut butter and jelly or hotdogs and cheese.

This weekend I intend to paint the kitchen area and put up the new blind. If it goes well, I might also paint the laundry room. We still haven't come to any firm conclusion on the backsplash for the kitchen ( slate tile or beadboard are the two finalists) so that may not make the 2 week deadline. I also need to work outside if it ever stops raining.

Also- next Thursday the repairmen are coming to fix the furnace- YEA!!!! Heat again.

I posted pictures from last week cure work and this week. Some were taken with a cellphone and look a little dark. Both bathrooms are done, fresh candles and fresh soap in both of them. No bath salts because I'm a shower type of person

I've uploaded some bathroom pics to Flickr. One part of the counter and one wall need a little cosmetic tweaking, but other than that, they're the "after" pics. The aforementioned cosmetic tweaking will happen before the end of the Cure. I haven't updated my blog yet -- it wasn't letting me post pictures yesterday, for some strange reason. I'll fuss with it later.

Looking toward Bedroom Week has me feeling tired, frustrated and kind of disheartened. I know what I want to do with the bedroom to get it to what I want it to look and feel like, but I can't afford to do any of that just now. And I'm feeling quite frustrated and down because of that. If all the contract negotiations at work settle themselves in the next two weeks, and there's no longer the threat of strike, I might be able to do a couple of the things that will lead to more of the bedroom of my dreams, but that's not likely going to happen. Bah.

So I'll just wash all the bedding and tidy the dresser -- and maybe put up a couple of photos on the wall. Not quite the Cure I was hoping for. Curing the Living Room, Dining Room, and Writing Room gave me joy -- I don't see that happening with the bedroom. I need an attitude adjustment.

Anyway, link to the pics of the bathroom is in my profile. Please comment lots and lots!

Beth, you've done so much great stuff, don't let the bedroom business get you down. Try to come up with one thing you can do in there to increase the joy factor, even something money-free, since you can't do everything you want right now - I bet there's something!

For the record, a few weeks back when you were talking about the bedroom ideas, it all sounded great, so you've definitely got something to look forward to next time around, or when circumstances change.

Good luck with the whole work/strike thing btw, that must be nerve-wracking.

Beth: things will work out eventually for you, so keep on doing what you can. My bedroom actually has come together accidentally, with me buying a protein piece every 10 years or so. I still need a bedside table or stand, but I still have 5 years until my next set of 10 years is up. I'm not feeling any pressure, I'll eventually stumble on the perfect thing and I will know it when it happens. You will too, so do not put pressure on yourself.

Beth: I looked at your pictures. Can you paint the wall a medium blue-gray? That would set your lovely shower curtain off. I like the umbra freeform accessories.

Thank you for the comments on my pictures: last cure I culled 12 boxes worth of books. I donated a few more this time around. I'm starting to look at all those books with a new eye: do I really love them, am I going to reread them soon? If the answer is no, in the outbox they go.

Thanks so much for the encouragement, all! It really means a lot.

Francesca -- unfortunately, I can't paint, but it would have been a wonderful idea for the bathroom!

I have been sorta depressed this cure, I just haven't felt like I have done enough and it's been getting me down. But I made my completed list and wrote it in my blog. Looking at it, I have gotten a lot of really good things done (like the mudroom) and a lot of cleaning accomplished. Yea me! Plus, I have gotten my Mr. to give up the Mr handyman idea and actually call in a furnace repair man- Thursday is the day! Maybe we'll have heat before it snows!

Good for you Lorijo- list of tasks finished always perks me up.

The kitchen paint went up last night- well the first coat. I like it. I got a new blind up and the new spice rack I bought is being used too. We couldn't do the shower fixture replacement - when we started we realized that we would have to destroy the plastic shower enclosure, or make a huge hole in the bedroom wall to do the project. Neither is something we want to tackle. So I am going off to return the (really nice) kohler set we bought, and I am going to buy a replacement bathtub faucet thingy ( we can replace that part only) I was really looking forward to that new shower set too...