apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

anyone?

Hello! Glad someone made the first post. Hope others will follow.

this will be my first cure... still have to get the book though! we just bought our first home in june, and are working on updating it, getting it organized, and making it ours so this cure came at the perfect time!

basically the whole house needs some tlc....

do most people do one or two rooms or the whole house?

My place is a dreary mess, so my first cure will be a generalized improvement of the whole apartment (two small bedrooms and living room/kitchen combo). I'm looking forward to eliminating and controlling clutter more than making expensive changes, both due to finances and the fact that my lease literally says that no improvements of any kind are to be made (!). Seriously.

I'm excited to start, and my flowers are already brightening up my coffee table.

I am going to cure our bedroom. Right now it is cluttered, the walls are a stark white, and it's not relaxing. I plan on painting the room, hanging new window treatments, changing out the bedding for fall/winter, and decluttering. I also want to add some texture.

I'm glad to get started. I'll take some before pics today.

Good luck to everyone!!

I'm happy to be in good company!
We (significant other, 2 kids, and myself) purchased a house just about a year ago--and nothing seems finished. Every room needs attention, but I think if I can get our sleeping rooms functioning well we'll all feel more at ease in our home. So that's where I'll be focusing my attention for the next eight weeks.

I am doing the cure for the second time, but only the first time from the beginning (I discovered AT when the cure was in week 4 last time). I did some significant rearranging of my living space for that cure, but various things got in my way of finishing my goals. I am still putting the landing strip together. In every change I have made I have attempted to think things through completely to make sure I will not make a change that will have to be readjusted later. This is partially because I have jumped in to other organizing projects all gung-ho and they don't usually work out all that well, so my husband looks askance at such enthusiasm. So part of it is trying to be measured and have good judgement, but I also want all these changes to be the right ones.

Going to read Chapter 1 today.

okay... I'm finding myself kind of overwhelmed. After reading chapter one I know I am only ready to do the deep treatment.I still have a lot of clutter to control. This cure seems more set up for the one room remedy, am I right?
I would love some input from anyone about where to begin when the whole house is fair game.

hi krissi - i'm also doing the whole house. i think the cure is intended to be the sweep of the whole apartment/house, for people whose homes need a lot of work, with the one room remedy being an extra for those with homes which are basically already pretty decent. so you're in good company.

you said clutter is your biggest problem. i've spent the past three years decluttering and i love it. it's addictive, but it can be tough to get started. here are some things that helped me.

first, i realized that a lot of what i was hanging on to "just in case" or because i wanted to do something with it "someday" was really being wasted and could be put to good use by someone else. that helped me donate tons of clothes, fabric, yarn, books and "treasures" knowing they would find a good home and make someone else happy (instead of cluttering up my life).

second, i figured out what the purpose was of each room, and therefore what belonged in each room. i realized a lot of my things didn't "belong" anywhere so i had to either designate a space, or get rid of some things. getting rid of them is easier!

finally, if you know you have to get rid of some of whatever category (too many clothes for your closet, too many books for your shelf, too many dishes for your cabinets) but don't know what to get rid of - decide which are essential instead. which things can you not live without? once you've designated your "keepers" and know they're not going anywhere, it gets a lot easier to let the other stuff go.

happy purging!

I know how overwhelming it can feel -- the trick is to try to keep moving forward without worrying that you're missing something or not doing it "right".

Two years ago I did a sort of hybrid cure -- whole house and one room. Mostly because the whole house was in pretty good shape but my office needed a lot of work. I can't say that in Fall 2007 that one type of cure dominated, nor does it seem to me that it's more focused on one room.

To answer krissi: check out page 50. It gives the program overview. Week one focuses on the whole apartment; cleaning and listing repairs. You'll notice that cleaning takes place on weeks 1-7, so don't feel that you have to clean the whole place in one week!

Then page 54 has the details for Week One: make a complete list of repairs, vacuum and mop floors, remove one item, buy fresh flowers, sit in a part of your home that you never sit it.

Keep in mind that the list of repairs is just a starting place. At least, that's how I used it. I didn't complete all the repairs, but I made a thorough list and figured out which ones I should/could do first.

It can be helpful to take some photographs of your space. I find it easier to analyze things when I'm looking at a photo (I can distance myself from the negative feelings). Also, one of the best things about doing the cure as a group is that you can get wonderful feedback. If you can't figure out how to solve a problem, post a picture and ask! It really helped me to get unstuck.

Emi--I could have written your post. I'm also planning on doing this on a budget. By the end, I hope to have a good idea of what I need so I can confidently spend my limited funds.

Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!! It has really clarified things for me and given me the boost I needed to forge ahead with my decluttering. I think the style tray is what got me. I am going ahead with week one in the book, and not going to worry too much about the style tray
(though I've been getting inspired by the posted photos!).

Thanks again, doubledutch and Moryse Heron! You made my day!

Hi all! This is my first time trying the cure. My husband and I just added a room on our house doing all of the labor ourselves. It has been tough but rewarding and has inspired us to update the rest of the house. Including the add-on, our house is 1050 sq ft 3bed/1bath. Hopefully the cure will get us on the right track because we need some clutter help and creativity.

Wow, tac868, that's pretty amazing that you and your husband did your own addition! Would love to see pics of it posted.

I've taken some before pictures of my bedroom for the Cure and posted them to Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/robinettehandmade/sets/72157622487183799/

I've also started a mood board on ImageSpark, which I'm still adding to:

http://www.imgspark.com/moodboard/edit/4598/

Hello! This is my first time doing the Cure. I'm guessing it's going to be a lot of purging for most of the house but really i'm focusing on the two main rooms: bedroom and living room. It's atrocious and messy and i'm so excited to get started. I'm making updates on my blog. Here's week one for those interested (complete with photos):

http://chibiukincleveland.tumblr.com/post/217695051/fall-cure-wk-1-creating-your-vision

First timer here as well. I have issues purging clothes and I tend to have sentimental attachment to things. Not to mention I feel that each project I start spurs another.

So I'm kind of anxious right now. I've attempted four purge cycles since June. One before I moved, one after, one at the end of summer (getting rid of clothes I didn't wear this summer) and once more pulling out my winter/fall clothes. I still don't seem to have enough space for everything. The problem is, I don't necessarily want to add more storage, I would rather become more comfortable living with less.

Another thing to overcome is that now I'm living with my significant other and I'm also dealing with the merging of things. I love that we're working together to make our home a reflection of "our" style, but it can be taxing at times.

So, those are my hurdles. I know I have a lot to overcome, but I'm excited learn and grow from this experience.

Alright - I'd like to cure our storage spaces (three closets), two connected rooms that aren't really being used because they don't have a clear purpose, and a then just make a few furniture swap outs in our bedroom.

I've already set up my party...

I love the Cure, ya'all!

Best wishes to all of you,

Kate

live in Idaho and I think Idaho should really belong in the "West" group, since the cities nearest Idaho are Portland, Seattle, and Salt Lake City--all cities that are in the West group.

Montana and Wyoming belong in the West group, too.

I'm rather excited to get the ball rolling with this! I reached my limit this summer and decided I wasn't going to live in a house that I found boring, cluttered, and unappealing. So, I spent most of the summer going through rooms and purging/decluttering. I have a long way to go, but it's progress.

What I'm planning on focusing on for the fall cure is to making our house feel like we live here. I started with our dining room and I'm about halfway finished. It has a fresh coat of paint (no more off white that came with the house!) and we've decided to refinish the hardwoods, so I pulled up the carpet.

Part of my motivation for getting rid of stuff is also because I've slowly been "inheriting" parts of my mom's house. She's in the process of downsizing, so I'm getting furniture that I've had my eye on. That probably sounds counter-intuitive, but now I have places for my books (rather than them being boxed up in the closet) and a dresser for clothing (rather than them stuck in piles in the guest room). I've also discovered some funky/unique things that I didn't realize were hanging around, like some chairs that will look cool in various parts of the house, picture frames, etc.

Does anyone else wish that this thread was in an actual "Forum" set up instead of just a thread? Then we could post specific questions and get specific answers without having to specify who we're responding to. Just an idea. It can't be that difficult to set up (for someone with more computer smarts than I have), can it?

I just have to say to repressed: as a transplant to Missouri from the west coast, I am *thrilled* to be part of the "North". Some will understand.

Late to the party but have ordered the AT book and started path-clearing. My challenges are money and access. I can purge, but I'm not sure much can be added - even if I had extra cash to add things, I live in the tiny town from Footloose. Let the creativity begin!

Emi8608, i don't like this set-up. i liked when they had flickr groups for each area. it was easy to see your area's photos and to have discussions. i don't feel motivated because i don't feel like there is a good way to post my progress or that anyone is following my progress.

Whew! I must not be the only one getting a little behind in my tasks. What happened to our Monday post? It actually makes me feel better to know that even the experts hit rough spots now and then.

I've made quite a bit of progress though Still working on purging the clutter, but I do have open counter and floor space now. I also added a coat rack to my landing strip, which is amazing and keeps me from just laying my coat down where ever there is space.

How's everyone else doing? Staying caught up or falling a smidge behind like me and the AT crew?

You are not the only one falling behind on your tasks! I've been doing tons of decluttering and cleaning but find myself doing previous weeks work now to catch up. My dining room is finally looking great since a new piece of furniture allows me to store all of my serving bowls teapots pretty things etc. all in one place, instead of on top of the fridge and where ever else I could find room. I only kept the things I love and am so happy they now have a home and are easily found.

I am looking forward to getting caught up with my landing strip but need to breathe and not get too overwhelmed.

This cure has sent me into a frenzy of house clearing/cleaning which is good but I have to realize it is all a process! There is always more!

Alright - things are going well! On top of a TON of other improvements, I accomplished 1/2 of my original goal - which was to organize and make useful again our 2 closets. Of course, once you start the Cure you end up going in a million different directions - including every room BUT the closets. But, fear not - 50% of the original goal was knocked out over the weekend when I successfully converted a TRUE MESS of an unused back room closet into a BEAUTIFUL linen closet. Which was timely; my mother recently bestowed upon me the INCREDIBLE gift of all of my grandmother's antique linens. Every sort of table cloth, napkin, lace, doiley, and heirloom textile item imaginable. Now, neatly organized in my incredibly new linen closet.

Thanks everyone for the continued encouragement and inspiration!

I'm having some issues with our apartment that perhaps someone else has insight for...

First, we just moved in. I'm all for de-cluttering, but sometimes it feels like we should be doing the opposite! We could use a bit more of a lived-in feel in the space. I guess Maxwell would say it feels too cold -- in the first week, I actually felt like I should gain an item instead of removing one. Any thoughts?

Second, the landing strip has been tricky. We live in the lower apartment of a house, so we use the back door most often because it's close to the garage, but we use the front door to check mail. So... should there be two landing strips? Or should mail-sorting be near the front door, and keys/shoes/coats near the back? It seems counterintuitive to split the landing strip that way (or to have two), but I'm not sure what to do about it. The other problem is that our back door opens right into the kitchen, so there isn't much space to create a hallway/entrance kind of feel.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!