apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My son's room is finished. We had to give up the idea of a tent over his bed for now- he'd probably kill himself (he's just turning 4)
My room is not quite done yet. I can't decide if I want to paint or not. My husband finished the closet renovation and I am just waiting on one last piece of trim to be installed. YEA!!!! The new curtains I got are great and it's lightened the room up. I want to get a new bedside table (or paint my old one) and a new lampshade. I need to go through my shelves and simplify the stuff there and start looking at new ceiling fans. I have an old clunky one and want a new, more efficient one for summer. This won't get done this weekend but it doesn't need to be either. My room looks fine the way it is right now (IMHO) I just want it to look better.

Well, I guess I'll go first.

I learned that you can tackle a huge big impossible job just by taking it in small bitedseveryday. Most of all, I realised that stuff is just stuff. It doesn't mean anything.

We give the objects meaning: they have none at all themselves. Throwing out thing after thing after thing helps us divorce the thing from the meaning we give it.

Do I like it? Do I want it? Will I use it? Does it remind me of happy times, or of someone I love(d)?

or
Can I live without it?

That's all.

I love how everything is coming together & I'm forceably decluttering & redesigning at every step. Painting the bedroom was a big motivator to reach completion. I think that's the final step to kicking my butt to do everything I want in each room without delay. I doubt I'll be done the house by party time, but I'll be close.

PS - couldn't have been happier with my bedroom & couldn't have done it without the ATCure!

Well I am really enjoying my new sewing room but I think it is the great feeling of getting rid of stuff. I actually have been inspired by the Small Cool Contest to really start to eliminate extra stuff from my life. Does anyone need 30 3" binders?

I am kicking into high gear this weekend since next weekend is my sister's college graduation party at my house. I talked my husband into painting our downstairs bathroom this weekend and I got new hardware for it (very excited about it!). I will be sure to post pictures. Also this weekend will be for finishing cleaning out the spare room since it still needs a lot of work and doing some major overall cleaning for the rest of the house.

The most important thing I learned from AT is "set a date" to get started. The spring and fall cure dates are just perfect, with enough time before Xmas and before the summer to finish.

I don't usually worry about finishing in time, since life has a way of interfering with plans. This cure, the hardware I ordered for the bathroom is on backorder until May 13, but until it arrives I'll clean and feed the outbox.

I do not like the mini blinds I installed in the bathroom: they curve at the bottom. I look balefully at them every time I pass by. Should I switch to the two inches blinds?

What about a roman shade, Francesca? Something you can through in the wash? They are super easy to make, if you have to go that route.

My bathroom window is situated very much like yours is--I just put up a simple curtain panel with rings and it opens to just one side. I wanted privacy without sacrificing any light--or the view.

Sorry about this, but a picture of the window is the last one in the post.
http://prairiehometherapy.blogspot.com/2007/10/day-73-bathroom-recap.html

After slacking all week, I had a productive hour last night and I was down there practically the whole day today.

That doesn't seem right. I removed two shelves and moved a box last night: today I covered an old table and moved it: so, how could that take all day?

I'm focussing on tidying up and making things purdy this week. Well, OK, the basement will never be "purdy" --but I tell ya, it's almost nicer down there than the main floor (which has been neglected, needless to say.)

This cure I really let go- as you could see by my outbox pile in flickr- and I feel really good about it. I just started keeping a small computer paper box on my dining room table during the day. Whenever I found something I didn't want anymore I just put it in the box. I have been filling a box every few days.
Even my 4 yr old (just today he turned 4) is getting in on it now! He'll bring me some "baby" toy and tell me to put it in the yard sale box so it can go to some other little boy.

I was lucky to start my kids young, too. Nonetheless, they still have too many "treasures"--I wasn't vigilant enough!

I believe I'm all set to put up my curtains over the wall of shelves tomorrow.

The husband is so impressed with the work I've done he's all motivated to clear out his workshop--and his way to work is to empty it all out (into the part of the basement I just cleared) and then s-l-o-w-l-y put stuff back in. He wants to cut the 24" deep shelves he's got along one wall down to 12" to free up some floor space.

I'm doing my best to squelch that approach while encouraging him to clear it out.