apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I need to catch up on soooo much!! But I am really looking forward to what appears to be a free weekend. Tonight we are celebrating my company's 20th anniversary and get to go to a dinner at the swankiest joint in town, Tony's. I am insanely excited, but have much to do when all the excitement has died down tomorrow. I'm feeling really energetic though, and am looking forward to gorgeous weather at least on Sunday. That'll help me move on more projects tomorrow, so that we can get out and enjoy the nice weather.

And I promise to post some photos of progress that aren't just food-related ;) Though cooking at home really is one of my favorite parts of the Cure, and it has become something that we do a whole lot more of now, all year long.

I was so happy that my bathrooms are in order (maybe a little boring but in order) because it is finally spring here! 70 degrees and sunny. I have spent all week outside doing yard work and it feels fantastic!

The house is cleaner, the laundry room is finished, the bedroom is done, my sons room is finished, and I have about 40 boxes of stuff for my yard sale- and that's not counting the furniture and chairs I have finally decided to part with. I just need a few more hours in my studio and I am DONE.

This has been great this time around- things have finally "clicked" and I am finally parting with items I no longer need or want.

There is paint on the walls, ceiling, my hands and my dogs tail. So, that is what I have been up to. I have a quick question that I can't find the answer in the book. I want to hang two pictures in a row in my dining room and I don't know how to apply the 57 inch center rule. Do I make the 57 inch mark between the two pictures?

Jenny your place looks great.

Lorijo, do we get to see your finished pictures soon? I would love to see your sons room and your studio. Laundry room looks great. I am glad you found that fuse box. My sister renovated her dining room once and found a bathroom that had been closed in.

good luck everyone on the final two weeks.

An entire bathroom? Wow, I thought my fusebox was strange....

A secret room! Too bad it was just a bathroom and not a little treasure store! Of course, another bathroom could be considered a treasure, if you need it!

I am totally out of steam. Cold weather isn't helping at all. But then, the kids and I have done a full week of school and that always takes a lot of energy! I'm also trying to keep up with the dishes and I feel like I'm tied to my sink. (No dishwasher).

Argh. Enough excuses. Even though I have a list, I don't know what to do next.

I am inspired to keep going and doing great things because of the great response to my photos. I want to impress you guys!

Love your office photos Kenn! So meticulously organized & well-photographed!

I might need some help choosing the final colour for my bedroom, but all other rooms have been decided. Buying paint next week & painting should be done by the weekend, just in time for the big reveal! Ridiculously excited for colour!

so, Alana's comment to me 6 weeks ago finally translated into action this week, when my husband left.

i repainted the kitchen, rebuilt the pantry (photos coming after he returns, i don't want him to see them accidentally!), painted a focus wall, repainted another wall that had old paint (to showcase a piece of art that is no longer there). touched up moldings in the bathroom. cleaned the bedroom.

a week ago we cleaned the entire place head to toe and had 2 bags of pure trash.

and last week i reorganized the rest of the pantry - ALL the food, everything underneath the sink.

so, to summarize - Alana, THANK YOU, you motivated me to think about my complicated closet and solve the problem.

(and i'm with the cure, although doing it a bit differently as some parts were accidentally done 2 weeks before it got started... and yes, i'm doing deep cleaning :-) )

If you are referring to me, Olya, and not the other Alana, you're more than welcome. I think I remember saying something about your pantry, but I honestlt do not remember! That's a lot of work, Olya! I'm so glad you were able to figure something out and I'm looking forward to seeing those pictures!

I'm not inspired or motivated to do anything: I want to sand some chairs but I don't want to sand them by hand--which means taking them outside and....it snowed last night.

I'll figure out something to do, I suppose.

Posted some bathroom photos to the group. I'm way behind, but I feel that I have reached the halfway mark. The ceiling is done, the walls painted ( I decided to embrace the blue), color accent painted inside the wall cabinet, which was painted and shall remain doorless. The windows has new mini-blinds and is sparkling. The sill has been sanded, primed and painted.
I ordered new towel racks and knobs, a reasonable compromise between what I really wanted and what suits the house.
I whish I took better pictures!

Progress report done:
http://prairiehometherapy.blogspot.com/2008/04/week-6-progress-report.html

Off to check out your photos Francesca. Excellent work!

Alana in Canada - yes, I should have specified :-) Totally you.

(and pat yourself on the back for this too - I learned how to drill and put in shelves all on my own!)

AND WOW, boy, my accomplishments are nothing to everything you did! AMAZING!

I was entirely exhausted from yesterday's festivities (and they did drag on into the wee hours of today...), and after throwing together the dough for some no-knead bread, drinking two cups of coffee, and staring out into space, I took a nap. Three hours later, I'm groggy as anything, and heading to the store to get the ingredients for tonight's roast chicken dinner at home. So there went my plans for getting caught up today!

Maybe I'll be up early tomorrow and can whip some things into shape before heading out into the gorgeous weather. We will see!

Congrats Olya! I'm absurdly pleased you learned to use a drill and put up your own shelves and such! Great skills to have.

I wound up just moving some furniture around in the basement today. The area I was working in needs to be completely sorted and purged--funny how a little organization reveals excess, but I'm not up to it at the moment!

I can really see the end to this project, now, though and that's good!

Thank you everyone on here so much for all of your advice and support along the way. I love our little community! Anyway, I am finally picking up the second chair tonight. They are SO beautiful in person. I can't even stand it. I have one of them covered up with a tablecloth while I figure out how to keep the snow leopard (my roommates HUGE cat) from destroying them. Any suggestions?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/harmonyfrance/2418772017/

I promise that I will get some more pictures up this week. Good luck to everyone!!!!

Ok, these are cheap ideas:
old sheets or, if you need something thicker, old blankets--pick some up at a second hand shop like Value Village.

If that doesn't appeal, you can pick up some canvass drop cloths at any big box store--they're rugged enough for the job and with lots of pinning and tucking may even look 1/2 decent.

It's great to hear about everyone's progress.
After slacking for the last week and a half, I busted butt Friday night and Saturday morning to prepare for weekend visitors. My mom and little sister came up for an overnight visit. All the deep cleaning I was avoiding is done. It was nice to have some girl time and shopping companions....but its even nicer, now that they're gone, to be left with a clean house. I know I'm guilty of picking and choosing what parts of the cure I want to keep up with. Buying flowers? Yes!! Mopping 1800 sq ft? Not so much...
Today, curled up comfortably in a truly clean home, I physically feel better...healthier, energized. It really makes me think twice about my lazy tendencies. I think my cure commitment is renewed :)
Other than using a lot of elbow grease, I sorted through an enormous stack of old mail and financial stuff....my office is functioning so much better. Working from home is much more of a challenge than I anticipated - I feel like I have to earn my bosses' respect all over again. So I really want to focus on work for the next month. My year review will be in June and I want to blow then away (and hopefully earn a nice little raise).
It's so funny to me how the cure effects all these aspects of my life. As my ever-ghetto, hubby would say "this shitz is fo' real" :)