apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hello to all the Midwestern (and Canadian) Cure Attendees!

If this is your first time doing The Cure with us, you'll love being a part of it and if you are repeat "Curing" you're sure to see great results once more!

We will be watching this forum and addressing your Cure issues in our main posts. It's a great place to rally round and share concerns and questions --But most importantly show support for our other Curers.

Spring is a great time to be tackling the Cure and I'm glad to be part of it with you all!

-Sarahrae

So, I was a drop out last time (though I was in denial of that fact for a while) because I bit off more than I could chew—and froze in my tracks when I realized how far I had to go to reach my goal. Hopefully I've learned my lesson and will pace myself better this time.

I already have a question though: How do you handle situations in which your partner and you disagree on design? I'm finding every time I find something I love and want to imitate it, my husband thinks it's awful. And what he likes I think is boring and stuffy.

Both of us are usually good at compromising, but when it comes to taste it's difficult!

Mrs. Mack -

I'd love the answer to that question, too! I love that my husband has an opinion when it comes to design, I just wish it was a little bit closer to my tastes! :)

My room is in dire need of a makeover... I live in a two bedroom house with 5 people and a dog... so usually my room ends up as the black hole where all the clutter converges.. I'm hoping that Spring Cure 2009 will help me change this..
Right now i already have idea's coming together on how to fix it up... :-( going to be hard to do this though since in two weeks my room is going to be babysitting 27 little chickens we are getting in the mail... But, i'm sure i can work around it.

We have been doing some work (building a new header in the kitchen/dining room and re doing the bedroom decor) for a week now, it should be fun doing the cure this time!

I don't really live in Chicago, but in Bloomington IN....close enough, I guess. I am always psyched at this time of year to spend time de-cluttering, cleaning, and improving the quality of our not-so-big house. Looking forward to the Cure!

I'm not in Chicago either - I'm in northern Wisconsin - but this is as close as we get!

I'm fairly new to AT, and I don't have the book (working on getting it from the library) but I'm still interested in giving this a shot. We just moved into a 140 year old farm house with fantastic "bones", and I find myself feeling compelled to spend, spend, spend in order to make it feel like home. In reality, we have WAY more stuff than we need already! I'm hoping the Cure will help me find a way to warm up my house without breaking the bank.

Well, I'm getting the book again from the library. I've read part of it in the past, looked at my list and gave up before starting. Hopefully the support will keep me going. I'm also going to try tackling just one room, or maybe two, but no more than that. But then there is the coat closet that needs some attention. So maybe that also. See....I need serious help. I need to keep my focus manageable. This isn't the first time I've had this problem. :)

I'm in SE Michigan...I bought the book last year, read part of it, got intimidated, and put it away. This year I think I'm ready to give it a go! We just added on to our house and I'm having trouble figuring out how to put together the new space to tie in with the rest of the house. I have two little ones and the kid clutter gets out of control. Good luck to everyone!

Dear Mrs. Mack,

Does your husband travel? My favorite trick is to store up my ideas and then wait for my husband to go out of town for a few days, then I go crazy and hope that when he sees everything pulled together, he likes it. I always stick with the rule that if he hates it, I'll return whatever it is but I find it easier to beg for forgiveness after the fact. If that might lead you to counseling, how about talking to him about decorating being a passion or a hobby just like X is for him and seeing if he could give you a little leeway. Or....what about setting some parameters...maybe there's a room he spends most of his time in and you could agree to leave that one off limits?

I have a similar problem — but with a roommate not a significant other. We're both eclectic chic, but she likes having more random stuff/nicknacks that she buys on a whim, while I like a fewer, more thought out variety of decorating accessories. So I need a good way to approach her about this while I try to declutter our apartment.

I'm tackling my bedroom and our kitchen and bathroom, but I don't think any of them need major overhauls — just decoration/storage updates.

Textile-queen,

Is there any way you could rope the roommate into doing the Spring Cure with you? Maybe by reading the book she would be on the same page as you? Just a thought.

jrusso,

Thanks for the ideas! None of them will work right now, but I'll keep them in mind for the future. :)

I can't drive, so I can't go anywhere (even shopping) without him...only the grocery store is within walking distance, and even that's a trip. And since we're new to the area (moved to this Chicago suburb from Indiana) I don't have any friends that could take me instead.

We also live in a tiny apartment, so there isn't any space either of us can claim as solely our own. Someday we hope to upgrade to a bigger apartment (or even a house!), but until then, we both live in every space.

But "challenges" are really just "opportunities to be creative" in disguise, right? ;) I'll do my best to work with what I have.

@Miss*Lisa Good idea. I know she looks at this site sometimes too, so maybe she'd be into it. Ha — what if she's already seen this message board and then I come to her with the idea to do it together? She's totes going to know it was me. Oh well. At least I'll have a more beautified place. :)

Hi Everyone! I thought I would chime in with my favorite way to persuade another to fall in line with your design ideas. I've had roommates and now a husband who have never seen things my way before.

After attempting to make people visualize my point of view, I realized it was easier if they just flat out saw it instead. With my roommates, I made a big design board with rooms that I loved pinned to it. And then used little tags to say what I loved about it. (lamps, rugs, window treatments)

If you have a roommate who is cluttered and collections are taking over, pin up things that still have collections but are well organized and under control. If you have a husband who can't even fathom the idea of a zebra or shag rug, display rooms with them. The more they see the style in use in other homes the easier it is for them to comprehend your design ideas.

In the end, even if I had a roommate who I really didn't see eye to eye with, they at least understood where I was coming from and that I wasn't just trying to make them change, it instilled the same passion that I had for a well designed and organized space!

Just food for thought, I'm happy to see so many Midwesterners chiming in on the Chicago board, it's a great place for everyone to throw in ideas!

-sarahrae

Really looking forward to a weekend of curing (and probably some b.ball watching) but I totally wish it was nicer outside!! I have far more motivation when the windows are all open and the breeze is blowing. It's not even 50 degrees yet...boo! Oh well. Going to do the deep clean because my place needs it, but I'll be putting extra focus on bedroom week I think. Might borrow someones camera since I broke mine and prob. won't get a new one till my b.day in a few weeks. Well, off to get started - grabbing my mop and bucket :)

My husband and I live in a really funky (read:weird) apartment in Lincoln Park. We are doing the 8 week cure to make better use of our space and to create a space we love.

I'm pretty lucky because he's totally on board, we are reading the book together, and we're both feeling inspired.

We're newlyweds (that might explain his enthusiasm) and we don't have a ton of cash, but we do have the time.

I was surprised and a little overwhelmed with the number or repairs I found that need to be done, and how many of them are quick fixes that we have just been over looking.

I really needed this push to get them taken care of!

I suggested reading the book to my husband and he gave me a look of terror. I said, "Well, what about just the example stories?" His face changed to agony.

So I gave up on that idea. ;)

Something surprising, though, is that I showed him a few pictures to explain what I meant by "texture." When he saw one of the photos he immediately said, "I like that. I like that it's earthy." I really like natural stuff, so that's one thing we can agree on!

Our main issue is the couch... It'll be a while before that one's resolved. He likes really lumpy/soft. I like firm, clean lines. Sigh...

More on topic to the cure, I managed to tackle my kitchen this past weekend! I still have two cupboards to do, but I did all of the other cupboards and drawers, rearranged my counter tops, and threw out all expired food.

I'm really encouraged! It was at this point last cure that I started to waver.

Good job Mrs.Mack, I'm glad you are hanging in there this time! I know you'll love getting to finish it all the way to the end!

Mrs. Mack,

You mentioned not being able to drive...check this out - it looks like fun (but maybe a bit pricey) and I think they leave from the Chicago area:
http://www.comefleawithme.com/

OK, I admit it. I signed up and then haven't done anything at all for 3 weeks. I got sort of paralyzed because I'm trying to do the one room treatment but I kept getting distracted by all the cleaning/decluttering (which is so tempting because that needs to be done too) - but if I don't finish my family room, I'm going to have to shoot myself. So from now on, I'm going to focus on that and not get distracted by the "full" cure.

Here's my before pic. Warning: it isn't pretty!:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/metromom9/Cure010.jpg

And my to-do list:
Finish priming window (2 nights)
First coat of paint on window (3 nights)
Second coat of paint on window (2 nights)
Hang blinds
Arrange bar bookcase
Arrange built-ins
Clean rug
Get blueprint framed
Hang artwork
Prime back door
Paint back door
Prime french doors (3 nights - I hope!)
First coat of paint on french doors (3 nights)
Second coat of paint on french doors (2 nights)
Arrange toy area
Touch up blue paint
Touch up wall paint
Touch up trim paint
Convice DH to switch outlets and switches to white
Nag DH
Nag DH
Nag DH
Nag DH
Nag DH

LOTS of painting to do - the tedious, brushwork kind. But I need to just jump in and do it.

Thanks for the tip, robinette! I had heard of them, but didn't know the details.

Metromom, congrats on digging in - that's a big list but it sounds like you have a plan and that's what this is all about, right?

I had a little head start so I've already dug in on the repairs, but it's amazing the things that come up once you start. The painter came and went and then we had some speakers installed which required a hole in the wall and the ceiling both of which now need to be touched up and I have no idea how to match the paint on the ceiling (it was there when we moved in) and I'm not sure I have a ladder tall enough to tackle the hole in the wall....just when I thought I was done with the repairs....And we had wiring put in so that we can have a light over the dining room table but we just can't pick a light. We went to Lightology last weekend but realized we don't really want to spend $1,000 on a light fixture with all of the other things we have on the list right now. Any good sources for reasonable, contemporary light fixtures?

Finished priming and am halfway through the first coat of paint on the window...DH says he's going to do some outlets this afternoon. Progress is progress!

I haven't taken any pictures, but I figured it's better to keep going than wait until I get around to taking progress shots before continuing. Right? ;)

We did a deep clean yesterday, since that got skipped for various reasons. I also tackled the landing strip, which was a mess. But after some careful observations I realized it was working for the most part...I just wasn't sorting through the mail/junk often enough and it was piling on top of everything else once the mail bin got full. That's a habit I'll need to work on!

I am still plugging away...


Finish priming window (2 nights) DONE
First coat of paint on window (3 nights) DONE
Second coat of paint on window (2 nights)
Hang blinds
Hem curtains
Arrange bar bookcase
Arrange built-ins
Clean rug
Get blueprint framed
Hang artwork
Prime back door
Paint back door
Prime french doors (3 nights - I hope!)
First coat of paint on french doors (3 nights)
Second coat of paint on french doors (2 nights)
Arrange toy area DONE
Touch up blue paint
Touch up wall paint
Touch up trim paint
Convice DH to switch outlets and switches to white
Nag DH DONE (two outlets down, more to go)
Nag DH
Nag DH
Nag DH
Nag DH

Hi everyone! I live in NW Ohio and just found AT and the Cure about a week ago. I devoured the book (as is my way) and I am jumping right into the middle, here. I am doing things more in a "Spring Cleaning and decluttering inspired by the AT Cure" than following the formula in the exact order. There are several reasons for that, but the number one is that the book convinced me that we are very "warm" people (you remember, the clutterbugs with too much furniture and too many knick-knacks and nowhere to put anything). In fact, I would venture to say that compared to the warm people profiled in the book, we are smoking, blazing fire hot!

I had some ideas about how to better use our space and existing furniture before I found AT. Reading the book really solidified some of my thinking and gave me some new ideas as well.

I am going to add some more details later about this whole thing, but right now I need to get to bed! I moved around a bunch of stuff and I'm all wound up with thoughts of what I want to do in some repurposed spaces around the house, so I haven't felt sleepy yet. But I know I need to get some fabulous shut-eye if I want to follow the spirit of the Cure! I'll add more about my situation tomorrow. Ciao!

I do my best work (I'm most efficient) between 9 am and noon. But I'm always busy then (work, church, etc.), except Saturdays...and I have all my other chores (groceries, cleaning, laundry) to do then, too.

On week days, by the time I get home, cook dinner, and clean up it's 8:00 or so and I just want to crash.

How does everyone else get their cure assignments done? I hate "bingeing" on Saturdays, but I don't see another way.

I've been forcing myself to find the energy at night. Usually by the time my day is over, all I want to do is crash - but I'll never get this finished if I don't do it while I'm tired - so I force myself to start and usually get a second wind once I start. I'm about to go work on it now...hoping to knock 3 items off my list. That #$%^%% window is 90% done and I just want to do the last 10% and then never have to think about it again!

Is there somewhere else that people are posting? It seems like there was more conversation last year...

In any event, I am making steady progress...kills me to be indoors today, but I am determined to get this done, and getting to the point were I can see the finish line, which motivates me further. Today I've been working on arranging my built-in shelves. Not quite perfect, and I'll keep tweaking as I find the right "stuff" - but I don't want to go out and buy things just for the sake of having it there, so here's the best I could do with what I had on hand.

Before:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/metromom9/Cure010.jpg

After:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/metromom9/Cure003.jpg

and:
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/metromom9/Cure002.jpg

Wow, that looks great metromom! When you posted the before the other day I thought it looked fine, but your afters are fantastic.

I think people aren't posting as much because:
1. They're mentioning their updates on the main posts.
2. We're one big home cure blob this year, instead of divided by area. For those who didn't have many in their area this is probably better (they get more variety), but for areas like Chicago that have quite a few members it feels impersonal because it's too big of a group—our voices get lost in the crowd.
3. These discussion boards are to help keep things from getting too big, but they're off to the side and considered an after thought. So people forget they're here.
4. This discussion board isn't as interactive as the posts from the fall cure. No being asked questions by the blogger that spur responses, no "will my pictures be picked from flickr this week?", no member interaction (which leads to more no member interaction...people don't like posting when no one else is posting because then it looks like they're taking over the board), etc.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is necessarily a bad set up. It just needs a few kinks worked out.

thanks, I hadn't really been checking the comments on the main posts. I'll watch those more closely.

Hello again, everyone! How's everyone doing?

My progress has slowed quite a bit. I'm not allowed to paint or hang curtains (we rent), so I've been having trouble trying to incorporate color. And my husband and I are also butting heads about lighting.

There is no overhead lighting in our apartment except in the bathroom and kitchen. I have two tall floor lamps for the living room and would like to get more (it's so dark in there we have to have the kitchen light on even with the lamps on in order to see well), but my husband doesn't see the point. :P

Same problem with the bedroom. We have two small beside lamps, and one tall floor lamp on the other side of the room. NOT ENOUGH LIGHT! Doesn't matter to him because all of his clothes mix and match. Mine don't. And I can't see myself in my vanity mirror, so my morning preparations are spread throughout the apartment (clothes and jewelry in the bedroom, hair and make up in the bathroom, and lint roller in the kitchen...the only place bright enough and with enough room to spread my arms and get fuzzies off of me).

I don't really know what to do, and I suppose venting here about it won't really help. But it's nice to have someone say, "You're right; you need more light!" haha!

I really missed the feeling of community with our Chicagoland neighbors that we had last fall. So sad that this board is dead.