apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi Kansas City! Is there anyone Curing with me this time around?

Hi KC!

I'm with Sarahrae, where are you two who asked for the thread?

Let's get this party started.

Hi Sarahrae,

I am intending to do the cure. I started decluttering, got the bike out of the hall closet and the rest of the closet fell out on to the floor. I think I need some organization around here.

I actually live in Merriam.

OK, here's number two.

My big project is our master bedroom, and this weekend I cleaned out my closet and got it a little more organized. We're on a bit of a fast track because we're expecting our first child near the beginning of May, so the handyman started today with painting, new lighting, etc. So that part will move pretty fast, but I'm finding that my problem is the last 10%. I get rooms 90% of the way there but never quite "finish" them.

I painted the apartment and put up new drapes, but all the art work is sitting on the floor. I can't seem to get the flow right in my living room. I filled the van with crap to give away to thrift. I was thinking I would start with the art work first, but I think that hall closet needs to get organized first.

I'm doing the cure! I live in KCMO and I ordered a copy of the book from Amazon, but I am still waiting for it to arrive, so I am a bit behind, but definitly looking forward to it!

Hi guys! I'm glad there's a few of us around!

jbuff - You're not that far behind, it will be an easy catch up especially if you are motivated!!

Gus205- Artwork doesn't have to go up right away. When we moved in November, I rearranged the art on our walls close to 40 times before being truly settled with it. We have SO MUCH wall space that spacial relations got tricky! No worries if it's not done and congrats on the current decluttering and painting successes!

kcmo- Congrats on the pregnancy! It seems there are new babies hatching everywhere I turn these days! The last 10% is the hardest, but the last 10% is also the most rewarding. With a hard deadline for The Cure (because let's face it, after the duedate it will be all baby all the time) don't be afraid to make a master list and start checking things off so you can feel like you're accomplishing things and know what you still have left!




Have a great week everyone! Don't forget, it helps to Cure with a friend... like jogging. It's harder to fall off the path if you're running along side someone. So if you know someone who's interested, make sure to invite them to participate, book or no!

Since I am unemployed at the moment, I am being frugal. I was inspried to clean out the under the sink area primarily because I couldn't find things I was looking for. I was inspired by the under the sink organization that Max showed us.

Before I began reading my newly arrived apartment therapy book, I was thinking that I would need to be getting some sort of storage to better organize my things (I live in a very small apartment). But after reading the first chapter, I realized that I need to throw a lot of my stuff out--not store it! I have started the big purge and even if it hasn't created a great deal of space, it feels good to simplify my belongings to only the things I need...not the things I think I might need some day.

jbuff, thank you for that thought, "things I need .. not the things I might need someday" I think Maxwell has it in his book somewhere. I just got overwhelmed, but I only have to do the kitchen this week. I called maintenance about a garbage disposal that wasn't working. They installed a new one and were looking at the stove which doesn't heat above 200 degrees, thinking about putting in a gas range. Wow, I love cooking with gas. I am even going to clean behind the refrigerator.

Does anyone know where I can get a broom mop holder that slides out?

We have a hard deadline indeed. Yesterday the painter/handyman finished up in the master bedroom and it looks fantastic. We finally have a space that is clean and restful and sexy...just in time for a crying baby. We also designed and built a headboard and mounted nightstand system for our bed, which was previously sitting on a frame against a bare wall, and it looks great. Currently my husband's closet is in what is now the nursery, so next weekend my sister is making the trek to Ikea in Minneapolis to pick up a Pax wardrobe, which has a spot waiting for it in the master bedroom, so that we can move his closet in there. After that we will be 90% of the way there, and as I said before, I will be struggling with the last 10%.

Gus205--You might try Casabella--they are my favorite for all things cleaning and I am not sure if they have a pull-out broom mop holder, but they do have Grook holders for this purpose.

kcmo--is there any way that you can post pics of your headboard/nightstand that you built? I would love to see this as I have been wanting to do something like this for quite a while.

My week has continued to consist of purging--throwing OUT lots of junk! Very nice to get done as my apartment is so small.

I am determined to get everything out of here that I am not using, that has bad memories associated with it, that I am never going to use.

Today, I spent a bunch of time putting a shelf system together in my walk closet and cleaning out the hall closet. I am going to put in my shelves so I'll have a landing area for when I come in.

I need to start making the list of things that need doing and improvements I want to make.

As soon as I get everything out of here, I am going to post some pictures which questions about color.

As I am decluttering, it's a hard time of year to resist all the other people's stuff in the garage sale mania that is about to happen (St. Theresa's next weekend!) this Spring
My battle with clutter begins with buying the junk in the first place.

Hey Kansas City...I just signed up on this very snowy spring morining. De-clutter is starting to be my middle name. As a very young person in her...uh...well...I'm an early baby boomer...I have 'collected' so much 'stuff' it's killing me. Yesterday I de-cluttered my basement as we are adding a thrid bath, and wow....crazy how much 'stuff' one 'collects'. Anyway, my husband and I are trying to do the third bath in mostly stuff from craigslist. (a free toilet an amazingly beautiful pedestal sink ofr $50)

I haven't even heard of the book, but plan on checking it out on amazon...glad to be here, good reading.

I am a basic pack rat, but becoming a gypsy has thrown the whole pat rack thing to the far winds. There is a trail of belongings (I just couldn't live without) discarded along my path. The other problem is that I can see a use for almost anything so it was hard to discard anything.

The way I handle the tendency now is to only keep what works in my current place, sell or give away the rest of it (it's in the way in the new place and who knows what the next place will need). I only buy used stuff (other people's mistakes), but I do like quality.

I got the shelves in the closet built. My goal tonight is just to get everything up off the floor and off the surface areas so it looks calmer. And vacuum.

jbuff, I'll try to post some pictures tonight. I was considering waiting until the whole room was done, but I'm so proud of the headboard project that I'm happy to send an "in progress" photo.

This weekend we did a lot of little projects that took almost no time at all, but that for some reason we'd been putting off. My husbnad installed a new threshold between the hallway and the upstairs bathroom (where we pulled up the existing carpet, disgusting, and put in a black rubber floor many many months ago), and also hung shelves in the nursery, which completely changed the look of the room. It's amazing what the little stuff does.

The handyman is now done in our upstairs, so we threw away the construction trash, got all of our furniture back to the right spot, etc. If you have a bathroom that you hate, consider some paint and new lighting. I hated our upstairs bathroom, and while it's not a masterpiece now, paint (walls and vanity) and new lighting, along with the rubber floor, have made a huge difference. I might even describe it as pleasant now. Before it was hideous.

Everything sounds fantastic guys, everyone has great drive and determination.

For those struggling with clutter, know that I've been there. Being Midwestern it's hard. Everyone's houses are practically packed with stuff, so not many got a leg up on what a "clean state of mind" really looks like (or the ability to know what we need and what we just have around us... just cause). It's not easy... you can read a post I wrote about my own transition here:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/at-on/at-on-my-real-life-battle-with-cluttersarahrae-exposed-069171

Don't forget to send us in pictures of your progress or even submit your home to Smallest Cool or a Home Tour!

I've never linked to pictures before so I hope this works, but jbuff these are before and afters of our master bedroom that show the headboard/nightstand mounted system. Hopefully the befores and afters are obvious, but just in case, orange: before, gray: after. This is just phase 1, but it's made a huge difference already.

http://a05-b05.mypicturetown.com:80/P2PwebCmdController/share.jsp?x=J82iiesd7FHMl%26Q%25%25Ni%2A99aK.MOyi9xSep2tjz3z.Vvw%264zOj--k0HE614Uz8qc1x%25b0qeMAuzR.GYBN8q7cjHyVD-5Mu66tHJZQldJ%2AcY9B%2AKv

kcmo--thanks for posting pics--it looks great! Adding a headboard makes the bedroom look so much more finished and inviting. I hope to do the same sort of thing--thanks again for sharing.

I am continuing to purge and have been selling some household items on craigslist and books on Amazon to increase my renovation budget. I can't believe someone was able to get a pedestal sink off craigslist for $50--what a steal!

Does anyone have any plans for the weekend?

In my own space we finished hanging artwork (we'd been putting it off since it had to go roughly 20 ft in the air and into masonry), dusted all of our toys and collectibles and started plans for our dinner party!

Tell me about yours....

RE: the landing strip- We got a basket with a lid (flip up type lid) and put it RIGHT next to the mailbox slot on the inside of the house. It seems to be working well to collect junk mail. On trash day, we'll shred it and off it goes.
The cat likes to sit in it, but that' okay...:)

Gus here, checking in, it's not that i haven't been busy. I changed the flow of the living room by angling the area rug, created a cozy sitting area, got the drapes hung up two inches so they don't drag along the floor (makes getting light into the apt so much easier), and am having friends over for Bunny Day dinner.

I have been slowly making progress...got repairs done today (which consists of calling my landlord--a huge benefit of renting!), am in the progress of picking out a paint color for my living room (which I am painting this weekend) and finished my landing strip. I think everything will look far more finished when I get painting done!

One challege I am facing: I live in an older apartment building severly lacking in the number of outlets per room. For example, in my living room I have only two outlets (only one that is in a useable area). Anyone have any suggestions for reducing the clutter of extension cords and power strips that I seem to have everywhere?!