How are you all doing on Week One? You sure look busy over on the flickr pool! Looks like you're taking stock of the kind of work you want to get done during the Cure, getting inspired and building some momentum. While next week is going to be all about getting your hands dirty, this weekend focus on what's important: a good mopping, some movement and maybe even a plan: 
Assignments
Deep Treatment:
One of our favorite parts about this week is getting permission to take something out of the house and put it out on the street. This week we put out some old (giant) garden pots that had been seriously cluttering up the garden. We seem to have an, ahem, abundance of garden containers. We had good intentions of giving them to a friend or selling them on craigslist, but it's been months and they were just sitting there. So out they went into the alley. They were gone in an hour. Oh the relief! Don't miss the opportunity to feel lighter and see what it does to your momentum.
• Make a complete list of repairs and solutions.
• Vacuum and mop the floors.
• Remove one item from your apartment and put it outside
• Buy Fresh Flowers (get creative here, you can add branches from the garden, fall leaves from the park, a big green leaf from a plant you have growing, etc).
• Sit for 10 minutes in a part of you home that you never sit in.
• Invest in some eco friendly cleaning products.
• Choose one room
• Gather up a style tray
• Visit your favorite home store
• Set a budget
Some Useful Links:
• All the Cure Worksheets! (Thanks Sparkle)
• Southwest Cure Flickr Pool
• Simple Green: rearranging furniture
• Do you have way more stuff than you thought you did? You're not alone!
• If you're planning on going to the Domino Bazaaar tomorrow (Maxwell will be there at 2:30!), check out their Flower Arranging 101 at 4.
• Organizing Tips for the Overtired and Overstressed
Any challenges? Gripes? Anyone thrilled with a change they made? Anyone put something really big out on the curb? Chime in in the comments!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
i tried downlouding the file and excel cannot open it.... :(
view chicago_girl's profile
Chicago_Girl, which version did you download? Try downloading the second one (.xls), that one should work in ALL versions of excel. If not, let me know and I'll fix it.
view sparkle's profile
I just read a few tips you may find useful if you're switching out/storing your seasonal clothes this weekend:
-with fine sandpaper, sand your cedar sticks and balls to bring them to life since the surface oxidizes over time. If you're lucky enough to have a cedar closet, sand the walls!
-launder & dry clean clothes before storing. Moths and other bugs go right for stains we may not see. Stains are their food.
-use cloth garment bags, not plastic ones. Or wrap in clean sheets or acid-free muslin found in craft stores/store in pillow cases (no plastic of any kind, its gases are absorbed by fiber).
view peahen's profile
Do people still have land lines? My grandmother had a phone like that.
view Local Spice's profile
i still need to buy the book. our library doesn't have it. guess i should get on it.
view animalhouze's profile
I still have a landline... and two way oler phones. I dread the day I *need* a cell phone.
view ce_pelle's profile
Well my parents have a landline still, and also have a very cool, very old, rotary phone. And what I do love about it is that it's so loud, it can be heard anywhere in their home.
view Local Spice's profile
I started off Week one by getting the place clean enough to have a party of sorts - 2 couples invited over for dinner - we hadn't gotten together as couples since before my divorce (!!!) and rather than going out for dinner, they each brought a dish to my place, and we had dinner here. They got a chance to really interact with my boyfriend, and it was a nice evening. It was also nice to get things cleaned up in the apartment, there were a couple things that were driving me crazy that I managed to relocate/fix/etc.
But, I posted this on my blog - I'm kind of cheating on the Cure - because at the end of the 8 weeks, I'm moving to a bigger place! I am accepting that the tiny apartment for two doesn't work, and it may not have worked for me in the long run as a 1 person thing either....I like to have a place that I can close the door on with my artwork/office stuff, and the current layout doesn't support that lifestyle.
The way I'm approaching the cure is to then
1) identify the things that could potentially become problems in the new apartment, based on current habits
2) Plan out the way we will use the apartment immediately, and then also allow for a development over time of our style together
3) look at the cure as "preventative" health care - rather than fixing a sick apartment, we can move in to a healthy place right from the start.
I'm pretty excited!
view blueroses1's profile
blueroses1, that is a great approach and i'm so envious that you get to start fresh like that!
view peahen's profile
Wish I could join in, but I'll be lucky if I can just get the post-Ike contractors out within 8 weeks. Right now I'm just happy to have my wall back.
view whytephoenix's profile
i was sick all weekend and didn't do anything :(
view akostalas's profile