Lisa from VA reveals her favorite room
Quote of the week from Melinda:
"The last eight weeks have also been "The Remove-vation." I'd always thought I was a major thrower-outer before. I was fanatical about it. A Branch Discardian. But the stuff I've gotten rid of in the past two months surprises even me."
It ain't over until the fat lady sings. Even though it is hard to generate a tremendous bang online, I want to congratulate the Class of June 2006 for being the first ginuea pigs in what is an novel new process: the online group Cure. As has been said all over the country in the month, "you are a talented and remarkable class." And it's true. You are.
Thanks to all of those who participated!
Also, because we are fully aware that everyone's timing wasn't perfect we will continue to run Cure June 06 posts as long as people desire it. Consider this your thread. Having finished the Cure, you are now on your own and can proceed at your own pace, consulting with others as you go.
I would also love your input on improving the Cure as we go forward. The next one is in October/November, ending just before Thanksgiving.
• Christine (in DC)'s CD Cure
• Melinda's blog about her breakthrough moment with help from another reader
• Jeffrey's tips on adjusting toilet water level!
• Mod Mom popped up in the Cure!
• Marva and Brian are still in week 4!
(The last post is here - all Worksheets are here - The Book Blog is here)
This is the first time I didn't graduate on time. For shame.
Congrats to all those succes stories!
Thanks for quoting me numerous times! It's really directed a lot of traffic towards my blog, which, ironically, I've been too busy to update a lot lately.
BTW, the poster I gave away would look great in the apartment pictured above.
No diploma for me either. I surprised and disappointed myself by burning out after Week 3. Quite a bit of progress was made though; heaps of garbage bags are testimony.
I'll use the summer to tackle the big dirty tasks -painting and installing light fixtures and baseboards. When it's time for the Autumn Cure my home will have stonger bones.
Marva and Brian are puzzled by the proper color for their fireplace.
(Okay, I had to find the work table under the pile of Italian decorating magazines that I was going to read on the plane and didn't because I watched the stupid movie instead.)
lisa's room is beautiful.
Christine,
What brand of CD sleeves did you use? Those are exactly what I'm looking for to reduce the space that all my cd's take up.
Thanks!
darlyn
Darlyn,
I'm so happy to share this info because it took me a lot of online shopping to find what I wanted. I got them at www.bagsunlimited.com, and they are "univenture viewpak xg." They sell them elsewhere online but I thought bagsunlimited had good service and good prices. Here's the link
http://www.bagsunlimited.com/cart/detail.asp?cat=2&subcat=415&product_id=su10211
I got them in black but they also offer white. what's so great is that you can put the cd and the tray card and the book all in one place. You have to bend the tray card a bit to fold the sleeve, but that was okay with me.
One caveat--these won't fit in most cd-sized storage boxes. I guess they're slightly wider than a jewel case. I found this out the hard way, after buying some at the Container Store. So, I went to return it and brought a sleeved cd with me and walked around the store testing it out. I ended up buying an open plastic bin for 2.99. I was hoping for a nice black cardboard, but it will do for now at least! They also seemed to fit inside Container Store's stowaway boxes, but that wasn't what I was looking for. Univenture does sell storage boxes, so that's an option too, but I wanted something to put them in right away.
Hope they work for you!!!!
Darlyn,
I should have looked at this before posting the last message, but I remembered that when I was looking up the boxes, I found that they sell the boxes with sleeves already in them--wish I'd known that before I bought!
http://www.sleevetown.com/cd-storage.shtml
http://www.univenture.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2euniventure%2ecom%2facatalog%2findex2%2ehtml&WD=box&SHOP=%20&PN=specials%2ehtml%23a1_2110194#a1_2110194
Whoa! I keep coming back to look at Lisa's Favorite Room.
It's the kind of room I never actually do myself, no matter how many times I look at lime green fabric, so apparently something about it is Not Me -- but it is so, so pretty to look at. I want to visit people who live in rooms like that.
On yesterday's cheap furniture conundrum... I am so happy with my new chair arrangement!
Christine,
Thanks so much! My order is in!
-d
So, Wende, did you go carb?
I'm also curious of peoples' opinons: I am looking at some end tables online that appeal to me (vintage mid-c), but they don't really fit my space. Not saying I couldn't use them at all, but one will probably be used as a night stand, and one in my living room, maybe not adjacent to the sofa. If you see furniture you like, do you just buy it, or do you really plan out a space detail by detail and find the perfect one for that space? Because if I'm buying something for how it fits NOW in this current rented apartment, I feel I should be doing all carbs all the time versus trying to buy things I love.
By Design standards, I went carb. Pier 1 is having a wicker sale before they go whole-hog for mid-century modern, and they had a rattan chair that combines the square back of the LR sofa with the curved arms of the big leather chair.
http://tinyurl.com/rghs6
So I bought that for the LR and moved the old rattan chair to the dining cubby, with a new seat cushion.
The new dark chair pulls the LR together much better -- it doesn't compete with the light rattan desk the way the lighter chair did -- and if I want to move chairs to different rooms later, all it costs me is $35 for a cushion in the right color. The old rattan chair is on its sixth cushion in 15 years, so clearly I like being able to change color schemes.
One factor that stops me from buying what Maxwell would consider "protein furniture" is that I like being able to change things dramatically. So we have a couple Major Pieces that are Quality (the sofa, the bookshelves, the tansi), but occasional furniture, I treat like costume jewelry.
Weird, I thought I posted a reply earlier, Wende--I was just going to say "good choice." :) I like that chair, and now you get to enjoy the outdoor view.
go marva and brian! i'm sure they'll be waiving tiny little diplomas before too long. (and finding fabulous frames in which to display them)
when bar study started, i kinda lost track of where we left off with the cure. but we made a lot of progress. we decluttered a ton (still not enough), got rid of a few offending pieces of furnitures, and made some good new investments (vaccuum, bedding, new mattress which will arrive in 2 weeks and we cannot WAIT). we still have a way to go in terms of fully committing to our space and getting it to the point where it's cohesive and stylish, but aesthetics aside the place feels much healthier. thanks, docs! future "cure" threads are something i'll look forward to.
oh, and a special thanks, AT, for getting us in the habit of buying flowers each and every week, because flowers always look perfect even if nothing else does:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22555946@N00/161242111/
Do we have to wait until October? Can it start sooner?
I'm just beginning the cure. Still decluttering. Yesterday got rid of 37 books. This is HUGE for me. We used to laugh that books came into my house but never went out. The fact that the Maxwell's book has inspired me to do more than simply rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic is amazing. 37 out of hundreds of books isn't much but it's more than I have ever gotten rid of in one lump. Ever. Also four more bags of miscellaneous clothes and linens were given to charity this week. So the space is starting to open up.
I have to say that working with a professional organizer is revelatory. For example, many of my "collections" are stored in closets, or boxes, or bags. They are not being displayed. They are not giving me pleasure. They are simply taking up space. I'm now moving into a mindspace where divestiture is possible. (p(too) don't say a word) I'm not saying it's going to happen, just that it might happen. Another pattern that I find interesting is that for so many years my neatness masked the ongoing accumulation. So that it wasn't until the arrival of house guests during the holidays and the impending visit from my mother (mercifully cancelled) that the intricate house of cards tumbled.
Okay, I'm sure no one reads this anymore...but I wanted to share that I bought a great coffee table this weekend, and I was amazed at how much it altered the flow and feeling of the room.
And can we see it, Christine?
I'm still checking this thread. Christine, would love to see the coffee table. What did you get?
Cure-related make-life-simpler stuff:
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/40039