apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Like jimkk, I feel I'm failing miserably at "The Cure," too, even though I've done so much. I'm a compulsive discarder and it amazes even me, how much more there was that was just not needed and not even desireable in the house.

The reason I feel like I'm failing is because our three little rooms (plus itty bitty bathroom) need so much of an overhaul that eight weeks ain't gonna do it...and that's okay!

The point is that I'm focused now on doing the things needed to get it done, and finding out stuff about nineteenth century tenements, and even my own apartment, that I still didn't know after 28 years.

So if it takes eight months to get some of it done, or several "eight weeks" in a row, then that's what it takes.

I've sort of got a bifurcated "Cure" going: one list for everyday cleaning and repairs, another one for The Big Make-Over. The "everyday" thing sort of correlates with the Deep Treatment, and the other one is more sort of the "One Room" treatment, except it's three little rooms in a row with basically the same style throughout...just warm in the middle and cool on both ends.

What's the color on Mary's wall? I love it.

I did it. I've hired a personal organizer to work on my office, otherwise known as the "outbox" or "Black Hole of Calcutta." My efforts have paid off in terms of getting rid of some paper but I need a taskmaster or, in this case, a mistress. Yes, my lady.

Wow! It's me!

Pat -- that color is glossy Exotic Red by Benjamin Moore. That's about 7 layers of paint, and yes, two of those are their primer. I love it, but I fell like I have to warn people about that...

I know we're supposedly done with the kitchen, but I'm posting this in case anyone needed another kick in the pants to get more stuff out the door... The USPS is doing a food drive May 6-13th. I got a postcard this morning about it:

http://www.stampouthunger2006.com/

Even with The Cure on, I bet you all still have some canned food that's too good to toss and would be great for charity...

Hey, MaXXXwell, don't naughty bits have to be exposed in order to get that rating? Danger Man is relatively covered up in that photo, although he has recently discovered American Apparel's new flourescent underpants which add color to any decor.

Please Angela

Where did you get those beautiful orange and Pink sheets?

I've been looking for something like that!

Yay--week 4! I am unaccountably excited everytime we start a new week. Maybe it's because this has been quite a rewarding process and another week means Curing another whole area.

Although my books are not in the LR but in the bedroom, I'm going to include them in this week since my LR is in pretty good shape, but the bedroom (eek! the closet!) is going to take quite a lot of work when we get to that week. I've already done some weeding of the books in recent times too.

Since we're doing media this week, here's a great article that inspired me to ditch most of my CDs this spring:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road:
http://www.powazek.com/2006/02/000563.html

I confess I'm failing miserably at the Cure. Just a little drib here and a drab there. I have a week off work in mid-May and hope to catchup and do mucho spring cleaning.

Mary, checked your pix and saw your A/C unit. What I do with mine off season is cover it with a piece of nice fabric, put a finished board on it and use it as an endtable.

I haven’t uploaded the picture yet, but I cleared out my landing strip/living room. Based on everyone’s wise advice, I cleaned up the coat closet and made it coat friendly. I moved the coat rack to another room and stashed my big knitting basket in a cabinet. Then my room looked really empty and sterile. So much so that I brought the knitting mess back. Guess it’s a good thing that it’s retail therapy time. Maybe a couple of really cool plants would fill up the void left by my relocated junk.

Jen,
Maybe you should just sit with the void for a while and see how you feel about it later. Maybe you're reacting to the extreme contrast after dejunking.

Marsha, that's House Beautiful brand bedding, and I'm glad I rustled up two changes worth of sheets, because I can't find them anymore.

I will be writing Week 3 and 4 tonight. I swear. I just finished Spring exams.

jimkk -- Cool idea... it usually sits in my window year-round. I had to take it out when the building recaulked my windows this spring. I'll put it back in when I have to, but for now I'm enjoying the extra sunlight...

How did I miss Week 3?!

My coat closet is used for storage only. There are holes in the floor and wall and very musty smell. No clothes go there. Period. I open that door only when I need to refill the toilet paper caddy (a silver hurricane).

Anyone know what to do with a large quantity of VHS tapes? I was a religious taper of Buffy, Angel, Xena, Farscape, etc. There are three medium size moving boxes in the closet. How to responsibly dispose of these?

And if rasil is reading, lotus season just ended a month ago. They are a winter seasonal. So sayeth Scott's on 23rd Street.

VHS tapes? Try freecycle and craigslist first. I'm not certain that VHS tapes are bad to dump in the trash, but you could always wait for the next electronics recycling thingy if you don't find a taker online... I have a similar problem because I used to tape my reel [portfolio] to ten-minute VHS tapes, and I have two packs of them left. I plan on donating them to Materials for the Arts:

http://www.mfta.org/

If you go to nyc.gov and type in "wasteless", the first link is to a mini-site that tells you better ways to toss and recycle various types of trash. If you're not in NYC, it may not help, but it might still give you good ideas about who to contact. VHS tapes weren't on their list, but all sorts of other things were.

I finally kind of started the cure (how's that for being dedicated sounding). Since this was my first weeknend at home, I dragged out all the things from my living room closet that I'd been saving that I don't need and put them in the outbox. It's amazing! I also picked up lots of paint chips for the living room....too many! now the narrowing down process.

Re: VHS tapes.
I still regularly tape on my VCR, so I'm sure others do too. I second the suggestion for Craigslist and Freecycle. I'll bet they'd get snapped right up on Freecycle.

Congratulations Christine. I'm finding it's a self-perpetuating process. I'm so thrilled each step of the way to be taking care of my place that I'm excited to go on to the next step, whatever that may be.

Melinda -- let it take as long as it takes. Just plod along and do progress each week. Maybe you should let each week be two weeks instead? The point in the end is that your apartment is happy, not that you've gotten the girl scout badge...

Ohhhhhh, Melinda! Among yesterday's moments of Cure Angst was when I went to check the dresser that we're selling -- it's been in the dining cubby for a couple weeks -- and discovered that two of the "empty" drawers had stuff in them that I'd hastily shoved there as a substitute for actually cleaning.

Since the husband is out of tolerance for book-culling (and out of town all week), I'm going to focus on a couple of areas at the front of the house where my resistance to cleaning, organizing, or fixing-up has become a Big Psychological Thing blocking a 20-minute project.

Rasil,

About the time I started the cure and wanted to bring flowers home, I just couldn't find any I liked. I then stumbled on a blog that made fabric flowers (too easy) from an April Martha Stewart mag project (I think). I have uploaded the picture on flickr. I made some from my fabric stash and it turned out *great*. I love it.

http://tinyurl.com/gxlar

Note: this is not my handiwork. I would love to give credit to this person but can't find her blog again! Sorry.

Melinda,
Maxwell says he'll have another Cure in the fall on AT, in case that helps.

Oh Deepa,
I am going to search for that blog. Those are beautiful! They also look pretty easy. Thanks.

Lisa -- it looks like you could just take fabric or paper and cut out flower shapes, then glue them onto sticks to get that effect. I have a cookie cutter that's about that shape, or you could go to clipart.com and do a search. [You don't have to join clipart.com to download pictures. They'll be watermarked, but for what you're doing, it's fine.]

Those flowers look like they were cut out paper snowflake style with a little hole in the middle. Then perhaps they were heavily starched. They're much better looking than I expected when I heard fabric flowers.

Whatever else they are, they are not flowers and do not, imho, meet the cure requirement.

weelll, we've fallen off the AT group cure bandwagon a little bit, but have made some progress (including liberating our peephole from its prison of paint!). so as not to be duplicative, cliquez ici for photos and reflections so far:

http://www.figandplum.com/archives/000676.html

Had my first session with the organizer last night. She is fatastic. I went through lots of paper and got rid of stuff that I have no idea why I kept. woo hoo!

"FANtastic" There isn't an oz. of fat on her.

Jess, great idea having a "Style Tray" Flickr set. Very handy way to say, "See, this is what I mean."

For what it's worth, every time I type the word "renovation" (including this time) it comes out "removation" and I have to correct it. Then again, maybe it was right the first time, because so far, we've removed a lot of stuff!

Actually I have a vase that I use for oversized kitchen implements -- spatula, slotted spoon, etc.

Yesterday at the Famer's Market 5 calla lilies $3.00 b.
Not a glorious arrangement,ut I love the straight long stems and the slowly unfurling single petal (actually a spathe). Tall flowers in a clear tall vase. Lovely.

I *like* the idea of fresh flowers but it doesn't quite fit my lifestyle either.

My compromise:
1. Bright wood flowers (from bali or indonesia) purchased at a hippie-global craft store. They aren't cheesy like silk flowers. Probably suits a more whimsically decorated apartment than a 'chic' space. They never wilt.

2. DIY Ikebana. I have one tiny japanese ceramic vase. It looks nice with some grasses and leafy spring-time twigs in it. I just snip a couple of 4-6 inch segments from bushes in the park (probably not PC) for a green arrangement.

I'm with everyone on the flowers being a pain. Also unless you know where the flowers are coming from, there's a good chance they are full pesticides and chemicals:
http://www.newdream.org/consumer/flowers.php

I don't know what that in my house. I can buy local organic flowers at the farmers' market in the summmer at a reasonable price, but the rest of the year they're going to cost me $20+. If I'm spending that much, I'd rather just buy a nice plant.

well, I certainly agree that fake flowers are not real flowers and real flowers are what's specified. On the other hand, I share the confusion and frustration of dealing with the real ones. The local florist shop is very nice, but uninspiring. The corner delis offer flowers that seem to be pushing their due dates. The Union Square Green Market is simply overwhelming. Overwhelming enough that I didn't even try the flower district (or what's left of it).

I've come to the conclusion that flower arranging is not a gene linked characteristic for gay guys. Deep down inside I know that pets and plants are high-maintenance dust catchers, and anyway, dust bunnies are the original warm and fuzzy pet. Best of all, you don't have to feed or walk them.

However I am trying to follow the letter of the cure to the best of my ability, so I'm trying Calyx and Corolla, which was recommended in the book, and is certainly the expensive way out.

You know, not everything about the cure is going to work for each individual person and his life. Slavish adherence is not a virtue.

For me, flowers wind up 1) chewed by cats, 2) placed in an out of the way place where they're not within easy viewing, &/or 3)dying quickly and serving as a mold farm. My vases are best used for housing celery in the fridge.