apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Oh trust me, our place is unsavory. I'm concentrating on our living room/kitchen/landing strip because that's more than enough for ten Cures right there.

Well, I just went around the apartment & took a whole bunch of pictures, and let me tell you, my place is SCARY with clutter. Like, REALLY bad.

In fairness, a lot of the mess is due to the fact that we are in the process of swapping around two bedrooms AND having at least three rooms painted in the coming week. So we have piles of furniture and junk all over the place. Lining the hallways and corners and every surface. It's a minimalist's worst nightmare.

The one plus is that the before and after photos will be really, really dramatic. I'll try to post the pics on flickr soon, but I have company coming this evening, so I need to try to at least clear up a bit.

I forgot to mention that my dog will be doing a puppy Cure of his own. His name is David, and he is a ten-month-old Corgi.

If wende's dolls can have a Cure, so can my dog!

so i've had to give up my monday off... stupid tv show...

but i'm still in! i've just done the ten minutes in a spot where i never sit. and learned that my bedroom needs HELP! especially a clean floor. dust bunnies everywhere. good thing i'll be doing my cleaning of all the floors later today or tomorrow.

it's funny, i considered doing a one-room remedy of just my bedroom, because it's the room that most needs it. but it's just too expensive -- the main thing my bedroom needs is a new bed, which i can't afford.

but it seems that my bedroom is at least going to be getting a little attention in the deep treatment. so that should help a little until i can afford to really make the room what i want it to be.

i'm back, after 'the interview'. this is destined to be a long one, as i've made a major realization about my space wrt the cure and the apartment therapy philosophy in general.

it's funny, a lot of the opening chapters are sort of about enabling your home to be more inviting to guests, entertaining more, etc. whereas i feel like sure, i'd like to throw more dinner parties, but it's more my hectic life and tendency to procrastinate which keep me from that. when i have people over, they generally enjoy my place. i get a lot of compliments about how stylish and comfy it is. i set a mean table, there's a great 'dj booth' for music, and the living room is arranged in a way that's conducive to conversation. the kitchen is laid out in a very visitor-friendly way, and i've got a lovely little bar set up in the butler's pantry (yay, a name for that little storage/prep closetish thing!).

in the interview, most of my responses about what needs to be done or what i want my apartment to be like have to do with my own use of the space and relationship to it. my bedroom is the most private part of the apartment, and yet the least inviting. i desperately need a functioning landing strip rather than the hodgepodge of little clutter stations in different rooms. i need better storage for media. i need a specifically dedicated work area. some of the changes i'd like to make are cosmetic and visitor-oriented, but all in all, this cure is going to be for me, to help me feel more at home in my space.

which is hard for me to even say, because i feel like it's too selfish. i think sometimes it's ok for me to be a bit selfish on things like getting to have a rug in my bedroom or having a place to put my things.

yea! my library finally got the book in and i am going to go pick it up right now!

Maybe we should be using an additional "cure" tag on our flickr photos, so that maxwell & co. are able to find them more easily?

Opoponax, I have a similar issue with setting things up for anticipated guests, especially with regard to the much-dreaded "movie theater syndrome," which I honestly don't have a problem with. The overriding purpose of my living room is for my boyfriend and I to watch the tube. That's what happens in there 99.9% of the time. I'd rather have it actually set up for that, with seating facing the tv, which IS the main focal point. Why should pretend that it's not?

We go into that room for the express purpose of looking at the tv. On the rare occasion that we need the seating arranged into a "conversation area," well, that's something I can do just prior to the guests coming over. The furniture is light and easy to move.

total thread hog today.

is it cheating to leave off the list repairs so major and intrinsic that you know there's no way to even approach them? for instance, my bathroom has water pressure problems that could only be solved by extensive and invasive plumbing replacement/repair. as in the tub and sink would have to be gutted and most likely the wall between kitchen and bathroom would end up being torn down, all the plumbing in both kitchen and bathroom would have to be redone, then the wall would have to be rebuilt, new tiling, the job would inevitably spread into the kitchen due to water damage to my counter top (another neeeded repair that isn't making the list), the place would be uninhabitable while this was going on, etc. etc.

the sink and tub are definitely usable in their current wonky pressure state, just not terribly convenient. so i'm not even listing it.

I am so very excited for The Cure, Round 2! I am lucky that my apartment has good bones but I am a chilly cluttered person who has never taken the time to actually decorate it. I'll be picking up a copy of the book tomorrow. In the meantime I linked to my apartment blog in my name. 4 months later and I've managed to get exactly...nowhere.

Well, I don't have a digital camera, so I guess I won't be able to post pictures (oops, did I say that sigh of relief out loud?) I have done a lot of curing on my own in the last four months, and looking at pictures taken prior to that (which I did this morning) tells me I've come a long way. However, things seem really messy right now, as I'm still dealing with the domino effect... for example, before the vacuum and mop&bucket can go back in the storage room/closet where they belong, I have to finish dealing with all the paper clutter in there (that's going to be a MAJOR part of this Cure for me). Before I can attempt to slipcover the loveseat, I have to get all the stuff off the loveseat, but I need to do other things before the things piled on the loveseat can go in their places. Sigh. There's going to be a lot of this-ing and that-ing.

I'm with the opoponax though, I mainly need to get this place to a state where it is inviting and comfortable and a delight for me -- and will be conducive to getting back to my writing, which I really want to do. Having the space nice for guests is gravy, because I don't have guests over all that often, but I spend a LOT of time here, on my own, and I need to feel happy and productive here. If that's selfish, so be it (but I don't think it is, completely. If I have a space where I can recharge, and can do the creative things like writing that are one of my ways of reaching out to the world, then I'm able to bring a better "me" to the rest of the world.)

All that said, I think I need to take some pictures (non-digital, but oh, well...) of this mess before I get going on the Cure. Off I go to buy some film...

This is going to be fun!

Double Woo Hoo! I missed the start of the last group cure and thought there was no way I could wait until fall. Summer has come and gone and here I am still in the same, if not worse, state of clutter, disorganization and mess. I've been determined to make a dent; started some floor plans, took off a few days of work. But until logged in to AT this afternoon I had toatlly forgetten the promise of a new cure. I will reread the book for the third time and who knows maybe I will take the quiz again.
YEAH! I don't have to go it alone on this.

Am i the only one who thinks of brazilian wax when they see the phrase "landing strip?" The Bloomie Nails on 2nd Ave actually has that as a menu item on the wall.

Rayona, you should let anonymous people comment on your blog if you'd more feedback.

i started working on the cure about two months ago, and then my thesis reared its ugly head and the work in my apartment came to a halt.

the one major 'renovation' that isn't really a reno is moving from a pc to a macbook. the pc is so ugly and takes up way too much unnecessary room, but i'm pretty sure i can't afford the laptop right now. sigh.

and opoponax, some of my issues are too costly to fix to, and since i rent, and since my building just got respossesed by the bank, i'm not going to worry about the water heater or my tiny, sad kitchenette.

so if that's cheating, at least we're in this together, right?

Opponomax--it is not selfish to create your home as a living space for you! Focus on the bedroom, by all means....we all need a place of retreat in these hectic lives we lead. I think smallcitybeth is spot-on. And the biblical phrase comes to mind: Love others as you love yourself. Relax, enjoy this round.

About thising and thating--when a space is really cluttered, it can be disheartening to go through the pulling apart stage. No matter. Things are supposed to get worse before they get better.

You probably know this already, but I'll write it out for anyone in hopes that it is helpful:

1) Set up a portable sorting station. This is a bit more complicated that Maxwell's outbox idea, and if it is too much too handle, forget about it, OK?

Whenever I declutter an area I have three categories--and boxes and bags for each. 1) give away (a box), 2) toss (a garbage bag)and relocate (box). I bring these things into the room or area I'm working and start chucking. At the end, the garbage goes out, the give away goes to the car (or by the front door to go out the next time I go out) and the relocate works this way: Boxes are set in front of the places where "new" things need to go and stuff from the "relocate" box gets put into those boxes.

At least this is the ideal practice. It can be easily adapted to Maxwell's much simpler and less overwhelming idea of the outbox: and that is, whenever it comes time to deal with it--then set up the sorting station. That might be better.

OK all of this is to procrastinate washing my floors, so I'd better get on with that.
I'm just so excited to see this thread!

I probably shouldn't mention this since someone will ask why I don't, but one can take a regular photograph and then use a scanner to put it on disc, from which the picture can be uploaded. If you don't have the technology, most Internet cafes do, as do Kinko's, some of which will do the actually scanning for you (for a price, of course).

I did the deep treatment last time and am doing the one room remedy this time around, if anyone cares.

marm-baby corgi? Pics please!

Hi all, I'm doing the one room remedy. Pretty much every area in my studio apartment which 500 sqft needs some serious work. I am running out of storage space. The main areas of that I want to tackle are:

1) Kitchen- everything in all cabinets are unorganized; counter space could also be more free of space.

2) Utility closet - shelf is cluttered with small tools, household cleaners, screws, rags. The floor is cluttered with broom, mop, bucket, pet kennel, vaccuum.

3) Closet - shelves are organized; shoes and more boxes are on floor.

4) Bathroom - need free space on the counter; drawer is messy; cabinet is unorganized.

Also, need more shelves for books and cds.

This week I'm going to do the deep treatment and clean, mop floors. I don't have any repairs. A week ago I threw out old magazines....so that's a start right?

Can't wait to get this going with everybody else.

Cool! A new support group for fall. I recently bought the book and we are almost through chapter 1. It was interesting to hear from my husband, after a LONG time that he had to think about it, that he considers his sister a role model.

I won't contribute any photos just yet since our place is still very much in boxes, even after 6 months of living here. And we are also doing the baby countdown (my due date is Dec 19), though we aren't being nearly as ambitious as M and SKGR on that front...

So far I can count as progress that we moved our 800+ cd's to binders, and found folks on craigslist to donate the cases to. Our vinyl LPs we can't do the same for, so that's the next hurdle to clear.

The "offering" we made, per week 1's suggestion, was stuff we kept meaning to post on craigslist but procrastinated to death (a working VCR, phone/answering machine, a wall-mounted cabinet thingie). Placed curbside around 11 p.m., it was all gone by morning. There is a LOT more in this apartment that could use the same treatment.

Going through my books and editing the collection is going to be VERY hard for me. I have already done a first pass, which was easy, and then added a couple of runs of literary magazines that I'd been saving forever but never read. (Is it wrong to start reading stuff that you've placed in the outbox, though?)

Vacuuming & mopping will probably take place tomorrow, or whenever hubby feels like it (I never feel much like vacuuming these days).

I am looking forward to Week 2 and "feeling up" the walls!

Well, I'm 2/3rds done washing the living room floor. I could cry. It is real hardwood--but what was laid in 1949 was thin (their idea of Laminate I quess)--it's so thin, it won't survive a sanding and refinishing. (Not that we can afford that anyway!) But there are spots where the finish has rubbed off (polyuranthane) and the wood has greyed. It's all through my hallway too.

Does anyone know of a way to refinish these spots without doing the whole floor? They really should be recoloured (I know there are wood coloured pens for this at Home despot) --but is it OK to just brush on some poly on top?

Thanks.

Alana, i have a similar uberthin parquet floor from the 40's which is worn in spots. As my apartment is a rental, i've decided to take a wabi-sabi attitude towards the floors, as i have towards many other things in my 65-year-old home which spent many of those years as cheap slum housing. i suggest rugs.

Martine -- it sounds like what you need more is the deep treatment. deals a lot more with clutter and organizing and storage and functionality. The one-room remedy seems to be more like a typical reno for a specific space in your home (i.e. if you live in a studio, according to maxwell you probably wouldn't wanna do the whole studio, you'd pick the kitchen area, or the sleeping area, or what-have-you.) it seems to involve more like deciding on style issues, buying furniture, etc. which doesn't sound like it would address what you're describing.

JonathanB -- I had a feeling that I probably could scan regular photos and upload from there... sigh... now I have to figure out if I'm brave enough. I have a feeling I'm not.

Haven't tackled the floors yet, but I will, really I will! I bought some white daisies this afternoon, and they look very cheery in my deep red vase (the vase was my mother's -- she was going to put it in a garage sale once, and I rescued it!) As I mentioned at the end of the thread on the first Cure post, I'm pretty much out of large items to pass to someone else, which is kind of a good feeling. I'm definitely a "warm" person, and peeling off the layers of stuff has been cathartic.

While the husband is transforming the garage from "giant Out Box for moving supplies" into "place to park the car," I'm doing an 8-hour mini-Cure on the entire apartment to sort away the crap that washes ashore during a move.

Opoponax, if it's beyond your control, I'd soooooo leave it off the repair list. I have a couple "see if there's an easy fix" items on mine, but if there's not... hey, one reason we rent a Bland Suburban Box so that we don't have to hassle with major rehab.

Marm, if the dog needs Curing, the dog needs Curing. We need to Cure the car again (declutter, tune up, get washed inside and out), as it looks like a car that was driven across the high desert with cats and potted plants in the back seat.

Alana in Canada, happy thanksgiving! We are joining the Cure from Canada too. If your floors look that bad what can you loose? you may try the home depot pencil after sanding slighly only on one spot, if it look nicer then buy the poly can. If it is bad you have not invested that much. There is a minwax one specially for floors, I used it for a small room floor on a previous apartment.

I read the book until page 69, and was feeling a little down but reading your posts guys cheers me up and gives me encouragement. So, Thanks!!! I am starting with the scrubbing NOW!
BTW we will appreciate a tip on how to make off-white vinyl tiles look good after cleaning them, somebody knows a non slipery wax or something like that? thanks.
olar

Cool! Another Canadian! Happy Thanksgiving all y'all!

I guess sitting at my computer hitting "refresh" probably doesn't count as "Curing", although I'm really enjoying finding out who all is doing this this time, and finding out what all everyone is doing, but I suppose I should get off my duff and do something about the floors. You'd think I'd vacuum more often when I don't actually have to get the vacuum out, since it's sitting right here in the living room, but it just doesn't happen. Okay, I'm shutting off the computer now.

By the way, good luck with your floors, Alana, and may I say that even if your floors are thin, I envy your hardwood? I have standard-issue apartment carpet, which, although fairly attractive, is still carpet and I would really love to have hardwood. I didn't properly appreciate the hardwood floors I grew up with!

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians, too!

Olar--my mom, who bless her, cleans homes for a living, recommends Armstrong floor cleaner and wax (the liquid stuff). My kitchen tiles are supposed to be white...but once she gets that stuff on, they shine so brightly, you don't even notice. Painting my kitchen cabinets bright yellow (and the walls a lesser shade but still noticeable yellow) also helps perk them up. You do not want them next to white!

Living room is done. Now on to the dining room, hallways, kitchen and bathroom and oh, heck, the stairs. This is one HUGE disadvantage to living with 1200 sq feet--it's a whole LOT of floor, lol!

It's at these times espescially that I wonder how people manage living in anything larger. How on earth do they keep it clean???

About major repairs--can I just say that running the vaccuum, the computer, the washing machine and the coffee pot cannot be done in my house? uurrrgh.

Glad to know I wasn't the only one finding myself wearing out the F5 button on the computer (refresh) and was forced to shut it off!

I've promised ds some computer time so I'll check back later.

Can I just say that's it's extraordinarily confrontational and emotional to be this close and personal to my home. (I'm washing these floors by hand.)

Cheers all.

I confess to being a Refresh addict too. Homes have such interesting stories; I want to hear more of them. And pictures! Man do I have pictures. I've been haphazardly documenting my pre-Curing/moving in process through pictures and a very large draft in my Gmail account. Maybe the long weekend is the right time to move it all to a blog? Or at least put the pictures up on my poor neglected flickr account.

Opoponax, I'm with everyone else: your home is *your* space. It's not selfish to treat it as such!

Opoponax, I've been pondering the selfishness issue, and my take is that wanting nice space for yourself makes perfect sense.

We've always been easy-going about guests -- we give you a place to sit and a lot of food and conversation, so if you don't like our home, that's your tough sh*t -- but the reason I unpacked with the Cure book close at hand is that my definition of a healthy home is one where everything I use is right at hand when and where I need to use it. Having decluttered rigorously for years, we use everything we own, so this is a big goal in a new space.

That's why I'm cleaning and reorganizing drawers in a room that looked tidy before I got started. I'm not comfortable dealing with the "heart" elements -- heaven knows we need a large plant in the living room and to hang pictures -- until they're set on a background of organization that's so logical it feels effortless to maintain.

i totally hear you about getting up close and personal with the floors. last weekend i dropped a half-full bottle of wine on my kitchen floor, which is maybe 35sf. since i had to get down to make sure i'd gotten all the glass, i decided to scrub the floor by hand rather than just run a mop over it. i even moved the wee rug and metro shelving, got under the lip of the cabinets, the space between the fridge and the wall, etc. i learned so much about my home from the experience.

i feel that the intense scrubbing last weekend exempts me from having to do the floor in there this weekend.

opoponax--ABSOLUTELY!

Here's a story: a few years ago dh and I painted the dining room and a set of Ikea shelves got several coats of melamine paint. There are still specks of that paint on the hardwood. I remember the argument I had with dh about "staying on the dropcloth"--his response is always "we can clean it later." Well, it is several years and I'm still cleaning it!

Why do I have to review my entire marriage when I'm just scrubbing the floor?
Yeesh.

Because your entire marriage is engraved on the floor.

Next time, while you're at the paint store getting the paint, get a spray bottle of a substance called Contractor's Friend. Fortunately, I had it on hand when the husband dripped white paint on the white dropcloth, stepped in it, and tracked it all across our hardwood floors in SF.

i have collapsed the dog's crate, which she doesn't use (!) and am going to put it on freecycle tomorrow, as leaving it out on the curb around here is kind of antisocial.
this will help a lot.

Uuuuuggggghhhhh... I got the kitchen island totally cleaned off except for its bowl of fruit... and two hours later, it has a stack of pictures on it because I emptied the last box in the bedroom and have NO IDEA where to hang anything yet.

This is what I hate about moving.

But the decision of when to take apart the bathroom towel rack and reinstall it rightside up was resolved when it fell off the wall.

I had great results using Varathane Renewal on a hardwood floor that looked really bad and not worth sanding:

http://tinyurl.com/r9p6r

It was quite a bit of work, but it was worth it.

Wende--you are so right! I'll look for "Contractor's Friend"--maybe they'll remane it in honour of us and call it "wife's friend." (Though to be fair to dh if I had cleaned it up right away it still wouldn't be there--but as you say, the "whole" marriage is engraved...)

You made me laugh with your countertop story! I have similiar moments---we don't have a dishwasher--so I can have a hard time feeding the horde right after I've done the dishes!

Hanging pictures is tough. I remember researching the topic to death--I still have a pile in the basement I don't know what to do with.

Hey, I just realised that I'm happy with what I've got on my walls--so, I quess for me, it's a de-cluttering, not a decorating issue.

And thanks Pixie. I'll call around and see if there's any locally and how much it costs. The last time I looked into a product like that it was beyond our reach. But I'm determined.

And yes, opponomax, a rug is in our future. I just can't decide between blue-green and dark red.

Well, I took a bunch of pictures this evening. I'll get them developed tomorrow, and if my courage holds, I'll upload them to Flickr tomorrow. I tidied a bit before I took the pictures, I'll confess, but it's still easy to see why I need a Cure. I mean, my apartment needs a Cure. Me needing a Cure is a whole 'nother topic. I found it tricky to get far enough away from things to photograph them properly -- smushed myself into corners trying to get as much as possible into the pics (and, well, I don't smush into as small a space as I used to...) There won't be pictures of the bathroom, however. I couldn't take proper pictures of the bathroom without getting a reflection of myself in the large vanity mirror, and no way are pictures including me going up on Flickr. It just ain't gonna happen.

Still didn't get the kitchen floor washed, though. (and it's a small floor! it won't take long! why am I procrastinating?)

Speaking of small floors, I used to think I lived in a very small apartment, having moved from a large two bedroom to a quite-a-bit smaller one bedroom. Now, after seeing pictures of other people's apartments, and especially the apartment of M & SKGR (and, of course, UHGR), my 650 foot one-bedroom place seems almost palatial. It's all in one's perspective, I have learned.

i am terrified of posting any 'before' pics (well, posting them anyway), but i want to do the cure with the group this time around. i've been lurking on at since the first smallest, coolest contest and bought the book when it came out. i guess it takes me a while to decide to get going on something!

i have rooms full of enormous messes, two teenagers and a bunny, and i'm doing the deep treatment. we shall see what we shall see.

But the decision of when to take apart the bathroom towel rack and reinstall it rightside up was resolved when it fell off the wall. - wende -- a. welcome to phoenix! and b. that is so much something that would happen to me that i had to laugh. at least it's settled now, right? :)

Don't you chicken out smallcitybeth!

And it's not the "befores" I'm worried about posting to this site:it's the "afters!"

Alana, I had to call around to find that floor product and found it at a Lowe's. I couldn't wait to order it anywhere, since I was in a big rush to get it done at the time, but I believe there I would have had some ordering options. I seem to remember the cost was about $60 (a couple of years ago.)

**Pixie, click my name for pics of the corgi.**

Marm -- even though I'm not Pixie, I clicked on your name, and was instantly smitten! What a sweetie Cardigan!! How do you get anything done? I'd be playing with him all the time. Thanks for sharing his pics!

I have just tidied the top of my desk (when you see my pictures, which, yes Alana I will upload) you will know why it seemed a good idea. I have all kinds of fun doing my "projects", but in a carryover from my childhood, it's a lot more fun making the mess than cleaning it up again. I need to learn to put things away when I'm finished with them. (What a revolutionary concept!)

... okay, okay, I'm going to go and wash the floor now... no more AT site for me until I do...

scb

david barkowitz? hahahahahaha!

oh that is such a fitting name for a dog. you should get a cat named (son of) sam. a really smart cat. who could control david and make him do all sorts of odd things...

sorry, i spent most of this last spring doing research on the son of sam killings for work.

Hail, Arizonaruby! Yes, the towel rack is now back up in the proper position.

I'm hoping the husband is up for tackling his portion of the guest room/project room today. He didn't like how I arranged his stuff when I unpacked it last week, and I can't finish setting up art supplies until he knows what he wants.

and i've decided to give myself till noon to get off my ass and do my remaining cure tasks, which include getting rid of something and cleaning the floors. i've got my thing picked out and i'm totally ready to part with it, it's just big and dusty and will take actual effort to get out of my house.

i ended up spending 3 hours mouseproofing my kitchen yesterday. which is annoying, as it included many of next week's cure tasks. which inclines me to blow off cleaning the floors today in favor of doing that next week in exchange for having done the kitchen this week.

gah! so i started dusting off the thing i'm getting rid of (an old file cabinet which once upon a time was my nightstand/art supply storage), which i thought i'd emptied ages ago when i decided i didn't want it anymore. well in the course of dusting i tilted it over to get the bottom, and i heard a series of thunks.

turns out it was still full of art supplies, which i now have to find a place for or get rid of.

stupid cure

Argh! I feel for you, opoponax. Today's task is sorting art supplies out of their moving spots (they were moved inside the larger dollhouses to provide internal stability) to highly efficient new spots that are, at the moment, entirely hypothetical. We were so spoiled by having extensive built-ins in SF!

It would probably happen faster if I actually started, rather than sitting here wondering if the husband wants to make a third mug of coffee.

Wow!! I have about a 350sqft efficiency and I did not think vacuuming/moping was going to be so hard! It took 2 days. I also took a hand vac to all the floor edges and scrubbed the baseboards (much needed). I had to do some other cleaning just to get to all the corners in my apartment. But I'm really glad I did, for 3 reasons:

1. I have reclaimed all my space. No more fear of cluttery corners (where bugs could hide)!
2. I feel like I'm breathing better.
3. I now understand my apartment better. It's more spacious than I thought, and I know what needs to be fixed to make the best use of this space.

Way to go, ATX! I've scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom floor, and they look SO much better. When I got the bathroom floor all nice and clean, I decided that the rest of the bathroom could use some spiffing up, so I've cleaned the bathroom. In a couple of minutes I'm heading out to get my pics which should be developed by now. If the place that's doing them operates true to form, they'll supply me with a disk as well as paper format pics, saving me a step. Next, we'll see if I can figure out how to upload the things from the disk to Flickr. Always something new to learn...

scb

I'm getting started, don't have the book yet but did vacuum and mop floors as well as picking up a bottle of good-for-you cleaner to help me along. That led to dusting, cleaning mirrors and even a few windows, and wiping down some grody appliances (toaster oven, I'm talking to you!) so I figure that's a good start. A general step in the right direction, I think. Next will be some shelving and aiming towards organizing, or maybe the book will show up and I can go in order like everybody else. Also listed some crap on Craigslist to make it go away.

I was a little embarrassed to load my before pics as well, but decided what the heck? It'll make the after shots all that more impressive right?

I think Alana in Canada was having floor problems and I have a suggestion. Have you thought about the flooring options from IKEA? Click my name for the link of the option I am thinking of. I haven't tried them out myself, but they look like an intriguing and affordable way to fix up your floor issues.

I have a question for the artist/crafters out there. I have quite a stash of arts and crafts supplies. I'd love to have a clean minimalist and streamlined look to my home, but I am sad at the idea of downsizing my craft supplies to achieve this. How do you guys suggest reconciling the two? Is it even possible? Our apartment is a 1 bdrm/1 bath and about 660 sqft. I do graphic design at home so our living room has served as a multi-functioning space of part office, part living room, part supply cupboard. I hate it. Everything feels crowded and overwhelming and I never feel like I have enough space to spread out when I need to review or assemble stuff. I'm hoping that participating in the cure will help me figure some of this stuff out. And also get a chance to meet folks with whom I can exchange ideas.

Whoo-hoo indeed!

I posted pictures to the Flickr group. Nothing like being outed on the WWW! :) I'm going to have to clear my floors of clutter to vacuum and mop. What I'd really like to do is get rid of a sofa just to get some breath moving. Maybe I will call Goodwill to pick it up. I really like my apartment but it's such a disaster area that I ignore looking at it as much as possible. Help!

I won't be able to participate this time - even though I need it. Too much travel coming up to make it practical. But I will be waiting for each new post with great interest. Go Team! Clean!

Love the corgi, marm!

I spent time with my mom today instead of cleaning the floors, but my evening plans just canceled on me (hmph), so I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight...

I added pictures to my flickr account of my apartment when I first moved in and how it looks now. I didn't let myself do any picking up before I took them. The living room is usually messier than it appears, and my bedroom is not for the faint of heart. Eek.

I am working on adding pics to my (brand new) flickr account. I tagged them with apartment therapy SF, was there anything else I was supposed to do to them?

marm, Thanks so much for the pics. That is the cutest puppy I've ever seen! Corgies are one of my favorite dogs.

I've been lurking here since this spring. I tried to start the cure then, but I had just moved in to my apartment, etc., etc...

I'm hoping to stick to it this time around, doing it in a group should help.

I've answered the questions and taken the quiz. I'll take photos and do my floors early this week.

As background, I live by myself in roughly 350 sq. ft. on the third floor of a converted house.

Hi Anne,

I figured out you need to go to Your Pictures and click on each picture so you can click on the Send to Group icon. First you have to join the Apartment Therapy Cure group. Then when you click on the Send to Group icon, it will appear in the pulldown menu.

CathinMin--that's not so bad, not really. And I love the bones of your place. Makes my heart stop--all that molding. Your whole appartment is fantastic.

Thanks for the suggestion jamjaree. Fortunately, I'm not at the stage of replacing my floors yet! And I'd rather paint my floors than live with laminate. Just my preference.

I did pick up a little tin of minwax "polyshades." I figure I'll dab it on with a little artists brush and see what happens. Cross your fingers for me, please.

How do you folks link things to your name? Handy feature that!

And Anne--could you post a link to your pics?

I'm getting mine developed. I'll scan them and create a flikr account during the week.

I think we have a really great supportive group here. Very encouraging.

Thanks, Alana! A lot of the older apartments in St. Paul have the same great moldings and built-ins. Just one of the many reasons why I love living here! And you're right, it's not *that* bad...except for the bedroom. lol

Oh, and you link to things in your name by putting the web address in the URL box underneath the Email Address box in the comment form. :)

Way to go, ATX! Any of you with heroic bathroom cleaning stories, if you luck into a grout-dirt solution other than bleach pen, Soft Scrub with bleach, and high-pressure steam, please do tell! All three of the preceding have made *some* dent in my bathtub tile problem without fully solving it.

Jamjaree, the art supply problem cannot be solved purely by downsizing, as you waste more energy on running around town trying to find stuff NOT in the stash than you do storing a properly sized stash. The part that's declutterable is the part composed of dried-up paints, grungy brushes and other non-functioning tools, bits of ribbon or paper too small to use, and supplies specific to projects that are such a low priority that you'd have to have no ideas between now and age 85 before you'd get around to them.

What you need is inconspicuous furniture that acts as a wall of closets, preferably running the full length of a wall as if it were built in. I'm a big fan of IKEA Billy (with doors) for this purpose, but office furniture stores often have other alternatives that aren't screamingly office-y.

If that's too much storage, I'd think "sideboard" next and measure what you need to store before shopping. Depending on your style, needs, and shopping savvy, you could spend anything from $100 for a used piece to mega-bucks for something high style.

If your stuff is mostly small but driving you crazy, a tabouret stowed in a closet is fantastic. I'm hoping to make up for the loss of substantial shelf storage by loading all my paints and glues onto the tabouret instead of just the ones for a specific project.

All this opinion, and instead of sorting art supplies myself, we went to the Superstition Grand Antique Mall and finally found a vintage bathroom for the Klingons' mid-century modern vacation house (which would be 225 sq ft if it were a real place -- but they will NOT be having a baby Klingon!).

Why is this getting so psychological, this should be light and fluffy? It is reading a text book.

Susan

Susan, If you think this is psychological, you must have seen my photos! :)

Alana, I knew there must have be a reason to get a cell phone with a camera in it.

Hope this is light and fluffy enough.

Last spring I did the deep treatment, which was a great help, so this time around I’m doing the one-room cure, specifically the main room. It both the living room and the dining room and the hall and the kitchen flow into it – or are open into it – and I tend to think of it as one space with four functions.

I’ve been keeping a style folder for years. It’s been both fun and inspiring – and occasionally amusing. Sometimes I’ll come across something I clipped years ago and wonder what was I thinking.

Not sure I have a favorite design store, but since I do seem to enjoy wandering through Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel, for the moment, they’ll do.

My taste tends toward the eclectic – far off lands and ideas – this from Africa, that from Asia. I call my style vest-pocket exotic, but a friend of mine claims visiting my place is like taking a IQ test he knows he’s going to fail.

As for budget, I probably should keep it as close to zero as I can. But I’ll have to work on that a bit and decide how ambitious I want to be this time around.

Alana: I can totally relate to your avoiding laminate for flooring. My sister-in-law put Pergo into her remod last year and she swears by it. I'm inclined to disagree. Nothing quite like real wood, right?

Wende: Thanks for the suggestions on the craft supplies. I think I am avoiding the inevitable which is that I need to take a massive inventory of what I have and decide what needs to be tossed out (i.e., dried up paint tubes and random bits of paper and ribbon). It's a good starting point. Once I have my core of supplies determined, I can start pricing storage possibilities.

Marm: The power of suggestion made me take a peek at your pup and I must agree with the rest-adorable pooch!

Jamjaree -- The getting-rid-of-useless-bits is merely tedious; it's the considering what projects you want to eliminate that hurts.

Consider going in 15-minute chunks, as the moment when there are Bits To Be Sorted all over the floor, coffee table, or sofa (or all of the above) is so depressing that it's tempting to close the door, order pizza, and just live out of one's bed. It's less ghastly if a completed chunk goes back in its bin, shoebox, or whatever, before you go on to the next one.

Eliminate projects?? That's mental and I can't even go there.

sigh.

Only eliminate if thinking about the project provides more stress than pleasure... if nothing's in that category, congratulate yourself on not having impulsively overbought.

For light and fluffy, we have our resident cure Corgi, David!

Eliminating stuff from your life is serious stuff. Sorry. But a lot of our emotions are wrapped up in bits and pieces scattered all over. I have tossed fabric I was "waiting" to use--I've tossed 1/2 finished sewing projects, I've tossed a shoebox of paint chips....laminate samples. The I got brave and threw out old class assignments, papers from Uni, etc, etc......

And I'll tell you what everyone else says: it's freeing. See, all that's stuff is the past, or the dim murky future. None of it is NOW. And NOW is where we need to live...no matter the size of our space.

And you know what? I'm looking at a stack of "stalled" projects right now....

If you need serious, wonderful support for tossing, I can't recommend organizedhome.com enough.

Clutter is just a decision waiting to be made.

Well, it took this old dog a while to learn the new trick, but I finally got my pictures uploaded onto Flickr, and I'm hoping that you'll get to them by clicking my name. That's the theory, anyway. They turned out in the opposite order than I wanted them, but I couldn't figure out how to fix that, so I gaveth upeth.

From looking at the house tours and other things on the AT site, I know that my style does not fit with what many ATers are into. There are no Eames chairs to be seen anywhere; this is definitely not mid-century modern... in fact, I've decided that my style is best termed "Mid-Life What-I-Like"! (and what I can afford!) It's likely too matchy-matchy for some folks, but having lived with assorted bits of hand-me-down furniture for the first 20-odd years of life on my own, I decided when I moved into this apartment 7 years ago, that I would begin acquiring furniture that was my choice -- that, for me, has turned out to be matchy-matchy. So be it.

Anyway, here it is. My life on view for all the world to see. With trepidation, I'm going to click "Post".

P.S. I sure hope the pics are right side up! I rotated them, and they are fine in the slide show, but if you want to read my comments, I hope they are okay. This is my first attempt ever at uploading pictures to a website of any sort. (Do you sense my insecurity coming through??)

I also meant to say that my color scheme will likely seem rather bland to some. Painting isn't an option, so the walls will stay their standard issue beige. An accent color for cushions and a throw for the living room and the same for the bedroom would be good, and I'm open to suggestions.

Ok I think my photos are on there - under ajftuba. They are in reverse order for some reason, but they're the full house tour pretty much. The bits that confuse/distress me are the living/dining area. The bit that bores me is the bedroom. The office and guest bath I am moderately happy with, they're mostly a clutter issue. This link may or may not work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22893685@N00/sets/72157594319201538/

If not, I tried to send them to the cure group. They are under ajftuba and tagged as "house therapy".

So let's see if any of this works.

Well, this is the evening for uploading photos!

I just did mine too. Reverse order.

It's just the exterior, the front entryway and the living room and dining room for now. Kitchen, etc, another time! Basically, I just stood in each corner of the room and snapped. And I confess, I'd cleaned up to wash the floor in the living room...to make up for it, I left the dining room as is.

No Eames' chairs here either.

Silly me. Forgot to post the url!

It should be in my name.

If not, try this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46773919@N00/?saved=1

Hey Wende--what happened to your moving blog? I had been reading that!

Alana I love your red room! Do you like having all those shelves above your head when you're working? I was contemplating something similar over my desk but wasn't sure if it'd be too imposing having them up there.

thank you,
thoughtfully i never hope to experiance a 'cure',
even the word cure reminds me of curator.
smile, you send impulses down darwins spine...ect...ect...ect... ;)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KjRTmhLidDE

foodfight@tedtalks.com

Thank you! I love it too--though the mix of woods in here drives me crazy.

I love having the shelves up there. All my "office" stuff can be neatly boxed (even my secret stash of chocoate) and it's all right there. This is, incidently, the best they've ever been--I tossed a lot of stuff to bring the books out of storage and move them up there.

If you do put shelves on a wall, make sure that whatever you do you use good solid anchors. If you aren't going into studs (and I didn't--it's all plaster and lathe, here) it woudn't bee too much to use toggle bolts.

If you can spring for something with doors--or a combination of doors and open shelving, I'm sure you'll be happy.

And, not to turn this into a love fest or anything, but I love your pea green hallway.

I just posted pictures of the results of my Cure to apartmenttherapycure. Different monniker, though: JefferyKSF.

Let me get this ride!! I got a copy a couple weeks ago, and just started a little. What a timing! Let me join from Tokyo.

I can tell that I'm living in the smallest apartment among the readers here. Western apartments and Japanese apartments are so different. We usually are not allowed to paint walls..etc. But, will try as much as I am allowed to do and I can!

I am an organized person at office, but not at home. That is my problem. It is the small small aprtment, but want to make my apartment welcoming friends, comfortable and clean place.

Yaz, how big is your apartment?

Mia, it's just 27.56sqm.. (about 296 sqf).

yaz, unless I'm mistaken, I think that still beats MGR and SKGR (and little U?GR)'s place--isn't that 250 SQFT?

I started my second Cure and my second read of The Cure this am and didn't get through the intro when I suddently jumped up and took a large plant of my ex's and moved it to the front hallway of my building and put a give-away note on it. A beautiful plant, but every time I looked at it, it reminded me of her. Surprised I kept it so long. Next time I go down to the front hallway, it'll be gone.

Re: the comment about why all this isn't light and fluffy. Please note that this site is called Apartment --Therapy--.

I woke up this morning having figured out how to put notes on my pics, so have been liberally scattering notes all over the place.

Way to go, Pixie. Getting rid of things that are reminders of an ex is a very good idea. And someone else will enjoy the plant without any angst.

This process isn't all light and fluffy, but it's definitely a good process to go through, as many times as it takes!

Oops. Did the link wrong. Hope this works. I'll also try to figure out how to get my pics to the AT group. They're tagged with apartment therapy cure, but that doesn't seem to be all I need to do.

i think this might be a bit far back, but i wanted to weigh in on art supply culling and storage.

anytime i realize i have too much stuff, everything i've been carrying around for more than 2 years must go. for instance yesterday i tossed a four year old jar of gesso which was a good 2/3rds full. but i haven't used it in YEARS. i have no projects pending that will require gesso. my neighborhood is served by two art/craft shops, both of which carry plenty of gesso which i could easily pick up when i buy paint and canvas if i ever get a hankering for that.

next on my list is the huge bag of scrap yarn, all in lengths too short for a real knitting project, different materials and thicknesses and color palettes and such. i will NEVER do anything with this yarn.

as far as storage, i have a lovely vintage record hutch/turntable stand which contains everything from my manual typewriter to the polaroid camera and film, knitting supplies, exacto knives, watercolors, etc. etc. being slightly less prone to crafting than wende, i've decided to forgo the wall of Billy for the time being.

Well, I realized I have Bowling Alley Syndrome coupled with Warehouse Syndrome (i.e, neatly organized piles and piles of stuff just ready for shipment to SOMEWHERE . . . .).

I've been picking away at the AT schedule and already feel freer. I decided to get rid of my dark blue couch that I bought at the Central Library sale a few years ago for $15. It's lightweight, very industrial looking, and everyone hates it but me. I think it looks like something from a Dutch airport of the future--which is how I used to think I wanted my whole house to look--,but everyone always laughs at me and complains about how uncomfortable it is. Two friends and I are planning a yard sale, so I've got lots of stuff ready to go for that now.

Sounds like there are a signficant number of Twin Cities folks in this round of the Cure. I'm in Mpls.

I'll wait until the sun comes out here and try to take some pix.

smallcitybeth- actually, I'm doing round 2 of the Cure because the first round was so fun and successful! It's very therapeutic for me to go through it again, I missed a few things the first time around, and I didn't quite master the maintenance concept. My place is doing great but could be doing even better. Also, in rereading the book, instead of same old, same old, I'm discovering I have new thoughts while I'm going through it this time.

Now, should I post the IKEA corner TV stand which I'm using as storage in the bedroom but isn't working for me on craislist today? I have nothing to replace it yet and haven't figured out how to retool things in there, but maybe if I make a place for it, it will come to me. I like where this is going.

Pixie, I share your stand dilemma. I have three white cottage-style shelves from Target. They used to hold dollhouses in the foyer. They DO NOT GO with the current apartment in any way. I keep trying to repurpose them because I need their storage. What I actually need to do is dump them, also dump the rolling cart that was such a great find only 6 months ago, and get a credenza for the big dollhouses (praying that ever afterwards, we always have a living room with a 6' long wall for it!).

Alana, the moving blog just wasn't creating the right energy for me so I culled it. I'm going to start fresh, later in the week, with something on design in Phoenix. (I'll add new photos of my own place to Flickr when I'm done with housecleaning today or tomorrow.)

It's so cool to see how many people are joining!

Cathy!

We must live really close by each other because my apartment is much like yours, and I've looked at lot in the area when I was searching for my place. I live in Loring Park. The entry to your kitchen is much like the one we looked at in the apartment my husband wanted to live in when we moved here. We (ok, I) chose location over the specific apartment because, well, that's a whole 'nother story...

I'll post my pics tonight or tomorrow, I need to get back on track.

Changes at work have left us in shock, so we're going through the stages of grief. I've got to get over my anger stage and into my acceptance stage so that I can get on my Cure!

It's way fun to read everyone's comments, bummer I shut the computer off for the weekend.

-kate

JamJaree -- As someone who had too many art-supplies myself, the best solution I found was to get a large wicker basket or a deep dinner tray to put a lot of my stuff into -- so that I have a mobile art station. The baskets then are put in a cubbie on my bookshelf when I'm done -- so that the contents don't show. Nothing inside the basket ever looks totally clean and organized, but people only ever see the exterior. I've also got friends who put what can only be described as 'mini-garage doors' on their shelves (above the desk area), such that when you pull up the doors on the shelves, you get a fully set up station (the doors slide out of the way). When company comes over, they put everything on the shelves and slide the doors down. They key point is to make your storage as easy to access as possible -- you don't want to have to dig or feel that getting in and out is a hassle -- or else everything gravitate towards being left out in the open again. I make sure that my baskets of art supplies aren't over-stuffed and are instead set up so that everything is ready to go. I could virtually paint out of some of my boxes. My largest sketche pads and canvases are stored behind my couch (which is against the wall -- I crave more space); thus my stuff is nearby and accessible but not on display. Besides, my giant pads of paper are friends, they might as well be in the living room. Finally, there's a knitting "stash" in a basket and I can only add to the stash if I make room by finishing a project. My current knitting project is in my knitting bag which is attractive and structured and has the benefit of being something that can go from room to room or out and about. The knitting bag contains only stuff that I might need for the immediate aspects of the project -- the larger collection of knitting tools is kept with the stash. The portability aspect of knitting is great.

I think it's also good to have a 'Come to Jesus" moment about what items you're really going to use. As someone who has dabbled in mixed-media, I can't believe some of the junk I held onto. I mean, I used to have a bag of old keys! There's a part of me that wishes that I had held onto that bag of keys to make some sort of beautiful project, but I gave myself a deadline with which to test the idea and every experiment came out really ugly -- so the keys (while pretty in my head) *needed* to go. Sometimes stuff just looks like garbage even though one can envision it not looking like garbage. If you can't find something beautiful to do with an item right away (and the item isn't that intrinsically beautiful) you will never be able to do anything with it. Something that is intrinisically beautiful can be left on display. Also, some tools that work for other people, are never going to work for you. One of my best teachers used surprisingly cheap 2inch standard brushes most of the time -- which helped me get over the belief that I had to master using a fan brush etc.

Finally, one of my teachers once gave me some advice "Buying paint, isn't going to make you a good painter; Painting is the only thing that will make you a good painter". I think it's easy to let anxiety feed into hoarding supplies (just in case you need them). I find this particularly true for me -- as someone who has a day job. I sometime worry that I used to have a divorced parent attitude toward my art: spending money was substituting for spending time -- and yet clutter kept me from spending time.

Okay, now comes some confession/therapy time on my part (pictures to follow -- I don't have digital). I'm trying to do a cure on my bedroom (which also is where I want to do my art work). I'm normally not an advocate of doing anything in my room except sleeping, but I moved to a new apartment six months ago and took on a roommate (in exchange for a better location/commute). The move coincides with a break-up and during the move, I seem to have gone from a warm/cluttered person to a cool/cluttered person (I'm beginning to wonder if my subconscious is choosing white as a mourning color). I moved into a northern exposure ground floor apartment painted a horrible beige and for lack of time just opted to paint everything a warm white in order to let in more light. The other rooms are very cozy & full of color, but somehow my bedroom is a cold refrigerator. I'm normally someone who overdoses on color and I did start making a conscious attempt to tone down so that I could decompress in my bedroom. Still, somehow everything is now white (usually because I liked none of the other options to fit the bill in my price range), with about 2 ice-blue accents. How did this happen? I love color and our other rooms are a color riot. I do find pale colors more relaxing, but something more needs to happen here.

The problem is my room really is cold and dark with awkward placement of windows and doors and somewhat mediocre views. For example, there is a window in the middle of the wall where it's most logical to put my bed. The window is narrower than the bed, but room is so small there's no way not to have the headboard at least partially under the window. It looks very weird. Also, this is the only window that doesn't have a black-out shade over it most of the time (there's a security light outside my other window which drives me insane -- and wearing a sleep mask is not an option). My initial instinct is to try to get some sort of painting or hanging the same width as my headboard and pretend like the window isn't there most of the time --except then the cave effect would worsen -- good at night when I don't want cold or light wafting in. But, if I rolled the hanging up during the day, it might look weirder -- compared to the narrow window. I also don't like the idea of curtains behind my bed (prefer a roman shade) -- for all that I have curtains on my other window. Honestly, I'm not a curtain person in general, but I don't like naked windows either. The whole thing just looks very unbalanced visually. I'm thinking of creating a painting in lavender (warm) and pale gold to hang behind my bed and then developing a way to shift it away from the window during the day (like a shoji screen on gliders). Alternately, I'm thinking of moving my bed further to one side of the room (although this will cut down on the walkway beside the bed) and putting up picture shelves and a big painting to counterbalance the window's big impact on the wall. BTW -- I already have a new sheer white shade on my window because I don't feel like giving the neighbors a show -- so the window isn't totally naked.

So . . . .
Bones:
1. As I said -- I have some issues with the bones of my bedroom. At first the bones didn't seem to bad, but as time goes on, I want to kill the idiot who decided that narrow windows should be smack dab in the middle of each wall. The same idiot decided that one shouldn't bother making a doorway as wide as the closet -- because of course everyone enjoys having half their closet be a dark poorly accessed cubby. Damn mid-century military construction! I know some people love mid-century, but there are some blind spots.

Breath:
1. I think for me, I need to work on shifting more stuff vertically (shelves) so that I don't just have my desk as a bedroom landing strip. My cat has been complaining that I have too much surface clutter (seriously, he's OCD and will sweep up with his paws if he spills food).

Heart
1. Buy fresh flowers -- HAH -- does anyone else have a cat that likes to bite flowers? Any recommendations as to flowers that are less tasty? I'm debating asking for roses with thorns intact.

2. I'm thinking of painting one wall, but I'm worried that will bring the oddly placed windows into even more prominence.

3. Color. I bought my bedspread from West Elm (see link below) in white with ice/teal blue embroidery. I love the bedspread; it feels soft and luxurious although I do have to wash it more often. Still, it's a hard color of blue to work with, and it does add to the white. I'm picky about color and am thinking of doing some pale yellow/orange/gold accents -- very tropical beach -- but would welcome ideas. The problem is my vision of tropical isn't working with the cold blue light I get from my northern exposure.
http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODb283&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1SLEBED&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1SLEBED

Head.
1. I sat in a corner of my room. It was cold and the view of the awkward placement of doors and windows annoyed me even more. If I believed more in feng shui, I would find this really depressing and reflective of my past relationship. For all that I can now walk to work, there are times when I miss my old sun-drenched studio.

Hope that all wasn't too long. I almost never post, so this was a bit of an outpouring. I"m so excited to participate in the cure.

TV stand's on craiglist - already two responses.

There's nothing like a nothing-type holiday off. I've declared it condo day for myself.

JeffreyKSF: nice use of your cozy space. Is your bathroom still in the works or do you have any before/after photos to share? I like your sense of restraint in the main room (bed, table with chairs, bookcase, media). I think a rug of some sort would also be a nice touch. Something to tie everything together?

Anne: I like the color of the walls in the guest bathroom. Very soothing. As for all your too-smallish framed art, is there any way you can gather them and put them all on one wall? They are a little too small to command one wall on their own. But combined, they may have enough presence and you may decide not to throw them out after all. Another suggestion for wall art is to take your musical instruments and hang them on the wall as well. Functional and decorative! I see a banjo, a guitar and a brass instrument, maybe also a flute? Could those be artfully arranged on the wall around the piano somehow?

I'm putting my Columbus day off to good use! The floors are almost done, and then I tackle the bathroom and kitchen fixtures. Eek.

Definitely starting to feel the "therapy" portion. I used to do a lot of beadwork, but I haven't touched my stash in almost a year. Now I'm having a major internal battle over whether or not I should keep everything. It's something that a lot of my family identifies with me, and it feels like I'd be letting them down in some nebulous way if I got rid of everything. :-/

Jamjaree, I don't know what looks like a flute, but we definitely already have a couple of guitars on the wall. The brass instrument is only out because it needs cleaning. I tried to get the mister to rearrange the stringed instruments more attractively (god I'd love to see the sitar out on display somewhere) but he pointed out that he doesn't want any of the more valuable (and of course, aesthetically pleasing) ones where they can be visible from the door. So I'm not sure what to do about the piano area. The odd clock and Liszt statue are both from our respective grandmothers so they will probably stay. Maybe if the clock was centered over the piano that would help.

I love that bathroom so much. It needs a curtain and a proper shower curtain. Does anyone know where I can find nice short curtains? Standard short size seems to be 36" and that is exactly the height of most of my windows, I need more like 44". I'm going to end up sewing them. Grr.

Kate,

We're sort of close! I'm across the river in St. Paul, around Grand Ave. :) From what I've seen of older Twin Cities apartments, *a lot* of them look like ours. My previous apartment and most of the ones I looked at recently were all quite similar to the one I settled on. Almost every single one had a pair of glass-doored built-in bookcases either in the living room or at the kitchen entrance.

Grace -- I'm seeing shiny silky sherbet-colored pillows in your bedroom. This could be a hallucination from reading too many decorating books... but I'm thinking that if your subconscious wants to live in an icebox right now, the path of least resistance is to make it a happy icebox redolent of summer refreshment. Going a little more saturated and a little yellower than you ordinarily might should compensate for the cold light. (Transparent beads are good on pillows that are just for pretties -- warms up the light a bit.) If you use scented candles or potpourri, go for cooling "summer" scents (pear, melon, etc.) even though the stores are gearing up for autumn.

CathyinMN -- The family members close to you identify you with a lot more than beading, and the non-close ones don't get a vote. You're right, though -- these culling exercises are heavily about identity. What stuff upholds the identity you want to have now and in the foreseeable future? (The unforeseeable future will bite you anyway, so it has to take its chances.)

Jamjaree, the bathroom is still in the works, unfortunately, and probably will be for another two weeks. Taking down the plaster walls revealed unexpected damage that needs to be repaired (rotten braces, holes in pipes). And thanks for the rug suggestion. I've been thinking about getting one.

Opoponax, if you're on here - I like the rasterbate idea but I feel like black and white would just make the bedroom more blah. I'd love it in a sequence down the hall or something but I feel like that room needs color!

Also, I want to paint it blue. Would that make the b&w pop a little more?

anne, do you really live in that bad a neighborhood that it would be dangerous to display anything of quality within view of the front door? i live in a relatively low income area (in brooklyn, for godsakes!) and never gave that sort of thing a thought.

i have sterling silver candleholders from india and some relatively valuable art visible from my door, in addition to the fact that the landing strip is there with keys and wallets, charging iPod, etc. if someone came to the door while i was cooking, they'd see my iBook open to an epicurious recipe over in the butler's pantry, as well.

granted, you don't want to start a fight with your husband, but i think that unless you live in the straight up ghetto you should give yourself permission to display things that are beautiful and valuable to you in your home.

i don't think i've ever heard of such a precaution.

For those in NY with excess art supplies, left-over yarn, fabric, etc., consider donating to Materials for the Arts:

http://www.mfta.org/aboutus.html

They're a great organization, and with school arts budgets what they are, teachers need all the free materials they can get. I'm currently in the process of culling out my huge stash of every art & craft material under the sun in preparation for puting my apt on the market. Right now it would be TOO mortifying to let a stranger in the door, much less ask the price I want. I'm hoping the Cure will help make my space more inviting for potential buyers, but I'm looking forward to applying what I learn to my next space, too.

Off to Sal's Boutique with 2 giant bags of unwanted clothes, then back home for some quality time with my vacuum & mop.

oh, and about the rasterbate idea -- if you have a color printer, you could easily do a color image. of course, depending on how big we're talking about you might end up buying a new color ink cartridge. but even that expense is probably cheaper than buying a painting, print, or photograph in such a large size.

Joy unspeakable -- The Cure is highly consistent with "staging" a home for sale. The best book on staging is probably Barb Schwarz's Home Staging, but be warned that it has much more emphasis on quick flash (stapling DIY headboards to the wall, etc.) and less emphasis on creating a supportive long-term environment. Schwarz is probably most valuable if you have to deal with spaces that aren't in the Cure (yards, garages), as she has solid advice relevant to the Heart issues.

I finally realized that the holiday is probably accounting for the large amount of comments. Yikes! Fortunately, since I am stuck at work, it's allowing me to be unproductive in protest. =)

I took some pix this weekend and I also did not pick up a single thing to get the no-holds-barred look at my apt. I'm debating whether to do a whole apt thing or a one room thing. My living room needs some serious help, but I don't know if I can afford to buy new stuff at this point. Once I post up the pix, you will see what I mean...

Plant is gone, TV stand is gone. Ain't urban life great!

I've actually had the book for the better part of a month, read it, thought I need to do that -- then in true Olympic procrastinator's form, put it off. You've all inspired me to at least /try/.

I'm aiming to get my poor little apartment in somewhat better (decluttered) shape, just for me, so I have a relaxing palce to come home to after work. I have a very old apartment, with some things (like extremely old carpeting and a 1950's kitchen) that just can't be fixed or replaced by management unless I should happen to move out for two months. So I'll have to work around them. But I'm game, I'll try.

I'm in, my husband and I bought the book on Saturday. It's funny, he saw the book at the bookstore and brought it over to show me and I had already been reading about this Cure round and was going to pick up the book this week.

I'm a warm person and he's a cool person, which we already knew (after being together for 10 years, these are not huge revelations). We recently rented a dumpster and cleared out alot of old furniture and misc. junk, but our apartment is still full of clutter. We're renting a 3 floor, approx. 900 sq. ft. place. Basement is finished, and of course contains lots of clutter. The main floor is our dining room/living room/kitchen. Top floor is the bedroon/bathroom and an office alcove.

We're going to do the deep treatment, as the whole place needs work. We're expecting the apartment will be put up for sale within 6 months, and there is an awfully big chance we'll buy it. But I need to look at it with new eyes, and this deep treatment will really help.

Tonight is picture-taking time, then mopping... after we go to the store and get some more cleaning products. We tend to use earth friendly products already, we just need refills.

Thanks to everyone else who is posting, knowing everyone is working towards similar goals is very inspiring!

I'm in too. Bought the book on Saturday. I already had fresh flowers in the house - beautiful terracotta roses that felt like fall. Also, I cleaned top to bottom last weekend for fall (walls, floors, shelves, ect.). So two items were already done. I tossed a black Ikea console table that was past it's shelf date by about two years - and it's nice to have the space. I moved my desk/dining table in front of a large window in a corner usually piled with boxes and wrote a couple letters. Wow - lovely - why have I let that corner collect so much junk?
Now, the next couple steps, the interview and lists - they are going to take some time.
I am going to deep clean my main room and front hall which has been ignored for too long. The list is frightfull.
The kitchen got a deep clean in September. It needs a full gut - but not this fiscal year. It is ready as it is going to get for this fall.
I will also need to go through and do the seasonal "does it fit?" and "will I wear it?" routine and I have put that off for three weeks hoping ten pounds would magically disappear off my hips and thighs. The cat has also decided the closet is his personal den and I need to make some arrangements so his 'nest' is no longer on top of my sweaters. I want him to have his space - but would prefer not to walk around covered in cat fur. need to add that to the list along with taking pictures .......

I switched out my seasonal clothes and am giving 3+ bags of clothes to charity. I will probably be able to get rid of at least 2 storage bins, since I've gotten rid of so much stuff over the past year, bringing my total number of bins down to 5.

Does anyone know of a decently-priced source of inserts for throw pillows? I have pillow covers that I didn't think I could use (that were in one of the storage bins), but they might be good for extra seating.

pixie, i've had that same problem wrt pillow covers and inserts. suddenly nobody seems to carry them. which is weird considering that everyone carrys the covers.

Pixie,
I don't know the price point you are looking for. Both the Pottery barn and Restoration Hardware sell inserts - not cheaply but they are convenient when buying their covers.
The Company Store carries inserts - down/feather and synthetic. Try clicking on my name (hope the link works!). I prefer down for fill for large pillows. I think the synthetic fills get lumpy too quickly.

I'm curing my home office and this weekend my boyfriend and I painted three of the walls light gray. It looks good, I like the new feel of the color. I'm going to have one red accent wall and I need to repaint the ceiling.

Does anyone know if you can just use flat wall paint on the ceiling or is there a specific reason they sell "ceiling paint?"

Amber,

you can just any paint you want on a ceiling - a flat is fine. As far as I can tell, 'ceiling' paint is a basic white flat paint - nothing more. I would recommend picking the best white (or color) to coordinate with your walls and trim - rather than a generic color.

Some designers actually prefer to use eggshell or even a semi-gloss for the reflective quality of the paint. This is a bit more difficult to do well as the finish of the ceiling must be perfect as any faults will be more noticable in a more reflective surface. It can look great though.

yes there is. ceiling paint is more viscous, so it covers better and drips less. it also may be formulated to adhere better, but i'm not entirely sure.

hmmm... I should proof before posting. I meant to say ... You can paint any type of paint you want on a ceiling.

The opoponax,
Really? I wonder what professional painters prefer. It sounds like a gimmick - but perhaps I am wrong.

Professionally, I have never specified 'ceiling paint', nor have I used it to paint an interior myself.
Do you know if you can you buy it in any color and can you get different finishes?

pixie-
ikea sells pillow inserts too.

At least some ceiling paints are supposedly formulated for textured and popcorn ceilings:
http://www.behr.com/behrx/act/view/products_detail?prodNum=558&catId=19

I'm experiencing that same epiphany ATL had: Ohhhh, it's a holiday! That's why so many of you are able to comment so often and quickly. Poor me had to trudge in to work today. We don't observe this holiday :(

Pixie: In my neck of the woods (L.A.) there are bargain stores like Ross (dress for less), Marshalls and Loehmann's (sp?) that sell housewares as well as discount fasions. I was at my local Ross last night and saw pillows (albeit for beds) from Ralph Lauren et al for under 10 bucks. And of course IKEA. Though I find that some of their sizes are a little off. Or at least with photo frames they are. I think it's because they standardize their sizes in metric instead of English.

Jeffrey, what a great job you've done.

A good formula for the ceiling paint is to add a tablespoon of the wall colour to white.

If you're going to look into ceiling paint specifically, check out that stuff that goes on pink and then changes colour. The biggest trick is seeing what you've done/not done and aioiding streaks. Make sure the roller you use is designed for the surface you are putting it on!

Another comment before I go back to working:

I really like Wende's ideas for Grace. If white is what you are gravitating towards, you shouldn't fight it. And I think that all her summery-cool suggestions (happy ice-box, summery scents, etc.)sound marvy. It can be soothing (and also healing?) without being cold.

i've been procrastinating,
but our "space station" needs the cure,
so i'm going to find the book + join it late.
we're still remodeling, so it's not ready
for public pictures.
maybe a peek here + there.
is that allowed?
or do we have to show it all?

ATL & jamjaree,
I'm suffering thru Monday in the office too. To make matters worse, I have a client meeting in Texas tomorrow so I have lots to get ready and none of us wants to focus today.

ATL - my living space needs the most work and, like you, I can't afford much, if anything, new right now. But work really needs to be done so I'm going to focus on bones and flow for this round with what I have. Money will be spent on paint which I started 18 months ago and need to finish and some repair work but perhaps not all of it. If I really feel motivated, I might buy perhaps 1-2 pieces that I can find at a flea market or thrift shop that fullfill a need. (Fall always seems like a good time to round up friends and hunt for treasures.) I am hoping the cure on this space will (a) make it better and (b) help me list what I really need rather than the random shopping to 'fix' it. Any work not done can be priced so I can save and plan for it. Then, I will feel more in control of my place than I am now.

There's nothing like dealing with art supplies to make one wonder if being creative is actually better than just reading great books and going to the opera.

I've started doing photos to remind myself that some rooms are not implicated in the art-supply-sorting process.

(a) The patio is scheduled for a One Room Remedy, for reasons that become immediately obvious.

(b) Yes, the bedroom is bland, and yes, we live in a generic contemporary rental. Other than a round of flowers and candles, this is unlikely to change much.

(c) It is possible to stay out of bathroom photos by hiding behind the shower curtain, but I still can't make the camera stop washing out lime to putrid green, so bathroom photos aren't happening any time soon.

(d) No, no photos of the rest of the place until the art supplies are dealt with. We moved in two weeks ago, so what I'm dealing with today is unpacking the last couple large boxes. Ordinarily, we live with this stuff PUT AWAY, so that's what you'll get to see.

Argh! Two hours of sorting later, I discover that the husband helpfully rearranged the closet so I can't get the taboret back in it.

This is how people end up at IKEA. I don't really want-want-want a second IKEA sideboard. But trying to organize stuff into inadequate storage furniture is rapidly making me homicidal, and IKEA *can* provide an adequate solution at a modest price point.

Yeah, I know the standard advice would be to cull down to one or two dollhouses (probably the two MCM ones) and feature them as art, but I don't want to give up my one hands-on hobby. I want to organize it so that it's a pleasure to work on instead of a storage problem.

Aloha Ya'll,

Until I get my own copy, here's my cure: just buy another condo! We were just starting on updates, a beautiful blue pearl granite counter and vanity in the bath. An ocean view unit came up and we jumped on it!

As soon as we get moved, I'll be staging our current "Studio in Paradise" and updating my site.

Hope everyone is doing well here at "AT"

Cooking Cajun

Part of my cure is finally getting a small hand vacuum. Inspired but still unwilling to spend hundreds, I found this affordable vac on overstock.com. I'll report back once it's arrived and I've tried it out. I really hope it cures my dust bunny / pet hair problems!

I'm starting today as well - bought the book on the way home tonight. I've been decluttering for about a year already, slowly. Most of the common areas are decent, but my closets are still packed full. I'm hoping the Cure will help with that as well as giving a more cohesive look to the place.

I like what I see here, throughout the site. In general I see very little decorating things that make sense in a small space and this site is one of the few places that do. I really enjoy being able to see what everyone here does with their places.

Also, I am looking to incorporate Japanese elements in the house, but really can't afford to buy much at the moment. Anyone have any ideas/suggestions?

Wende - thanks for suggesting the Barb Schwarz book on staging. I'm a little torn about exactly how much of my own personality to expunge before showing and could use an expert opinion. But I do still have to live here, after all.

My big goals are to finally get around to installing a bathroom sink, replace the crooked puce bathroom tile around the fireplace and do something with the disaster that's currently my office. Strange how I couldn't quite manage to finish any of those projects for myself...

Samantha - I have dumpster envy! I've been fantasizing about getting one and chucking half of everything I own out the living room window into it for weeks now.

Hi All,
Just found AT about a month ago--am waiting for my book to arrive! Meanwhile where should I start? Am confused about how to sign up, etc. Moved to Southern CA and vowed to lose 5000 pounds (of stuff!) I'm hoping to "fine tune" the purging that has been going on over the past 25 months with the Cure! Thanks!

Extremely productive holiday for my place! I finished the mopping assignment, made my repair list (thankfully a very quick task), hung...okay, watched the SO hang a new pendant lamp in the "dining nook", and took the useless middle leg out of the dining table. It'll be so much easier to slide chairs in and clean under it!

Wende - Thanks for the sound advice. It gave me the push I needed to get started. :) And as I paged through my old files of beadwork projects, I figured out why I'm no longer interested and that made the rest of the guilt and unease disappear!

Tara - Without knowing what your place looks like, I'd suggest things like bamboo rugs that mimic tatami mats, matchstick or rice paper blinds for the windows, the ever-popular paper lanterns, and hanging Japanese art in simple frames. All of those things can be found fairly cheaply. Even the art, particularly things like line drawings, can be printed from pictures you find online.

i'm up and posted...

...and very glad i have many weeks to go until painting cause i know that i am going to have trouble committing to a wall color and, therefore, a curtain color.

Welcome, Bella! To get started, scroll waaaaaay back up to the top, where Maxwell has mentioned that "Alana posted the first chapter outline" (those words are in blue). Click on that sentence, and you'll get to a very handy outline that Alana in Canada put in for those who don't yet have the book. That'll show you what we've been working on for the first few days. I expect that Maxwell will be posting our next "assignment" probably tomorrow. As for "signing up", to join the Cure, you just need to declare your intent here on the thread, and you've done that. You're in! If you want to post pictures to the Flickr group, there's a link in Maxwell's first post for this second Cure, to get to the Flickr group. (Don't worry, this is optional, but it's really interesting to see what others are working on, and helps when they're asking for suggestions about something to be able to go to their pictures and see what they're referring to.) I'm already finding it so encouraging to be doing this with a group. Enjoy! (And good luck shedding those 5000 pounds!)

We're in, in our way. The problems in our condo seem overwhelming - right now we have long strips of plastic covering areas of the wall and ceiling where water leaked into rooms right through the bricks in last Aprils week of Noreasters. We developed an outbox in one corner of our bedroom, never emptied it. Nice. We're short on money and time, both work full time, and are struggling just to get the basic stuff done as well as be decent parents. I don't even know how to load photos onto a site. Right now the place is cluttered in some spots, bare in others. It has sort of an "early 20's graduate student" look which would be cute except that we're in our 40's.

Yet, somehow, I'm oddly optomistic that this is all going to work out. I guess, if one doesn't have money or time, might as well have optomism.

So - my basic goals would be: to empty the outbox, make our childs' bedroom a nice place (right now he says it makes him feel oogie, and I can't blame him - but he wants me to paint it orange - yikes!) and find a low budget/high return way to make the rest of our space warm and comfortable, beautiful and functional. Let's see if it works out!

I love those chairs - I don't think I've ever seen anything like them. I wish I had time to get a copy of the book and read along. Oh well, maybe next time.

Katherine: I am very interested in what you think of handheld vacs for dust bunnies and pet hair. I have two cats and their hair overwhelms me. I brush them thoroughly with a rubber brush about once a month (probably should do it more often) and then they are so sleek and don't explode loose hair at me everytime I pet them. Cleaning the floors in my place is one of my least favorite chores. I'm always thinking I can find a better smarter tool to make the job less aggravating. The best solution I've come up with is to levitate everything off of the floor so that I can clean up in smooth sweeping moves. But that should just tell you that I have flow issues with my space. And my levitation skills are rather lacking. However, the hand held vac is my latest solution to help with the floors. I figure if I just suck up random hairballs here and there my weekly floor cleaning won't be so bad, right? What kind did you buy?

Well, I'm on my way to a healthy home. I posted my "before" pictures today, and I didn't realize how awful my apartment looked until I saw the photos.

It's still new (only to me--the building is 100 years old) so I haven't quite claimed all the space and filled it out yet. There's a lot of white, a lot of piles of things, still a few unpacked boxes, and not much else.

CathyinMN, I have the rice paper blinds - they changed the quality of the light coming in; I spent a week just enjoying it!

My apt. is white walls,with parquet wood floors in an orangeny-tan color. The furniture tends towards black with pale woods. Purple & burgandy are the other main colors, with the green from the plants (big-leaved ones). I do have 3 paper lanterns with a red bamboo pattern on them; they aren't up yet as I'm still discovering where they will go (probably MBR) & I need to buy the wiring kits for them.

JamJaree - I have two cats. I sweep nightly and use a dust mop once a week or so. Admittedly, I don't brush the cats hardly at all. This works well with the wood floors; not sure what to tell you if you have carpet. Mind you, I'm not saying I don't find dust bunnies, just that this keeps them reasonable!

Good news brookline mom! You can email your photos to your Flickr account. They appear in your account instantly. Then you just click over the title and descriptions to add them and add notes where you want.

So easy! I keep the email address in my drafts folder and just do a new one every time I'm ready.

Tara and JamJaree, I have 2 cats too. You might try the 3M Lint Roller made with Scotch brand adhesive.

Yesterday I cleaned out the kitchen floor clutter and mopped it. That was a big accomplishment. Now I need to start picking up the clutter on the living room floor. I'm back in work mode (no holiday for me today), which is pretty much fatigued and vegging out in the evenings. Maybe I'll just do it for 15 minutes. That will be an accomplishment.

Phew! We return from IKEA with three Magiker bookcases and glass door sets to construct a china cabinet and dollhouse display tomorrow. I know buying isn't on this week's Cure tasks, but a cabinet-type-thing had been planned for a particular wall from the git-go, and I'd like to be done unpacking this week.

Yeah, yeah, it's "carbohydrate furniture" -- but what are my chances of stumbling over a 15-3/4" deep, 72" long cabinet that has doors, divides into three sections for easy moving, and costs $300? Clever flea market finds are not the answer when you need to fit exact dimensions. Our apartment is a Generic Contemporary Box anyway, and IKEA looks happy in a GCB.

For the cat/dog/kid people out there--I finally bought a Roomba after years of not listening to my DH...guess what...it is WONDERFUL! (He was RIGHT!) It doesn't do away with the big clean that you need to do every week with dogs/cats/kids, but it does the everyday clean for you. There is some daily maintenance with the machine but it does such a great job. It also forces you to keep the floor picked up! Now to the top of the stream!

Back!

Opoponax, I just rasterbated me a nice picture for above my desk, now am looking for stuff for that bedroom wall. It's the choosing that's the hard part!

Alternately, I've been out looking for a storage/phone table and pillow covers. Am having no success. Any suggestions? I am guessing I'll end up at Target for the table at least, I see lovely pillow covers online but our pillows are 18" square and apparently that's not normal. I think this hunt will be a big part of the cure.

Anyways, much clutter has been pre-emptively tidied (still don't have the book yet) and an outbox is taking shape (in the garage, is that cheating?) so I guess I'm on my way. Need a solution for the piles of sheet music everywhere, when I put them all together I get in trouble...

I have hardwood floors for the record. And I would LOVE to buy a roomba! I just can't justify the price tag, especially since we already own an electrolux (albeit handed down from my ma). Then again, if I *sold* the electrolux, I might have enough cash to put towards the roomba. This could be the answer! Also, I am laughing myself silly at the thought of my cats' reactions to a robotic vacuum cleaner. Might encourage more hair-loss, but oh, the entertainment value.

Ahem. Perhaps I need to dilute the Murphy's Soap Oil with more water the next time I mop my floors.

This is my first week of the cure. I mopped my kitchen and bathroom and cleaned a little, and I started an outbox that is pretty big. I live in a studio so I don't have much room. My pictures are on flicker under boopeesf. I know I need to get nightstands and lamps and more color in my sleeping area. I probably will just get a colored pillow. I can't sleep when the colors are too bright.

i think this is my flicker link

Tara,

Let me give you some ideas of Japanese style.

Bonsai can be a nice decoration and fresh plant for your apartment.

And, if you cannot find tatami matts, get a green rug (similar green to tatami matts will be cool). Since most traditional houses has dark brown wood pilars and walls. So, green and brown makes your apartment Japanese style, I think.

If you get fresh flower, do like ikebana.

Wow, so much is going on here I can barely follow. Firstly, I wanted to let ou guys know I uploaded some photos on Flickr (click name) and done some major cleaning this weekend. Cleaned out my bookcase, let go of magazines (A TON), papers etc. It's exhausting but very energizing. My husband and I have also moved furniture around a bit, decided on a "to be sold" list and did some budgeting on what we'll need... I'm not sure I'm quite doing this in the right order, but it feels good!

boopeesf, what a cute apartment!

Can someone tell me how to find all the Cure photos in Flickr all at once, rather than clicking links in people's posts as they post them?

well as long as people are posting them to the cure group, they should all show up there (and yesterday i found a few from people who didn't link here!). additionally, i think in the last post maxwell asked us to tag things 'apartmenttherapycure'. if you search that, you should come up with everyone who did that. if people haven't done either, they'll be pretty hard to track down.

opo, thanks!

I can't believe we're only a day away from the start of week two. I still need to buy flowers and do the 10 minute sit!

Tara - It sounds like you're heading in the right direction already, and yaz has some excellent suggestions. Good luck!

OK, I got some pics taken this morning. I had to take them before I left for work, so it was pretty dark out, and DH was still sleeping. I took pictures of some of the things I like about my apartment, and hints of the mess I have to tackle.

It is really hard for me to post some of these pictures because I am embarassed, but I guess I've got to get over it to get the support I need and to get it taken care of so I'm not embarassed!

Read the captions on the flickr pictures to get a better sense of where it is in the apartment or why I took a picture of it.

I still have to do the cleaning (you'll notice the crumbs in the step can picture I obviously didn't notice at the time I was taking the picture) and then the sitting part of week 1, but I had have through most of the book, will do the cleaning tonight, then hopefully will submit more pics of the bones, which are good.

My style is an interesting dichotomy, and my husband shares a lot of it. We both love old jazz, like Ella, Louis and Frank, but we both love modern styling too, modern furniture, modern loft apartments, etc. so we have to find a way to balance that.

The two large paintings on tile, framed, are basically the only thing we've hung in the apartment, but I want to get more things up on the walls.

We've lived here for 3 years, but never have gotten fully settled. We finally have the time, resources and a bit of money to really do it, so I'm really going to do it!!

Hopefully I linked my flickr pics correctly to my name...I don't know how to get to the apartment therapy cure flickr thing, I'm totally new to flickr, but I tagged all my pics with apartmenttherapycure.

OMG, skywaykate, I covet your pantry! That's the kind of thing I miss about the Twin Cities.

Thank you angelune. Its a work in progress though. It looks 100 times better since I did the outbox. It was too cramed before. I guess I was compensating for things I didn't have like night stands and lamps etc.

OK, so a mini-wave of stress hit me when I read CathyinMN's comment. I just finished reading yesterday, but have yet to do any of the assignments. D'oh! Good thing this is a group cure or else I woulda never gotten passed Chapter 2!

OMG Kate! Your apartment is *a lot* like my old place! It had dark wood everywhere and almost the exact same built-in pantry.

Ok, I took my pictures, but I'm afraid to post them. I think I'll just wait till there's a new and improved and then show for contrast.

I picked up everything off the floors (this entailed picking up all the laundry in the bedroom and creating a giant pile next to the washer. Then picking it up and moving it to the living room because I couldn't get through the bathroom door. My husband wanted to jump in it like a big pile of leaves. Although I advised him that it'd be more fun if they were clean.

So, I may be a little behind tomorrow as the next few days involve a few loads of wash.

Sorry, ATL! But no worries, because you can do it! Vacuuming/mopping is the only task that takes a really significant amount of time. The others go by much faster than you'd think!

hey jessi in oregon,
don't be shy -- post away! after all, isn't the point of the cure to get cured? i'm betting everyone one here is slightly frustrated by their apt in some way or we wouldn't be joining in.

Anne -- What paint did you use in your entryway -- name and manufacturer if you don't mind sharing. Am getting started on Deep Clean, but already have eye on Jan 1 one-room cure start date and have been collecting samples of green paint for that. Thanks!! Sorry if you already gave the info -- I skimmed through the comments and idn't see the info, but at over 160, I might have missed something.

Photos are up, please be kind. I didn't want to put them up, because they really showed me how awful things are. I may add other detail shots soon, but I figured I'd get the worst out first.

Thanks.

Grr...I was just getting ready to wash my kitchen floor with a tub and sponge, when I discovered a crack in a corner of the tub! Guess I need to go cleaning implement shopping after work tomorrow.

I'm trying to start, really.

Wtrmaus--bravo! Things don't look bad...they look like you're in the right place at the right time!

Aislee, I found your style tray "set." What a fantastic idea to post the photos. I think I'll do that too.

Clarification: my name at flickr is "scraplolly." Now you all know who's left all those comments!

You're not just trying to start -- you're starting.

If you have a choice, buy your cleaning bucket in a color that cheers you.

If you really want to clean something today, Flylady recommends starting with the kitchen sink instead. An absolutely clean stretch of anything is very cheering.

Alana and Wende,

Thanks for the encouragement. I am going to do my dishes, and I'm gathering bags of grocery bags to be recycled tomorrow. I think I will try to find a fun bucket, every little bit will help.

Jacquelyn - my entryway paint color is a Home Depot purchase, a shade called Alfalfa. Oddly enough, the chip was Glidden but nobody was working that day and the Behr supplier was there so he mixed me some but with Behr paint. My office is off of the same chip but much lighter, Zen Mist is the name of that one, and while I didn't pick either for their names originally, I think they were both subconscious selling points. I love paint color names.

Unrelated, I bought curtain fabric for the bedroom today. Now I am putting off cutting it up and all that fun stuff. This is desperation, people. If I could find some 44" curtains this would never be happening.

This is probably out of order in the Cure but I'm still waiting for my book to arrive. Whoops. At least I cleaned floors and vacuumed (and got rid of a computer, yay CraigsList!) so it's not like I'm totally out of the loop!

Opoponax, I keep contemplating your comments on the living room, but the idea of making slipcovers intimidates me! Pillow covers are a start, that'll get that ugly print down to just the ottoman, but a slipcover is BIG in my world. And part of me is leaning towards brown, but I think that would probably end up being boring. Although a little boring is probably ok in that room. Hmm.

Anne--I think we may have to nominate you for the award for having "the most energy" in the first week! Amazing. I left a comment about using colour in your space--but after seeing this article, I'm excited by the possibility of plain white (or soft white) walls with punches of colour everywhere. Of course, it's all very feminine. However, in the spirit of inspiration and encouragement: click on my name.

I spent another 15 minutes tonight picking clutter up off of the living room floor. As I sat down to my computer I decided to clear off the clutter there too. Thanks Alana for posting the URL for organizedhome.com. Slow and steady wins the race -- I might finally get my place decluttered if I work on it 15 minutes a day.

A few days ago, I found a copy of Elsie de Wolfe's The House in Good Taste. Originally published in 1913, it was reissued in 2004. I'm having a lot of fun reading it. Plain white walls were a novelty back then!

From looking at a whole lot of Flickr pics and being tempted to comment on the same thing over and over, I thought I'd pass along this advice from Miss deWolfe:

"Be wary of hanging many pictures....I give this advice cheerfully, because I know you will hang them anyway (I do) but I warn you you will spoil your room if you aren't very stern with yourself. Somehow the pictures we most love, small prints and photographs and things look spotty on our walls. We must group them to get a pleasant effect."

OK, I've been lurking with this Cure session, but just haven't had a chance to sit down and think about precisely what needs to be done in our space, +/- 1900 sq ft single family home. In the next few days I will get on board and post some pictures.

Wende, I'm very much enjoying your comments, as I am drawn to Ikea (we've recently moved to a suburb of Chicago and have never lived near Ikea -- what excitement!), and with this, our 5th house purchase in less than 5 years (relocations), we are in a brand new home. All of this off-white drywall is bewildering! I'm used to homes with 'character' (read 'projects' in my husband's vernacular). We bought for the school district and low maintenance.

Anne, I bought curtains at Ikea and then used the iron-on tape to 'hem' them. I've bought the stuff at sewing stores, too, so you could just use your iron instead of your sewing machine to make your curtains. I haven't washed my curtains yet, so I'm not sure how well it would hold up there.

OK, joining the bandwagon today! I hope it's not too late. I'll be representing Belgium, and start this evening with the repairs check...

My apartment is a 1000 sq. ft. 12th floor in the Belgian capital with views on the skyline. Many huge windows, very sunny, built on the late 60's. I moved in with my boyfriend 8 months ago and need to balance my need for a proper decoration scheme, his craving for simplicity and the furniture I inherited from Grandma. Last but not least, another challenge: reducing IKEA furniture as much as we can.

jacquelyn, In my past three houses, I've painted at least one room Soft Fern from Ben Moore--people walk in and gasp..."I love this color..." I also like Rich Cream if you're looking for a yellow.

Just received my AT book yesterday! Hurray!

Will share photos of house and my arch nemesis--the laundry basket with paperwork!

Abbe, I have been ogling Ikea curtains for months, unfortunately their online selection is somewhat lacking and I don't have the motivation to drive there (two hours minimum each way) without some other excuse than just curtain shopping.

Alana, thanks for the article, lots of good inspiration there! And I'm not quite as gung-ho as I may seem, a lot of this is just the joy of finding people who I can share my theoretical house dreams with. And work is dull right now so I've been doing a lot of pondering. And some stuff (like painting) has been ongoing for a while now and will probably just keep going slowly until the whole interior is done (aah, someday).

Book came in the mail...read the whole thing in one day! Now am looking at my PILES and PILES of paperwork...some of it is important, some not...I need tips, help, suggestions on how to tame this beast! (I'm great at the first purge by the recycling bin...then it goes all over.) sigh. Plus side is Amvets picked up what was left of my garage sale stuff today. And I went through my linen closet and clothes closet. Why did I keep that stuff? ;-) Am having trouble with the flower thing--it doesn't make my heart sing so am getting my nails done! (which I never do!)

Bella -- if you come back here to check if someone's answered your question, just start with the papers bit by bit. You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Flylady dot net has some helpful hints about papers in her Ask Flylady column this week, you might like to check that out. 15 minutes at a time, try not to let it overwhelm you.

We're with you in this! (While going through our own clutter!!!)