apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The lamp for the corner behind the day bed has arrived – yes, I sprung for the expense. It needs a better shade, but this will do for the nonce.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7340332@N05/

As promised, an update on my adventures with organization.

The professional organizer isn’t due for another week or ten days, but I thought I had better review what needed done and refine my list of things I want, well, organized.

The original list went: files; books; storage (chests, closets, and cabinets); computer files (to “match” the paper files); and time management.

If I were to order them by priority, I might say files (including computer files); time management; storage; and books. Actually, help with time management is probably the most important thing, but the files are just about the most visibly annoying item on the list. The stack of storage boxes jeer at me every time I walk by.

I began with the files and file boxes. In and of itself there isn’t much more I can say about it. What I did find was that one file drawer was filled with recent client files and this raised some client confidentiality questions to which I didn’t have an immediate answer. Rather than research it, I made an arbitrary decision based on my comfort zones and decided that they would not be gone through. Sometime during or after the process I would send any relevant material to the client or just toss it.

The second thing that I noticed was that the stacks of books were worse than I realized. In my moving things about to accommodate a home office, many books were no longer properly shelved. (I used to work for both a library and a book shop, so this is a true horror for me.) I had really tossed the books onto the list just because it was something that should be done and it’s something organizers do, but felt I was on top of it – it just a case of setting aside the time to lug the discards across the street to Alabaster to see what could be sold – except that the two bags I was planning to start with have been patiently waiting since February. I decided to push the books up on the hierarchy: books and files now jointly hold the top slot.

By the time I figured out what I wanted to do with storage, I had done it. It’s now checked off the list. That California Closet system I installed 15 years ago works better than I ever realized.

Rightly or wrongly, I see time management as the larger issue. I could be wrong. I’m sure the organizer will correct me when he arrives.

I decided to paint it grey. The paint will do a better job of preventimg splinters than a stain. The grey is great, it'll go well with the red sink skirt I plan on making.

I answered "Sunny Skies" on the survey, but since I did that we've had a minor disaster. My husband's computer died and we need a new one (long story), which puts a huge dent in my Cure budget. I may have to scale way back on what I was going to do, since the budget wasn't very big in the first place.

The lamp for the dining room arrived yesterday and I installed it today. No thanks to the instructions, which were very detailed about the things I knew how to do (connecting the wiring) and sorely lacking in everything else (such as how to assemble the fixture). I don't have enough bulbs of the right size for it.

Wine rack is also in place, although not the place originally planned.

I went with sun and showers. On the one hand, right now there's just not a whole lot for me to do -- I'm doing a one-room remedy, and since my project is a relatively small, low budget, and DIY one, I'm set on all the conceptual stuff, breakdowns of repairs, etc. On the other hand, I feel so behind! Especially seeing all these beautiful "before" photos!

Forgot to mention: no bears last night, but it was all too obvious that there was a skunk nearby.

Who knows of some useful, free floor plan tools? I am doing a sort of hybrid cure; mostly deep treatment but I've been inspired to make other improvements. I'd love to mess with the arrangement and give a framework for the photos I've posted because the floor plan isn't that obvious.

HopeK--you are in luck! I just tracked this down.

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jsp?categoryid=/templatedata/bhg/category/data/arrangearoomtest.xml

We used it quite a bit in the fall 06 cure.

EastVillageAmy

Thank you. Perhaps that wonderful pumpkin color you have.

I had a repair person over and got a couple of repairs actually finished, another one not done (needs further consultation--a real puzzler) and another one--a leak, that used up most of the guy's time--needs serious attention from a plumber. Bummer. At least something got done and it felt really good to bring someone in to help me, because I wasn't going to get these things done. Yay!

Thanks, Alana in Canada! This is an amazing community.

JonathanB - at this rate, there will be nothing left for him to organise! Thanks for sharing, though. I'll be interested to see what he says about time management v. piles of paper being the root cause - will he choose the chicken or the egg?

Thanks, Zooza

As for the organizer guy, he'll have plenty to do with the files and books. I've made painful -- at least for me -- decision to try to bring the books down to below 90% capacity.

And it will be interesting to hear what he does say about the chicken/egg relationship between time management and clutter.

I chose sun and showers. Everything is going well, and my wonderful husband cleaned the oven for me today. I'm just hoping for a final burst of energy so I can finish the last of the kitchen tasks tomorrow & take some "after" photos!

Have had quotes on new curtains and am all set to proceed... but husband has pointed out that a new puppy (8 week old lab) and new curtains is possibly not the best mix.

They're just so beautiful! Taupe, box pleats, soft, flowy fabric... (cue stamping of foot and mini tantrum). I'm looking to replace these horrible blinds:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/p_jane/1281255287/in/set-72157601771280918/

What do you think?

Am I crazy to consider curtains at this point? Should I wait a month or two?

Oops, sorry! I have a bad habit of finding stuff I like online, and then just saving it to the desktop for later, thus losing the source.

The loft pictured is from: http://www.woodenlofts.com

I still can't figure out if I can make a loft look good, or if it will be too much disruption. I sense that it would work better to have something custom-made, but am concerned it would be out of my budget (no more than a couple hundred dollars). Has anyone used a carpenter?

Also, toying with the idea of painting it white, green, orange, blue, or another color, in order to blend in better to the room and not just seem like a college loft.

Of course, I should probably not choose a solution that will take TOO much time as I am trying to finish my doctoral dissertation by spring! I will also only be in this apartment for probably another year, and it is really a sublet from the longterm tenant I live with, so I don't want to sink too much money into it.

My final concern is that I really love my windows the way they are now. They let in lots of light which is my favorite thing about the room, along with the white brick wall. I'm concerned that a loft might block the light, or at least the line of the windows. You can see pics of my room, and also a room plan, by clicking on my name below.

Thoughts?

Phillippa- is it a boy or girl puppy? If it's a male puppy- WAIT! Until it's housebroken they cannot be trusted around curtains or the edges of furniture. I know from experience. My dog is going to be 9 years old and still cannot be 100% trusted. I have thrown many a tantrum over beautiful curtains in my life- but it would hurt more to buy them and have them ruined.

Haven't got my blog set up yet, so there's no evidence of the catastrophe that is my home! I read the book and started on Week One, Step One: mop and wash the floors. I quickly realized this is impossible until I move the furniture and keepers detritus from room to room. (this started out as a one-room cure, until I realized I want to change room function.) So I fell far from the beautifully organized cure and got sucked into the vortex of horror I'm in now.

And you guys are picking out LAMPS and PAINT COLORS!

But if I stay determined, this all counts as a renegade cure, right?

So the bf came home this week, and to my surprise, he loved the bedroom...his only concern was where I had put his chair (the plastic green outdoor chair) I explained that I put it outside and now we had a nice (black bentwood german mid-century) inside chair in its place...he seemed satisfied...but of course he and his suitcases have managed to set me back days in the cleaning process...

I am trudging along...

things accomplished thus far:

* Cleared top half of kitchen cabinets, the bottom will be done later today. It amazes me how much stuff is in there.

* Stained the bookcase; 70% of it already filled

* outbox/outbag/outcart overflowing with kitchenware and books, and are getting in the way

Things to be done today:

* once the rain subsides, I can wheel the cart over to my local library and drop off stuff at the thrift store

* clear out the bottom kitchen cabinets, and start a new out bag

* scrub, scrub, and scrub some more

* fill 100% of bookcase and start another out cart

Phew... let's get to it!!!

Of course, Aulaire.
I think what you are experiencing is sort of intended. After all, the point is not just to have clean floors but aquaint you with your apartment--and that seems to have been done.

JonathanB--thanks for the update. You've made some important decisions and I think you're well on your way tpo getting the most of your money from your organizer guy.

Phillippa--if you need to get them now (limited availability, a sale) then do, but keep them stored somewhere safe until the puppy is trained. That's what I would do. Then you can put them up, say, in time for Christmas maybe without the mad rush of shopping for them then.

I'm not "strictly" curing today--I have an extremely bad habit of starting things and not cleaning up after myself. The "cure" makes me start lots of things--so today is a "put away and tidy" day--plus finishing the kitchen as best I can.
I also have to do that seasonal changeover of summer bedding and clothes to "winter" today. It is getting quite cold. 6 C or 42 F is today's HIGH.

Wow, Alana! It was almost 80 degrees in NYC today!

I haven't been able to do much curing this week-- I've been crazy busy at work, and we're leaving tomorrow for a week's vacation. I did buy (and read) an organization book called Scaling Down , which seems pretty useful even though it's geared toward the retirement set. I've also started trying to convince Mr.G that we should paint. We'll see how that goes.

Aulaire - if you are on a renegage cure can I join you? My curing has been sporadic. I did discover a cure for the office area(new desks and file cabinet, found the ones to get); now I just need the money for it. I switched half the house to CFLs and will get the rest next payday; I made vegetable/chicken soup today in the slow cooker and bought pie pumpkins so I can make fresh puree for cooking. The house was scrubbed today, I will finish that tomorrow.

I've also discovered that my desk is too short for me, which makes me slouch to be at the right height... so I will be raising it somehow, and likely will need it for the next one as well.

Loft lady (sorry, forgot your name & can't find it) if you are going to move in a year, skip the loft unless you can do it inexpensively. When I left the comment in Flickr (Ldy Tara) I thought you would be there longer.

Bad news in terms of my Cure prognosis:

I have three seperate sets of houseguests coming to visit smack in the middle of the cure. Who will be sleeping on the futon. You know, the one which is also our couch. In the living room. Which is the room I'm curing. The process of which will involve intense disarray as I paint, completely re-install the art, and take every single goddamn book off the shelves.

So I have no idea what's realistic, at this point. It might simply mean a crazier pace in the last few weeks, as I'd planned to paint much sooner than the book says to. Or it might mean that the room isn't finished in time for my halloween party. In which case, there'll be enough booze and costumes to go around that nobody will care that the bookshelves are still a mess.

I voted sunny skies, but I'm also a week behind on things - just got the book the other day and finished it last night.

I've made out my repair list and thankfully it's small. The rest of the deep treatment for the week shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.

I picked a very small area to do for the room remedy - my vanity and master closet. I picked it because a) it needs it, b) it shouldn't be an overwhelming project and c) when done should make enough of an impact to keep me going on other rooms. I've already got a basic budget set for the area and tomorrow is a field trip to see if I can't get some more style tray ideas.

If ya wanna see the scary before pics, take a look-see at http://myhouse-myhome.net/2007/09/22/vanity-and-master-closet/

I am stoked over this plan - it's structured but not overwhelming.

Hey Opo: that is a bummer. I wonder, though, if you could do the project in a few well thought-out blitzes. It depends on your time... if your guests are weekend guests and weekends are the only time you can paint, it could be tough. But if you have one or two weekends it seems like you could get a lot done, especially if you recruit your roommate. Worst case scenario, you can deep clean and plan everything, even source everything, just not put it in - and do it all after the guests leave. Your halloween party sounds like a blast!

Kyrdissa, I'm the loft lady (aka betsbillabong), and you're probably right - both in terms of time and money - that I should not spend much money on a space I'll be leaving in a year. And yet it would be SO nice to have the space to lounge in my room. I think I will say I don't want to spend any more than $250 and call it a day. Which probably means it can't be done, but - you never know.

And I would love to hear more thoughts about the pros/cons of building a loft bed, as well as ideas for arranging the room if I don't. I am lost.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas - keep it coming! I feel like this blueprint room planning part is what I'm weakest at. It's hard for me to picture things ahead of time visually. I am happy about the colors I've chosen, though.

betsbillabong -
If you're interested in trying a DIY, this site - http://www.creativespotlite.com/woodworking/bunk-beds.htm
which I've linked before, has instructions on how to make a very simple platform bed using 2x4s. it's ment to be used in a dorm room, and one of the variations is a lofted bed. We altered the design to make our full sized platform bed, which has served us very well for a year and a half now. It's not particularly pretty, but it's functional, and if you wanted to put the extra time into sanding, staining, etc, you could make it as nice as you wanted...We sanded ours and rubbed it with danish oil, which looks nice. For us, we had the time, the wood, and acess to a woodshop, so it didn't cost us anything. I have no idea what the materials for this would cost where you are, but I would imagine it would be under $250. The best part about it is that it's all held together with bolts, so it's very easy to take apart for moving!

The main obstacle is the painting. I'm already working on the prepping aspects, like taking the art off the walls (and getting the hooks out), getting rid of some things that won't be in the finished room, cleaning the walls and windowsill, trying paint samples, etc.

Part of the problem is that because of the painting job, things are going to have to get a lot uglier before they get much prettier. If I hold off and keep everything nice for guests, then I really will be held up on the cure, because I'll have to wait until the second half of October to even start anything. And, yes, I can really only paint on a weekend, and the guests will be weekend guests (for the most part). If I can surrender to doing as much prep work as humanly possible, and having a relatively unpresentable living room, then I can take your advice and do it in a few short bursts.

betsbillabong-IKEA has loft beds:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50019950
That one's $200. In either the first or second smallest, coolest apartment contest, I'm pretty sure someone had one of these in a studio, with a desk underneath, and it looked fantastic. Also, you could sell it on Craigslist at the end of the year or you might even find one there to buy now.

I don't know what your DIY skills are like, but if they're anything like mine, if I got started on a construction project like a loft bed, you can bet my dissertation would never get done (is that what you said you're doing?)

bets:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/042105/smallest-coolest-apartment-contest/apartment-18-hillarys-light-n-comfy-hangout--002605

Oh, I like that Ikea one - it seems so much lighter than the wood ones - it would block your window less...

As some of you know, I have been busy building cabinet doors for my kitchen. Well, they're in!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zooza/1428697446/

A major milestone has been reached. :-)

Next up, sorting out the dining end of the kitchen. Then a bit of painting, then laying the floor, and then I'm done.

Looking at that Smallest Coolest entry from the first go-round, it's interesting to see where the tastes of Apartment Therapy readers have gone over 3 years. In the first contest, this got incredibly good marks, despite perfectly ordinary bones, no flashy decor, and not an Eames chair in sight. This past year I felt like if your space didn't look like a designer was brought in, and you didn't have at least 3 or 4 pieces of iconic high end furniture, you were doomed to low votes. And some really bland places that were stacked to the ceiling with designer swag and big tv's and the like did surprisingly well in terms of the votes and comments.

Zooza, they really do look amazingly good. Clearly, you have vision.

Love the cabinets and the dark wood -- and the cardigan's cute too.

ok, zooza, how many of you are there really? No, really. Either that or you've somehow managed to wrangle more than 24 hours in a day!

Did you start all this work at the start of this Cure or earlier? Is there a post or thread from the beginning of your work that you can direct me to so I can get a sense of where you started?

Lesley and JonathanB - thank you.

Pixie - there is only one of me, but I have been chipping away at this for some time. My husband helps out with things like hanging doors, which require two people, but otherwise it's just little ol' me.

I had to go and look at my blog to check dates. It looks like I started pulling out the old kitchen in March. Before that, I'd redone the sitting room which adjoins it. So I haven't been that speedy. My blog is at:

http://zooza.wordpress.com/

All my before pictures are in one of my flickr sets.

Another thing to remember is that I work from home, so it's easy for me to take a half hour break and saw some wood.

thanks zooza- I'll check out your blog. I'm so impressed with your work!

I fixed a floor lamp! I determined that what wasn't working was the clicker that you use to actually turn the light on - it's been working oddly for a long time and finally stopped turning on the light at all and was just going around in circles without actually "clicking." I took the wires off, took the thing you screw the bulb into to the hardware store and got help finding another one, brought it back, put it together, and it worked! So gratifying. I'll cross that off the repairs list.

I've decided to switch what I had planned for this Cure from Fall Cleaning deep treatment of the bedroom to Fall Cleaning and repairs. My repairs list finally went over the top and I want to start regularly taking care of these. But first, I need to knock back the list (I probably have 15 or 16 things on the list now, after taking off a few things that have gotten fixed since Friday). It feels soooo good to get repairs made.

Ah the kitchen, an area that only my closet can surpass in terms of a hoge podge dumping ground!

During Saturday's down pour I watched Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. His comment on looking at everything with a critical eye really hit home. While I will need every bit of this week for the kitchen, I know that by weeding out stuff and streamlining my cooking equipment it will pay off in terms of faster cleaning, easier cooking, and more enjoyment going foward.

If the amount of stuff I'm donating to my church tag sale relates in any way to salvation - I'm going to heaven for sure!!

I am half way through washing my kitchen ceiling. I am using some sort of telescopic thingy with a cool cloth attachment that I can take off and rinse out. Tried to find a picture, but can't. Still, my chiropractor is not going to be happy with me and my neck come Tuesday.
This is one of those times, I wish I was still in an apartment. I don't remember EVER washing a ceiling when I lived in an apartment. But perhaps it's different for you guys.
Have any of you ever washed a kitchen ceiling?

Alana--never washed a ceiling.

I've been working on the kitchen and am making excellent, but slow, progress. I'm rearranging things as I clean and I've made some efficiency and aesthetic improvements. And really cleaned some areas that irk me all the time, but I never stop to do deep cleaning on them (like the corner by the garbage and recycling). I've gotten rid of a couple things so far (I purged the kitchen during the first Cure, so I don't have a lot of excess stuff), along with decluttering. My kitchen cleanup will go through Week 3. The Week 3 tasks take me no time at all.

How do you even get dirt on your ceiling?

Kitchen here is being combined with Week 3, as it kind of is the entry, so certain landing strip tasks ripple back through the kitchen, presumably leaving order in their wake.

I'm jumping around a bit on the tasks--I may follow Aulaire's renegade cure idea, actually. But I've finished washing all the floors, cleaned and vacuumed the lr rug, started a new outbox and gotten rid of a vacuum that didn't really work and some books, gone to the farmer's market to get stuff to cook dinner, hung the photos in the office and straightened up a lot, so I'm not complaining. Also cleaned some of the kitchen, though still need to do the deep-cleaning.

This week was a bit slower for me, but I did manage to scrub the bathrooms and the kitchen counters, hang new shelves in my bathroom and hem the living room curtains a task leftover from the spring cure)...

See pics here:
http://blackwhiteyellow.blogspot.com/

I can't even fathom cleaning the ceiling for some reason, other than maybe dusting the corners...

I'm having a really hard time finding curtains/sheets to make curtains that I like and can afford...I've unfortunately fallen in love with several Dwell prints...now everything else is looking like crap...anyone know where I can pick up cheap(er) Dwell sheets???

Zooza, I'm am so impressed with your work, I can't even tell you...what kind of flooring will you be installing?

I'm in the renegade cure mode - have been going along the last two weeks but haven't got anything up on flickr yet due to slightly crazed work schedule recently. I've jumped into the cure anyway because my biggest issue is a lack of clarity concerning my personal style due to spending the last 5 years renting furnished rooms. I think I've got it sorted out: punk rock art deco all the way. Which might explain why I am having trouble finding photos of interiors I like. Need to track down that book Thurston Moore edited.

What's a good mattress for a platform bed? I bought one with half a dozen slats last year, but kept the old futon mattress. This summer my back has been killing me and it is clearly the feeling of the slats through the mattress. There will probably be big mattress sales again on Veteran's Day.

How does a kitchen ceiling get dirty?

1) You live with a smoker.
2) Your kids bring home helium balloons and proceed to draw smiley faces on them with marker. Then they bounce them off the only non-popcorn ceiling there is on the ground floor. Oh, you scrub at it, but it never really comes off.
3) Spaghetti sauce blows up on the stove. see above.
4) Your ceiling isn't exactly flat. Grease rises on steam and settles in ripples.
5) You don't have an over the stove outside venting hood fan and you cannot get one installed where the stove is and you can't move the stove without doing the rewiring.

Getting at those things you never do is why the cure is so great, Pixie. I too have issues with the wall behind the garbage can. Recycling is under the sink.

Jess2nola--you've done really well. Lighten up on yourself. Really.

For Week three, other than handling the huge backlog of mail, I'll switch to my one room remedy: re-doing the dining room. It'll take a few days just to empty it, I bet. I hope we can get a primer coat or two up this week. Bye bye red.

Lady J--a thick one?

No, seriously, my futon was on slats and I never had a problem. But I could suggest cutting some 1/2" plywood to fit over or even replace the slats. But you probably need a good mattress AND the plywood.

Alana, I haven't washed the ceiling, but yesterday I did vacuum it. There were cobwebs and dead bugs up there! They gather around light fittings and on the cornices. I know you understand. Tonight I'm washing the light fittings, because they seem to attract the cooking grease (as well as cobwebs and dead bugs).

I would love to have been at your place the night the spaghetti sauce exploded...

I, too, would have liked to witness the spaghetti sauce explosion. The nearest I have come to something like that is an exploding egg from a microwave (and that small thing covered a large area).

Alana - I am in awe of all the scrubbing and other work you are doing. It tires me just reading about it. But your home will be absolutely sparkling by the end of the cure. I'm going to try your 15-minute day idea later in the week, btw.

Jess2Nola - agree that you are doing really well. And my flooring will be a posh cork type thing throughout the two rooms, if all goes well. Pics on flickr.

I am just in love with my place after spending a lot of time and thought (and $) on it since Friday!

Oh yeah, remember the "spaghetti is done if it sticks to the ceiling" test? I think there was a fair amount of the stuff sticking to the ceiling back in college days.

My futon slats were more numerous/closer together. This is a bed of the same size with only 6 planks. I can see the ripples in the mattress. Oy, this is not good sleep.

hey ladyj,

i agree that you need plywood or more slats, as opposed to a mattress. that sounds like the key issue to me.

here's something else that's worked well for me: a mattress topper. i bought a really comfy, nice futon several years ago. at the same time, i bought a "wool topper" from this place:

http://www.whitelotus.net/ProductDetail-103.html

whoa. stop the presses. holy s**t. i think their prices have way more than doubled since i bought that in 2002! but maybe you can find something similar elsewhere. it's comfortable, but i'm not sure it's worth $400!!!

damn..

Thanks for the moral support.
We're going to go drive go-karts today. (Husband's day off). Hooray. Taking the day off.
(Well, a few hours, anyway.)

I know the Cure is starting to work when my DH actually volunteers praise (on 3 separate occasions) about how great our kitchen looks!

I've used Swiffer Wet Jet on our ceramic tile floor for the last 2 years, for acceptable results. This weekend I actually got on my hands and knees with a scrub-brush, to clean our floor the 'old fashioned way.' What a difference!!

Other accomplishments include hanging up a papertowel holder and securing the wall-mounting for our bathroom cabinet. Tomorrow I head to IKEA for some early retail therapy, and to scope out future treats... I'm especially excited to tackle the landing strip in Week 3. Right now we've got 4 different landing strips in our front hallway, but more is definitely NOT better in that regard. See the embarrassing evidence here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/viakendra/1355067978/in/set-72157601952441857/

I'm thinking something small, like a Lack wall shelf. Something restrictive, so we are forced to actually put stuff away instead of letting it pile up on the landing strip...

Thanks bets,

I'm gonna get a new mattress 'cause this one is 10 years old. Have been meaning to do it all year. Just delaying the delivery and off-gassing hassle. I hadn't decided on a box spring. That would definitely make the bed very high (much higher than the sofa it faces). If not a spring, than a plywood board.

I wouldn't dare wash my ceiling -- I'd have that dreaded popcorn stuff falling like snow everywhere. Ugh. Whoever decided that stuff was a good idea needs to be forced to live with it.

Pixie said "I am just in love with my place after spending a lot of time and thought (and $) on it since Friday!" -- that seems to me to get at the true heart of the Cure... making our homes a place that we love, and that give us joy. That's great news, Pixie!

As I said on the Chicago thread, which was very quiet over the weekend, my kitchen is pretty much done, and my living room is arranged to my liking (I've tweaked it just a tad since I took pictures, and now have the rocking chair and my beloved glass table in there). This week's Landing Strip week looks to be a light one in smallcitybeth-land... good thing, because I have a cold. I've been playing on my computer designing my housewarming invitation today, because I wasn't up to the other tasks. Soon, floors -- soon.

See more details on Flickr, and on my blog, http://serenityathome.blogspot.com