apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wasn't the above from the color contest last fall?

Wow, thanks, Oteach1, for the insight about growing up in a home with unfinished business. That one was right on the mark for me. Not to go all psychological on you all, but growing up, my mom's reaction whenever anything went wrong--and wrong it often went--was to pack us up and start over in a new town. I'm sure this has a lot to do with my tendency to abandon projects if they're not going perfectly. Okay! I am at least going to get my kitchen squared away this week, perfectly or not!

i loved oteach1's comment! she just hit that giant perfectionist problem right on the head; yep, that was the reason that it wasn't until discovering maxwell's book that i did anything with my apt. i printed out her quote and pasted it inside my kitchen cupboard so that i can see it and be reminded to "just get over it and do it" every morning.

Does anyone know where the wooden bed shown in StaciaD's pic is from?

That picture really makes me want to go dark for my bedroom walls.

OK, y'all - I'm a little hung up around the style tray. We've got a pretty good idea of what we want in the one-room remedy (our office), but as I look for images that convey the feeling we want, I wind up flummoxed. I tend to like objects more than pictures in magazines. I think it is in large part because I can't imagine wanting to live in the spaces pictured in magazines, but I can imagine specific items in our space. Does this make sense? Maybe I should be looking more towards pictures of actual homes, like those on AT and flickr pics.

As far as progress, I feel like the one-room remedy is a bit heavy on manual labor at the end if you're doing it yourself, so we've cleared out the room and are prepping to paint. We can't quite recall what was going on in that room when we looked at the house before we bought it, but my are there ever a number of little holes in the walls, as well as a few big ones. There's been lots of patching, and husband-guy may or may not be painting the ceiling today.

To respond to a few things from the previous cure thread - Jill, I really see the cure as a framework. Nobody's going to scold you like an ill-behaved kid if you didn't clean your floors last week, and I doubt MGR's feelings are hurt that I'm getting ready to paint before I'm supposed to. And Anthea's point is relevant, too - I think providing a space for people to discuss what they are doing is swell, and I don't really think I can reasonably expect input from Maxwell since, well, I know I haven't paid him in any way for that input! If he's got something to say, I'm all ears, but it isn't really why I'm doing it. I'm doing it because I want to improve a space in my home, so that it works better for my family and provides us with a little of our very own joy. I really hope you find it satisfying and at least kind of fun - last time they did one I just eavesdropped, and once people get moving it's quite impressive!

And according to Wende's MBTI guide, I'm an idealist ENFP, aka "champion". I am not to be trusted with implementation, which is probably very true. I believe this is the longest. post. ever.

That lamp is gorgeous, does anyone know where it's from?

Well, LauraII, you'd be wise to have the husband-guy working on implementation, too... all the N_P types find having the idea more fun than the manual labor.

My husband-guy has learned that he will always be the one wielding the paint brush if the project takes more than 20 minutes. I'm the one who deploys the Complete Theory of Paint to decide what color, what gloss, and what brand to buy. Thank heavens for the internet, as I now don't always drag him to every store in town to research every decision.

I'm totally with you on the style tray LauraII. I spent a large portion of the last few days poking around online and looking through magazines--ending up with lots of individual pieces I like and very little complete rooms that inspire. This was incredibly frustrating at first.

But then, I realized that I'm not here to recreate a room we've seen in a magazine or on a website. I'd guess that the pieces you're finding all have some commonalities that'll help point you in the right direction.

The single images I've found have helped me refine my mental image of what I've sort of been doing in my home instinctively.

i think the giant lamp is like a kockoff of the giant stark lamp
http://hivemodern.com/products/?view=sub_product&sid=742

theres also this lamp if you like big things
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets//giant-anglepoise-lamp-for-big-desks-or-scaring-old-people-201906.php

and i dont know where jill gets off saying bad stuff about maxwell... its like anne in reno says we dont want snark we banned all snark two weeks ago and got cured and we want only sunshine now in our clutterless minds... dont we?

Great post LauraII. The style tray is helpful but I'm in the same boat, with putting objects in. I still think its okay though because it gives me a clear overall idea of the feeling I'm trying to get.

Wende, I had great fun doing the MBTI quiz. It turns out I'm a Rationalist as well, not quite what I expected but upon reading the description it made sense.

I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the start of Week 2 and everything I have planned. I'm doing more of a Through Clean + Whole Studio treatment, grabbing from both the deep and the one room. I don't exactly want to scale back, so I just need to keep organized and prioritize what I'm doing. And breathe. And relax.

I have a question that I've been holding on to. It's more of a long term question, but the bedroom above brings it up. I have a zillion ideas for how to conceal my TV while I'm not using it. One is to do a 3 panel sliding door system that covers my entire area with the TV (10' tall, 71" wide). Any advice on doing this? I would love for it to just be three stained wood panels, or possibly just white MDF or some other flat white surface.

It's really funny. I took the survey, and our apartment came out weak. My roommate took the survey, and according to his results, the apartment was healthy. It's all about perspective (I guess). All I know is that it feels wonderful to cook in a clean kitchen. Just making sure that the dishes are done each night, the counters clean, and stuff put away really makes me excited about plannning & then cooking my next meal. Something so small really improves the overall feeling of the apartment, especially since our open floor plan leaves us incapable of hiding anything.

I think I'm going to commit to a one-room cure-- the bathroom. There's not a huge amount to cure (it's not a huge room), at least not within my budget at the moment, although hopefully a reno is down the road. I just want to paint it and make a few little improvements - like maybe more shelving and a solution to the troublesome cat box, which the 7 month old kitten thinks is a play box, as she kicks litter everywhere. I actually saw her rolling around in it one day a couple months back. Cats--so clean.

I've been through the first two Cures and would also like to follow along for a spring cleaning again this time, but rather "Lite" compared to, especially, the first time around. But, I want to try something new with the one-room cure.

One more thing: I was thinking about Maxwell and Sara Kate's apartment with the "lightbox" type cabinetry in the bedroom and found some pix online. Has there ever been an item on AT on how the boxes were made, what kind of lights, etc? I know the front doors are made of plexi.

For those of you who are feeling stymied when looking through magazines for your style tray... I felt the same way. I started seeing so much great stuff on Flickr, so I started using my Flickr Favorites as a style tray. (click on my name to see what I mean) I just click "Add to Faves" when I see something style-tray-worthy.

And you might notice some familiar stuff on there. I hope no one minds that I used their pictures for my style tray!

Jessica/twergi, you grocery shop exactly like I do!

A thought on your color issues... when we lived in a city with grayish light, we had a ton of color in the apartment. We moved to a city with yellowish light, and ended up going totally neutral. I have vibrant color in the bathrooms, on the patio, and in my dollhouse projects, but the main rooms are all golden beige plus a neutral or two. You may just be a in place where you want your background to be soothing and neutral -- it's not being "afraid of color" (a fave AT accusation) to use neutrals in a conscious way. (Yeah, I'll post photos eventually. I'm not a designer, though, nor am I MCM in style, so don't hold your breath for excitement.)

My update for the week:

I'm doing the Deep Treatment for my studio apartment which I hope to do all in 8 wks. of the Cure (wishing for no procrastination). That entails most definitely the kitchen, closet and hoping the bathroom. Just thinking about tackling my closet and the cabinet underneath the sink and the drawers makes me wanna scream.

According to the assignment for this week I will be working on doing a thorough cleaning in the kitchen. Started some of it yesterday.

I do want to finish decorating my place sans painting the walls but I'm going to clear out the clutter first.

martine:

The pace of the cure should help you from getting overwhelmed. Try not to tackle more than prescribed if you're afraid of it becoming too daunting.

On Style Trays - it's not that you want THAT ROOM, it's that something in the picture has a quality you appreciate and potentially want to duplicate somehow. I think Pottery Barn is totally not my style but I have some pictures from them because they did stuff with wall colors that I liked. I say, if you like looking at it even superficially, hang on to it! Later on you might end up finding that your picture of a froofy $8000 Brocade Home canopy bed provides you with the perfect color for your minimalist blue bathroom...

I'm also a fan of flickr as inspiration, but I get a love looking at the past pictures on apartment therapy. I painted my second bedroom a color I found from the I've Got Color competition. I steal more ideas from ATers than any magazine. We've got a creative community here.

I spent the day working at my office newly moved into my front dining room. I love it. I'm still not sure if having the media unit under the small window works or not. I have a feeling I'll rearrange everything as soon as the new curtains are up.

to work off what anne just posted, i think style trays are more about the feeling you want in a room -- a mix of colors that appeals to you, a casual vs formal look or a grouping of furniture that is interesting -- along with specific items you might want. (i think wende's pegged me as an nf by now) i have a picture of jean harlow in my bedroom's style tray. i don't want a poster of her in my room but she represents a sort of glamourous 30's old hollywood style that i'm going for. i myself don't use a tray but a photo album with tons of tear sheets that i been collecting for ages.

I feel great after last week, just getting the floors clean, new cleaning supplies that don't make me wheeze and pretty flowers have done wonders for me. Today was NICE- almost 60- and in Mi in March that is amazing!!!! Opened the windows and blew out all the winter nasty air.

We are doing some bigger projects during this cure, but I am trying to stay week by week so I don't feel overwhelmed since this is my first.

Question- anyone have any great cleaners for pet odors and stains? My dog is bad.........
Thanks and everyone have a great day!

lorijo--

Nature's Miracle, obtainable at most any pet supply store. The crucial thing is that you have to completely soak the offending spot with it and then allow it to dry over the next couple of days. You'll know your job is done when your dog doesn't sniff there anymore.

I'm not feeling as manic as I was a few days ago, and am working lot this week, so will not have very much time to freak out, which is good. I ordered a layout kit mentioned in the book yesterday, and spent last night pulling out pictures from a magazine, and I think this weekend we might go to some flea markets and more stores and see what kind of stuff we agree on.

One problem is the tile table we have and what to use it for. It is just under 22 inches high, so it's not exactly a coffee table, and much too short to be a dining table. mr. kendra.e would like to use it as a desk or table to sit at, but I'm not sure what would work as a chair. It would have to be pretty short. Maybe some old footstools? a bench? I don't know.

I'll catch up next week!

I'm an INFP. So glad to know that there's a reason I'm better at having ideas than following through!

Question: I have tons of magazine pix of rooms I love, but have trouble seeing how to translate that look into something I could do in my own home. If simply buying pretty objects were all it took, I'd have a beautiful home already! So, not sure how to get from the inspiration to concrete actions for me to take.

Oteach1, thanks for your suggestion about the drapes . . .

Diane- Thank you. I have tried alot of things to no avail yet. My dog is 9 and spiteful, and with a 3 year old I worry about chemicals. I can't wait to try it.

alcemily,

it's not about the details. it's about the concept. you need to identify the theme. what is the common thread that you like in all those photos? traditional style? casual look? plush furnishings? heavy textures? warm colors? antiques? furniture you can lounge on or more formal, rigid seating? glamour? it's there, you just need to circle the thing in each photo that you love.

look at some of my style tray photos titled "style tray." not all of them are indian or moroccan. some are just full of vibrant color and comfy furniture. some photos are all the wrong style but the overall look is pretty and feminine. it's the elements you want to identify. once you've 'named' it for yourself, it will be easier to identify when you're shopping or repurposing what you have. you'll have a better idea of what fits into the concept.

when looking thru your style tray you may now be able to discard some photos realizing that the only thing you like in it is the color scheme and that you have cut out multiple representations of 'warm/cozy' or 'bright/energizing' or 'cool/refreshing.'

once you've identified the concept, you can decide how much or how little you want to balance it. i want an eastern concept but not bollywood (for now) and not a souk. i can add elements in such a way that it isn't a harem but it is exotic.

lorijo,

I'm sure your dog isn't spiteful, just confused. Click on my name for a link to the message boards at mysmartpuppy.com. There are lots of kind and clever people over there, including professional trainers, who will be more than willing to help you figure out what's going on with your dog and what to do about it. It's almost always something simple that the person is doing wrong. The main moderator's signature says "Dogs can change, but we have to change first," and I have totally found that to be true.

Hi all,
Sorry for such a late response to the questions on the pic. (I've gotten pulled away from my comp. with work/life issues that popped up. :p ugh. Believe me, I'd rather be here!) Anyhoo;
The bedroom pic above IS from the apartment therapy color contest. I would have to go look in the archive to remember the gentleman's name who this awesome (the OTHER kind of awesome :) ) bedroom belongs to.

For putting together a style tray: the picking fav's on flickr is a GREAT idea.
What I've actually done is collect a ginormous amount of pictures; both from magazines and online. Electronically,I have a folder in my pics file labeled 'House.' Everytime i see something I like (ANYTHING I LIKE) I save that picture to that folder. [I have well over 100 -- MOST of my pics I get from apartmenttherapy. This community and process creates the most Beautiful rooms- and real livable ones too - not catalog rooms that look great but unlivable. People here ROCK with style and design!) When I posted my "INSPIRATIONAL Style tray", trying to figure out my style, I just looked through those pictures over and over and pulled out the ones that spoke to me the most in terms of over all feel. some of the other pics I have are of a specific table or chair or something that are for what I call my 'Actual Sytle tray.' the ones that i'm arranging specifically for my space.
I have those arranged on graph paper (I printed out anything I saved electronically) and will scan them to my flickr pages later.

For me, I'm doing the Deep Treatment. When I took the healthy home quiz in the book back in Feb. I answered No to EVERY SINGLE QUESTION. EVERY ONE!! I don't feel real good in my home, obviously. If you look at my pics you'll see why. So... Squeaky clean here I come. If Deep Treatment isn't sexy, well so be it. Filth ain't sexy either. I'm going to figure out how to make cleaning sexy and fun whatever I have to do.
One way i'm doing it is to use the shopping list from the One Room Remedy. On it I have all my Deep Treatment Dream Tools; A dyson vacumn, the free standing wardrobe for my utility closet, the front loading washer/dryer for my kitchen, the roomba Scoomba floor mopping robot, The power washer for my exterior, And the BEST painting equipment to repaint the whole place a new fresh white.
I'm making fixing my bones exciting like shopping for new furniture would be.

Anyhoo,
Excuse my extra long rambling post. I haven't gotten to really be here in a day or two and I feel really disconnected from the group.

Forward Ho! Everyone! and see you on the boards. :)

p.s. Anne (in Reno) Thank you so much for your small words of encouragement on Saturday re: emptying my outbox. Your push got me up and moving and I did a whole truck load! I think I wouldn't have moved all day but for your cheerleading.
Thank You!

Wende: "Jessica/twergi, you grocery shop exactly like I do!"

Are you talking about my post on my blog? Isn't that terrible? I've really done it and come home in tears. The boyfriend think's I'm nust. My friend pointed out that my comments weren't working on my site, don't know if you tried to leave somehting there... trying to fix that now

I've been thinking about leaning towards browns as a neutral (as per your suggestion) with pops of color in my bedding, pillows and artwork. I think that will get me started on the right track without committing too much to something outragous. My slipcover should be here on the 16th so that should help with sorting out the eyesore of a couch and figuring out the rest of the business. Will post more pictures tonight of little changes I've made so far.

staciaD: Good job! That truck was nuts!

A late second for Nature's Miracle products. I didn't do a style tray for the last cure. But I thought for the 1 room it would be mportant to help me organize. I think mine suffers from being too much like a shopping list and less like an inspiration source. I am a "guardian" -- too scheduled for inspiration??? I also feel like the 1 room cure doesn't have enough to do at this point. I don't feel like I'm moving forward, although in the end I'm sure I'll be struggling to get it done and laughing at myself. Am going to look at furniture this weekend. Lately I've been really into the ghost chair -- must be all of the modern AT influence!! :-) -- because, although I appreciate modern, it is not what I would consider "my style". I asked about what people thought of Crate and Barrel and/or CB2 furniture quality at the end of the last thread, so I'm going to re-post that question in hopes of finding anyone that has purchased from either or both. Thanks.

Yay Stacia! Isn't is satisfying? That has been one holdover for me from my last cure - I still have a bag in my bedroom to donate when the pickup people come by on Friday just because I perpetually do a little bit of cleaning out so we don't get crushed by our accumulated stuff. Mostly t-shirts, apparently. But like I was saying, congrats!

paper-schmaper. I can never really get a sense of how a room works until I can try walking around in it. Arranging furniture on paper just doesn't work for me.

Thanks to everyone who's posted suggestions on my flickr pages. I'll probably be trying some more arrangements of furniture since my lack of budget means my main options are removing and rearranging. I may splurge on a bit of fabric to sew myself a cover for the bench in the office alcove and possibly some white paint for painting a couple pieces of furniture I don't like the finish on. Do I need a special primer to prime over veneer? Or will sanding plus regular primer be good enough?

New drawer hardware may have to wait, but this question can't. Does anyone know how problematic it is to swap a pull for a knob? Is it possible to fill the holes and drill a new one or use one of the two holes and fill the other and not have the filled circles be obvious?

I'm late, but in! I moved into a townhouse (rental) a year ago. This weekend, I looked around at all the drifts of clutter and realized that interior decorating should probably come behind vacuuming.

Just started on the kitchen. Photos to follow in a few days, hopefully; they're stuck in the camera right now. And my curbside donation is stuck in the foyer until the rain clears up.

The cure is really working for me, last week I did the floors, bought some beautiful tulips and started my outbox. I love Oteach1's insight of trying not to do everything a once, a little at a time. This week I have already cleaned 1/3 of my kitchen and hope to finish cleaning and decluttering it by Friday, then I can cook a fabulous home cooked meal over the weekend.

My style tray is a folder of magazine clippings I have collected over the years. I have so many styles that I like, it is hard to decide what I really love. Some of my favorites are natural woods, bright colors, clean lines, but also organic shapes; all of this an exotic flare. I love LadyJ's ideas and will try and make my style tray more focused.

It's in the very early stages, but I've started using Google SketchUp to put my place together. I may only do the living room, but attached to my name is what I've done so far.

i'm not making progress.
we've had something like the bird flu or norovirus for a week of fever + barfing + malaise

alcemily, I'm an INFP, too. This explains why my apartment is always messy but I'm never inspired to clean: I'm more excited about the idea of a clean apartment than I am about actually doing it.


Question: I'm torn between giving away my outbox stuff as I go (quick and easy) and having a garage sale in a few months when summer comes (God bless Canadian weather). The problem is that I don't really have a lot of room to store things until June or July. I feel kind of guilty that I spent money on all those things--a lot of which I probably didn't need--and I'm not sure if I should let them go for the sake of expediency or try to recoup some of my losses. Letting them go would also help with the cleaning-as-healing process I'm going through. Anyone else experience something like this? Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

P.S. We have a practically non-existent craigslist in my city, so I might not get many results that way.

Mlle Kate - I have been through exactly the same thing, and have found (for me, at least) that the feeling of relief of getting rid of stuff straight away is as good as having some extra money in my pocket. I have decided that nothing is going to get in the way of me getting the cure finished, so things are just going out the door as soon as I decide to get rid of them!

I've been getting rid of stuff via freecycle and it feels good that things are going to homes where they are really wanted.

StaciaD - using the shopping list from the one-room remedy for your cleaning tools sounds like such a good idea. Our old vacuum died a few weeks ago and I bought a new bagless Bissell. It is so powerful that I find vaccuming fun, now! I'm also organising my cleaning stuff and treating myself to new tools as part of the cure. (In particular I am reorganising and fitting out our understairs cupboard - which used to house a freezer until last week - as a recyling centre, coat cupboard and 'house maintenance tools' centre).

I too scored in the 'Very ill (practically dead)' category on the questionnaire, and I have years of filth and grime to tackle (sadly, it's my own, not something I can blame on someone else). I'm so looking forward to having an organised home that is easy to look after and love. :-)

Hi,all --

Lady J, thanks for the comments. I also like a Middle Eastern flavor and bright colors (my living room). But I couldn't find your style tray, only pix of your apartment. Love your coverlets and bedspreads!

Mlle Kate, I second whoever above voted that you get stuff out of your house ASAP, rather than wait several months to hold a garage sale. Yes, it would be nice if you could get some money for your stuff. But the psychological boost of getting rid of stuff will help you realize that you're making progress and inspire you to keep going!

I've already done a lot of decluttering. I wish you all had a friend like my friend Gretchen, who is one of those people that can live happily in a studio apartment -- it's beautiful and doesn't feel crowded. She came to my house to give me advice, looked around, and then waved her hand airily towards one corner and said, "It would look really nice if that corner were empty." That corner held at that point a dining table and chairs (loaded with stuff), a small desk (loaded with stuff), the cat's scratching post, etc. So it became my project to empty that corner. And I did. And the room does look a lot better. But it sure helped to have a consultant give me a specific assignment!

So -- be ruthless! Get rid of excess stuff!

Angorian - if you fill the holes left from the screws for the pulls and don't refinish or paint the piece after, they will be visible. Depending on what it is and where it's at, you might be able to match the color close enough that you'd only see it if you were looking for it. I've found that it's less obvious on darker wood, but your mileage may vary. As far as primer, if it's real wood veneer, I think you should be able to lightly sand (be careful not to sand through the veneer) and use any primer that's appropriate for wood.

Thanks for the points about the style trays, everybody. I think I may also try to get some pics of things/spots in my home that I actually find inspiring and slide those in there, too - what better way to pin down our style than to, well, look at our style! I'm definitely going to start saving other folks' photos, though, and maybe I'll take some time to poke back through old AT posts and contests.

I'm also starting to actually try to envision the room we are doing and coming up with a need for some additional "us-ness" in it. I think another project may be to start going through the tons of photos the my husband takes (digital and 35 mm) and choose some to frame or display in some way. We also need to really look at the art that we have and figure out where it would best be displayed.

Doing the one-room remedy seems to be causing the idea-generating part of my brain to go into overdrive. I keep coming up with other unrelated things I'd like to do in our house. I've started an idea log on my google homepage so that when I think of something , I can spit it out quickly and move on, rather than allowing myself to get bogged down in some other project. My husband has been eyeing it with some serious distrust :).

Mlle Kate - If I can't sell stuff, it works for me to donate stuff to a worthy cause and know that someone else is getting some use out of it and I can get a tax-deductible receipt too--not the same as cash, but like others have said, there's the added benefit of the stuff being gone and you can move on with your Cure project.

Hello all.

Since it's kitchen time, I'm going to scrub the inside of my oven. eww... Is there such a thing as an eco-friendly oven cleaner that works? Looking for suggestions.

Also, my kitchen, which is actually more of an alcove or cubby, has very little storage space. But it does have really high ceilings, so there is plenty of room on top of the cabinets. Does anyone have a suggestion for attractive, inexpensive, dust-proof boxes or something of the sort. I'd like to stash extra silverware, serving pieces, etc. up there.

Sorry for not posting pictures of my home--I don't have a camera right now.

Thanks!

Mlle Kate:

When I'm trying to get rid of stuff I find it best to set a deadline of sorts. Normally if I can't sell the items within 2 weeks they are donated to Goodwill or Salvation Army. That way (as Pixie said) at least they are going to a good cause.

alcemily, I only have three sets of photos: Apartment Cure, Paris Vacation and Style Tray. The alternate sets should be linked at the bottom of the page when you're looking at my link. Or on the right side of the screen if you look at all my photos.

New link in my name.

Mlle Kate, my husband (bless him!) always says that since there's nothing one can do about having already spent the money in the past, the priority should be doing what you need to do in the now. So if you want to give stuff away to get it OUT, go for it. Figure you've just saved a ton of money that you would have spent on self-comforting to deal with the stress of having the stuff underfoot.

Jacquelyn, regarding CB2 furniture quality: I bought their City Block bed last June and was intitially very pleased with how solid the bed looked and felt, especially for the price. However, after a few weeks, the plastic caps that hold the slats in place started crumbling. I don't think my bed is exposed to any unusual abuse, so the problem must have been poor quality plastic used in the caps.I contacted CB2 and they sent a new set of slat caps -- their customer service is very good. Other than that I've had no problems with the bed.

mod*mom, sorry to hear that you are sick. My life has totally gotten in the way of my cure, which is frustrating because I was so excited to get started.

I am planning on going all-in this week-end and try to catch up. I did finally get a new battery for my camera so that I can post my pics. (As soon as I take them, that is.)

Hi everyone. Could I please have your opinion on my fireplace? Linked in my name is a photo of what it looks like today. The newspaper represents the size of a Jackson Pollock print I'm thinking of hanging there. Do you think it's the right size for the space?

I also had an idea this morning to cover the whole red area surrounding the gas fire with grey/white/pale blue glass mosaic tiles. What do you think?

Thanks in advance, wonderful people.

Susie

zooza -

This is kind of not quite sticking to your question, but although YES I think that will work, I'm sure that I would paint all of the entire fireplace thing, including, possibly the shelves on each side, a warm, terra cotta color, but definitely something that appears in those bricks themselves (but don't paint the brick -- but DO paint the upper part of what is now red), and I would install a fairly simple, but semi-rounded-front mantel a few inches below the top corners of that semi-arch brickwork, because I think the space between the top of that arch and your fireplace heater thing is kind of too much.

Then I would probably paint all the red part that would be below that mantel black to make it blend with that fireplace heater thing to give it more gravity.

That's just me talkin'.

zooza -

I actually just went into "paint" and did a little mock-up of my idea. I think you'll see it if you click on my name in this post.

Lady J,
I just got that you're Beldame73.
I love your sensibility and style. You and I seem to have very similar taste. (I LOOOVE anything Paris.)
And your style suggestions have been super helpful to me, so Thanx!
:)
p.s. my usual internet 'handle' (on forums, and places where usually have a profile) is beldamebruno. :) I just wanted to use my 'real' name here since I would be posting pics of my 'real' life. (hey so you know where beldamebruno comes from? hint: it's a french movie- hint 2: i'm a tour [de france] nut)

wende in phoenix - "Figure you've just saved a ton of money that you would have spent on self-comforting to deal with the stress of..."

How well-put for many situations.

Rationalizing is one of my talents.

Having *finally* finished the non-fiction chapter I had a contract to write -- aka, "the chapter of the damned" that required reviewing all major American sports, games, festivals, holidays, and celebrations in 15,000 words including endnotes -- I can face the One-Room Remedy for the second bedroom, aka "the room that a strict AT-er wouldn't need, but darn, I'm grateful to have it."

Basically, I need to reorganize all my little boxes so that everything is put away properly. Bleh.

I am not sure if this has been posted somewhere yet, but this might help inspire people to add a few more items to their outbox. "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It"

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=def4d4002d1e0110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Lady J, I found the style tray link, finally, and also Paris (ah, Paris). I definitely see consistency in your style choices, so this bodes well for your Cure! Also, "exotica" and middle east/Moroccan style are very "in" now, so you can actually find stuff in this style to buy.

I'm sure this is an immensely dumb question, but if you find a picture of something you like online, how do you get it onto your Flickr page?

Curtis - thanks so much for doing that mock-up. I didn't quite understand what you meant from your first post, but now I see. I agree that breaking up the space with a little mantle is a good idea. I also liked some of the other suggestions on Flickr, so now I'm going to let it all percolate in my mind and hopefully the perfect solution will pop into sight at some point!

I do like your mantle idea a lot. Hmmm.

I save/drag the pic to my computer and upload it through Flickr.

staciaD,

I got Belledame from an "X-Men" villain and put in the extra l since "belle" appears somewhere in my given name.

Not a Franco-phile, but my mom picked the destination. And now I love it and plan to go back in April or May.

Hey Nicole:
Here's an oven cleaning method from Martha Stewart. I figure her Oven is probably pretty clean. :)

OVEN
When an oven starts smoking, it’s time for a heavy-duty cleaning. Wash racks by hand unless the owner’s manual says they're dishwasher-safe. Then try this homemade cleanser from "Clean House, Clean Planet," by Karen Logan (Pocket Books; 1997). Use aluminum foil to plug holes leading to the broiler. (Be sure to remove the foil after cleaning.) Mix one-quarter cup salt, three-quarters cup baking soda, and one-quarter cup water into a paste. Brush on, avoiding bare parts --- salt corrodes metal. Let it sit overnight; remove mixture using a slotless spatula or a putty knife. Wipe with paper towels. Use a plastic scrubber or sponge to remove remaining spots.

alcemily,

if i see something i like while surfing, i usually right click it and email it to myself as a picture, then drag it to a folder on my desktop & upload it to flickr from there.

staciaD -- i'm gonna nick your trick & try it on my burners before respraying them. thanks!

StaciaD-
I too have a cruddy stove, and I can't be around chemicals- I made this cleaner paste and put it in my oven tonight. My fingers are crossed that this will work. If it does I am forever in your debt!

Hurrah! Just finished painting the bathroom! I got a couple of good coats on the walls and ended up putting a coat on the ceiling for good measure. So I need to trim it out still and probably do another coat on the ceiling but I am still excited. I will post pics in the morning once it dries but I am still SO excited!

StaciaD--

Thanks for the Martha solution. I'll be trying it this weekend.

Lorijo--
Let us know how it goes with your oven.

Thanks y'all!

Back again with a pic of the paint job! I am behind on leaving everybody comments on their flickr pages but I have to leave town soon so I will have to catch up with everyone Monday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to pop in to say that I'm still curing even though I've been absent from the boards. It's been a slow week for me, cure-wise. I have purchased & installed my water filter, fixed one thing myself, and cleared a space for my outbox. This weekend will be the big kitchen cleanup job; I'll also catch up on the boards this weekend and see all your photos of your progress! And I see from scanning things that there is a homemade oven cleanser! I'm going to try that out. Really enjoying my earth-friendly cleaning products, especially the Method hand soap, which is so much more gentle on my hands than the 99 cent crap I was using!

I thought I'd share a funny story from my cure.

I "fixed" something myself--my broken couch leg. A long screw fixes into a wooden foot, and the screw had become stripped and therefore the foot would fall off when I lifted the couch to move it.

So, I bought some Gorilla Glue--not very earth-friendly, I know. :-(.

Anyway, I put the glue in the foot and follow the directions. It needs pressure to dry, so just letting the couch sit normally should do it, right?

Well, at this point, I'm all jazzed up about fixing things, so I decided to make the couch non-slip, too. I mean, how many times would I have to put it back in its correct place after sitting on it pushed it around on the wood floor?

Riiiight. So, I trimmed 4 circles of that rubbery under-the-rug stuff and Gorilla Glued them to the feet of the couch. Still needs pressure to adhere, so I leave the couch in its normal position. I am a repairing genius.

So, the next day, I'm showing The Boy my handy work when I realize that, while the couch doesn't slide anymore, it's not really the rubbery things that are doing the work.

It's the Gorilla Glue that has sealed the couch to my wood floors. That's right. Drying it in normal position not such a great idea. I literally glued my couch to my floor.

It was truly awesome.

I hope this gave you a chuckle on your Thursday. I still giggle myself. Though I don't know how to get the rubbery goop stuff off of my floor. Eh...

This is the week that usually defeats me. The Kitchen. Ugh! But I mean to overcome this time 'round.

Pray for me.

Nicole --

That is a truly brillant cure story -- it could have happened to me if I'd have had a loose couch leg. In fact, I'm not "allowed" to use crazyglue anymore because of all the things I have accidently glued together in the name of DIY. Thank you for sharing!!

I feel like such a slacker, I haven't managed to do a thing this week. :( I wasn't just procrastinating though, I haven't been home much. I did heavy duty cleaning last Saturday, bought some daffodils (which never opened, just my luck) Organized my junk kitchen cabinet and threw out five phonebooks (I still have more). Obviously I have lots to do this weekend!

My reason for writing though is water filters. Does anyone else have a filter dilemma? I want one, but which one? I used to have a Brita pitcher filter in college, but it was such a pain. Waiting for the water to filter because we never remembered to fill it up, and I never felt like I could get the corners of the pitcher clean enough. A faucet-mounted filter is a nice idea, but I think they're ugly. And the kitchen faucet is the only fixture I've bought for that room. I love it and I don't relish the idea of covering it up. Solution #3, the under-sink filters I've seen are pricey and would require a plummer. *sigh* In the meantime, I'm getting sick of hauling bottled water in and out. Plus I feel guilty about using more plastic bottles than necessary. Anyone have another idea I've overlooked? Eh, maybe it's just time to stop whining and get a pitcher filter.

Oh and if anyone is bored, I'd love more ideas on what window treatments would work in my living room. I appreciate the one comment I got so far, but each new comment is such a thrill. :)

Hi all, just popping in to say hi and report my progress (to keep myself honest). It's been fun reading your Cure stories and seeing your pictures.

Week 1 was a success for me. I managed to do everything on my checklist except for sitting for 10 minutes in a part of my home I never spend time in. Since I only moved in a few days ago, I feel like everywhere counts for this exercise. My favorite assignment from Week 1 was visiting my favorite home store. I went to a few local places in the same neighborhood, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I won't have to rely on IKEA as extensively as I'd feared. I found (used) a kitchen table, a desk, and an armchair that I love, are only a little more than what I'd hoped to spend, and I think work with my style (which I am trying to identify this week - somewhere between Organic Modern and World/Asian traditional).

I'm having a bit more trouble with Week 2, although I hope the weekend will help. I've made my floor plan (linked to in my name), but I can't figure out how to arrange my living room to accommodate a landing strip, home office, and conversation/relaxing/entertaining. I'm sure there's a way to do it, but I'm not very good at visualizing it. There are a lot of doors to work around. Suggestions appreciated.

Nicole: Hilarious! Its often with the best of intentions that we glue things to where they shouldn't be glued. D'oh!

Lady J: Good luck! You can do the kitchen! Don't let it beat you! Start with one drawer, work from there, etc.

Candice: I've always used the pitchers. Its just a matter of getting in the habit of filling them when you use them and remembering to change the filter.

Candice-

I've been in the same boat with the water filters. For ages I had a large tank style (with spigot) PUR container in the fridge, but it would never get filled.

Now I just keep a small filter pitcher, and always add more water when I use any. Getting into the habit of doing that means less waiting. (Unless, like me currently, you're sick and drinking twice your body weight of water every five minutes.)

i'm doing the 1 room cure w/ a little of the rest of my place. my main goal is to identify the areas that don't function. it's mostly a reorganizing project. after i moved in last august (finals time), i put stuff in areas w/o REALLY thinking it though. now, i'm starting to see areas that aren't working.

yesterday i spent about 5 hours doing general cleaning, but mostly moving things. it already look WAY better. i spent a couple hours in my kitchen moving things around in my cabinet. i only found one expired thing: peanut butter that i mostly just have for when my mom visits.

i have high ceilings & LOADS of cabinet space for such a tiny kitchen. i have 3 across & 3 high. the top 3 are used for storage & items that get restocked often. by just moving things around, i somehow ended up w/ a shelf free! i was able to move my glass jars (ikea) that i store pasta, sesame sticks, & egg replacer into my cabinet thus freeing up more work (& visual) space on my counter. weee!

then, i posted a pottery barn pegboard on ebay. the box has been leaning against my wall. click on my name if you need one. i put a link on there. we could kill 2 birds so to speak.

**i don't work in an office so i can't really clean up my workspace. here was my idea. clean your car & ORGANIZE IT! i mean, for many of us, the car is the office. real simple had a great article about that in the janurary issue (p97). take a look at it. i got a glove box organizer (only $2 at target) & a back seat organizer on ebay. there are tones of these on ebay for pretty cheap. i'm giving one to my mom.

candice,

i know what you mean about the pitcher water filters getting groddy in the corners. i've been doing the water filter pitcher thing since the first cure and while i've trained myself to fill it up the minute i use it, it's a giant P.I.T.A. when i want to make a pot of tea or boil up water for pasta (or maybe i'm crazy to use filtered water for everything i ingest...). i'm thinking about making the plunge and getting a tap mounted version this weekend but yeah, they're totally fugly and i'm not even sure that it will mount onto to my unintentionally vintage and threadless fixtures. but this pitcher thing is making me INsane.

i have !!projects!! for my kitchen but i'm finding that having a broken finger on your dominant hand is seriously challenging in the dexterity dept.

Well, here is my progress for week 2. The natural oven cleaner did work- I have had to do it twice( I can't explain how BAD my oven was though..)but it is working. I have cleaned my cabinets, my fridge, thrown away the old food (who knew that was lurking back there?) and started work on my pantry. I even had an aha moment with my style tray. Then I went out for tea and crashed my car. It may be a complete goner. (I am fine, the car and the poor deer-not so much) I am going to take the day off and start again tomorrow. I need an adult beverage.

lorijo: Blargh! Glad you're okay. That sounds like not-so-much fun.

Candice: I'm having the same dilemma about water filters.

I live in an old triplex in Montreal and they just sent out letters to 400K of us saying that our water may have higher than the new limit for lead. And that it's going to take them a couple decades before they replace all the old lead pipes. And that it's probably fine unless you're pregnant or under 6. But since lead is a heavy metal which accumulates, I figure I don't want any extra in my system anyways.

For the moment I've pulled out our old brita pitcher, but I don't like it, so I use it to fill a glass pitcher, so I always have 2 pitchers worth of water ready. But even so, I tend not to use the filtered water for cooking because it's too annoying to fill pots from the pitcher. We have a faucet that pulls out on a hose, so we couldn't really attach one of those ugly faucet filters, so the only other option is the under-sink thing. Apparently they're not too hard to install yourself, so that's probably the route I'd go, though I haven't checked out how expensive the unit is yet. Might make the plumbing cost trivial.

Posting late--thanks to those who replied to my "get rid of it now or later" question. Now wins out over later, although I might keep back a couple of the larger things to sell instead of donate. Vive le cure!

Hey - anyone curing today? I am on a "sick" day, and after doing some work to help out at my son't school, I went out to lunch with my husband, and then I TOOK APART my kitchen. I found Apple Cider Vinegar from 2002.

Thank you cure, for making me do this. I've also pulled pics for the style tray - thanks for those who looked an commented.

Plus, since my husband is also home today ("sick" as well...) we looked shopped for a credenza at a little store in my neighborhood, and found 3 that we really loved! Just have to do a bit of measuring then we can choose one.

I think the hardest part for me right now is finding good chunks of time to tackle these projects. Nothing like taking a day off to clean house!

i have so enjoyed reading everyone's cures and posts! i know what you mean about being overwhelmed ... i actually started early but then lost some time and am now working to get caught back up by the weekend! My kitchen is a holy wonder now! I will have pics up soon. I have one question though! After assesing the state of my sad, sad floors (the curse of the perfect older house rental)does anyone have some ideas for larger kitchen rugs? something stylish and even bold. the walls are white so it might be fun to put some color or a print on the floor. of course, it needs to be easily cleaned. there are light shades of green and some pink in the kitchen now. oh, and i am curing from fort worth, texas where the rentals are spacious - it can be big! any thoughts or links are helpful! thanks!

i'm curious to know how many curers we have in la.

I re-arranged my living room again and came up with my favourite arrangement. The basic layout is the same as what I started with (which I came up with after trying out many things, so it's not surprising I went back to it), but with a couple tweaks due to the extra space I have without the bookshelves. I especially like that the Poang corner is a comfy size now. I sat and read a decorating magazine and drank a cup of Ovaltine in it this evening. And the table now has room for chairs on two sides so when it's just my S.O. and I we won't need to pull it out. I also stuck a couple more things in my outbox. That is both the most important and most difficult part for me to do.

I meant to say: "my S.O. and me".

Also, tomorrow I plan to buy flowers. It will be the first time I've bought flowers for myself and I'm looking forward to enjoying them. I'm so ready for spring!

i'm buying potted plants instead of flowers. i've never really been a flower girl, but this is a good alternative for me to get some green life in my home. is anyone else doing this?

I seem to have killed a succulent by not watering for a few days. It didn't have any care instructions with it. Not even a name. It was pretty damp the last time I checked. One whole stalk was falling apart this morning. So sad.

I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by my outbox. We're just at the end of week two and it's definately taken over the space I set aside for it. And I've not even hit my major closets yet.

I think part of the overwhelming feeling is two-fold. First that I hate giving these sorts of things away to places like Goodwill where they'll sit in a warehouse waiting to be sorted for ages rather than giving them directly to charities that can make immediate use of them.

But, because the volume is so much larger than previous spontanious purges, and due to the fact that I don't have a car to haul it all away in (though I can make use of FlexCar here, that just adds to the planning anxiety).

As I said, I'm just feeling overwhelmed a bit. Anyone else?

hi everyone
Back again. I cleaned my pantry today and fixed the trim that has been the bain of my existance for a while now. All I have left to do for the week is the area around my pantry (sort of a hallway-mostly a catch-all) I can't wait.

Graphzgrrl-
I don't know where you are-but if you have flexcar it's gotta be urban. Try finding another charity that will pick up- I know when I lived in Austin there were a few that would come to your house. I give my useful items to a battered womens charity here in my town-they distbute items quickly and sell what they don't need to pay for other items they do need. They don't pick up, but I can usually charm a neighbor to tote bigger things over there- everyone wants to feel charitable-even if it's not their stuff!

Graphzgrrl,

In NYC, Salvation Army comes over easily. You call them to schedule the date, a couple guys arrive at that time, and they haul the stuff away in their truck....

Graphzgrrl,

In NYC Angel Street Thrift Store, on 17th St, will pick up large items, like furniture rugs, etc.

Also, they're real nice people. I've even seen some of my stuff featured in their window, that's fun.

I think I needed a break from my hectic schedule..I'm planning to do some major make over with my house and intend to go for a trip for a while...I'd like to visit those lovely scenery in time...
For now, i have to prepare the things I need for the make over and of course my car for the trip...I've checked out all my auto parts and luckily they were all in excellent condition except for my GMC brake shoes which needs some replacement..
But anyway, i find this post very interesting and worthwhile...It gives me new and better things to do...

Thanks a lot..I'll just visit from time to time for some updates...=)