apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

The title says "Fall Cure"?

I am signed up and I have the first round of photos posted on the flickr pool for myself and gk!

Eeek! My kitchen :(

I also can't register because I'm Canadian... Can't there be a sign-up for us too, even if it means accepting that we have no chance of taking home any prizes, if prizes there are (I don't even know)?

(Apparently she switched to "gretchenalexis" from "gk" when AT started creating actual user accounts)

I'm scared to commit.

Am having post-commitment apoplexy... :-)

Ce Pelle, I like your kitchen. It won't take much to make it beautiful!

I need a few dates before I commit :p

I have a big birthday coming up at the end of this (right at). I must finish.

what about those of us who were planning to do the cure lite but cheer the others on?

JonathanB, I still signed up, even though I'm going to be doing an amalgamation of single-room and whole house and doing a kind of cure light...

I signed up. Need to do some decluttering and reorganizing of my cave ( cellar ).
As for non-US residents ( as me ), i chose to live in Alaska (no option for non-US in the "state"-part of the survey....) even though i'm actually living in Switzerland.

I'll post some photos this weekend of my to-be-decluttered-zones.

I'm not even doing a one-room Cure--I'm curing a closet! OK, I think I'm also getting a new toilet put in.

DC Christine: Hello, fellow-Cure-lite. As long as I'm not the only one.

Jany: Alaska = Switzerland. I love the concept. And your sense of humor.

Pixie: Actually "The Closet Cure" is something someone should propose seriously to Maxwell.

yes - the closet cure could be a whole separate session!!

I signed up as well even though I'm not doing a "by the book" cure. I did the cure previously (Fall '06, I think), and am happy to report that for the most part it stuck and I have cured problem areas in my apt. on an as needed basis. So like many others I have a hybrid cure in mind 1) taking care of all of those little fix-it items (hand some photos, paint the bathroom) that get pushed to the bottom of my to-do list because no one really knows about them but me; 2) incorporating more eco-consciousness into my apt. I rent, so some bigger issues like a more energy efficient fridge might get passed over, but I'm going to try to make up in other areas; and 3) spending time to learn how to use and being more appreciative of the space and things I have -- like the great camera my mom bought me in the fall that I still have not spent time figuring out and the new photo printer I bought that is in the plastic wrap still....

And the closet cure is a brilliant idea!

oh, dear, perhaps I should have checked with Maxwell before I suggested a "Closet Cure"

I was reluctant to sign up for the Spring cure because I have a few other projects going on and most of the major stuff will have to wait for the summer (and my raise to kick in.) But seeing some familiar names going with a Cure lite has inspired me to do it again. There are a few little things here and there that I never got around to last cure that I could do. Also my brother is coming to visit in a couple of weeks so I'd like to spruce up a bit.

As I said on the Chicago sign-up thread, I was planning to do a Cure Lite this time around, but am discouraged by having to sign up. I prefer not to put my address on websites, no matter how secure, so I chose not to fill out the sign-up form. I'll still be doing my Cure Lite, but from the outside looking in.

My closet cure is actually centered on something pretty boring - I MUST replace the water heater that's in there. I've been putting it off too long and it's going to explode any day if I don't do it. In order for the plumbers to take the old one out and put in the new one, I need to take out at least half the stuff in the closet. The closet is the width of the bedroom. Then, I'll leave the stuff out and check to make sure nothing drips after they install the new one (these water heaters are pretty much the same throughout this old building and others have reported that there could be dripping after, so the plumber would then come back; it's best to keep stuff out of harm's way, just in case.)

SO, as long as I've got half the closet emptied out, I've decided it's high time to cure the whole closet. I've got gridlock in parts of the closet since storage in our building stopped being free and I downsized a lot of mine and stuffed the rest in the closet and under the bed. The time has come to unstuff.

And, as long as I'm doing this big closet project, I'm contemplating painting it too. That would mean taking down all the wire shelving, cleaning it, and putting it back up (I guess, I don't really know.) That sounds like quite a lot of work, so I'm not fully committed to that yet.

What I really need is another piece of storage furniture, like a credenza or something, because I've got all these things without a real home. I'll weed out this stuff some more, but I've gotten pretty good at decluttering, although still not perfect.

Finally, as long as I'm replacing the water heater, I'm also replacing the toilet with a Toto. My tax return is going to cover all this.

Does anyone else think the Cure threads are not visible enough and too hard to find? I've sent a couple of emails into AT about this, but nothing's changed, so if anyone else feels that way, send in some emails!

small city beth:

I feel much the same way, but signed up anyway. essentially the information asked for is no different than what's in the telephone directory.

pixie:

if you give a mouse a cookie. more seriously, it's not boring and it's not light: that's a full eight week project all by itself. especially since once you get the credenza, you'll want to address the rest of the furniture in that room as well....

Well, I'm not signing up. As Wende in Phoenix pointed out to me, there doesn't seem to be a privacy policy concerning the information.

Caveat emptor.

I'll be doing a clost cure. My closet, however, is my large basement. It won't be especially picture-worthy, nor exciting, but it needs to be done and I like to be sociable while clearing out cobwebs and filing papers. I will keep track of what's happening on my blog and I will do a weekly report, somewhere.

I'm thrilled to see some familiar names! That's what I'm here for, really. Just to check in with you all and meet new friends. (No smilies, though, promise.)

Thanks, Alana, (and Wende) for pointing out the lack of a privacy policy.

JonathanB -- you said there's no info asked for that isn't in the telephone directory... my address isn't listed in the telephone directory at my request (that's an option for directory listings here, anyway).

sarahc over on the chicago cure has assured me I can still participate even though I'm not officially signed up.

Not sure where is best to put this, so I'll write it here and on the flickr pool... DWR is having a semiannual sale March 6 - March 18! Just in time for the Cure.

Alana

I like seeing old familiar names myself. And it's nice to see yours -- and Wende's, Pixie's, SmallCityBeth's -- and I'm sure I've forgetting a few people.

smallcitybeth -- not being listed is an option here in New York as well. I'd check to see if you're as unlisted as you think you are, however. I don't disagree with Wende's, Alana's or your concerns. (Or to put it more clearly, I actually agree with them.) I just felt in this particular case, I could live with it.

It would be interesting if at the end of it all they survey to solicit feedback regarding just how uncomfortable this request has made people for various reasons...

I'm with JonathanB in thinking that the sort of privacy under discussion is more or less a bedtime story...though that doesn't necessarily mean I have no objection.

For the record, my goal this time 'round is to see how closely I can stick to the deep treatment without burning out. And as usual, look forward to seeing everybody's progress & pretties, formally committed or not.

Well, I think JonathanB remembers I'm on the Cure Lite track, as I think (and I'm pretty sure the book says, at the end), that regular tune-ups help prevent major problems down the road.

On the one hand, it's great that the site is trying to avoid the "nobody noticed I Cured" complaints of the past, and it's also important to see a move toward keeping good metrics of how people use the site. There's a point in growth when it's necessary to start collecting numbers in order to plan.

On the other hand, I took the "getting to know you" survey and discovered that the only thing AT wanted to know about me was how much I spend. That was a survey for selling space to advertisers. Great -- the site needs advertising to support the server demand and editors, and I'd rather see a smaller number of targeted ads than the Google Adsense clutter.

BUT -- lacking a privacy policy, I have to assume the site has the option of selling these addresses to advertisers. If you're excited about getting more pretty catalogs and magazine offers in the mail, this is a win-win. Stuffing my mailbox with unsolicited catalogs just annoys my mail carrier, increases my recycling, and gives me the added hassle of contacting all these companies to be removed from their lists. So unless I know my contact information can't be shared or sold, I don't provide it.

Hello Jonathan B--good to see you again. I really must post pictures of the walls of my son's bedroom--they remind me of you! (Well, I suppose more accurately, his walls remind me of your walls.)

At any rate, I've got my before photos up on the blog. Don't go there if you don't want too. It's a Royal Mess.

http://prairiehometherapy.blogspot.com/2008/03/basement-before.html

I've been lurking for a couple of years but am finally starting to make comments, and I just signed up to do the Cure. I need all the motivation I can get so I thought I'd make it official. Just signed up for a Flickr account. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to download pictures from my camera. Yes, I'm coming out of the Dark Ages, I know.

We did a major kitchen renovation in Fall 2006 and repainted and relit the whole first floor while we were at it. Then in 2007, we had child #2. So now, I'm thinking I'm ready to get back to finishing off--I'm looking at it as the remaining 25%--although I could be wrong--things like putting pictures back up, working out the dining room chairs issue, and figuring out what goes on the mantelpiece.

I'm so excited to be "Curing" this time around. And what perfect timing! I'm going back to school this summer - classes start 05/06 - and I really need to get my house in order before then. I'll be doing the Deep Treatment and Massive Purging of Useless Stuff That Makes Me Sad to Be In My House.

I'm living in a sea of boxes from a recent move. I'm hoping to streamline the process of making a new home for myself in my new apartment.

Purging is going to be important.

Alana -- well, someone once did describe my place as a little boy's room for a grown up

About the privacy issue, they do ask you if you want to be part of the AT email list. Under that they write "We value your privacy. We do not sell or rent this list."

Maybe I shouldn't have assumed in this case but if they put that there for the email list, I am taking the chance that would most certainly apply towards your actual home address. If that is not true, then yes I wold want AT to strike my address then.

Yes, I did sign up, so AT please don't make me regret that decision I made based on the wording of your sign-up.

I forgot to add that my original thought about their sign-up was that this data would make it easier for AT to decide what the next AT city would be. So if they will honor personal privacy and won't sell my information then I could be fine letting them know that the east coast needs another hub beside New York.