(This series of posts charts Jennifer and Drew's progress as they give their home The Cure. Jennifer and Drew live in Brooklyn and began their Cure in this post.)
"I've been disappointed at not having more exciting before and after photographs this week, thus the slow dissolve into pure abject procrastination.
One thing that is tough about doing the Cure is weeks like this one, where I know we did a lot, but our apartment doesn't look much different. Or the hallway is spotless but that's because of the evil peekaboo of seven bags stuffed into the closet, waiting for next week's pickup from the Salvation Army. Any suggestions and support out there on how to keep your chin up when you can't see the results?"
"Here's what we did accomplish this week: We have a complete plan for the color scheme of the bedroom and have bought paint. The two metro shelves in the bedroom that we were going to get around to cleaning someday have been gotten around to -- one is bare.
The other is full of boxed-up items that will either end up stored on the shelving we plan to put up or actually used somewhere in the apartment (artwork, audio tapes, etc.) The bags of outgrown baby clothes that we are holding on to are in flat boxes under the bed. My maternity clothes are in a bag in the closet waiting for some nice person my size to get pregnant.
There was one exciting development. The flokati rugs we got through Ebay (yes, Ebay -- I'm happy with them but open to hearing whether this was actually a terrible idea) arrived. One 4 x 6 is under the coffee table where the previous rug was. The second 5 x 8 is covering the Odd, Unused, Open Plain on the living room floor, what was a kind of dead space used mostly as a hallway.
We got the rug mainly so our downstairs neighbor (hi, Mario!) could live without the oppressive sound of our son dropping maracas, spatulas and such on the floor as he toddled through. The result has been astounding. The whole room looks unified, warmer, and now we use that space to sit and play with our son or just hang out. It's an unexpectedly happier place.
We're also planning to put the desk and breakfront in the livingroom into storage and replace them with two beautiful etageres we're being given by family. This may end up happening after our time here is up.
This weekend we're painting the bedroom. After that, home office installation, then fixing up the bathroom and hallway, and a quick spruce on the baby's room. Then we're on the way to done!
See you soon."
JenniferJA
The new changes look great!
I also have a big pile of things that have to leave sitting in the middle of my house right now, so I know how annoying halfway is... Just enjoy the incremental changes for now and you'll love it in three weeks...
Jennifer, Can totally relate to:
"...how to keep your chin up when you can't see the results."
I made a master list of things-to-do in our rental last weekend as a first step towards participating in The Cure. When I was done with the list my husband came up with an idea to mark, for each room, one "fun" thing to do that would give immediate gratification (eg.change living room lamp shades, cushion covers and curtains to spring/summer colors) and one heavy duty item (eg.deep clean fridge). It actually worked.
But your tasks are of a higher order so take heart that if not this week, you will have results to see next week! And to be able to do that, you have already laid the foundation. Way to go!
seems like you're making great progress! I can relate to the bags of things to give away lurking. In regards to baby clothes/maternity clothes--if you don't think you'll need them, you might want to try to sell on ebay or through a consignment shop. I've heard they sell well.
The flokatis look great!!!
There is NO room in apartment progress for remorse!!!
When I had bags to go out (Housing Works, storage, etc.) I actually made sure they stayed as close to the front door as possible... because, even if it was temporarily unsightly, it was easier for me to think "Okay, that huge pile is outta here!"
AND it was a pretty good (and tangible!)reminder of the progress I had made... one for which I liked seeing the reminder of.
You guys are doing great! Don't get discouraged--you've done a lot, and, what's more, we can *hear* from your descriptions that there is more room in your home--and your psyches. That's got to feel good.
On the topic of Getting Things Out, the Chicago contingent should be sure to save the Trib from this past Sunday--great feature on Where to "out" stuff TO:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/home/chi-0604010294apr02,1,3853804.story?coll=chi-news-hed
(IF the link above doesn't come through search chigagotribune.com for "Junk 'B Gone."
girl, you're doing better than most of us!
what's this I read about Sal's Army picking up in Brooklyn??
Some guy named Herzberg argues that the causes of dissatisfaction and the causes of satisfaction are separate. So when you eliminate the sources of dissatisfaction (which you've substantially done), you don't automatically get satisfaction -- you get a sort of neutral slate on which to build in making things actively good (paint! etc.).
That's why you're feeling blah. You're at the middle stage, where your environment is no longer dissatisfying, but it's not yet satisfying either. But there's no way to avoid that stage in a large DIY project.
Looks great. I like wende's thoughts. My own reaction to this sort of thing (we're partway through a reasonably substantial set of apartment changes - not a gut reno, but still fairly daunting) is to vacillate wildly between elation and despair.
I say blah is an improvement on the wild vacillation, and I'm going to strive for it.
"to vacillate wildly between elation and despair."
At least you have a renovation you can blame it on!!! ;)
mmmmm
this is so old-school AT over here
a little information
a little encouragement
a little something fascinating from wende
and
a little quip from p2
all we need is something long and technical and wonderfully specialized from jp and Curtis
o the nostalgia of it all
Yes, I am going to blame it on the renovation, and carefully excise from my memory an old boyfriend who used to say with a sigh, "couldn't you just try for a happy medium?"
Yep, it's all because of the renovation!
(thanks, p2 - your comments always improve my day!)
P2 is an AT treasure...
Hey everyone,
Thanks for the encouragement. As you'll see soon, things have much improved, but man that hump is hard.
Any takers on that slip? :)
Between the above and the fluffy paint chips, I'm becoming a devotee of Wende.
And Guido, yes, SalvA picks up in Brooklyn. I have the phone number in my phone book. . . which I can't find! But I'll post it in the group cure thread as soon as I do.