apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Who knew that photo would get such attention?

I hope it reassures some of you!

I have definitely bitten off more than I can realistically do in the next four week. I was doing the whole house treatment, with the dining room as an aside. But focus has shifted wholescale into this one room (and it's not on the cure schedule at all. Maxwell devotes one week to painting).

I won't list everything I'm doing in this room (I did that on the blog, mostly here: http://prairiehometherapy.blogspot.com/2007/09/day-22-one-room-remedy.html) but I'm having a hard time "letting go" of the deep treatment.

Any advice for me?

Oh Alana, keep a list of what you want to do, and just pick what you can realistically incorporate in this Cure. I think we all bite off more than we can chew at some point in a Cure and bouncing back is the most important thing to do.

I keep scaling back this Cure because I have done a lot of the big stuff already (purchased a chair for the living room, found a new desk, rearranged the dining room, moved the piano) in past Cures and it feels like I'm not participating as much as I would like to because of personal constraints this time, but I have to keep reminding myself that I have a really healthy home right now and I have put enough time and energy into it that I can enjoy it so I need to relax and worry about the little stuff (flowers, actually purchasing that fixture for the dining room).

So tell me - what are the MOST IMPORTANT things on that list? I'd say painting is a big one and getting the shelving in order is another. Do you need to paint the chairs and table RIGHT NOW or are you serious about replacing the table? Would you consider getting rid of the chairs and getting some that matched if you got a round table? I feel like big stuff should be prioritized right now and things like Adorning The Magazine Holders can be put on a separate "Later, if I have time" list. Ok, so maybe that was my point. Make your list into a Now list and a Later list and then see how you feel about everything. You'll keep working on the Later list after the Cure so you don't have to stress about quite so much right now. Does any of that help/make sense?

Thanks Anne, that does make sense. Especially as I do nutty things like wash the trim...and think to myself, hey, all the trim in the kitchen could use some paint too. (And it really could!). So I wash it in prep for painting. However, actually painting it would involve moving a few shelves--so, in light of your advice, perhaps I'll wait that for the Spring Cure.

I don't actually feel like I am doing the Cure, really. I feel like I'm just doing a bunch of projects at the same time as The Cure is happening. I would like to do The Cure "Pure"--that is, just what Maxwell says to do, a few repairs and nothing else, housewise. That's actually a goal for the Spring.

And look at those two paragraphs above: I'm already conflicted!

And get that light fixture! I'd like to see it up.

Plexllindsey, the blue walls are fantastic. The LP shelving looks fantastic against it, and the "creamy greens" look right at home. My only suggestion would be to move the art lower, but that's because I like to look closely and often at each piece. Great color choice!

Help!

I can't decide whether to make my drawers beside my desk the same colour as the desk (dark brown): or the same colour as the shelving to go on the wall (white).

Can you help?

Here: http://prairiehometherapy.blogspot.com/

Thanks.

Alana, I like the idea of the two drawers, desk and shelves being the same color. Painting the walls first before making the final decision on the desk/drawer color seems like the right approach too. I might throw a door or some other large surface material over the desk and drawers to create a unified desktop. It might be nice to contrast the desktop color with the walls, desk and storage units.

Interesting idea to make all the woods the same colour.
I guess I'll wait and see what it all looks like with the almond wall. (I am thinking, though, that if all the wood is dark, then maybe I can paint that wall the medium blue. But then I have those "almond" supports to worry about!)

So, getting everything off the wall, and spackling and washing tomorrow--or so I hope. In order to do that I have to move the furniture single-handedly. The husband is fed up.

Alana:

actually, I don't remember ever hearing anyone doing a complete cure, though I'm sure there are many. I sort of figure what I don't get done this cure, I'll get done the next one. This is why this is cure four for me -- and counting. There are those file boxes to get through.

That would be an interesting survey:
1) Do you do the cure and nothing but the cure?
2) Do you use the cure as an excuse to just do your own thing?
3) Do you do some things in the cure and some of your own things?
4) Do you do the cure mostly in your head and promise yourself to get to those repairs some day?

But it'd probably be pretty boring with 90% checking off #3.

This #3 needs help. I've created a tennis ball mock up of a proposed kitchen sink pendant here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98704941@N00/1479043499/in/set-72157601955717111
We have deduced that it should be high enough so that people aren't staring directly at a bulb while at the sink but long enough so that it still resembles a pendant. The hardware and shade of the model that we are looking at takes up 11" of height which would leave 13" of pendant 'cord' if we followed this mock up. The overall length is custom ordered from Rejuvenation. Here is the pendant we are considering:
http://www.rejuvenation.com/fixshowC162/templates/selection.phtml
What do you think?

In other news, the kitchen cabinet knobs have been ordered and will arrive in 3-7 days. Woot!

The floor people are quoting roughtly $3/square foot to refinish and $10/square foot to replace with red oak (here in SF). We've just received our third quote and they are all pretty much the same with pricing.

In terms of this week's Cure assignments, I will be tackling the ominous bookshelf.

Onward!

Wig--post the above to AT:NY. Lots more traffic there and you'll get informed, wise opinions too. I left you a comment at flickr, but I'm not sure, myself.

$3/sq ft to refinish really doesn't seem bad at all. Well, compared to $10 sq/ft.

You know, I should get a quote on having someone install our K floor. Not that the frugal husband would ever go for it, but it might be nice to see. Or would it be torture?

1) Do you do the cure and nothing but the cure?
2) Do you use the cure as an excuse to just do your own thing?
3) Do you do some things in the cure and some of your own things?
4) Do you do the cure mostly in your head and promise yourself to get to those repairs some day?

My first cure was a #1, I was gung-ho and disciplined. I painted at least two rooms (and the hallway) and learned how to change a light fixture. As I have progressed (this is cure #3) I am more of a #3 style curer. It still serves as inspiration but I don't have as much to do so it is more of reminding me to rehang some art and do another round of decluttering on the books/cds/dvds (coming up soon on the agenda!) as well as contemplating a theoretical one-room kitchen cure for the future. And it's getting less easy to just swap out the old nasty light fixtures for generic new ones (works in hallway and bedrooms where light fixtures are an afterthought, but the entryway and dining area aren't so easy). So in sum, I think perennial curers like most of us will never be Finished and will never be able to do a #1 cure more than once. And I want to find a fixture for my entryway now too, since I've found the theoretical dining room fixture...

Thanks for your comments about the feasibility of a rug, Anne. I have been quite lax about the whole "eating" thing, and it may be too late for us.

And do you realise I haven't even seen this theoretical light fixture for the dining room? What's the hold-up with it?

What are you doing in the kitchen? You are having Thanksgiving or something there this year, aren't you?

I have a tentative budget for my wall of art. Painting, which I have to do, seems overwhelming. I can't pick a color and I can't face the prep work...yikes!

1) Do you do the cure and nothing but the cure?
2) Do you use the cure as an excuse to just do your own thing?
3) Do you do some things in the cure and some of your own things?
4) Do you do the cure mostly in your head and promise yourself to get to those repairs some day?

Despite good intentions to achieve #1, I keep ending up with #3, partly because two of the four Cures have coincided with moves, which have a different rhythm, and partly because the non-decorating parts of the Cure contain a lot of assumptions that follow from Manhattan life (being able to walk to your little organic grocer on Sunday afternoon, for instance) but don't work in other cities.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajftuba/1489970745/in/photostream/

How can I save my new lamp? I love the base but the shade is heinous! Where can I find a new one? I'm thinking preferably whiter and more of a drum shape (or can someone suggest something better) and optimally somewhere online and not too pricey (I know, picky picky)?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajftuba/1489970443/in/photostream/

The kitchen right now I am hemming and hawing over, I rearranged yet again and I have been doing lots of cooking so I may just leave it as the space is working really well for what I need right now but I haven't even made it down to Ikea for that Roman blind so it doesn't LOOK that much different.

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/p8376/index.cfm?pkey=clgtbthclg

This is the fixture I want for the dining room (in satin nickel) and now I totally want one for the kitchen too! So much for saving $$$. I haven't gotten it yet because I doubt our local PB (yes we have one now!) is stocking it and I am not ready to invest in it (or optimally, them) right this minute (before Thanksgiving is the goal, that's the big shindig).

I'm not sure what else to do in the kitchen right now as I don't have the time to paint quite yet and this:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=70622&PRODID=10014432

won't fit under the sink as we have drain pipes there (who designs these things?) so the garbage is still out and proud. Maybe I can get to painting this weekend. I don't have the heart to invest in tile or wallpaper or anything to fancy it up too much as the goal is to ideally rip it all out in a couple of years and put in something reasonably-priced but modern and well-laid out. Right now all I can say for it is there's lots of storage. Weirdly shaped, impractical annoying storage.

So I am trying to stick with the super basic cure stuff for now - I want to do the whole house mop/vacuum again and cull more books and cds and dvds (I can trade them in for new ones!) but I have been lagging on the specific assignments like nobody's business.

Anne -- If your kitchen works, it works. It's not going to be magazine-pretty without major rehab (which you have planned for the future), so "functional" and "welcoming" are the realistic goals, and you're pretty much there. If it's an enjoyable place to cook, people's minds won't be on the previous owner's taste in cabinetry and tile.

Hey Anne,

Our undersink area is tiny as well, so we just bought a little ikea trash can that's meant to slide out but didn't install the hardware. So it's really just a trash can under a sink, but since we compost all organic matter it doesn't need to be any sort of smell-proof heavy-duty can. Maybe you could just find a can that fits and use that for the time being? We also keep our recycling on a little side porch (a closet or pantry would work, if we had such things!) so really our kitchen trash ends up being minimal and the space requirement small.

As for my cure, well, I'm mostly thinking rather than doing. The living room is actually the room I'd like the most advice/input on; I have some specific things I just can't puzzle out myself, but I just have no time to document, post, and discuss it all these days. Sigh!!