yeah!!! thanks for including us here in Seattle. Weather's a bit cool today, bright blue sky. I'm off to collect some lids for my collection of quart jars to organize items in the pantry. I've requested the book from the local library...can't wait to get started. Organization was my New Year's resolution, minimalism my long term goal. I WILL be able to walk freely through this house!(at the end of the 8 weeks, of course).

I can not wait to do this! I have been itching to do some painting, redecorating and just plain spring cleaning. Looking forward to exchanging ideas!

This will be good motivation for me, I have been collecting thoughts, ideas and elements to make over our master bedroom.

Here is my first rehab project
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/3350025046/

I think this is the closest to Central Oregon so I hope it's ok if I hang out here! I am doing my garage that basically hasn't been touched since we moved in October.

Hey I'm from Brisbane, Australia. Since there's no Australia discussion pages up at all yet I'll probably hang out here for no other reason than I've been to Seattle and liked it alot. Hope you don't mind my being here!

I'm really keen to get started. I'm actually in the middle of renovating my little 1960s house (bathrooms, new hall cupboards and kitchen) so it'll be a good opportunity to get rid of a lot of clutter whilst everything is already dragged out of the cupboards and have a careful think about furniture placement etc.

Can't wait to hear/see everyone's progress!

Catherine :)

woo hoo! we recently scrapped plans to move and now need to clean and organize our much neglected apartment. i got really sad when i realized our apartment was saying to us "You want to leave me, but I'm doing the best that I can"

looking forward to sharing Seattle resources! cheers!

My husband and I have friends who live here in Seattle and travel to Australia all the time, Catherine - So by the law of transitive properties, that should make you a Seattle-ite? ;)

Looking forward to this cure! We moved to a beautiful apt in downtown Kirkland at the beginning of the year and I want to do it justice. :)

Hello fellow Seattle-ites! I am looking forward to finishing some things. I tend to be really good at the imagining and starting phases and not so good at the finishing bit. Hopefully being part of the cure will help with that. If any of you have access to a woodshop I would be happy to trade access to some of my tools and skills for help with some woodworking projects. I am good with a sewing machine, happy to do yard work and take care of plants, and have just started making stained glass windows (my first project turned out quite well and I now have all of the tools to make more) I am a true believer in "Many hands make light work", it was great to see it mentioned in Maxwell's post today :-)

I moved into a new apartment here in Eugene, Oregon, two months ago. Initially, a lot was happening, but now I feel like I've hit the wall. I'm tired of living with boxes all around, art leaned up against the walls, furniture to be painted sitting on a tarp in the dining area, etc.

Time to cure!

I'm in Seattle and plan on joining. I have the book and read it soon after it first came out, but I definitely need a review. I have lived in my house for over 5 years and have a few unfinished projects and unrealized ideas, but also need fresh inspiration. The main issues I face are that I work full time and also am the primary caregiver for a disabled family member who lives here at home with me. I am finding that our limited storage is being tested by the need to add more items for her continuing care. So, maximizing and making the most efficient use of closet space will be a key area for our cure.

This cure came at quite a handy time. I started my cure two weeks ago (I've had the book since November?). I've been dying for a group cure to start. Looks like I was just a little too impatient. :)

I have to say though, the part about buying flowers every week is now my Favorite! I picked up mums from Trader Joe's for $5. They are beautiful. Every time I see them, they remind me of my eight week goal.

I recommend buying the flowers THE DAY you start. It is truly motivating.

(also, I am not exactly in Seattle - more like Portland but it's like a sister city so the more the merrier I say! - and that includes our new sister country, Australia!) :)

Hope it all goes well for everyone here!

Another Oregonian sneaking in. :D Signed up for the cure somewhat impulsively, so I haven't quite figured out a focus just yet. Though my apartment is in dire need of some TLC.

Love the idea of buying flowers to start things off.

I live in Seattle and I am really excited to be a part of the cure! I have so many things I want to work on in my house that I'm having trouble picking a focus. That feeling of where to begin has been kicking my butt lately, so I'm hoping the cure will get me moving and inspired by and for my space.

I worked on some of the ideas in the first part of the book today. I feel like if my home could talk it would say "You have some good ideas, but why don't you ever finish anything?" Does this mean that I should finish my old projects ASAP even though they aren't the top priorities of the cure? All of the half finished stuff I have lying around clutters up my space AND makes me feel guilty!

On a positive note, I did almost finish one of my roman shades this week. My goal is to have all three done by tomorrow evening, then maybe I'll post a pic.

And the good finds continue
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/3364935347/

I have decided to paint a couple of walls in our Master bedroom black, YIKES!

I'm liking your finds plastolux. Are you going to paint the lamp white? Or some other color? It looks like your bedroom is going to be quite the Mod space. I think back walls in the bedroom could be really nice, but I would keep the darkness around the head of the bed. If I had to look right at black walls when I woke up in the morning it wouldn't help me with my daily struggle to get out of bed...but maybe that is just me.

Nancy_Claire, The lamp will go orange, just putting a fresh coat on and cleaning it up. Our bedroom colors are pink,orange,black/grays/whites. Most our current bedroom furniture is Birch ply. I bought the black paint yesterday. The guy mixing it for me looked at me really funny when I told him we were doing the master bedroom.

The background in the lamp pic is not our house, the house we bought the lamp from. Our bedroom is a loft that has six large sky lights in it. Plenty of light, so we are doing 2 of the 3 walls black. We also have white carpet on the floors.

Your place sounds amazing plastolux - please post some pics when you're done!

We're in the middle of renovating the kitchen and bathroom of our house. So for me the cure will be more about putting the place back together in a way that works for us. I can't wait to get in there and have a big purge of junk and keep the bare essentials. I just wish the tradesman would be finished already!!!

I don't smoke but this is going to look killer on the end tables I am making. Thanks Ebay!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/3369934179/

Hi Seattle!

Good luck on the Spring Cure and keep one another going.

It's great to finally have a place for local voices. Please let us know how it works for you.

does anyone have a recommendation for a product to clean wood (other than just regular dusting). I have a nice stained oak piece and a REAL wood wall that I've never touched...fearful that I'd purchase the wrong product. thanks.

mcm60 - If your wood is stained and not varnished I recommend Murphy's Oil Soap. The results may not be as dramatic as with some of the "miracle" cleaners out there, but you are also less likely to do any damage to the finish. If you are looking for something a little more dramatic then try a woodcleaner that features orange oil, but make sure to test it on an inconspicuous area first...it may turn out that you like the patina on your piece more than you thought). A gentle rubbing with fine steelwool can also do a lot to refresh the finish on stained pieces (always rub with the grain). You wouldn't want to use steelwool on anything with a hard finish though (varnish, shelac, anything with a high sheen than can chip and scratch). Good Luck!

Another Eugene-ian joining the PNW crew from Seattle! It seems there are possibly more than two of us - so maybe Eugene will be the new local board. In the meantime I love Seattle - thanks for sharing.
I attempted the cure last year with our office and it got us the aesthetics we were looking for. We're still working on the mail system - mainly staying on top of it. Once every 2 - 4 weeks the pile is out of control and needs taming (i.e. the recycling bin). I posted photos below of our office before and after. Thanks for the inspiration! http://eugenemodernmonkey.blogspot.com/2008/08/before-and-after-office.html

Nice work on the office MondernMonkey! I have decided to do my Bedroom for this CURE, but next up is my office for sure. Thanks for sharing photos as well, it's always good to see what others have been doing.

I would love any feedback people may have on a few dilemmas:

1. How to spruce up my bedroom drapes? The brown is too matchy-matchy. Any suggestions?

2. What to do with a large wall in the bedroom. I once had a large collection of photographs here...but got tired of it, and the frames didn't go with the decor.

3. Removing stand-alone towel rack in attached bathroom. Has anyone had any experience with wet towels affecting a wall?

Here is my progress photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10672820@N00/sets/72157615785327691/

fefe, maybe try and sew a horizontal orange/red stripe on your drapes. The color will also pull from the artwork over your bed. Would be an easy DIY

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/3384745569/in/set-72157615082443931/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/3385560378/in/set-72157615082443931/

I would also like some feedback. I am working on creating a gallery wall in my living room (to slow down the flow a little bit).

The livingroom wall has two small windows, and two posts, plus it isn't flat all the way down. I know this description is confusing, but you can see what I mean in the photo.

I bought a number of small prints on etsy. I also built a stained glass window and installed it in the further window.

My questions are:

What kind of frames should I use for the prints?
How should I arrange them on the wall?
Would it help if I changed the window framing a bit? (I'm considering removing the little ledges under the windows)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36787032@N06/?saved=1

Hi Nancy_Claire!

I am impressed that you made your own stained glass!

One idea is to hang the pictures both on the wall and also on the posts, sort of like you see when people hang pictures from bookcases. I don't have a picture but I know I've seen it here on AT before. Hanging a few from the posts would make those artworks pop out a little bit from the wall and stand out.

How fun you are on a house barge!

I liked ptowntara's idea of hanging them on the posts. You could do that, or lean some of them up against the window.

On the opposite wall in between the small windows, I feel like could use a larger piece of art, or a mirror to help open that wall up since the windows are small.

Looks like your ceiling is exposed wood? You could mat the prints with white, and use wooden frames to bring out the color in the ceiling.

Thanks for the comments ptowntara and fefe.

Fefe,

For your window dilemma I suggest switching the mini-blinds out for something else. A roman shade in a large print that picks up on some of the other colors in the room would be great (something with a light background that includes the wall color, brown, and some of the color from the bedding). Nancy's sewing basket on Queen Anne has some great prints, and all of the other things for making roman shades.

Alternatively you could get a double curtain rod and layer some lighter/brighter shears behind the drapes that you have now. Again I think that a large scale pattern on them might help pull things together.

Then look for a large low-light potted plant to bring some life to the corner that used to have the TV.

Also it seems like a shame that you took down all of your personal photos. If the off center shelves and the cluttered look were bothering you maybe you should get a large collage frame and put all of the pictures into it together (and of course you could center it over the dresser)...or maybe you are tired of those pictures and it would be worth while to sort through your digital archive and print up some favorites that you only have on the computer. I just think it is sad to take the images of your loved ones out of your room in the name of clutter control.

Or, if you really don't want the pictures anymore then maybe a nice framed mirror would be good.

hmmm...looks like I got carried away and commented on way more than the drapes. I can tell from your pictures that our styles are very different, so just take what you want from my comments and leave the rest. Make it a bedroom that YOU love :-)

THANKS Nancy!
You didn't go overboard on your comments at all!

I have thought about Roman shades and a double curtain to lighten it up. I think I'm going to investigate both options for sure.

I do like the idea of putting up photos again..I think it was just the actual photos/frames I chose before that I didn't like. I like a more symetrical look similar to these, I think it might fill that large wall better than what I had before.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/how-to/how-to-put-together-a-wall-of-frames-030230

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/look-wall-of-frames-079350
(Maybe a more paired down version of this.)

http://www.houzz.com/photos/10850/---C-O-B-U-R-N---A-R-C-H-I-T-E-C-T-U-R-E----contemporary-dining-room-new-york

I also thought about treating that wall differently with wallpaper, or some sort of tone-on-tone pattern.... Hmmm so many things to think about. :)

gang, it was a big cure weekend for us...

took delivery of the new sofa (purchased prior to the cure). gave the old sofa away to the next door neighbor.

made a deal with my husband to get rid of the la-z-boy recliner (that he insists on keeping yet never sits in!) and get an ikea poang chair. hopefully not something i will regret later!

also dismantled the small dining table (never used for dining, more like a giant unorganized quasi-landing strip) and set up the bar cabinet (already in use!)

made serious inroads on the kitchen: cleaned out all cupboards and put just about everything in the outbox (ultimate destination will likely be garage sale). brought up all kitchen-related wedding gifts received 5 months ago and put them to use!

thought i would share the successes so far, hopefully one day i will get these on flickr.

also a question - what is the strongest, most powerful carpet cleaner out there? we've got lots of stains, inherited when we moved in, the landlord claimed she had it cleaned professionally. thanks!

Wow, it was a LONG weekend! I removed a door, did demo on the closet, removed and repaired a bunch of cabinet doors, emptied my stockpile of expired food, built and installed shelving in the closet and restocked my stockpile overflow onto it...

My house is a DISASTER now. Yikes! But no worries...it's always darkest before dawn, right? RIGHT!

Ptowntara - careful of the Poangs! They're comfy to sit in and all, but the cushions are really thin and if you're like me and have a bony you-know-what... prolonged periods in it can be uncomfy. There's also a billion of them on CL, so check there before you buy new!

I finally cleared EVERYTHING out from underneath my bed! To do that I basically needed to clean out and reorganize my other closet...but I didn't mind. It helped me purge alot more things I don't need.

Good job, Fefe! I took on my closet last night - I have 375 square feet, and only ONE closet in the whole place! Shelves in, doors off, temporary curtain hung (I do need to find some prettier fabric, though!).

My place looks like much less of a disaster, but I'm starting to realize that AT is more than just decorating...it's trying to find peace within the home. I've been keeping a running list of things that aren't returning from the outbox and holy cow! I had a lot of stuff!

OK so this weekend I painted the two walls in our master bedroom black. I had to do it twice, the first color was too blue. If you need black and are going to the big box stores go to HD and get the Mickey Mouse Ears black it's a Disney color, it really is the only true black I could find. I did it in a matte black, looks killer. I will post pics soon. I also finished my lamp rehab and it turned out good too.

Yesterday I cleaned out the one closet in our home. I added a lot of things to the out box, mostly sheets, towels, and blankets that were dingy and worn, including the quilt I made in the 3rd grade, and two hand knitted afghans. It is really hard for me to get rid of hand made things, but I don't like the colors, nothing else in my house is made out of polyester(acrylic), and they are lumpy and impossible to fold. I just hope that my dear Aunts understand! I also organized our impressive collection of fasteners and hand tools, now the drawer they are in opens and closes without a hitch. While I was looking through the tool drawer I found the manual for our air purifier. It turns out that it has a washable pre-filter. So I took it apart and washed it with Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap. It felt good to see all of the gunk go down the drain, and the whole house smelled like pepermint all afternoon :-)

I posted a couple of pics of the heart warming stuff. My clean-kitchen dinner, and the perfect tulip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36787032@N06/?saved=1

I still haven't decided what to do about framing my prints. I'm starting to think that they are too small to fill that wall and I should put them around the house and then get a large print for the living room.

ptowntara:

You will regret that ikea chair... believe me!

There are a ton of very modern chairs at the Macy's clearance store in Tukwilla right now, (across the street from the regular furniture location)

Also, dependent on the sort of carpet you have, most likely the stain is there for good but DA burns is, I believe, the best people to contact for hard to remove stains. You can also purchase just their products rather than having them do the work. I've had over a dozen area rugs cleaned by them in my lifetime and the only stain they weren't able to remove was from a wet copper pot. It left green copper sulfate on my rug. And how often does that happen? LOL It was a hard one to explain to them.

Anyhow, I once rented an apartment that had this huge motor oil stain on the rug. It was from the former tenant bringing his motorcycle in. Anyhow, I had a bottle of stain remover they give me for free every time I had my area rugs cleaned and it took the stain right out. My landlord could not believe it was gone after I left and gave me my full deposit back.

Hi, all! I'm a little behind (won't be able to read the book till this weekend) but I've been decluttering in general. We're planning to move this summer, so it needed to happen anyway. One thing that I've had an issue with is, how much effort do I put into this house knowing I'll be moving in just a few more months? I almost feel like the decluttering is the most important thing at this point, looking forward to the transition ahead.

ptowntara (or anyone who might need some Ikea goodness) they are having a special sale this Friday- text REWARD to 30364 and they will send you a code to get 15% off your purchase (except gift cards, as-is, and food) at checkout. I think I'm going to declutter hard the next couple days, and then head to Ikea on Friday to pick up some receptacles to sort what's left ;)

SeattleMama,

I am too a little behind on the cleaning aspect. I get totally focused in on the organizing and purging I forget I should also be cleaning.

For you I would definitely focus on decluttering and organizing in preparation for your move. Maybe not organizing within your space...but organizing within containers and giving things "homes" so when it comes to packing and unpacking you'll know where things are.

Thank you so much for the IKEA sale code. I did not know about that and have put off going all week so far. I have several things I need to get but the house is going a lot slower than I would like.

Just to give you all an overview. I have a fairly large house and we are making room for my mother to come and live with us. This came on as a rather sudden and is necessary for a lot of circumstances well beyond her control. We made the decision to give up our bedroom for her and move ourselves downstairs into what is currently the junk/craft/computer room. It used to be our bedroom when we first moved in. This will help her have her own space and feel as if she is part of the household and not imposing on us.

So far I have gotten rid of so much furniture via freecycle. My husband even sold 7 banker boxes full of old gaming books. I have been getting rid of everything from craft supplies to clothing. We have been working slowly for a long time on clearing out stuff just for our own sanity. Now we have to speed it up as we have a firm deadline of the end of May for my mother to come and live with us.

Today I finally managed to get the tiny room near the front of the house cleaned out enough that I could paint 1/2 of it. I already had the paint and everything to do it just put off painting because we had too much stuff. We are really liking how many items we are discovering that we no longer need.

Just posted up the lamp rehab. No big deal but I think it looks a lot better.

http://plastolux.com/modern-lamp-rehab.html

plastolux - your lamp is GORGEOUS! Want to make me one? ;)

This week, I found a cake stand out by the dumpster and whaddayah know? After conferring with Eddie Ross and sending pictures and info about it, the bugger's freakin' silver! So I'm polishing that up tonight to see if it'll shine for me. I'm just amazed at what people throw away!

plastolux...the lamp is great! Good job.

bfootnovellista...I too grabbed a "FREE" table that was sitting on the side of the road, and I am finally going to go to Furniture Spa to get it stripped. I will definitely post photos once that takes place. I think it will be a great little addition.

I was busy this weekend too...took another load to Goodwill and Home Depot. I painted one wall in my entry way, and another in my dining area. I received some big purchases for my bedroom and am slowly putting those together!

It's amazing how many garbage and Goodwill runs I've made so far. It feels great to be rid of things that were just taking up space.

Fefe - Good luck with your table redo. I'll be waiting on the pictures!

Just finished my side tables

http://plastolux.com/diy-eero-saarinen-side-table.html

Excellent work on the side tables!

I finished most of my projects! Here is the set of Before and After photos of my bedroom, bathroom and closet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10672820@N00/sets/72157618082740209/

I am making a headboard this summer, so that will be added to the room when it's completed!

Just finished this weekend, better late then never.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10202397@N06/sets/72157615082443931/