Thank you. I can stop cringing now. That photo was awful!

Ack. I'm a bit depressed about my curtain issue right now. I have a wall of windows in my living room (two double hung windows with a 55" square picture window in between another set of double hung). We never bothered with curtains in our old place but are finding the glare on sunny days unbareable. I was hoping to do red dupioni silk panels with tan roman shades but am finding it a bit cost prohibitive right now. I can't really afford $400 for window treatments. I'm settling for a fake silk/satin look and found some nice drapes that I really like at JC Penny of all places. The roman shades aren't too insanely expensive until I get to the picture window. I can't afford to get a custom shade made. What to do. What to do.

Also, we have a heater in front of the windows and I'm worried floor-length curtains (What I hoped to get) might burn or catch on fire. Does anyone know if this type of heater gets very hot? Will I have to drape the curtains (I look I hoped to avoid) instead?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suziegoombs/1350838401/in/set-72157601926398386/

Anyone else have suggestions?

Part of the Week Two assignment is to cook a meal in your kitchen and eat at home. The recipe in the book is a good simple roast chicken, but I thought I'd put in an alternative for those vegetarians/vegans who don't want to eat meat but are still new to cooking:

My grandmother's tomato sauce, altered for vegans :)

1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 big can peeled whole tomatoes (make sure it's the big can, not the normal sized one)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
dried thyme, dried oregano, salt, pepper (you can use fresh if you have them)
extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine (cheap chardonnay should be fine)

Some protein filler - choices include cooked tofu cutlet cut into lil cubes, sliced Boca sausage, Gimme Lean sausage (not the ground beef because that tastes gross), TVP, whatever. You can also not use a filler and just enjoy the sauce. If you do use a filler, you will need 1/2 cup plain soymilk as well

If you're not comfortable with your knife skills to chop stuff up, what you can do is put the onion in the food processor and pulse it VERY lightly so that it's chopped up nicely but NOT pureed. Then you pour a tablespoon or two of the olive oil in a large pot (I like using a dutch oven) and turn the heat to medium. Put the onion in. The key here is to cook the onions a little slowly, so that they don't brown. This is very important. You want them to become soft and translucent, but not brown, and you definitely don't want that caramelized onion smell, which is why you use medium heat.

After the onions have been cooking a little bit and you can smell their oniony goodness, add the chopped garlic, carrots and celery (again you can use a food processor if you don't wanna chop with a knife). Stir all that around until the onions become good and dark (but not brown) and everything has a wonderful pleasant aroma. Add the protein (tofu, fake sausage, what have you) and the soymilk and let that cook and simmer until the milk is evaporated. If you're choosing not to use a filler, just skip this step and skip the soymilk. Add the white wine and simmer until the wine is evaporated.

Tomato time! Open the can up and take out the individual whole tomatoes and put them in one at a time. What you want to do is avoid getting the extra tomato water from the can in the sauce, because it will become too runny. So just reach in there with your hand and pull out all the whole tomatoes and add them to your pot.

Now the fun part. Get a potato masher and go to town on your sauce to break up the tomatoes. You can make the sauce as chunky or as creamy as you like here.

Add some dried thyme, some oregano (a teaspoon or so of each - eyeball it), salt and pepper to taste, and then here's the really important part. Cover the pot with the lid set slightly askew, turn the heat down a little bit and let that sauce sit there for a while. The longer you let this happen, the thicker and richer the sauce will be. If you're in a hurry, don't cover it, turn the heat up a little bit, and let the sauce reduce uncovered, stirring it occasionally to prevent burning. This step is super important. A lot of sauces are served incomplete because the tomatoes aren't given enough time to cook through and to lose all their extra water. You'll know when it's done because the entire production will seem really creamy, smooth, and dark.

Serve with your favorite pasta (vegan options available) or just top it on some toasted baguette and make a bruschetta. You can make the sauce well in advance and reheat it anytime. You can even freeze it into a big sauce brick and use it later by putting the brick back in your pot and cooking it til it's unfrozen.

This recipe seems like a lot of work, but it really isn't. There's a lot of waiting for things to cook/reduce, so you don't always have to be at the stove. Total time spent in the kitchen is about an hour, but you can go to 2 or 3 if you want to reduce the sauce even more.

OK, so i ordered my book and i haven't got it yet... can anyone tell me about how long it takes?

The dress form arrived from PB Teen, of all places – it was the least expensive of the four I priced – and works well. More important, the actual costumes look better on a form than they did on a hanger on the closet door.

The catch is that while it’s easier to work at my home office without getting entangled in textiles, the doors look naked without them, and that is disturbing somehow. I don’t deal with negative space well.

I still have to get a floor lamp for the corner behind the bed. The only one I’ve seen that I liked is rather expensive. I haven’t come across anything I like as much or would fit in with what I allege to be my style as well at a more reasonable price.

Mine's coming along rather better than I thought it would. Now that I've started seriously talking about paint and color and design, my husband's even getting enthusiastic, and he doesn't "do" interior design. I've started a blog here about it, since the comments on my Flickr photos were getting lengthy. We've narrowed down colors on both of our focus rooms: an ice blue and bright red for the kitchen, and deep green for the study.

Our biggest irritation is the kitchen cabinets, but since we rent we just can't seem to do anything about the ugliness. The wood varnish has turned white and nasty with age, and none of the solutions I've thought of (covering with fabric, removing entirely) seem to be working out. We may just have to put up with it.

sorry forgot the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7340332@N05/

Another part of the kitchen week is to clear out the mess of chipped or mismatched crockery and get a set of dishes that is adequate for your needs.

I was in pretty good shape with that in the spring - just needed to replace one broken bowl and one lost serving spoon. Both lines are discontinued but still pretty easy to find. I have two everyday sets because my kitchen is kosher.

But I didn't attend to glassware; not only mismatched, but insufficient in total. Earlier this year I bought a set of 16 everyday glasses (8 short and 8 tall), and now I've unpacked and washed them and arranged them in a cabinet.

I inherited a set of Lu-Ray from my grandmother who for reasons no one can figure out bought a service for six, but only in the blue and cream (thus shunning the pink and green). She liked to mix the dishes up -- a blue tea cup on a cream saucer -- but since I'm a table for one -- I live alone -- I use the cream in the summer and the blue in the winter. Curiously, the service seems to survive if not thrive the generations of eccentricity.

I've already done the cooking part of week two and then some: I baked chocolate chips cookies, a big batch of bolognese pasta sauce, a potato salad and grilled tomatoes with chèvre. YUM! I love to cook but I now realise that I had become lazy about it. Now I'm even looking forward to my packed lunch.

My kitchen cleaning will be more about organizing. I moved in only 2 months ago so it's not all that dirty, but the cupboards are a mess! I just packed everything in without giving it much tought when I arrived here. Now is the time to make it work.

I also ordered paint for the whole place but I'll get it only in October since my father is buying it (he gets a discount) and he's in France for 4 weeks - lucky bastard! :p

I'm really grateful to everyone who's leaving comments in my flicker album, it's so helpful - and fun!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/sets/72157601972567193/

This weekend I finally cleaned off my desk, and for the past few nights I've been using it for homework. I never used to use my desk for actually doing work - just for storing office supplies - I always used to use the dining table, if I needed to spread out a lot, or for reading I would just use the couch, arm chair or bed. Using the desk (mainly for reading so far) has actually been a huge improvement. Because I'm sitting in an only semi-comfortable chair, in an upright position, I'm not tempted to fall asleep, and because I'm facing a wall, with the coat-tree sort of dividing me from the rest of the apartment, I'm not nearly as distracted by other things. I've also made a rule that when I use my laptop at the desk, I cannot do anything other than my homework - no internet, email, or AT.
So far this is all working out very well. It's a little sad not to be able to sit in bed next to the boyfriend and both do our reading, but I'm being a lot more productive now, because I don't stop and talk to him every two seconds. Same with the comfort level - I would love to curl up in bed or in the armchair to read, but I just fall asleep...
I've also put to use a new upright file thing that I had gotten just before the cure started, but hadn't started using yet. It's solved the desk top mess that accumulates when I have papers that I need to access frequently and so don't want to file away in the file drawers yet. Those used to just sit in a pile in the middle of the desk, now there all organized in this upright file thing on the left side.
So so far this seems to be helping me a lot (I actually ended up reading ahead for one of my classes this week - it was an accident, but still, quite a nice surprise).

Eve

Your apartment seems a bit dark -- though that may be the photographs -- and you seem a bit art shy. But I love the space and think some your choices -- like the Saarinen table -- will be great.

Jonathan, there is something about your daybed that looks so inviting...

and I understand about the nakedness of the doors, negative space is difficult for me too. Before the Spring Cure I had several letter size paint samples tacked to the wall for months, I tried to take them down several times, but the wall looked naked without them.

I'm glad to hear most of you are doing progress.

I'm glad I am too. I finally took time to take care of my home **yes, I am a cold person :) and I bought flowers. I made a list of things to do during the cure and started working on it... one step at a time.

The kitchen is one of the area that needs the most love so I'm glad to start with it! I've already put a few plates and mugs in the out box and cleaned my pantry
My goal for this week is to put at least an hour on the kitchen every night this week

elainah

thank you.

jess2nola

also thank you.

As for negative space -- well, my two biggest design inspirations are not only the Soane Museum in London and the Museum of Natural History in New York, but also private houses and apartments I've seen in Venice and New Orleans. The Crescent City is not about negative space.

Okay, I am an idiot.

Can someone explain the term "negative space" to me?

gus, you're not an idiot. You are intelligent. How do I know this? You're bright enough to ask the question.

To oversimplify: positive space has something in it; negative space doesn't have anything in it. Positive space gives you something to look at; negative space gives a place for your eye to rest. Positive and negative space are supposed to balance somehow.

Not that anyone cares, but I prefer the term "visual density" which I lifted from Gombrich. It's how visual dense -- how much stuff -- a given space has. Certain periods have more visual density than others -- think baroque v bauhaus -- and some people favor more visual density than others.

But the most important thing is is that the less visually dense a place is, the easier it is to clean.

i am playing catch up from last week but feel a little bit ahead for week two's assignments.

http://missmacmac.blogspot.com/

i love having flowers in my house. what can i do to keep my cats from eating and destroying them, other than placing them in awkward places?

spray the flowers with a "bitter spray." We bought ours from Petco and its all natural and very nasty tasting for the kitty. Only problem, it works for about an hour and then seems to wear off. Maybe my cat is just crazy though.

Johnathan B : thanks :)

You are right, I live in semi-darkness right now because I'm waiting to paint the walls and getting the rest of my furniture before installing the lighting fixtures I bought on the ceiling. The kitchen is like a black hole! I want to put more art on the walls, too, but I am waiting for the paint job to be done and to find something I really love (especially for the big empty wall over my couch). I moved in July '07 and I'm just starting to feel at home.

Eve, that first pic in flickr is stunning - I think what makes it is the regular grid of the bookcase, the great lighting over the bookcase, and the vast, decluttered space throughout that area.

scraplolly

thank you.

actually the dressmaker's dummy is staring at a bust I have on a chest on the other side of the bed, looking rather as if the dummy is looking for its head.

Less ghoulishly, I just thought it looked better this way than it did four-square parallel to the wall behind it. But now that you've mentioned this, I'm going to give some more thought to it.

Zooza

Thank you.

for the moment, I'm leaving the naked doors naked. I'll see how I feel about them in a week. I doubt I would hang anything on them, since that would only recreate the problem I had with what I already had hanging on them -- feeling cramped in my home office area. I might paint them a different color, replace them with doors that have architectural detailing of some sort, or apply a row of pictures -- flat-mounted like decoupage.

As for the small table or taboret, the inlay is bone and the "lid" is not hinged. The top is firmly attached to the sides. According to Johannes Kelter's useful book, The Arts and Crafts of Syria, such inlay work is called intarsia. Mine is 19th century, but there are wonderful contemporary pieces being exported from Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco as well as India (which has a more delicate, flowing feel to the inlay work).

As for the Sino-Indonesian chair, again thank you. It's become a closet favorite of mine. Despite its formidable appearance, it's very comfortable to sit in.

As predicted, I have had little to no time this week -- will be buying flowers and cooking, but will likely not get to the kitchen cleaning until Sunday if at all. Identifying my style?!? Now that's a tough one. I think I will try to spend an hour or so clipping images for my style tray and see what I come up with as a starting point.

JonathanB - thanks for the info on the taboret. I now know what to look for. :-)

I am quite stuck at cleaning my oven racks. Actually, sugar, from placing pastries directly on the rack mixed with grease is what's sticking to them.

I've sprayed them with oven cleaner, soaked paper towels in oven cleaner and wrapped them, and I've tried a toothbrush and baking soda.

I've been at this about 48 hours now.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.
(I'm copying and pasting this post to AT:SF as well for those cure-hopping!)

Wow! I never expected to see my Rakks in today's post. Hopefully, it's just the motivation I need to complete my bedroom!

Why not just take them out and hit them with a Brillo? A scouring pad is a much more consistent abrasive than a toothbrush, I think.

I was dreading getting into the kitchen, but I am actually having a great time doing it. I'm trying to tackle one shelf or cabinet each time my kid takes a nap and goes to bed for the night. Right now husband and baby are napping (Steve was up until 3 working last night), and I am tackling the stuff above the cabinets. My outbox is growing and I am thrilled. I'm ready to let the stuff go that isn't working (e.g., weird wedding presents and glasses that don't stack so take up too much room in the cabinets).

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I am going to do that right now (mid-kitchen) while I am motivated and the camera is next to me. I need to get some pics of the kid off the camera and onto our flickr page anyway. I'll kill two birds.

All the best to everyone.

pearlandopal, I like your office style tray. Offices (and home music studios, which is what I'm working on) tend to look so... workmanlike, even in fancy catalogs, so I've had a hard time finding office-y photos for my music room style tray. I'll be very interested to see how you manage to incorporate your lovely organic style into the computer room.

A Brillo pad--is that a sponge with an abrasive bottom--or one of those steel wool things?

I don't use them--

But hey, I DO have some steel wool--one package each: fine, medium and coarse.

Duh.

Brillo is a steel wool thingy.

I never expected to see my Rakks in today's post.

I'm a bit chuffed about being quoted, too.

My kitchen doesn't require a lot of work, because I moved in July and organized it then. It is probably the most nearly complete room. Lately I've been rearranging a few things as I see what is most convenient.

For the sake of complete veracity, I'll clarify things: I'm "in NY" but that means the state, not the city. "Here" is sufficiently upstate that bears are occasionally seen in my neighborhood.

I can't wait until P(2) reads OK in NY's last sentence.

Well, the "coarse" steel wool works like a charm. A bit rough in the hand, but I don't care at this point.
One more soaking in some water may help, I hope, but 90% of the crud is gone.

In fact, I'm almost motivated to grab the lower rack and give it a little shine with the steel wool. We'll see.

Thanks so much LadyJ!

I haven't had a chance to read chapter 2 yet, but I dug into my kitchen last night. I made a platform for my dog's food bowls, cleaned my stove and the area between it and my fridge that's hidden behind a pillar/column so it was quite "warm." I rearranged my shelf below the cabinet, and started an outbox. And I scrubbed my sink with earth friendly Bon Ami. The funny thing about Bon Ami was that I didn't know it was earth friendly when I bought it, I just liked the little duck on the package.

My friend has my camera so no pics of my apartment yet, but I finally put together a style tray. You can check it out here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12721467@N02/sets/72157602086867191

I'm doing one half of my apt in the bright, whimsical look and then the living/bedroom more classic traditional, so that explains the split personality style tray.

Warning:

Things bake more quickly in a cleaned oven than a dirty one.
We burned the cookies!

I can't wait until P(2) reads OK in NY's last sentence.

Oh dear.

Yes Jonathan you are right...New Orleans and "visual density" absolutely go hand in hand

The bf comes home tonight to see the new and improved bedroom...I'll post his reaction tommorow...

I still need curtains. I think I need texture in the room so I'm considering felt curtains...I know I've seen them around AT before...any ideas?

east village amy:

love that pumpkin color myself -- where in the east village are you? I'm on Fourth Avenue near the Strand.

Alana:

My condolences on the loss of your cookies, but I'll have to fess up to cracking up when I read that.

Eep, What an embarrassing picture. We've been putting down plywood panels. When we're done we're going to paint it grey, or seal it with deck sealant.

Any opinions on which?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkiy/1409188633/

gray lady, it should definitely be interesting. I don't think I found a single home office photo on the internet that actually incorporated exactly the style I want, so most of the photos aren't office-related at all. I'm thinking of simply overwhelming the workaday atmosphere with deep leafy green walls.

sparkiy: I think both. It looks as if it needs a bit of color before it's sealed. Perhaps a medium tone stain?

Sparkiy--I think steel gray might make it look like something of a battleship. Definitely a mid-tone stain: that'll help tone down the loud grain pattern--though I just love how you took the care to match it.

JonathanB--I'd post a smiley face but Pixie might get mad at me. How's this? I firmly believe in laughing at life's little misfortunes, sooner or later. (oh, so pompous. I prefer the smiley face.)

oliviaperdana --

thank you.

alana --

well if you don't laugh at that sort of thing, you'll go crazy

;D

Hello. I am following along, but have some technical difficulties with my camera. Is it too late to post my pictures and be part of the class? I am doing the one room cure. My foyer is big,and currently being used for junk storage. I'm working on borrowing a camera. I'm stuck and really need help!

Clutter4, it is never too late to post pictures or to join the class! There is no requirement to post pictures at all - some people post many, others a few, and probably the largest number post none. Whether you have pictures or not, you should always feel free to post messages in the blog, either to request ideas or just to report on progress. I always like reading about what others are doing, and it is nice to see who else is participating.

pearlandopal,

take a look at J_fer_in_DC's walls... really nice green color that might be what you're looking for:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7301500@N04/417766897/

Glad it worked, Alana. I grew up on them. Used to clean the grill with it in the summer, so I knew it would scrape that right off. Although, plain steel wool is rather harsher on the hands I think.

Jonathan B - I'm on 8th St. and B, right across from the park.

I wish I had another room for that pumpkin color, but sadly all my walls are spoken for.

sparkiy - I think your kitchen has such potential to be really charming. And your pie looks yum, I may have to make one too!

I'm catching up, so my first 2 weeks are going to get accomplished at high speed.

I just got back from vacation and was reminded by my home that I am a warm person. I moved from a 2 bdr/1ba in Brooklyn with no closets to a Chicago duplex. That's a 3 bdr/3.5ba with closets, a storage room, a garage, TWO living rooms, and a kitchen twice as big. My space has doubled and I have not had to get rid of crap because there are so many places to shove it.

As a result, my home feels cluttered. Here is my list that I plan to complete by the end of the weekend.

WEEKS ONE AND TWO

Bones:
Sweep and vacuum patio
Dust, vacuum and mop
Clean kitchen and pantry and coat closet
Convert guest room back to home gym
Install new kits in toilets
Email photos to C&B for merchandise credit on crappy sofa
Craigslist: garment storage rack, PB rug, C&B sofa

Breath:
Remove one trash bag of clothes from each closet
Empty/store boxes of clothes in bedroom
Make outbox area and start using it
Buy dehumidifier for space under the stairs
Have central humidifier serviced
Have dryer vent cleaned

Heart:
Buy fresh flowers for dining room, bathrooms, and patio

Head:
Cook two new recipes at home
Sit for ten minutes in a part of home that I never sit in
Choose the date for my housewarming

OFFICE REMEDY
I have already done the first two weeks’ steps on my own.

De-clutter - shred and throw away old paperwork

I am honestly so happy to have gotten three loads of laundry done tonight (our washers and dryers are shut off at 9pm but hey, at least they're in the building!) that I would like to add that to my list of successes. I'm so happy not to have an enormous pile in the corner of my bedroom anymore. Also took a bunch of things to the dry cleaner so hopefully getting dressed for work every morning isn't so traumatic (I hate ironing).

That being said, I've decided that I have to run my cure a little differently. I've been itching to have people over (we just moved in 3 weeks ago) and don't think I can wait the full 8 weeks. Plus, things really aren't that bad. We purged a bit as we unpacked and our outbox is quite full. Still more to do in my clothes closet but thats about it. The living room, dining, and office need finishing touches and probably some cleaning. curtains, pictures hung, pillows made, etc. I'm going to focus on that stuff as well as clean. I'm hoping to have my "house warming" party in three weeks. I feel like thats a reasonable length of time given how busy I've been with working and going to school. I keep stressing myself out about the state of the bedroom that I feel like I'm sabotaging any real progress than can be made in the other areas of the apartment. The bedroom needs a lot of work and will be dealt with after the housewarming party. I ordered new bedding which I'm excited about but I need so many BIG items (dresser, bed, hampers, mirror, artwork, lamp, etc.)that I think I'm going to do a mini one room cure. The bedroom has always been the place things go when we don't know what to do with it. After reading the AT book I'm excited to make it into a relaxing place I actually want to be in.

Whew. Sorry for the lengthy explanation!
This weekend I will be cleaning the floors and the kitchen. I'm also dragging the boyfriend to a flea market to look for some "finishing touches."

Geeze this kitchen purge is kicking my butt! I knew I had way too much stuff in my kitchen, but I really had no idea actually how much! I've successfully cleaned every surface and sent 2 boxes out. After working for hours last night, the stuff in my outbox was just mocking me, begging to be thrown out. And identifying my style, lets see, is screenprint studio/Coney Island/Punk rock a style? Yeah, probably not.

Okay -- work and a bad cold have put me way behind schedule for this week. I am cooking on Sunday and have purged a bunch of shoes from my closet, but that might be about it for this week's activities. Except for the flowers, of course. I've also slowly started building a style tray on flickr and collecting links of products I like. I've also gotten word that my lease has been renewed (yay) so I can stay where I am -- I am hoping to be able to have my landlord do some electrical work so I can move my "office" which is currently in my bedroom to my dressing area, which currently has no outlets.

I feel badly behind, I must admit. We've only been in our home since mid-June, so the kitchen is under control and in constant use.

Progress so far: I identified the areas most in need of help: the front coat closet, the office area, and our bedroom. And a new couch (a shorter one!) would help, but that will take awhile so it's not part of the Cure. The bedroom is the same - needs new furniture, so will have to mostly wait.

I've been able to update the Style Folder I have at Flickr, and I took down everything from last year as it's a new place all together. I haven't been able to add any pictures of our place, but hopefully I'll be able to this weekend - I need the cord to connect the digital camera to the computer first.

I'm glad to see the progress everyone is making!

cleaning the kitchen was harder this year than last. I threw out a garbage bag (leaf and lawn sized) of old food. Some fresh, but a lot of lost frozen food from the bottom of my deep freezer downstairs.

It was so hard because I still remember when I moved out on my own (23 years ago) and was so very very poor that ramen noodles were a special treat. I think that I always have a lot of food on hand now because I never want to feel like that again (shades of Scarlett O'Hara) That is embarrasing to say out loud. But, I don't want to waste things anymore, and I have to get a handle on this so I don't have to have a crisis everytime I clean out the fridge and freezer.
That said, I got it cleaned out, the shelves washed, and the underneath thing vaccumed and free of all dust etc.... next is on to the pantry- I am afraid things are just as bad in there as they were in the fridge.

AmandaC - I know exactly how you feel about laundry! My clothes totally get out of control. I wish I had laundry in the building, I'd like to save up for my very own washer and dryer. Ahh, someday....

I've been pretty good about keeping my kitchen up to par over the years. Some deep de-griming of the walls and cabinets, but other than that nothing much more than the typical maintenance. Old food routinely gets thrown out, thanks to my chef girlfriend who (rightfully) nags me about food safety.

The de-griming really helped though. A lot of dirt and stuff had built up on the trim by the floor, and getting that out of there opened the whole place up.