Set Your Home Up to Be Clean and Happy, All Year Long

published Jan 31, 2019

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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

The January Cure is all about refreshing and organizing your home for 2019. We tackle one assignment each weekday throughout the entire month. You can visit the Cure page to catch up with the assignments so far.

We did a lot this month with the January Cure. But if you didn’t quite get where you wanted to be, don’t sweat it. Each day in 2019 that you can do something—anything!—good for your home will help you make a difference.

That’s why this one isn’t just a “today” assignment. It’s more of a forever thing—on auto-pilot all the time. (At least until next year’s Cure rolls around.)

(Image credit: Diana Paulson)

Today’s Assignment: Enjoy (and take care of) your space.

You’ve done really amazing work this month, inching towards a home that looks and feels better than before. So your final assignment is, first, to just enjoy it. Look around and reflect on what you’ve done. Even if you haven’t done everything, you’ve done something—and that’s enough.

If you’re hosting a Cure-end gathering, I hope you and your guests have fun enjoying your fresh space. If you aren’t hosting, try to find some time soon to sit in a comfortable place and enjoy a favorite treat, or whatever else will make you happy.

Then part two of the assignment is this: Just keep on doing something good for your home, every day. Take on your daily 3-minute surface sweeps and make plans to tackle a few more projects from your list. Carve out tiny bits of time to care for the spaces in your home. And keep timing yourself so you know how long things take and don’t take on too much.

Remember the Cure mantra: It’s about progress, not perfection.

That’s it! The 2019 January Cure is officially in the bag. I hope I’ll see you again next year!

How to Keep Up the Cure All Year Long:

After taking over the Cure last year, I’ve been looking forward to doing it all over again here in 2019—sharing advice (and commiserations) with the rest of the Apartment Therapy readers. It is truly something that makes me love getting up for work every day. So believe me that this is not an empty offer: If you ever want to reach out for advice about cleaning and organizing, you can find me on Instagram as @tarynwilliford. You’re welcome to shoot me direct messages anytime, or just follow along as I perpetually clean and organize my loft in Atlanta.

If you really enjoyed the guided instructions of the Cure, I suggest signing up for our Weekend Projects newsletter. Week by week, we tackle cleaning, organizing, and small home projects at a natural, low-pressure, and manageable pace. You can sign up below to get weekly Friday emails with a new project assignment each time—no pressure, though. You can pick and choose what works best for you and your home, and what you have the energy or time to tackle.