apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

How do I go about getting advice from this website about what to do about my master bedroom that just doesn't feel welcoming to me?

i haven't done much all week and my place just keeps getting messier & dishes are never done..
i've been eating at home more which is in turn helping me to lose weight and feel better..
tomorrow i'm making an ikea trip so maybe it will help me kick it into high gear. i've got to decide on paint colours this weekend because next week is time for the colour injection!

Even though I already cook at home a lot, I have been trying new things more lately. Last night I made pizza from scratch and bruschetta using a recipe from the kitchn. It was great! Here's a pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilkidthings/2407662037/

I wish there were two of me...

I'm not doing the Cure, but am hoping this is a good place to ask this question, since I know the Cure involves decluttering!:

I'm moving soon and would like to donate some things - does anybody know of a charity that will pick up donations (not furniture)? Housing Works? Goodwill? I don't live near any place like that and have no access to a car. Ideas much appreciated! Thank you!

While I didn't make it through The Cure the first year, and I didn't devote myself to it this year, I have to say that
I AM getting a lot done. I see the improvements in other people's homes, and get inspired to try a little bit harder to go through things. Get rid of things. Clean things. Sort, recycle, donate, etc.

I also discovered that a auto windshield Squeegee is GREAT for wall washing. If you all knew about this already, why didn't you tell me? ;-)

unfortunately, i've been pretty ill the past few weeks, so the cure has taken a huge detour for me. not sure if i'll make any progress before week 8 arrives. although i have been buying flowers every week and trying to stay on top of junk mail, etc. things just weren't meant to be this time around. hope everyone else is having better luck!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodimckee/sets/72157604120535828/

I've been working continuously but still have fallen behind. Luckily I have made some good progress this weekend. Unfortunately, my guess is that due to my contractor's schedule I probably won't be done by the end of week 8.

The good news is that I have done a lot already this weekend (and will hopefully do more today). I will be posting about it here: http://j-fer-rose.blogspot.com/

So, here's my weekly update:
thursday i took an afternoon off from work and went to IKEA to buy a new chair for my new reading corner. Lucky me, that day dthe chair was 50 Francs less with the Family Card !! I also bought a new credenza (BESTA) for my TV and media. The rest of that afternoon i spent assembling all of that. My livingroom is almost done by now, the outbox needs to be emptied though. Photos are here : http://www.flickr.com/photos/36m2/sets/72157604068598538/
I'm happy with the result !
Yesterday ( saturday ) i've spent the day cleaning the whole apartment and in the evening i had friends over for dinner to celebrate my birthday. Dinner was delicious and much appreciaited, and the eveing was fun and a success , my friends left at 1.30 am !
The upcoming week i'll try to tackle my home office, and a friend will take my EXPEDIT, so i can re-arrange a bit my bedroom. Next weekend a friend is coming to visit me from Zurich, so i'll try my best to get a maximum done during the week.
Have a lovely sunday and stay motivated !

Happy Birthday, Jany!

I am so far behind that I feel like a dropout already. I have kept up with buying flowers every week and continued with planning, but am still stuck on the same problems that have delayed my kitchen renovation all along. The fact that my digital camera died at the end of week two means I have only have cell phone pictures right now. I haven't posted them because the kitchen does not look any different right now than in the beginning. I will be out of town for a week for family stuff so I think I have to give myself a one week extension to be reasonable. Focusing on what I HAVE accomplished: I am cooking at home a lot (in my soon to be demolished kitchen); picked a fridge that is 24" wide, counter depth, AND energy star rated; picked the cabinets, countertops, sink and how they will be configured. Right now I have two pressing questions before I borrow a sledgehammer. 1) Is it safe to leave one side of a gas range exposed? I have no idea how hot it gets since it is now sandwiched between base cabinets. 2) Is it complicated to replace a single bowl sink with a double bowl? I will have a pro install it, but since I plan on asking a friend, I don't want to ask for something complicated. So in a nutshell, I got stuck on week 3 "Call in help". I have the worst time asking for help. So please, help me not be a Cure dropout!

Still working hard to keep the apartment cleaned and organized, sometimes it seems a never ending job, but it is so worth it. This weekend I weeded thru my papers, cleaned and organized my desk, and did routine cleaning. The one task I have not completed is to shred a couple years worth of bank statements and canceled checks, I dread doing this!!

Next weekend I will be away taking a short trip to Philadelphia to see the Frida Kahlo show. I will have to try and do my cure during the week; the good part is that my bathroom is small and, I do not have much organizing to do. I posted a couple new photos of my desk and my weekly flowers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lffrank/

I voted "get strength" this week because I feel like I haven't done anything! This week has been a complete whirlwind for me - classes, dr's appointments, vet appointments, a lecture at the met, happy hour with friends, and of course, work. I worked most of saturday as well so I'm finally taking stock today of our apartment (which has gotten a bit messy in all the chaos). I'm going to try to clear off the desk before I head to bed tonight and thankfully, the desk in our office really isn't that bad. Its rather new so most of the drawers aren't even full of stuff.

While it isn't necessarily cure related this is something that has been taking up a bunch of my time (and uh, money) this week... I rescued a stray cat! He's a real sweet heart and has been great at taking my mind off of the doctor/surgery stuff.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suziegoombs/2399890625/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suziegoombs/2409132650/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/suziegoombs/2409132136/

One thing I am rather proud of is that I am going to REALLY try to eat more at home. I haven't been paying attention to that aspect of the cure because i've been so gosh darned busy it really hasn't been possible but now I'm making it top priority. I have homemade lasagna in the oven right now and I have a chicken, white bean and green chili soup, homemade pizza with green peppers, and chicken parmesan with orzo pasta on the menu for later this week. Making a dinner schedule BEFORE going to the groccery store today helped immensely and its a habit I'm going to try to get into.

I also bought a small rubber tree plant this week instead of flowers. I have been wanting a rubber tree plant for FOREVER (we had a huge one in the kitchen of my childhood home) but they are unfortunately toxic for kitties. I found a small one though and it now lives on top of our tall bookcases - the only place cats can't get in our apartment. yay!

suzie, can you put a glass dome over the plant? that should allow it a little greenhouse and keep the cats out.

evillstudio, a gas range doesn't need to be bordered by anything. i lived with a freestanding range for six years. the heat will be no less bearable on the sides than on top and front. i'm sure the insulation is in the sides and back as well.

i worked my ass off yesterday to what looked like few results but i think was a real turning point. if only i could have gone at it like this a month ago. i'm cleaning the floor as i go along (under the bed, etc.). method good for wood doesn't smell like almond. it smells like baby powder. i put my nose to the floor while stowing boxes under the bed.

did not come home friday until i'd gotten all the paint supplies for the kitchen backsplash. took my clothes closet to the bridge today (cleaned/organized it). i discovered my storage unit was full of old bags. they are now gone. putting stuff i need in there. vacuumed my rug which still needs to go to a cleaner.

guests for the weekend plus party.

onward.

suziegoombs - what a snuggle bug of a kitty!

I am making progress on my closet (and underbed clearance) project, but oh so slowly. I got rid of more stuff in my outbox - some giveaways of things I wanted to find good homes for. Still sorting magazines. Also, processed a box of old misc. papers this weekend.

Also, I've been dreading making decisions about new water heater and toilet, but I finally got online and picked up my research and also emailed someone else who had their water heater replaced. I may just have the plumbers bring the water heater instead of me trying to save some bucks by getting my own. I just really don't have the energy to figure out what I really need (and maybe not the skill- I simply can't order the wrong one and have the plumbers show up for nothing and then have to pay them) and it's easier to just pay for that knowledge.

Now the toilet--I am getting a Toto, but my head is spinning from all the models. I'm going to join Consumer Reports for a month and do some research there too.

This is funny, of course the site is doing a cure! I discovered the book, and finally understood the idea of a cure, two weeks ago. So I'm on week two! I might be here for awhile, because my husband's traveling for a week, and he's doing it too. So we're taking at least a week off, maybe two since not *that* much happened this week cure-wise with his travel preparations happening.

Reading the book really gave me an unexpected perspective. I realized that the most important thing is that my apartment doesn't have a workable workspace for me--which is something I didn't take seriously before. I use the dining table as my desk, which is fine, but my stuff is stored willy-nilly all over the place, so mainly I want it all in fewer places, as close as possible to the dining room. And I came up with a great idea--an attractive brown shelf, open on both sides, that would also frame the dining room! Now I just have to find it. (Oh how I wish for a Vancouver, or even Seattle AT site!)

There are a lot of other things happening too. I'm less intense about the 8 week time limit, and more intense about getting most of it done this summer. (There might be more than one cure packed into my plan!) I like the weekly format because to me it makes things less pressured... each week has its own to do list, rather than a giant amorphous to do list to look at every day for 8 weeks.

I have a question! We have a huge dust problem in our apartment. What is the best way to deal with this? If it is either a HEPA vacuum or air filter, which is better? As always space is somewhat precious here, especially in our increasingly crowded closets, so what would be the most space-savvy option?

"How do I go about getting advice from this website about what to do about my master bedroom that just doesn't feel welcoming to me?"

aznavychic, do you have pictures? What is your preferred style? Have you read about heart & breath in the Apartment Therapy book? I found that it clarified so much. Without pics it's hard to guess, but how about...

- use more warm colors
- use relatively soft colors, like gentle deep rusty reds, and/or a few pastels
- use more soft, pleasant textures
- keep the bedroom peaceful with low stimulation, esp visual
- warm floors with floor coverings that follow the above ideas as well
- if you honestly think it's ugly or seriously bland, declutter and/or replace it
- have very little stuff in the bedroom (not including closets etc, although keeping those reasonable and organized will help too)

Also for the subject of placement of furniture in your bedroom, check out some feng shui resources for ideas. I have saved the sites I've come across here: http://del.icio.us/sphinxie/fengshui and there's usually more info in books.

"I also discovered that a auto windshield Squeegee is GREAT for wall washing. If you all knew about this already, why didn't you tell me? ;-)"

Wow, true blue, great idea, thanks! I've been wondering how to clean our walls!

Today I decided to get a jump on Week 6 and scrubbed my bathroom like a madwoman- including every inch of the tiled walls & floor. I used Method Le Scrub and it smells fabulous.

After looking at the seating arrangement in my living room & determining that it was better for TV watching than conversation, I randomly decided to rearrange my living room furniture. I think that it reduces the "bowling alley" syndrome I had going. And I invented a reading nook in the process!
What do you guys think?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68987525@N00/sets/72157604526161223/

I also cleaned all of my windows, inside and out. They were disgusting.

Sphinxie, dust is dust. They say that most household dust is old dead skin. Ew. So, seriously, you could try a body moisturizer. Then you have to clean the gunk off the tub, from the moisturizer and oil build-up instead of off the furniture from dead skin build-up.

Ya know, HEPA filters are great, yet expensive and soemtimes hard to find. That's for HEPA filtration or for HEPA vacuums.

Meanwhile, your local drug store, like Rite-Aid may have this sitting on the shelves right now:
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/index.cgi?pid=974833&CATEGORY=8094&source=ad3

I have one. It uses regular household air cleaner filters. The ones you would use for your heater and A/C. I get my replacement filters at Home Depot. And I can pick out the kind of filtration that I want. They go by MERV ratings. Home Depot has MERV rated 8, 10, and 12. The lower ratings filter less, as in they let larger particles through.

I am constantly amazed at how filthy the filters get after a month. I smoke. And there is plenty of dust, pollen, and cat hair floating around. No, it doesn't get everything, anymore than any other product will get everything.

But I figure that for what I spent and what I spend on replacing the filters frequently, that I DEFINITELY get my money's worth out of that unit.

PLUS, it IS a fan. It keeps air circulating. It will make your room feel much more even-temperatured, as it will move a lot more air than a dinky HEPA unit and can run all the time.

If you LOVE white noise, this fan is perfect on high. It's that nice vent sound that washes away the bang and bumps of apartment living, with traffic noise. I find the WHOOSH very comforting.

It's plain and white. No fancy gizmos. The only warning I have is to READ the instructions, because those top latches are very flimsy and either I broke one right away or it came broken.

I figure it's a good deal, and provides a benefit the other two options don't. It IS a fan. Woo hoo! You might be able to save on A/C electricity by using a lower setting and having this fan to move the air and filter it at the same time.

HollyinDC - I don't know what your furniture arrangement was like before, but it's lovely now and very spacious looking. Your whole place is great. I like the color of the kitchen and how it looks from the living room. I like your very interesting pillows too. Where did you get the pillows or the fabric for them?

I am not technically doing the Cure, but you all have really inspired me. Your before-and-after photos and particularly your lists of what you have accomplished are so impressive.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have done some work, too: removed a rug from under the dining table and a throw pillow from the couch; purchased a $7 scarf & belt organizer to make more space in the closet; gone through all of my files and tossed the needless paper; edited my electronics; decided to sell my old textbooks, which I never look at anyway; given away about 15% of my books; rearranged my books; purchased new storage boxes for the open shelving and edited our belongings for them; organized the stuff under the kitchen sink; thorougly dusted; and moved the sleeping bag and mat to the Outbox.

I have been thinking about my main room, and its elements. I don't know if it's well balanced, according to the 80/20 color rule, but the elements are cream walls, chocolate color, aqua color accents, pieces from our travels, and silver. It has been helpful to keep myself restricted to this palate. The tip about hard/soft helped me to remove the rug and pillow.

My life was a bit crazy during March (traveling for work, marriage, honeymoon), so taking care of my home during the past couple of weeks has been really grounding. Now I feel like I am in a place to get started on new projects. Spring is a good influence, too!

i wish there were three of me.

Pixie:

Thanks!
The white pillow with the houses on it is from k studio. The other pillow with the Japanese schoolchildren print is one I made- I found the fabric on Reprodepot.com.

My place is actually really small- 391 sq feet. You can see my old furniture arrangement in my week one photos (and in my other photo sets):
http://flickr.com/photos/68987525@N00/sets/72157604119875207/

Maxwell, I would be a touch depressed if we let go of our entire LP collection too!!! Having said that, we continue to do some very considered editing of our audio archives. It doesn't all need to be in our home in solid form.

Happy Birthday, Jany! The magazines will go out shortly.

Things are going well if not on a perfect 8-week schedule. Because we are doing a more drawn out remodel while we cure, I've been able to recognize what we might be able to salvage and use in other parts of our home. We are salvaging an old cabinet to help us organize the deep and dreaded coat closet.

I look forward to week 6 / bathroom week. Good luck, everyone! Lady J, I wish there were four of me.

We had guests Sunday morning to watch the start of the London marathon, and the good news is that the place looked presentable, even if the guest room is currently stacked in cardboard. Alas, our local recycling bin is too small and we are having to take our time with that part of the unpacking!

We have a very silly bathroom set up (one room for the WC then second room right next to it for the sink, bath, shower and cupboards) so we went ahead and made a headstart with the WC so it would be presentable for Sunday morning. That and assorted other notes are here.

And: thank you for showing my picture and sorry to tease! Didn't mean it! :)

Hopefully will have my AFTER pics posted sometime this week! I finished painting the guest room and have installed the bedside lighting. Just need to get the bed put together and hang a few more pictures! In-laws are coming this weekend!

Thanks Lady J and wig3000 ( i'll be sending them off this week, too !)

I voted last week to "get strength" because I was falling way behind after having a dance recital one weekend then leaving to go out of town for a week three days later. This weekend I played a major game of catch up and feel almost ready to give strength to others. I'm making progress on my kitchen and am about to buy a new couch to replace the old hideous thing in my living room now. I'll post some landing strip photos in a couple of days (that's my next part of catch up). Here some pot rack photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36448194@N00/
and more at http://www.vintage-green.blogspot.com/

wow, i'm so glad that i'm not the only one who's been feeling behind! i was feeling a little dejected last week, ready to become a cure drop out. the husband and i have been doing a lot of thinking (about painting/color, about putting in built-in bookshelves around our fireplace) but aren't so good about making decisions. this weekend ended up being productive in lots of little ways, though, so i'm feeling good for the moment and am coming to terms with what we can/cannot get done.

weekend update:
- our windows were finally installed (you can see the boarded up windows here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordscarlet/2309447904/in/set-72157604042358703/)
they look beautiful, crystal clear, and make such a huge difference.
- speaking of the windows, my wonderful husband spent last night ironing and hemming curtains which make the room look so much cozier. there is a metro bus stop right outside our window. now that we have curtains, people can't just look and watch us as we make dinner. btw, the curtains are red. we also have red walls. we are totally breaking the 80/20 color rule right now :)
- mopped the living room floor and put down our lovely new rug once again (had to take it up for the contractor to install the windows).
- spontaneously decided to rearrange furniture. this is the old layout: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordscarlet/2346180275/in/set-72157604042358703/
we basically swapped the dining room table and brown chair w/ the chaise lounge. really liking it so far. i think we'll get a lot more use out of the chaise where it is now (it's slanted toward the couch, but you can see the tv from it...you used to not be able to see the tv from the chaise at all).
- tivo died about a week and a half ago, and we probably won't have one for another couple weeks, so have been undergoing a sort of forced media fast. i kinda like it. the days are more peaceful and productive! i think the husband might breakdown and cry any day now, though. esp b/c he spilled water on his beloved laptop, so that's on the fritz, too.
- this isn't related to our living room, except for the fact that it's part of our view from the living room: we puttered around in the garden in front of our place. we just planted a few things and put down some stepping stones, but those two little things make the yard less barren, more inviting. the neighbors seem to appreciate it, too.
- oh, and to round out the weekend, the ancient washing machine died last night. add that to the list of repairs!

we still need to do:
- take pictures tonight!
- declutter books and dvds
- declutter little tchotckes that we don't absolutely love
- trim cat nails so they don't tear up the new rug

we still need to do, but prob will not by the end of the cure:
- paint
- bookshelves/built-ins

thanks for the answer Lady J; that makes sense

Week 5.0 was slow for me as far as sweat equity goes. I was in search of artwork for above our bed. Luckily, I found a Maxine Sutton textile I loved on sale at Anthropologie for $99! It was originally tagged at $298 over the Fall/Winter.It's not hung yet, as my husband, Jim was investing in sweat equity! He installed the Ann Sacks penny tile over the kitchen window. It look great, and makes the kitchen look more cohesive. I repurposed an end table from our living room for the bedroom and I got new flowers for the week too!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjburke/sets/72157604069588155/

The best part of my day? I got Maxwell's new book delivered today. I pre-ordered March 1st. I will be settling to read it with a cup of hot chai.

This week we have GOT to finish the baseboards!

Well, I'm certainly in good shape on the bathroom front with a new light fixture, shelf, and towel bar (and of course the obligatory flower). I cooked a big feast for some friends on Sunday night, but not much else during the week. I didn't make much other progress, I'm afraid. It's tough to get much done during the week, so I've found it imperative to carve out time on the weekends to make progress.

Laren, I love the new light fixture.

Update to gretchenalexis's post:

We posted some updated photos. Start with this one and there are a few following it. We got frustrated trying to do some good shots without flash, so the pictures are limited.

Thanks, Lizzy! My only complaint is that it's sort of a brushed nickel (or something) and everything else is a high polish chrome. I'll chalk it up to impatience and awkward space constraints -- the other one I got didn't fit.

SIGH...
Grant deadlines, Passover, two concerts, and an upcoming conference in Hawaii plan to derail my cure for the forseeable eternity!

All is not lost...I've been doing all of my dishes (not leaving them interminably in the sink), buying fresh flowers, and I put together 2/3 Sloane leaning bookshelf units!
I've also gone through mountains if CDs and books, have huge bags, shopping carts, and suitcases of stuff to give away (actually, after some horrible tax news, sell?).
I took books to a used bookstore and after the owner summarily perused my past he only selected a few books and offered me 6$ ????.
Does anyone know good place to sell used books/CDs? I also have TONS of medical books.

Thanks!

i should never have touched the backsplash. i should have told the super and let him fix it. it's not like he didn't see it when I first f-ed it up.

last night i wanted to go to bed at 8pm, but i taped a sheet over the upper cabinets and the counter and stove, sanded away, balled up the spackled dusted sheet, put out a new one and spot primed the patches. then i put up a heavy curtain at the doorway, opened the window and put a small fan in the kitchen to try to minimize the smell (also vanilla extract in the primer). that worked. i don't think the super will notice the smell today, it's confined to my kitchen.

but tonight i'm doing a full priming and hopefully the painting. that he's gonna notice.

i doubt the smell will dissipate before saturday (party) even on a piece of wall that's roughly 18" by 5'. need to warn my pregnant friend.

LadyJ--why would your landlord be upset at your sweat equity?

And you needn't tell him the smell is from priming the backsplash--just that you are priming "something," if anyone even asks.

On the other hand, perhaps you should have told him you were going to fix it. And now that you have (almost) you can still tell him.

Not the landlord. He's some lawyer somewhere nice. The superintendent does all the building maintenance and he lives across the hall.

Since I'm no pro, he might be annoyed I spent all this time on something he could have done in two days with supplies on hand. (And done better. I bought high-gloss paint against advice and color-matched on memory.)

You have a point. It doesn't have to be a wall. But since I need his ladder and probably his drill (and his hands to hang a shelf), I might as well fess up.

Backsplash is done. Managed to keep the paint smell in the kitchen too. I think my neighbor had to close his window though. I only put on one coat of paint. Whatever. By the time it peels, it'll be time to paint. Actually, it's past time.

I got a ladder and changed the overhead bulbs even though I use lamps. Decided to take the fixtures off and wash them.

Tonight I scrub all the floors.

It's Thursday. Are we getting a new week thread?