apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Nicolezh, what brackets did you use for your kitchen shelves? It looks great!

Well, I have fallen behind on cleaning the kitchen: it is time to prioritize and do what I can.

Today I think I'll wash the west wall and tomorrow I'll clean out the cabinets--the bottom ones need attention especially.

I've also decided I want to put up a magnetic spice rack. I'm going to go shopping for materials tomorrow.

Alana,

GOOD PLAN!

In my experience whenever I think to myself "I have to clean the kitchen!" (or bathroom or whatever) it just makes me want to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head. so I've learned to do small bits instead. While I'm waiting for coffee to brew, I'll go through ONE shelf, outbox what I don't like or use, rearrange the rest. While I'm doing this maybe I notice that I only have 4 coffee cups that match. so I put buy 4 coffee cups on my shopping list. oh, look, coffee's done, time to stop. look what's been accomplished: cleaning, tossing, organizing, starting a shopping list all in the time that it took to make coffee. I do this a couple of times a day, and bingo, suddenly a room's cleaned out and it didn't take me all day. So just do one shelf in one cabinet at a time and then stop. sounds weird but stopping is the real key to cleaning out.

cheers,
abby

Good points abby. A little at a time- even during commercial breaks works great!
With my vase of flowers, I already love my bedroom more. I've also moved piles of stuff that has been cluttering corners of the room for about a year now and moved out a piece of furniture. My husband fixed the showerhead in the master bath and I put window film on the window to keep the room cooler. We're feeling very good and motivated.... oh- and dough is rising in the bread maker as part of tonight's dinner. Now to tackle part of the kitchen while I wait :-)

Long day, long week, number one priority right now: eat some chocolate pudding. If I eat it sitting in a different part of the room than I usually do, I'm getting something done, right?

I have been on such a roll. This cure has been the best so far. I have been very productive and plan to keep up the enthusiasm until the end of the cure.

So far I have:

1. Cleaned and organized my boys shared bedroom. I organized all of their school and artwork, threw away a bunch of stuff, organized and stored hand-me-downs, and put a lot of stuff out for my yard sale I am having tomorrow. I have also cleaned out our home office. The room is now virtually empty apart from one chair and a media stand. The closets are empty. The floors are bare. My husband and I are thinking of making this a second bedroom so the boys can each have a room to call their own.

2. Collected many items from around the house to sell at our yard sale tomorrow. It is such a good feeling to cull and purge all of the unwanted stuff. I even got the guts to take out all items of clothing I haven't worn in the last year. My closet is looking very spare but that's OK, it's a great feeling. My new mantra is minimalism.

3. Cooked two new recipes this week. Last night was a new baked ziti recipe. Tonight is a slow-cooker barbeque chicken. Not exactly gourmet but I'm getting a home-cooked meal on the table.

4. Organized a junk cabinet in the kitchen.

5. Brought in three new houseplants

6. Ordered fabric for slipcovers

7. Threw out myriad old clothes, broken toys, cosmetics.

I have been preparing for two weeks for the sale tomorrow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84386689@N00/

sciencegeek,

TOTALLY!!!

cheers,
abby

fastkat, I'm jealous of how well you're doing with the cure!
This week was a bust for me. Hopefully tonight I'll actually be able to spend time at home and do something besides sleep.

However, I did manage to do some spot vacuuming everyday this week after work. It helped to keep the cat fur at bay quite a bit, but I also realized that I really do need to get a new handheld vacuum. My poor Kone with a battery life of 3-5 minutes really just doesn't cut it anymore.
It's a shame they don't let you buy a replacement battery for it. I feel terrible just getting rid of it, but I really don't have much of a choice. :/

If anyone has an suggestions about my entryway/landing strip dilemma, I'd love some help. We used to have a strict "no shoes" policy in our old apartment, but in our new house there's no room to easily leave shoes since the swing of the door takes up pretty much all the space in the entry. We managed to fit a wall rack back there, but as you can see, it's already overloaded. My husband has adamantly vetoed my idea to use the shelves on the right as little individual landing pads--he doesn't feel our things (think wallet, keys, etc) would be safe there.

The upshot of this is that no one removes their shoes and keys, mail, coats, and anything else we bring into the house gets tossed on the sofa (just off to the right) or dining table (left). I need something that we can both live with so a surface doesn't collect clutter as soon as I clean it. I'm at a loss since he doesn't like any of my ideas so I'm hoping for some fresh perspective from others. Suggestions, please?

Can I ask you where you purchased the white frame for your "keep calm" print? I can't find one that fits! Thanks! It is one of my projects to hang it in the kitchen.

Washing a sink full of dishes takes more than 15 minutes for me! But I have a bad habit of letting it really pile up. :/

I felt unproductive this week due to sick family members, other school/work related activities. But if I think about it, I did make a point to do specific home cure activities:

1. New water filter for the fridge and Britta pitcher.

2. Used environmentally friendly cleaners to deep clean bathtub and shower stall. (I have noticed how clean it looks and that makes me smile each time I'm in there. =)

3. Did not remove one useful piece of furniture from my home, but I DID move it out of the room I want to cure. Baby steps...

4. Cooked at home every night this week, which I don't think I've EVER done before. Even though it was packaged food, we didn't go out and I am especially proud of that. Tonight's dinner was leftover buffet: everyone happy.

I have a bottle of rum and plan to attack the filing cabinet this weekend!

agh! I feel so behind.
Finally got some pics up of befores, the buns,& inspiration.
Won't get the weekend to work because I have to make a baby werewolf head for Holloween.
And the dryer in my building is not working which making it much worse for me & my piles.

harlie

I feel you. I thought I would have more time for this and now everything has blown up and needs immediate attention from me. Maybe we will get some time this weekend. I have entry problems too, but mine is a lack of one. You actually walk in to our fireplace. Needless to say we have never found a good seating arrangement. Could the shelves be for shoes? Or maybe mount a shoe tree to the wall? Could you put a little table around the corner to be your drop off point?

Alex

Just started to attack the kitchen! here is a before pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/4038876412/in/photostream/

@harlie, I have some ideas for you, but I'm afraid it's quantity, not quality. Still, one them may help you guys think of something good.

It looks like you've filled your shoe rack with decorative things! Seriously, you have shelves right there. Could you put shoes in the bottom two or three shelves and decorative things up top? You could line the shelves with something pretty, protective, and washable first.

Or is there room around one of the corners for a small stool or bench with shelves underneath?

Or could you hang a thing of shoe pockets on the back of your door (somehow magically not interfering with your coat rack)?

Or could you create a pole-based coat-rack-type thing with extra posts sticking out so you can hang each shoe off a post? You could set this just around one of the corners.

Or could you put really narrow (3-inch) shelves behind your door below your coat rack and set your shoes on them sideways and one in front of the other instead of next to each other?

Or could you put some low shelves against the end of your table closest to the door or as an end table for your sofa?

Or could you put a shelf over your door for the shoes of tall people? And maybe continue that shelf over the coat rack and to the other wall all the way over to the shelves--this will give tall people lots of room without blocking the door.

Or could you make people take their shoes off at the door and carry them to their rooms?

(Even I know it would be a bad idea to just pile them up behind the dining room curtains. Or to put a small but pretty trash bin in the corner of the entry way nearest the couch and just toss your shoes in there as if they were basketballs.)

I'm looking for Harlie's photos and I'm not seeing them either in her blog or the flickr pool.
Can someone help?

I washed the wall: now it is on to the cabinets. Blech. I painted them in the summer of 2000--and they're flaking and peeling. I really want to re-paint them, not just re-wash them.

I'm doing pretty well at keeping up, but it's hard not to get too ahead of myself. I keep getting ideas for projects and jumping in instead of focusing on cleaning everything up instead. I just moved into my place on the first of October, so I have a lot to do, but a fresh pallet is a blessing.

As far as posting pictures goes, do we just post them on flickr and connect them to the group? I'm new at this, and I'd like some feedback on what I'm doing!

Erin--If you want someone to see your pics, definitely link them in the post. That would be the best thing to do.

I'm on to the cupboards today. Inside and out.

Alana in Canada--my photo is in the AT post above, but I should have added it to my blog as well.

Haus Proud & GrainSmasher--Thanks for the ideas! I think we're going to do some rearranging of our living room and try to fit a small landing strip behind the sofa. We'll see if that works out.

Harlie, I have a feng shui suggestion for your entry: Remove everything! I know that this can be tricky when you're working with a small space, but having the foyer/entry full of stuff is considered bad chi (energy), and can "block" good things from coming into your life. Do you have a closet for your coats and shoes? If not, you might check into one of those covered laundry racks (you can always sew a better looking one than they usually come with) for the coats, etc., to keep things clean looking and well organized. Having those shelves there could come in handy. A nice, living plant would be fantastic! Looking forward to "after" photos!

catcam, I LOVE your flowers!

Wheeee! I am DONE with the kitchen! I cleaned it top to bottom and even painted the backsplash in the same grey as the rest of the kitchen (I don't have the budget for tiles right now). Now all I have left to do is to find new image to frame and hang above the oven. I am thinking vintage housewife-y stuff. I already have empty frames, so tomorrow, I'll look through my favorites on Flickr in search of images to print.

Speaking of flicker, here is the set I made to document my progress.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allabouteve/sets/72157622532001021/

Thanks again, Harlie!

Things in baskets on the shelves: and everything off the rack by the door. If you absolutely must, keep only one coat per person.

It must be frustrating trying to open that door.

Good heavens you are some productive people. I have cleared a surface, started my out box by emptying our penny pot (which made us £96.00 at the Coin Star) and after four test pots I found the paint colour for my room. This morning is now dedicated to clearing the garden for autumn. Does that count? I hope so.

Forgot to mention I'm posting my progress at www.cowgirlinwellies.blogspot.com

I have folded and succumbed to the magnetic spice jar trend. I'll get them up on the wall, hopefully today. (I just have to find an inexpensive bit of metal to mount to the wall to hold them.)

I got the bottom cupboards washed out: but the kitchen is still all blown up. Hubby is getting impatient.

Thanks, artlady! I had intended to put them all together in a square, glass vase, only to find that I had given it away (during LAST year's purge). Hence, the glasses, which I like so much better.

Week 2 summary: I feel like I did a lot of work but didn't get much done.

Bones - fixed one thing myself (figured out how to work my new battery charger and started it up and got rid of the old one--I didn't fix the charger, but I fixed that problem in our place). Cleaned the inside of the refrigerator and the counters and the spice rack; took down and washed the curtains and the windows and surrounding walls--I had a lot more on my list, though. Removed old and unwanted stuff from the fridge and the spice rack.

Breath - ran my hands over every wall--I felt no difference in temperature and no drafts and did not learn anything. (I'm already pretty familiar with my house.) I did learn more when I cleaned up the spice rack--there's a patch on the wall behind it and I wonder what the history of that patch is! I don't really have space for an outbox, but I did use one in cleaning out my spices--I took them all out and I and my boyfriend put back the ones was use. I do have a space for stuff I know needs to leave the house, but not for stuff that needs work first or that I'm still deciding about.

Heart - I watered my plants. (I already know my style--I like wooden things: Victorian, world, mission, and shaker. My boyfriend likes more modern stuff: mission, shaker, art deco, and mid-century modern. We have plenty of things to work with that we both like, especially with earth tones and jewel tones tying them together.)

Head - I cooked raw sweet potatoes for the first time (normally I used canned sweet potatoes, but these came with the last CSA delivery) and am trying them in sweet potato pie, a new recipe for me. (I usually cook at home.) I have not yet chosen a date for a party. At first I was thinking that I don't want to because there are already plenty of parties during the holiday season, but instead I should set a date for an inspection, the first step in getting my house renovated. But now I'm thinking maybe I do want a party after all, even if it's not until January.

Overall I'm a little disappointed, but on the other hand, my refrigerator and window were the parts of the kitchen that were working least well for me and I found out the spice rack was driving my boyfriend nuts, so the kitchen is significantly more workable now, and that wouldn't have happened any time soon if I hadn't been participating in apartment therapy, so it's good.

How are you guys doing?

I took 4 bags of stuff to my neighborhood swap meet this weekend. I didn't bring in flowers but I did bring in a new dining room table from Crate and Barrel. I can put the flowers for this week on it. =)

this is what happened to me this weekend.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33057595@N04/4044694552/

Chloe C, I feel your pain. The upstairs neighbors adjusted their radiator and created a leak that dripped through my ceiling into the office making the paint pop off of the closet door and creating a buckling of the paint on the wall. This was the first room to be painted in the new condo!

Harlie reminded me of one of my problems in the cure-a husband who does not altogether cooperate. My husband is the coupon king! It is his hobby, so when I go to open a drawer, I find it stuffed full of razors or toothbrushes; and the cabinets are stacked with toilet paper and cartons of soft drinks! Multiple quantities is his thing which would not be a problem but we only have 850 sq. ft.

My out box is the entire basement filled with the one hundred plastic containers we moved from the larger home when we down-sized!

Any suggestions!

Oh, you all are so on top of things!
I've yet to take "before" pictures - I've been getting home late, and it's hard to take good pictures without natural light. Thursday I'm hoping to take the befores AND some afters.