the Cure: week one

This little guy is gonna go!





There are quite a few tasks to complete for week one of the cure

• Read through to page 69
• Take the AT Quiz on pages 42-44 of the book.
• Take pictures of your home and upload them to our Flickr page
• Determine your budget: The Cure is not about money, it's about spending time getting to know your home. We'll be showing you to do it economically.
• Will you be doing the Deep Treatment or the One Room Remedy?: We recommend the Deep Treatment for first timers
• Start a style tray Use a tray, a scrapbook or a box to gather your clippings. If you've never done one before, we suggest taking your style tray off line for hands-on experience.
• Figure out where you'll be buying fresh flowers every week: We like Trader Joe's because we're there anyway buying food.
• Pick a day next week to visit your favorite home store: Even if it's out of your budget, it's a great place to pick up ideas.
• Start a list of things that bother you in your apartment that need to get fixed: On our list? We're replacing all our lightbulbs with CFL's as they burn out.
• Determine where you'll put your outbox: we keep ours by the front door.
• Figure out one item to put out on the street

-from Apartment Therapy LA Fall Cure

I have so far completed everything except starting my style tray and gone to a home store.
I have taken photos of my place and have posted them onto my Picasa photo page. My budget is $300, but I cannot buy anything big because I plan to move to San Diego in a year and I don't want to move a lot of stuff (and I have no money and my apartment is full so the point is to get rid of stuff). Since I am a first-timer, I will be dong the Deep-Treatment (although, I am not totally sure what this is yet). I will buy flowers at Trader Joe's or make my own arrangements from found plant material. The apartment is in great shape, except for the darned kitchen cabinet under the sink. The hinge is broken and needs to be replaced. I have designated an outbox (an old laundry basket that is also on its way out) it even has some trash that is ready to dump. I haven't put an item on the street but I have jumped the gun and done some "therapy".

I have already gone through my little bookshelf and removed 10" of magizines (to toss) and old books (to donate) and de-cluttered my nightstand. Now I have room for the new, unread books that were scattered about and when they are done, they too will go. I need to get the DH on reading his last couple of Michael Chriton novels so they can keep the others company in the bin. I have also listed my little art table on Craig's List. I am not that sad to see it go. It is lovely, but underused and therefore just taking up 10 sq ft in my little apartment. I can already visualize how nice the extra breathing room will be.

My answers to the quiz are as follows
Style
Favorite Actress: Scarlett Johannson, Claire Danes, Audrey Hepburn
Actor: Paul Newman, Liev Schreiber, Clive Owen, Collin Firth
Artist: Andy Warhol, Frank Loyd Wright, Monet, Picasso
Music: the best of everything, classic pops, pop, classic rock
Automobile: BMW Wagon, 1960's Mercedes
TV show: The Office, The Biggest Loser, Friends
Restaurants: Market, San Diego
Designer/Store: Michael Kors, Gap. classic, sporty, tailored, preppy
Personal History
Born: Toppennish
Grew Up: San Diego County, lived Bakersfield, Ventura, Berlin, San Luis Obispo
Role Model: Martha Stewart: business mogul, strong personality
Problem with my apt: too cluttered, difficult to keep tidy, not enough breathing room, no where to work
What I'd like to do more of in my apt: want to have more guests over
How I'd like my friends to describe my house: Cool (sophisticated), cozy, like a place they don't want to leave, warm and inviting