Design Challenge: January Cure, Week Four Recap
In case you're just joining me, I'm following along with Apartment Therapy's January Cure and documenting the process. You can find week three's recap here.
We're officially in the home stretch and while my apartment is looking mighty pretty, can I say... I'm tired! It feels good to dedicate some time to get things back on track though, and I'm starting to understand the phrase "a well-considered home" in a way I never have before. A big part of this process has been considering things, from simply sitting down with a notebook and jotting down everything you notice, to getting up close and personal with things as you give them a good scrub down. Too often I fall into the trap of feeling like I can "fix" my space through shopping (tell me I'm not alone in this) without really having a concrete idea of what I need specifically. Now that I've purged, cleaned, organized and rearranged, I've learned to maximize what I already own. I'm feeling as though I need less and have honed in on what items would better the space, from baskets for storage to some pillows to tie the room together, before ever opening my wallet.
Speaking of not opening my wallet, last weekend I managed to empty much of my outbox by attending a clothing swap! I went in with low expectations, I honestly just wanted to reclaim some floor space, and left with some beautiful items in exchange for mine that fit well and that I love. A great experience overall and a good lesson in letting go of the things that aren't right for right now, so you can embrace the things that are. Also, this weekend was the bedroom, and I'm going to be honest here: yet again I was working on my big weekend project well into the week. I realized that a lot of this has to do with the fact that we spend a much of our weekends out in the city "adventuring" and I'm just not willing to give up a good excursion (like the swap) to clean my house. I did eventually finish though, and it's a welcome feeling to wake up and fall asleep in a clean "considered" space.
Day Fifteen
was to clean out the linen closet. The urbanite that I am, having space for a closet devoted entirely to linens is something of a dream scenario, so instead, I tackled the various locations around the apartment I have them stashed. I'm a big fan of storing things as close as possible to where you use them; so my kitchen towels and cloth napkins are in a drawer in the kitchen, the bath towels and washcloths live in the bathroom and bedding is stored in my closet. Dish towels, in particular, seem to multiply around here, I always "replace" them without getting rid of the old, stained ones, so I weeded through them, gave the remainder my best "KonMari" fold and replaced them in the drawer. We recently pared our sheets down to two sets for us, and one for the guest bed (AKA: fold-out sofa), but they are always threatening to avalanche from their stack on the top shelf of the closet. Pulling something from the bottom of the stack is a recipe for disaster, so I'm on the hunt for a couple of baskets to store them in. Similarly, we pared down the towels a while back, repurposing the rejects as dog towels. The only item I ended up purging from the bathroom was the washcloths, and this was for a reason I'm sure many are familiar with: my makeup was destroying them. Here's my one big takeaway from my experience this week: get a makeup towel! Inspired by a past stay at the Ace Hotel, I picked up a black washcloth on my last Target run to designate as "the makeup towel" and hopefully save my remaining washcloths the same fate.
Day Sixteen
and we got a catchup day! This was great because as I mentioned, I was way behind on the bedroom cleanup. I took the opportunity to accomplish as much as possible with this task (namely cleaning the windows and wiping down the molding, as well as cleaning and organizing the nightstands) then called it a day. I also took a few minutes to do a little measuring and place an Amazon order so I could get started on a task off my list from week one, "un-toddlering" our only bathroom.
Day seventeen
was all about getting a functional entryway together to keep the clutter at bay, right at the front door. While I'm on the hunt for the perfect hallway console, for now, our stair landing is functioning as our entryway. We recently placed a bench there to encourage shoes off before you entering the house, and I just added some hooks to create my little hat wall, which you can check out here. The only additions were a small wastebasket so we can toss the junk mail as soon as it comes through the front door and a catchall on the window ledge. Eventually, I'll get my dream entryway set up, but for now, this will have to do.
Day eighteen
instructed us to set a timer for thirty minutes and tackle a closet to clean up. I chose the one I use for storage because a.) it seemed the most manageable in that time frame and b.) it was the one part of the bedroom I hadn't yet cleaned. (I claimed the one in the hall as my own because I needed a walk-in closet where I could hide from my toddler while stress-eating chocolate. Don't judge.) I'm usually one to really dive into whatever project I'm working on and take way too long, as evidenced by my never-ending weekend projects. Amazingly, it took me precisely thirty minutes to finish. I may need to start timing myself more often as it did keep me on task and it was motiving to know that once the 30 minutes were up, I could get on with my night.
Day nineteen
and it's the final weekend project! Honestly, I will not miss this part one bit, but I am looking forward to this one just a little. Like I mentioned above, one of the projects I'm tackling this month is to make our only bathroom work for both the kid and the adults in the family. I used to love relaxing in the tub but the last time I tried, the overstuffed container of bath toys came loose, and I ended up sharing my bath with an army of rubber ducks. The products are also taking over, as well as a cartoony bathmat, and one seriously embarrassing shower stool left over from when I was on bedrest, that I now perch on while bathing my daughter.
That's it for this week! Thanks for following along and feel free to comment below.
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