I'm following along with Apartment Therapy's January Cure(five years and running!) and thought that I would do a weekly recap here of the process and my progress. While I love all things design and my home is my playground when it comes to decorating, let's be real for a second here... I also have a toddler. That plus post-holiday travel, celebrations, and new acquisitions make me feel a bit like someone buried my apartment in a pile of stuff and once I dig it out from under the mountain of laundry and unread mail, I could use some help getting it back in order. Enter the January Cure: I have used it in the past to whip into shape a fully furnished short term rental (and make it feel a bit more like home) a 360 square foot apartment that I shared with my now-husband and two dogs. Last year I tackled my current space to reclaim it a bit from all of the new baby paraphernalia (so tiny, so much stuff!)

Day one

of the current challenge was to clean up a single drawer, meant as a mood booster (look what you just accomplished!) it's supposed to be an easy task. Being my usual overachieving self, instead, I instantly decided I would tackle the nightmare of a bill/mail drawer that has been staring me down in the kitchen... then dragged my feet all day. Come evening, my tot decided she wanted to hang out in her crib (this never happens) so I started absentmindedly cleaning up her room, before I knew it I had organized her entire dresser (three whole drawers!) so I called it a win and decided I was off the hook for the bill drawer.

Day Two

was to do a walk around of the apartment and create a list of issues that need attention. If there is anything I love, it's list-making, so I was excited to tackle this one and since I keep a running to-do list on my phone felt like I already had it in the bag. Um, there are so many little things my brain apparently just cancels out when I look at them. Doing an inspection style walkthrough of your own home can be pretty eye-opening. Beyond the obvious, "That broke, I should probably get it properly fixed and maybe drop those clothes at the cleaners while I'm at it.", are tangles of cables peeking out from under things, the stickers your toddler stuck to something you are now afraid might be permanent and the pillow that is slowly unraveling because your dog got ahold of it once... I jotted about a million notes on my phone than sat down at my desk (like a real adult, not one who nearly exclusively works from bed) and wrote out a plan of attack. Narrowing down the list was not easy, but I aimed for the items that would give me the most bang for my buck, simple or inexpensive and high impact.

Day three

...the outbox. Simple, right? I actually have a "donate" bag that lives in my closet because between my child's rapid growth (seriously, 3T at one!) and my own postpartum weight loss there's nearly always something to cull. Even though there is already a half-full bag of items on their way out, I decided to start a new box and put something I'm kind of "meh" about in it. I wandered the house twice before settling on a scarf I like but have not worn once in three years (writing that out, yeah, it should probably go). In the process I discovered that I'm either a.) such a minimalist that there isn't much to get rid of or b.) really attached to my stuff. Honestly, it's probably a little of both. I'm a careful shopper and pretty relentless when it comes to editing things down, a habit that comes from living in some seriously tiny spaces.

Day four

is to bring in a bit of life through fresh flowers or a houseplant, and also the dreaded floor cleaning assignment. I'm headed out to meet a friend for lunch now and am planning to stop by the local flower shop on my way back (Um, yes please, to having an excuse to treat myself!). As for the floors, I spent part of my afternoon yesterday picking the remaining pine needles out of the rug, by hand, so I'll call that a head start, but my white rugs are looking decidedly drab, so I think I'll also haul the wet vac out of the basement this weekend and see what can be done.