Challenge Accepted: January Cure Week I

I decided to try Apartment Therapy's January Cure this month. I've done the full blown version before, which is quite the commitment. So far the one month version is much more my speed. Plus, what else is there to do when the high is 15F?

Day 1: Organize a drawer
The January Cure kicks off with an easy win: Pick a drawer and organize it. I picked one of several kitchen junk drawers and weeded and organized them. The one on the right wasn't in too bad of shape. For the "cat drawer" on the right I weeded out some expired treats and medical items and now things fit much more neatly. While on a roll, I also checked out our big junk drawer but it was in fairly good shape.

Lucy poses distractedly above the after.

Day 2: Make a project list

The task for the second day is to do a walk-through of your home and jot down areas of improvement. I stuck to the main floor for this and while there is less to do that there was in the past, I still have a big list. It's a combo of cleaning chores and projects. Then you narrow the list down to three to fives projects per room that you actually want to tackle this month. Several painting items and other jobs will have to wait until it's warmer, but I'm pasting the hole list below for future reference. I'm hoping to tackle the italicized items during the cure and am debating a few others. I'm trying to be somewhat realistic about my motivation!

Kitchen
1. Declutter cabinet under TV
2. Clean light fixtures
3. Add remaining cabinet hardware
4. Fix scuffs on cabinets over fridge
5. Clean kitchen roman blinds
6. Paint cabinet molding
7. Replace cabinet molding or patch cabinet by doorway
8. Repair third dining chair
9. Paint back door
10. Paint basement door

Living room
1. Fix fireplace wall & paint (weather dependent)
2. Clean cobwebs off ceiling
3. Paint fireplace floor
4. Clean curtains
5. Paint baseboard

Bathroom
1. Paint hallway side of door
2. Touch up backsplash paint
3. Sweep fan blades
4. Beadboard touch ups
5. Buy new hand towels

Bedroom
I'm not quite sure how far I want to go with this, hence the commitment to just one item so far.
1. Fix ceiling + paint touch ups
2. Redo over bed area
2. Paint doors
3. Paint moldings
4. New window treatments

Hallway
1. Fill and paint closet
2. Clean light
3. Paint baseboards
4. Hang art

The bedroom, looking cozy after cleaning, but pre-projects.

Day 3: Set up an outbox

The outbox is a holding space for items you may want to part. The thought is that by leaving them there for a couple of weeks some of your attachment will lessen. I set up a bag in the spare room closet and filled it with several items.

Day 4: Floors & Flowers

I was dreading this weekend assignment which challenges curers to first do something sweet by buying flowers or a plant for your home, then vacuuming and mopping all of your floors. Since all of the main floor can technically be mopped, that's a big job!

I vacuumed everything and mopped the kitchen and bathroom -- two rooms that definitely needed it. The floors in the living room, two bedrooms and hallway are all wood, so they can be mopped too, but the finish is old and not waterproof so I use very little water and wash a small section then immediately dry it. It's a big hands-on-your-needs job and since we don't wear shoes in the house (or aren't supposed to at least) I only did the living room and bedroom. I did a lot of scrubbing! They do look better now and I'm happy I did more than the minimum. But I didn't move major pieces of furniture like the sofa and entertainment center because it just didn't seem worth it. Under my bed is already spic and span since I cleaned it in December when my new mattress was delivered. This project makes me wonder how often others clean their wood floors? I do it very, very infrequently. Ike embarrassingly infrequently.

I haven't bought flowers yet, maybe something will catch my eye when we grocery shop tomorrow. If not, I'll count the candles I bought last weekend because in this wicked winter weather they are certainly making the space feel cozy.

So week one ends on a positive note and I'm feeling quite accomplished! We're only one week in, so there's still plenty of time to join the January Cure!