January Cure #21 Goodbye Cure

This is actually the fourth time I join Apartment Therapy's January Cure, and finally it feels succesful! Perhaps because I decided beforehand to be a little more realistic with my time, and not scrub every single inch of the bathroom ceiling and the inside of all the kitchen cabinets. I have done that earlier, and it made me give up halfway through the Cure.

Another thing that has been helpful are the actual asssignments we got. I think the tasks were more managable this year, and time restraints on some of the days were very helpful (Hello, 3-minute surface sweep). Plus, my husband has been involved much more than last year, which has been a great help, especially with the kitchen and hallway closet.

Our main accomplishments this Cure:
- Redecorating the living room
- Cleaning the big hallway closet (at least most of it)
- Getting some work done on the loft
- Being able to lighten up and purge a little bit in every room, especially in the kitchen cabinets that are no longer overflowing
- Weather strips for the door!
- Being reminded of how much cleaning can actually be done in 3 or 30 minutes. Getting started is often the hardest part...

Not everything on our list is done, but the apartment still feels so lovely. This weekend I only had to clean a big mirror, vaccum the floor and change the sheets. And I made cookies to celebrate! I must admit though, I am glad it is over. I really need to focus on my school work again.

PS. If you want to Cure your own home, it's not too late. All the assignments are still available on Apartment Therapy's page. 

January Cure #20 Out with the old

Remember the outbox? And lightening the living room? It is time to revisit both of these ideas and make som decisions. 

I removed quite a few items from the living room to lighten it up, and today we were asked to evaluate and decide if anything should go back. I have to admit, I don't miss any of it, so the candle holders can stay in the cabinet till I actually use them. 

The second task of the day was to empty the outbox. Earlier this week I took all the clothing (2 full bags, in addition to 5 from our closet cleaning) and dropped them off in the Salvation Army delivery box. It is right around the corner, and very handy. For all the other stuff I need to figure out if there is anywhere within walking distance that would want to take it. If not, we need to get help from a friend with a car... Or! Writing that last sentence prompted me to look up a local second hand store, and it turns out that they can pick up donations! I will have to call them next week. Perhaps they will take the mattress and chair we are trying to give away on Finn as well, that would be perfect.

During the Cure I have kept a suitcase for books and a box for things in the living room for things that we don't want to give away, but can be stored for later (when we have more space). So what we actually did today was to put those away in our storage loft. It is only accessible by ladder, so I wanted to make sure I  was done with the purging before moving them. Now, the hallway closet and the loft room are still not finished, but it felt so good to get those messy items out of my sight, so I am happy with today's progress. 

January Cure #19 A 3 minute miracle

Here is a secret to keeping your home from overwhelming you: The surface sweep. How? Set a timer for 3 minutes and clean a room as fast as you can for only those minutes. Pick up and put away dirty dishes, straighten up pillows or sort the mail. Whatever is the problem in your room, pick things up and put them back where they belong. It is amazing how much you can get done in three minutes. Try using a commercial break or turning on a favorite (fast-paced) song.

Our house is looking pretty good right now, but I still took a few minutes to tidy up little odds and end: a cardigan, a couple of blankets, an empty tea cup, some shoes by the door. You know your own mess best, but I promise that this little trick will accomplish more than you think.

January Cure #18 Landing strip

Apartment Therapy believes very strongly in a "landing strip" for the home. This expression refers to a system of organizing your entrance and dealing with everyting you bring through the front door. Spesifically, a place for shoes, coats, keys, bags, mail and whatever else might clutter up your hallway.

We rearranged our entrance a couple of weeks ago, and it actually messed up my system a little. There are hooks for coats (and hangers in the closet for more), a space for shoes, hats and scarves go in the closet, keys in a bowl, so all that's good. A new problem is: where to place things that are on their way out the door? For me that means books going back to the library, mail that needs to be sent, things to return and more. I just don't know what to do! Maybe I can make room on the shoe rack somehow?

Another issue is incoming mail. I tend to let bills, receipts and letters pile up, together with random pieces of paper, and there is no good system. In my mind I have a picture of a tray that could hold all these things, but I dont't have a tray like that. Etsy does though!

PS. The weather strips we installed are amazing!

January Cure #17 Catch up day

Today there was time to catch up on anything you are behind on. I guess there are many things I could have done, but I also needed to study and made time for the books. Some things got done though. We sorted our electronics chords and found a few that went in the outbox. Mike has also installed some weatherstrips around the door, and we are hoping for warmer days.

My end-of-the-Cure event was scheduled for tomorrow night, but things changed, and now I need a new plan to host something. Haven't decided what and when yet. Perhaps I will have a good idea in my dreams?

January Cure #16 Bathroom

The Cure is coming to an end soon, and I think that's good. I feel like all I do is clean.... In other words, my motivation isn't on top. This weekend was dedicated to the bathroom. A good deep-clean of this room happens only when the Cure tells me to, so it was definitely due. My husband usually cleans the bathroom, so he did parts of it. My job was to get at all those areas that are neglected the rest of the year: dusting shelves, cleaning the walls and the washer. I skipped the ceiling this year, to not overwhelm myself.

Again, a few things got added to the outbox, or thrown away, and the room feels a lot lighter. I hung a few pictures as well. The photograph above is new, taken by Michaela Potterbaum, who also shot our wedding. Isn't it pretty? In a room without a window, this view feels like such a breath of fresh air!

I had also planned to spend some time on the loft room, but never got around to it. Except I managed to give away a mattress that has been taking up too much space. It will help a lot with improving the space when we get it out of the house.

A different project that should make a much bigger impact in our daily life is changing the weatherstrips around the windows and front door. It's been really cold here lately. With temperatures down to -18C, our old apartment is hard to heat up properly. Hopefully this will be a real home improvement and energy saver for us.

Just a few more days with the Cure! I am pretty pleased with the results, though we do have a few more things left to do, but they are all pretty small. I just hope I manage to get them done, and not postpone it till January rolls around again...

January Cure #15 The linen closet

What a luxury it would be to have a whole closet to store linens! It might be more of an American idea, as I haven't seen them a lot here in Norway. For our family, the bedsheets go in a suitcase under the bed, towels in the bathroom, kitchen towels in a basket in the kitchen, tablecloths in a dresser in the living room and extra comforters and pillows in the "guest room"/loft. So, all over the place, but right where they need to be used, so I guess it is practical in its own way.

Today's task was to go through
- Towels & Washcloths
- Sheets, Pillowcases & Duvet Covers
- Comforters & Blankets
- Dishcloths & Tea Towels

Then paring down to what you really need. I just realized while re-reading the list that tablecloths are not included. In my case, they should be though. I have so many doilies and tablecloths, and could probably do fine with giving away a few.

For the other categories there wasn't much to do. A few towels was all that needed to go, otherwise I think we are doing pretty good in this department. I sorted through sets of sheets a few months ago, which made today's job easier. But after looking at linen on Pinterest and Etsy for a while now, I want to try it out, both for bed sheets and kitchen towels. Has anyone else tried it?

Linen tea towels by Varvara Linen.

January Cure #14 Bathroom cabinets

My plans for tonight were very ambitious, perhaps inspired by the media fast the other day? I wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish, including estimated time for execution, and made a good order. After eating dinner I cleaned the silverware drawer, studied for a while, and it was all good until I started baking crackerbread (knekkebrød). It's been a while since I last did it, and in my memory it takes next to no time, apart from the long cooking time. It messed up my whole schedule... The only thing I had to skip was yoga though, and that was partly because Mike convinced me to watch the latest episode of New Girl - our favorite show!

The Cure challenge was to clear out medicine and bathroom cabinets, getting rid of old or unused items and clean everything to enjoy less cluttered mornings/evenings. You know those lotions that sit in the cabinets for years and never get used? They had to go. Most of them were probably expired too. When it comes to medicine, I actually looked through it a couple of weeks ago, and took the expired stuff to the pharmacy, since it needs to be deposited safely. Mike still has to go through his own stuff, and I have hair products to sort through, but we are definitely getting somewhere.

Because of the Cure I have done this bathroom detox regularly for a couple of years, but there are still a few things that are hard to let go of, especiallly more expensive products like makeup. They make those things in way too large sizes, don't you think? I recently threw away an 8 year old eye-shadow palette, and it wasn't near being empty. Anyone know that feeling? Well, enough about my old toiletries, it is night time.

January Cure #13 Lighten up

I thought today's task would be about lights, but I was wrong about that! Instead, the living room got a little lighter in terms of stuff, and they recommended removing 3-15 items. This room has already gotten attention during the cure because of some rearranging of furniture, but I still decided to give a long and hard look at things that might clutter it up. The following list shows what didn't make the cut:

- 1 pillow (moved to the loft)
- 18 magazines (mostly donated/thrown away, some to be stored out of sight)
- 6 candle holders (donated/put away)
- 2 sets of coasters (probably put away/stored)
- 2 decorative items (stored)
- 2 branches & 4 medium sized pinecones (Christmas/winter decor, stored)
- 1 framed picture (moved to the loft)

That's a total of 34 items! (You can spot a couple of them on the shelf above the couch.) Half of them are definitely going in the outbox. The room does not feel sparse at all, and I doubt I will miss the extras.But this little star-anise wreath got to stay, even though it was made for Christmas. I just like it too much to pack away quite yet. Now you also got a sneak peak at the living room. More pictures will come later this week.

January Cure #12 Media fast

I knew I needed this. Every year during the January Cure there has been one night to enjoy your home without electronics, and for some reason I don't look forward to it, even though I know it will be both fine and fun. I might be addicted to my phone a little bit, so when I try to limit my screen time I usually fail (except from organized events like this one and Skjermfri uke).

When I came home from work yesterday I was very strict, put my phone away and reminded Mike that there could not be any TV-watching that night. And then I did so much! I read for probably 2 hours (not the books above though), I made granola and a DIY bathroom spray, prepped smoothies and worked on a knitting project. It was a lot of fun, but the impulses to check my phone were quite strong at times. I only looked at the screen once to check for messages, but without unlocking it. Even before going to bed, I just checked my alarm! Today on the other hand... lets not talk about it.

Any suggestions for how to implement more screen-free time in your daily life?

PS. These old bound newspapers were observed in the Skien library archives. I love looking at all the old books in there!

January Cure #11 Bedroom

Another weekend project, this time around the bedroom was due for a deep-clean. The bedroom is the most organized room in our house, so this was an easy task. During the first floor task I cleaned the bedroom floor, baseboards and bed really well, so that was already done. And it is ice cold outside, so the window has to wait.

When it comes to the closet, we have it under control. We have limited space, so I try to donate using the one item in - one item out rule. It works, sometimes. I still challenged myself to get rid of one item per drawer this weekend, and was able to do that for every category but pants, which is fine.

It is sunny and snowy outside, like a real January winter should. That means it is also slightly chilly inside, but with clean sheets and the world looking crisp and white outside, I am alright. 

Sheets: Marius, Blanket: Røros Tweed, Patterned pillow: Peru, Striped pillows: Homemade

January Cure #Bonus The Loft

I agree with other people doing the January Cure that an office day/task could definitely be beneficial. We have a loft room above the bedroom that houses a guest bed, desk, storage and all my craft supplies. During the cure I have been constantly adding things to this area whose fate was yet to be determined. This room is one that definitely needs som TLC, but I keep putting it off, since it isnt an official task on the cure! 

I knew the bedroom task this weekend would be easy, so I added the loft as extra work foro this and the next weekend. By Saturday night I still hadn't touched it, and had to tell Mik very firmly that I would work on it for 1 hour on Sunday. Here are some wonderful before-pictures. I did not stage this at all, and you can just guess what is hiding behind that curtain and under the bed. Thats right, lots of stuff. The wire basket organizer is new. We bought one for hats/scarves and shoes for the hallway closet, and one for this room, hoping it will help keeping things more organized. 

I worked for just about an hour, in which I decided to keep all our luggage, made use of the wire baskets, threw away some stuff and added another bag to the outbox. It is already looking a lot better, but I would really like to go through my craft supplies (paper, fabric, ribbon etc) and clean up inside of those vintage suitcases and boxes hanging out under the bed. There are piles of cards as well that I can't bear to part with, but I am thinking I could at least store them away from things I actually use. The hope is to make it more inviting and easier to work on projects here, as well as using the desk when I study. I only did it a couple of times last year, but with most of my material online, I think it is alright with this small desk.

Tomorrow's task is a media fast, so no blogging until Tuesday. This Cure really has me blogging again! I've almost blogged more in January than all of 2015 combined... 

January Cure #10 Get your get-together together

A simple 10-minute task for today: invite people over for a get-together at the end of the Cure. This way, you have some extra motivation to finish things, as well as a way to celebrate all the hard work. It is pretty sweet to have these breathers in the Cure as well, so not every single day is filled with dusting and scrubbing.

For this task I cheated a little bit and finished on Tuesday. I am in a Bible study group that meet every other week, and I volunteered to host the next one. It will be a few days before the Cure is officially over, but thats alright. The main projects should be done by then, and maybe we can even finish everyting a little early. Is that too optimistic? Anyways, here are some bright weekend flowers for you.

January Cure #8/9 Clear a closet

Task #8 was to work on clearing out a closet for 30 minutes, and #9 to work on your main project. We skipped a day and waited with the closet task till today since that is our main goal. My husband and I worked together for 1,5 hours on the hallway closet, including finally sorting through tools, adding new storage and getting rid of 5 bags of coats and shoes! We arent quite done yet, but a lot of progress has been made.

As a result, the hallway has been rearranged. The dresser is now a TV-stand in the living room, and this shelf/bench used to sit inside the closet. Here is what the hallway looked like before:

Not much different, but there was a shoe issue that isn't visible in the picture above. We would always leave 2-5 pairs of shoes on the floor, and it annoyed me a lot! With a shelf out in the open it might look messier than the dresser, but I am very pleased with getting the shoes off of the floor. 

And then the inside of the closet. These pictures aren't very glamorous, and since we are in the middle of the project it looks way too crammed, especially this "cleaning-area". Still, it is a lot better than it used to be. The blue and green bag to the right is our outbox, not counting the 5 bags of clothes and shoes donations from today's assignment. Emptying it will free up a lot of space. The top shelf of the closet also has potential for holding more, but we have to get back to that later. 

Even though I continue to add stuff to the outbox/trash almost everyday, I still feel like there is way too much stuff everywhere. Does that feel familiar to anyone else? Maybe I need to be even more ruthless about parting with things...

January Cure #7 10-minute time-out

Today's 10 minute assignment was to observe a spot in your home you feel to be problematic. Finding a new angle, for example by sitting on the floor can give a different perspective. Imagine this area to be completely empty, like it was when you moved in, and think of how you would put things back to make it function better. Figure out what can be done and write it down. Also, pick one project to definitely finish this month.

So I stared into our messy hallway closet for way longer than 10 minutes. Let me tell you, it was not the best sight to behold.... I had already decided that this is our main project. It was good to have some time to think about how to organize it better, and this days task was perfect for it. I think I have some ideas, but they need to be tested, so I look forward to getting started.

While talking on the phone with a friend I also started cleaning my sock drawer, and thus finished with task #5. There were a few low and tired moments last week so I am glad to be back on track with more motivation.

January Cure #6 A realistic kitchen refresh

I like this years approach to the Cure, as it seems more managable than the previous years. Even in our small home, the kitchen takes me a full day to deep clean! This time around, we are encouraged to choose either an inside or an outside track, and save the other part for later.

I picked the outside track, mixed with a little bit of the inside:
- Cleaning the outside and top of the cabinets
- Clean the counters and sink
- Clean all appliances and everything else on the counters
- Clean the ceiling fan above the dining table

My husband's job:
- Clean the inside of the fridge/ffreezer
- Clean the microwave
- Clean the inside of the stove
His tasks are definitely needed, and I am glad we can share this job!

Since I did the pantry earlier this week, a few of my cabinets have been cleaned inside as well. The only thing left on my kitchen to-do list is the dreaded Tupperware chaos cabinet... I did not got flowers this weekend, the tulips are good for a few more days. I also managed to remove some things from the cabinets that can either be donated (going in the outbox), or stored.

A not so realistic kitchen refresh involves a new backsplash, new cabinets and new appliances. Basically a new kitchen. I like the floor, but the rest of it could have been used in a better way. Not to complain, we do make it work, but I look forward to one day having a larger kitchen.

Kitchen design by interior architect and designer Joanna Laajisto‘s for classic Finnish furniture company Lundia. 

January Cure #5 Declutter a drawer

Today was supposed to be "A little lesson in Keeping a Home Under Control for the Long Haul: One Small Step at a Time". The idea that doing one small job can lead us to finishing another was to be proved with cleaning out a single drawer. Not necessarily the messiest drawer, any drawer actually.

However, I did not complete today's task, in fact, I never even started. The plan was to tackle my sock and underwear drawers, but today I didn't feel like doing any of it. Even with such a small task I decided to not care about the Cure for the day. Oh well, there are more days to come where I can make it up.

January Cure #4 Set up an outbox

An outbox is an essential part of the Cure philosophy. The outbox is a clearly defined area; a box/bag/area/room where items can go before you decide their final fate. Perfect for all those things you wonder whether you should keep or not, the outbox comes really handy.

Here is what Apartment Therapy says about this tool:

OUTBOX RULES 
1. Anything can go in the Outbox
2. The Outbox is allowed to get messy 
3. Everything must stay in the Outbox for at least one week 
4. After that time you have several choices:  Take anything back out / Leave anything you are undecided about for one more week / Dispose of the rest by moving to the recycling bin or giveaway pile 

Once you get used to separating first and disposing of later, you'll find that clearing clutter gets easier and easier.

Closet redesign is on our list and I hope to find a good solution for an outbox there, as it is the only closet and storage out of sight in the whole apartment. The outbox objects are already in there, but I do wish there was a little more room for it. Since participating in my first January Cure, I have made a habit of having 1 bag for clothes and 1 bag for other things to be donated, that always sit in the closet. It makes it a lot easier to part with someting when I know where to put it temporarily. My job was therefore really easy today, I only found a larger reusable shopping bag that can hold both of the bags I already had, and then some more. Then I added a few books to it after going through the bookshelf.

When it comes to actually donating I have trouble finding places to do it. Well, apart from clothes that can be put in a container right around the corner. The closest second hand stores are only open limited hours on weekdays here. We don't have a car either, which makes it harder to get rid of bigger items. Since my husband is a student with a flexible schedule, this part of the process might have to be his task.

Mike got us a new bookshelf yesterday, and he put  it together while I was at work today. Then it was a fun task for me to organize and decorate the shelves. The room looks quite different now, and I am impatient for some good lighting to take picture of it!


Artwork "This is the worst" by Ashley Elander.

January Cure #3 Purge the pantry

Thanks to yesterdays assignment, my head is spinning with ideas for how to reorganize different areas of the apartment! Hopefully some of them will actually work and be an improvement to problem areas.

I gave Mike a TV for Christmas, and it arrived yesterday, so we also rearranged the furniture in the living room. It took  the place of our large bookshelf, which was emptied and put up for sale online yesterday. We already have a buyer, and she picked it up tonight! So great to have someone pay to relieve me of furniture I dont need anymore. Right now there are books everywhere... We need to assemble our new bookshelf, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Today's assignment is actually to clean out the pantry. We don't have a real pantry, but that would be great to have one day. Two kitchen cabinets, one drawer and a box for the spices is what we use to store our food. I took everything out, tossed expired things (not very much actually), and stuff I know we won't eat (boiled chestnuts, I'm looking at you!), cleaned and put everything back. I had TV-shows on our nice big TV to keep me company, so it wasn't half bad actually.

I haven't been able to take good pictures because of lack of light during this season, but hopefully I can get it done on the weekends.

January Cure #2 A list of projects

Today's task in the cure was to assess all the rooms in your home and write down the things that needed to be done, whether it is repairing, cleaning, painting or whatever else is needed. Then you highlight 3-5 things per room you want to focus on for this month.

Here is our list:

Living room
- Rearrange and make room for the TV
. Get rid of old bookshelf. (Sold on Finn)
- New bookshelf

- New coffee table

- Dark corner. Needs a new lamp?

- Dusty beams

- A box of various chords that need sorting through

- Possibly painting a wall to change the look of the room?

- Wrap some games in neutral paper to make a tidier look  (Put them in white boxes for now)
- New weatherstrips for windows and front door

Bedroom
- Broken lightswitch
- Purge/reorganize drawers in the "closet"
- Rearrange or get new pictures on the wall
- Air bubbles in the wallpaper

Kitchen
- Full cabinets. Get rid of/store some things.
- Tupperware chaos. Get rid of/store some things.
- Picture gallery wall
- New backsplash
- Too much cutlery. Get rid of some.
- Clean the pantry
- Deep clean the fridge, oven and microwave
- Dirty cabinet doors and tops of the cabinets also need cleaning

Hallway
- The closet. Purge, donate and organize!!
- Need better access to the tools
- New hat/scarf storage after rearranging
- Too many chairs! Get rid of or store at least one of them
- Clean the heater filter
- New doormat
- Take down and store/sell a heater. (Sold on Finn)
- Get a lightswitch?
- Fix the electricity so the fuses don't blow all the time
- Shoe storage
- Iron the heap of tablecloths in the closet

Bathroom
- Not enough storage (Purged a lot, rearranged a little. It is much better now!)
- Hang some pictures
- Make green cleaners
- Change lightbulb

Loft
- Purge craft supplies
- Purge suitcases/bags? (Not necessary)
- Extra mattress: give away
- Organize everything better....
- Store some of the things above the bathroom


I will update the list as we cross things off in real life, and add new things as they come up. I love crossing things off lists, don't you?