Apartment Therapy, Week Four, Five and Six

I'm all over the place for the last few weeks. But I think we'll manage to pull it all together when Week Eight finally rolls around. So to catch up, from Week Four, I identified where we need to increase color and where we need to increase softness. This house was suffering from too much hardness....ahem which normally I'd say was a good thing, but jokes aside, as you can see I've started identifying a color palette for our home. We've picked out paint for the living room, and for Addison's room. Doing this has made so many things easier! So just this week I made a list of everything I want for the whole house to pull things together. As for actually adding the softness (Week Five) I purchased a rug, which you can see in the living room.


This was from Cost Plus for $500.00. It's mostly wool, which is what I was looking for eco wise, and it's thick and feels good underfoot. so maybe another of these under the dining table, then with painting I should be able to find curtains, and that adds the softness we were missing.





From Week Six I did some lighting in the kitchen, it was always dark when washing dishes, but no longer! Additionally I hooked up and fixed up the existing in cabinet lights. I'll need to do some more work on those, but I like it! Also from week six, I went through and de-cluttered the bathroom closets and I brought some reds into the bathroom and worked on making it nicer for guests, putting paper out in an obvious spot, and adding washcloths. You can see the red as my accent color is showing up all over the house.

Week Six is also about painting, so I think here is where I will pause again, to prime Addison's room, and paint samples on the walls in the living room. The house is starting to feel really good! OOH OHH I also bought some plates so we have a set of 8 now, and we don't have to keep rewashing the two bowls we had! So that's back from Week Two!

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone. I like to remove this holiday from it's Native American connotations, just cause sorry, it gives me the willies to celebrate when that culture started to be dominated and eradicated. Sorry family for my deeply liberal stance! What I do like though is the gratitude part of this holiday. So for everyone reading, know that I am deeply thankful for our health, our home, our family. And thankful for you my friends. Read more!

Apartment Therapy Week Four (Pause)

Well I got stalled out. Here's a photo to explain why....he's cute right? I mean gosh, you would chase him around all day too, wouldn't you? I got stalled, working on his room, trying to figure out what to do next, trying to just keep the house semi clean and together while we tear everything apart. I am not sleeping much, and I feel delirious and cranky at times. I find some days I'm thinking OMG get these kids away from me, and at the end of the day I'm weeping with how much I love them. The work on the house must stop, because I must nap, and small boys must giggle and be chased across the floor, and small girls need to do homework and snuggle and have gymnastics. My life is full of tiny details....but stay tuned...
In regards to apartment therapy... I wish I had a good style tray. My style tray is lacking, which makes it hard to purchase or decide on anything!! I was going to buy a rug at Ikea today, three actually, but the thought that I may be throwing of my "style" threw me for a loop. Not to mention the fact that the rug I want is $399 and it might not even be right???!! Gosh the rugs I fall in love with are in the thousand dollar price range...so $399 is inexpensive, but still gives me pause. I checked my intuition at the register and deshopped. Left everything there in the aisle. I realized as I drove to Ashbey lumber that I needed a door for Addison's room. And that was $250.00 I needed that more than a carpet that might not be right. The door is a known quantity. So another week goes by, the rain has started, my baby is asleep, tomorrow is the school harvest festival, and the man of my dreams works at the kitchen table. Life, ya know? it's good...Hope yours is too. Read more!

Apartment Therapy, Week Three

Week Three Deep Treatment.

Bones

Dust, vacuum, and mop the whole home - Easy done

clean entrance and related closets - Easy, and we have no closet

Arrange to have all repairs taken care of in the next three weeks - This is not happening, what i can do myself will happen. Anything else is being subjugated by Addison's room budget

Breath

Declutter the entrance - done moved boxes

Move all old mail, catalogs and magazines to the Outbox - I do this already weekly or more.

Look into what you'd need to create a Landing Strip - see below fulfillment list

Cancel any unused subscriptions - Not needed. We've done this already

Heart

Identify cool rooms and warm rooms - see below

Apply the 80/20 color rule - see below

Head

cook two meals at home this week - easy peasy

Design and invitation for your housewarming - uhhhh

Well week three almost done, as I couldn't help but read ahead, during my prolonged week two. This week s about your "landing strip" I love this concept. I think I'm going to do some retail therapy (week four) on my landing strip. That would mix weeks three and four together. Maxwell says that your entry way should be a filter between you and the outside world. This is exactly how the energy of my home is set. Walking in, I've set the door energy to prosperity and fun. The entry also has a small table which holds a salt lamp, which cleanses and purifies the air and energy, an abalone shell that serves as a fairy reminder, complete with a fairy necklace. This abalone was decorated by Cy. Also is a 365 day calendar of beautiful images of India with quotes from the great teachers of that country. I picked this out as a gift for someone else years ago. When I realized that this was something I would never buy for myself, I quickly amended that. So here it is in my home, instead of the home of a person I dated for a whopping four months. I love that I realized I could shower myself with love in that moment and Cy and I now read from it on a regular basis. Then there is a shelf with candles and rocks from trips we've taken and collected together. I love the energy of this room, and have done readings sitting here because it feels so clean to me. There is a spiritual calm right when you walk in. On a functional tip, we store the stroller, the diaper bag, and shoes here as well. I also this year added a blue and green mat for cleaning feet on the way in. The other half of our landing strip is further in the house.



This area is a constant sore spot, and I've spent time working on it. We each have a "box" for papers and things we want to keep for a short time. Plus there is a box for "house" and a box for my work. There are pens and office supplies here as well to enable us to write checks or grocery lists and do homework. Above the table is a black board/magnetic board for reminders and notes, plus key hooks. Also is a letter sorter, which has Bills, To File, and then two other Misc that we don't need. What I don't like about this area is that it constantly is filled with other things. School projects I'm working on, work folders, etc etc. It seems like a stopping ground for many things.

Maxwell spends a lot of time this chapter about sorting mail and decluttering the entry way. As you can see from my photo, our entry way is not that cluttered. I took the boxes with baby gates in them, and installed those, so it's now totally clear. What is missing here is a coat rack. So I will be spending some time shopping for that this weekend. I'm trying on the idea of a slim long table here, moving keys and primary mail sorting here. so I think a long slim table, a box to catch mail and a trashcan might be needed. I'm a little leery though of having TWO sorting areas for mail.

My idea at this point is to turn the second half of our landing strip into a craft area for cy and I. Put primary mail sorting near the front door along with keys and cell phones and chargers. Secondary sorting would then go in the studio near my computer, which is where we pay bills. This makes the most sense.

You can see from the list, that bones and breath are pretty easy for me. These are things I do all the time, I don't like clutter or unnecessary things hanging around. also cooking at home. We do that 5+ nights a week. The challenge for me is heart. Which is what I identified at first. I loved identifying the cool and warm rooms...what a fun activity. The house is mainly neutral

Entry way, neutral with warm art and table, but cool mat
Living room to kitchen mainly cool colors are black, red, green, gray, blue. I think
Studio - warm red walls
Bathroom - cool blue

Upstairs
Addison's Room, cool
cy's Room - cool
Our room - warm with cool bedspread.
Bathroom - warm

I think the whole house comes off cool to me because of the beige color, it has a green undertone to me. We both hate the beige. I'm thinking though of the 80/20 rule, and perhaps we can just warm up the house with accents and minimal paint.


So here's a fulfillment list for Week Three

Shelf for Studio, for paper sorting boxes.
Move the mail sorter into the studio
Trashcan
Box for mail at front door
Side board.
clothes rack
Blue paint, for Addison's room and entry.
Brown Paint, for our room (maybe just around the tub) and for one wall in the living/dining area.

I've got a bit of rearranging and a little shopping to do to accomplish this. We'll see how working on the entry way changes people's feelings about visiting and about coming home. In addition we may make some space for art, which was one of the area's missing from our house. I'm looking forward to seeing some visual change, not just energetic!

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Week Three is Week Two

Well, It's week three plus over here, and I'm finally wrapping up Fall Cure Week TWO. Above is an image of the kitchen in progress. You can see Addison helping me out here. I knew it was going to take longer than normal, as the rest of the group moves on to week Four. That's fine with me. This week was all about the kitchen. I felt some delightful energetic shifts, all the while, the kitchen looks about the same. I love how the place feels spare, workable, clean. Style wise I'd love to add some warm tiles behind the sink area. Overall the kitchen is a decent space, although long term i dream of redoing the counter tops, and the cabinets, as they are Ikea make and starting already to show wear and tear. I think the Kitchen must be around six years old. My favorite part about this kitchen is the bar stools that we got from an artisan in Michigan. We sprang for them right when we moved in and I'm so glad we did. I also noticed how the kitchen is right below our bedroom. So energetically, keeping the food fresh and the stove hot and spicy. Our bed room soaks up all this creative nurturing energy and I love that. Also the book project has started out with a bang! i'm really enjoying doing the readings and really enjoying hearing about people's experiences. This is a subject I just really really love. It makes me smile to think this is what I get to think about and work with through the days. Thanks to everyone who's participating!

Here is a photo of the finished Kitchen. I'm so excited about moving on to Week Three. Next Post, I'll summarize what Week Three is all about.


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