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!