Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Week 8: Wrapping it up.
It's almost all done, and I've gotten more accomplished than I imagined. I think I would have been able to do a lot more if I didn't completely wipe out my cash flow midway through, but that's life. I am going to leave you with a link to my Flickr Before/After slideshow, and I will be back sometime soon with a more substantial entry, and my future plans. Because it's so exciting and I know everyone loves to hear about me cleaning my apartment. But whatever ;)
Sunday, October 28, 2007
End of Week 7, and it actually looks like I've gotten something done.
For what started out as a slow week, one which left me less and less motivated after every frustrating day at work, I am absolutely amazed at the progress that was made last weekend. And even though I have spent what will most likely be my last dollar on apartment "stuff" for quite a while (and took the drastic measure of freezing my credit card in a hunk of ice), I am pretty content. The only things that would make me entirely content right now would be painted walls in my bedroom and a sofa.
Basically the biggest deal was getting my living room back by finally taking care of the mountain of crap I'd accumulated in my "outbox". Yes, it was great to get rid of things that did me no good and just took up valuable space, but staring at said crap for weeks on end, and seeing it first thing when I walked in the door or out of my bedroom was completely depressing. Now all my stuff (well the stuff that isn't in the basement storage waiting for one or ALL of my sisters to move out) is on it's way to a yard sale fundraiser for Illinois' favorite Jr. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate. Excellent timing.
I swept the living room FINALLY, and finished (mostly) arranging my new entryway. I could use about $50 in final touches, but I'll deal for now. One totally free thing that made a big fat difference was bundling up all the cords under my desk and by my phone, and running the DSL phone line under the baseboard and neatly tacking it around the walls and doorway. It looks a lot nicer though I wish I had some way of getting rid of all the wires once and for all.
I also framed my cool 1899 map of St. Louis and hung it up in a nice conspicuous spot. And I learned that by taking the time to hang things at the right level (approx. 57" from the floor to the center of the frame) can really make a huge impact. It may seem low, people really have a tendency to hang things up high, but the point is to be able to look at the piece straight on. Apparently that's how art galleries do it, and I'm not gonna argue with them!
So now it's just time to clean things up (again, but it'll be easier with less junk in the way and less than 8 weeks worth of dirt), and come up with one consolidated list of things to do and things to buy. I have scraps and lists and ideas everywhere and I'd like to get it all together so that when time and $ allow, I can jump right into a project or go right out and look for a specific item. Then the secret is to simply keep up with things. Maybe that's easier said than done but once you have a vision and have invested a little sweat equity, it's not as hard to keep going.
Alright, off to bed, if the neighbor's pug upstairs has finished running laps around their 18 x 13 living room, that is!
Basically the biggest deal was getting my living room back by finally taking care of the mountain of crap I'd accumulated in my "outbox". Yes, it was great to get rid of things that did me no good and just took up valuable space, but staring at said crap for weeks on end, and seeing it first thing when I walked in the door or out of my bedroom was completely depressing. Now all my stuff (well the stuff that isn't in the basement storage waiting for one or ALL of my sisters to move out) is on it's way to a yard sale fundraiser for Illinois' favorite Jr. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate. Excellent timing.
I swept the living room FINALLY, and finished (mostly) arranging my new entryway. I could use about $50 in final touches, but I'll deal for now. One totally free thing that made a big fat difference was bundling up all the cords under my desk and by my phone, and running the DSL phone line under the baseboard and neatly tacking it around the walls and doorway. It looks a lot nicer though I wish I had some way of getting rid of all the wires once and for all.
I also framed my cool 1899 map of St. Louis and hung it up in a nice conspicuous spot. And I learned that by taking the time to hang things at the right level (approx. 57" from the floor to the center of the frame) can really make a huge impact. It may seem low, people really have a tendency to hang things up high, but the point is to be able to look at the piece straight on. Apparently that's how art galleries do it, and I'm not gonna argue with them!
So now it's just time to clean things up (again, but it'll be easier with less junk in the way and less than 8 weeks worth of dirt), and come up with one consolidated list of things to do and things to buy. I have scraps and lists and ideas everywhere and I'd like to get it all together so that when time and $ allow, I can jump right into a project or go right out and look for a specific item. Then the secret is to simply keep up with things. Maybe that's easier said than done but once you have a vision and have invested a little sweat equity, it's not as hard to keep going.
Alright, off to bed, if the neighbor's pug upstairs has finished running laps around their 18 x 13 living room, that is!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
My "Have-Done" List
As opposed to a "To-Do" list.
Today, as Week 6 draws closer to an end, I have continued to feel overwhelmed but managed to work on all sorts of random things throughout the day with minimal time-wastage. However, as I look around my apartment I still see plenty of things that have been bugging me and have been on the list of things to do for the past six weeks.
So I decided that I needed to quickly write out my "Have-Done" list so I don't feel so bad and so that I have one more thing to motivate me to keep ticking things off the other list.
Stuff I "Have-Done" this Week:
Today, as Week 6 draws closer to an end, I have continued to feel overwhelmed but managed to work on all sorts of random things throughout the day with minimal time-wastage. However, as I look around my apartment I still see plenty of things that have been bugging me and have been on the list of things to do for the past six weeks.
So I decided that I needed to quickly write out my "Have-Done" list so I don't feel so bad and so that I have one more thing to motivate me to keep ticking things off the other list.
Stuff I "Have-Done" this Week:
- Bought new switch plates for the whole apartment, and put them all up
- Took down old clutter-magnet storage rack on closet door and put up ironing board holder
- Sorted stuff from above-mentioned storage rack and threw away/gave away a bunch
- Major crazy bathroom cleaning, hung new shower curtain, cleaned out medicine cabinet
- Washed dinner dishes within 24 hours of using them (um, we tend to use a lot of dishes, this is a bigger deal that it may seem)
- "Made" kitchen curtains from cute dishtowels, and hung them
- Began hanging aluminum trays (eBay!) on dining room wall (ran out of hooks, getting more tonight)
- Three loads of laundry, all put away (including new duvet!)
- Made bed, put new duvet on comforter
- Re-potted three houseplants (two of which had been sitting in the same dirt since I moved in here!)
- Removed bedroom A/C unit (really motivated to do that, it was apparently dripping water into the walls and now I have some nice water stains to show for it! Dave is going to fix it eventually, though)
- Cleaned A/C and took it down to storage, also rearranged storage and threw some crap away (Sidebar: Looking at some of the other storage units down there made me feel much better about the amount of crap I have - it's amazing how much a person can cram into an 8x8 cage!)
- Washed and vacuumed my car (OK, not really for my apartment, but it's along the same lines
- Braved Home Despot twice, found most of what I needed and picked out paint chips for bedroom (currently narrowed down to two light blue choices)
- Organized bottom of hall closet (I think I can handle doing one shelf/day from now on...it's pretty craptastic
- Came up with LOTS of plans for future work on the apartment in the absence of any real funds. Spent more than enough time online solidifying said plans, but I didn't let it get in the way of work - I actually had a really productive/non-painfully boring week.
- At dinner (real dinner) at home twice, soon to be three times. Although I was a pouty brat last night so that doesn't entirely count I suppose.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Memo to anyone remotely concerned about the Environment
Dearest friends:
I wish to share with you all a brief, yet sincere and borderline pleading, suggestion tonight.
Go and buy one, two, three, or more of these (or otherwise similar) bags.
I can not think of a single reason NOT to do so. They are $1 at Schnucks. They are larger and more durable than plastic and similar size (though more flexible) than paper. They have long handles that could go over your shoulder thereby freeing your hands to do other things like open doors, carry something else, or hold someone's hand.
After you buy them, USE them. Put them by the front door after unloading to remind yourself to throw them back into the trunk. Again, I can't think of a single reason you wouldn't want to use these. In Ireland, a plastic bag at the grocery costs 15 cents and NO ONE ever bought them. Brilliant really. Besides, don't you get annoyed with all those darn plastic bags that pile up in your kitchen/storage room/drawers, etc?
I thought so. Pain in the rear, and ugly at that. Now if Target would only start doing the whole reusable bag thing, we'd be set! But every bit helps. So next time you are grocery shopping, don't forget to add to your list "reusable bags".
Thank you and we now return to regularly scheduled programming.
;)
I wish to share with you all a brief, yet sincere and borderline pleading, suggestion tonight.
Go and buy one, two, three, or more of these (or otherwise similar) bags.
I can not think of a single reason NOT to do so. They are $1 at Schnucks. They are larger and more durable than plastic and similar size (though more flexible) than paper. They have long handles that could go over your shoulder thereby freeing your hands to do other things like open doors, carry something else, or hold someone's hand.
After you buy them, USE them. Put them by the front door after unloading to remind yourself to throw them back into the trunk. Again, I can't think of a single reason you wouldn't want to use these. In Ireland, a plastic bag at the grocery costs 15 cents and NO ONE ever bought them. Brilliant really. Besides, don't you get annoyed with all those darn plastic bags that pile up in your kitchen/storage room/drawers, etc?
I thought so. Pain in the rear, and ugly at that. Now if Target would only start doing the whole reusable bag thing, we'd be set! But every bit helps. So next time you are grocery shopping, don't forget to add to your list "reusable bags".
Thank you and we now return to regularly scheduled programming.
;)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Week Five....oh crap, it's already Week 6
Yeah, so Week Five (office week) sort of got away from me there. Last week was busy and I was just sort of moping around a lot thanks to a yuck-o week at work. Just hellaciously boring stuff that left me totally unmotivated when I got home at night.
But since my office is already sort of in OK shape, I didn't miss out on much. And since it is in the living room, I had already started cleaning things and reorganizing and I am already a spastic filer so that wasn't an issue either. I just have a teeny pile of things to do and I am caught up. Oh, and a craft project that will require a trip to that fabric store that I'll really have to motivate myself to do so it can wait.
So onward to Week 6 where I am supposed to be concerned with the Bathroom. Luckily mine is small, so there's not much to work with, but unluckily it was/is FILTHY. I mean, we are talking I was probably inhaling some awful gross toxic mold with my morning shower until I bleached the hell out of it just now. Bad. But I am renewing my motivation to keep it clean, and I am always happier when it's clean.
As a matter of fact, I am currently taking a little PBR break to regain my senses after inhaling all the awful gross toxic bleach that I used to clean the aforementioned mold. But I used up the bottle which means one less toxic thing in my home and next time I'll get to break out the fancy Method stuff. Cheap thrills, I suppose!
The frustrating thing now is that I have to declutter the shelves and cabinets and baskets that hold my "bathroom stuff" (aka Junk!), and I REALLY want to get rid of the craptastic, falling apart, Target clearance etagere so I can put up some nice glass shelves. That hopefully won't fall down. Stupid plaster walls ruin everything, but I am still going to give it a try. Less storage space = less stuff to store and that's the name of the game now.
Other than that, I am trying to catch up on unfinished projects from other weeks. Such as giving away my give-aways, hanging the cool aluminum stuff I got for the dining room, getting a new trashcan in the kitchen, finishing up my new table/bookshelf next to the front door, framing about a bazillion things and hanging them up, and getting a couple more odds and ends at various stores.
Only problem is that I am now BROKE. Completely and totally. I got paid Friday and I am already not sure I will have enough for actual groceries for the next 9 days let alone enough to do any shopping. I don't know where it all goes, but it sure is depressing. To make matters worse (well, not true, I did it to make matters better in the long run), I cut up ALL of my credit cards except one that I decided is going to reside at my parent's house and therefore out of my hot little hands and out of use.
Basically all I can do now is compile wish lists and make plans and spend my time keeping things clean and organized. Not so much fun, but it does make a world of a difference. So now it's back to the bathroom and then I can cross something off my to-do list and add it to my "done" list. Yippee! :)
But since my office is already sort of in OK shape, I didn't miss out on much. And since it is in the living room, I had already started cleaning things and reorganizing and I am already a spastic filer so that wasn't an issue either. I just have a teeny pile of things to do and I am caught up. Oh, and a craft project that will require a trip to that fabric store that I'll really have to motivate myself to do so it can wait.
So onward to Week 6 where I am supposed to be concerned with the Bathroom. Luckily mine is small, so there's not much to work with, but unluckily it was/is FILTHY. I mean, we are talking I was probably inhaling some awful gross toxic mold with my morning shower until I bleached the hell out of it just now. Bad. But I am renewing my motivation to keep it clean, and I am always happier when it's clean.
As a matter of fact, I am currently taking a little PBR break to regain my senses after inhaling all the awful gross toxic bleach that I used to clean the aforementioned mold. But I used up the bottle which means one less toxic thing in my home and next time I'll get to break out the fancy Method stuff. Cheap thrills, I suppose!
The frustrating thing now is that I have to declutter the shelves and cabinets and baskets that hold my "bathroom stuff" (aka Junk!), and I REALLY want to get rid of the craptastic, falling apart, Target clearance etagere so I can put up some nice glass shelves. That hopefully won't fall down. Stupid plaster walls ruin everything, but I am still going to give it a try. Less storage space = less stuff to store and that's the name of the game now.
Other than that, I am trying to catch up on unfinished projects from other weeks. Such as giving away my give-aways, hanging the cool aluminum stuff I got for the dining room, getting a new trashcan in the kitchen, finishing up my new table/bookshelf next to the front door, framing about a bazillion things and hanging them up, and getting a couple more odds and ends at various stores.
Only problem is that I am now BROKE. Completely and totally. I got paid Friday and I am already not sure I will have enough for actual groceries for the next 9 days let alone enough to do any shopping. I don't know where it all goes, but it sure is depressing. To make matters worse (well, not true, I did it to make matters better in the long run), I cut up ALL of my credit cards except one that I decided is going to reside at my parent's house and therefore out of my hot little hands and out of use.
Basically all I can do now is compile wish lists and make plans and spend my time keeping things clean and organized. Not so much fun, but it does make a world of a difference. So now it's back to the bathroom and then I can cross something off my to-do list and add it to my "done" list. Yippee! :)
Thursday, October 04, 2007
AT Cure: Week 4
So Week 4, which is about the Living Room (and closets), has been pretty uneventful. The only improvement to speak of is ONE set of new curtains hung on a freshly cleaned window. Granted, I was cleaning 3+ years of dirt and dust from the poorly painted window frame and the wall-embedded radiator (non-functioning) beneath it. Plus I had to hang new hardware. The whole thing was really just a one-Pabst job though, so it's sort of pathetic that it's already Thursday.
However, I came to the realization (after consulting my Outlook calendar at work) that I have not had a single free weekend since undertaking this effort. I've also had several random after-work obligations instead of my usual free and clear weeknights.
But I have spent all together too much time deliberating about what to do, shopping (online and countless trips to Target, plus a 3 hour escapade to the hell that is Brentwood last Saturday), and just wasting my time. I feel even more lazy since I've been to the Y only once since I began (and that was just last night - I couldn't take the disgusting, lethargic feeling any more).
I have another work thing tonight (hopefully will be out of there by 6:30...we'll see), but I really need to get something done. I think my goals for the next two days will be to get rid of my "outbox" which is overflowing with stuff to give away, give back, store, or otherwise dispose of. It's right smack in the middle of the living room right now and I think it's totally bringing me down. Another goal is going to do some serious couch shopping (hello Saturday afternoon), and I am hoping to come to some sort of conclusion about what I can afford then.
Otherwise, I just need to start being decisive and make hard decisions...put some $ out there because I know it will be worth it in the long run. I don't like being indecisive just as much as I dislike wasting my money - it's a tough combination that I am sure most people understand. I just am not going to look forward to looking at my credit card bills next month!
So now I am just crossing my fingers for some super-productive nights because Saturday night we leave for two days in Chicago and then it will be Week 5 and I don't want to get too far behind. Only 1 glass of wine for me tonight, so I can go home and work and not pass out!
However, I came to the realization (after consulting my Outlook calendar at work) that I have not had a single free weekend since undertaking this effort. I've also had several random after-work obligations instead of my usual free and clear weeknights.
But I have spent all together too much time deliberating about what to do, shopping (online and countless trips to Target, plus a 3 hour escapade to the hell that is Brentwood last Saturday), and just wasting my time. I feel even more lazy since I've been to the Y only once since I began (and that was just last night - I couldn't take the disgusting, lethargic feeling any more).
I have another work thing tonight (hopefully will be out of there by 6:30...we'll see), but I really need to get something done. I think my goals for the next two days will be to get rid of my "outbox" which is overflowing with stuff to give away, give back, store, or otherwise dispose of. It's right smack in the middle of the living room right now and I think it's totally bringing me down. Another goal is going to do some serious couch shopping (hello Saturday afternoon), and I am hoping to come to some sort of conclusion about what I can afford then.
Otherwise, I just need to start being decisive and make hard decisions...put some $ out there because I know it will be worth it in the long run. I don't like being indecisive just as much as I dislike wasting my money - it's a tough combination that I am sure most people understand. I just am not going to look forward to looking at my credit card bills next month!
So now I am just crossing my fingers for some super-productive nights because Saturday night we leave for two days in Chicago and then it will be Week 5 and I don't want to get too far behind. Only 1 glass of wine for me tonight, so I can go home and work and not pass out!
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