Major Progress!

I've really been trying to get a lot accomplished in these last weeks of the Cure.

Here's the progress on my living room:


The brown sissal rug replaces the orange rug. The orange rug was in violation of the co-op rules (which require most of my floor to be covered with rugs) plus it wasn't very practical with a black cat who sheds profusely. Despite the fact that I vacuum frequently, the rug always had a greyish sheen from cat hair. The new rug is more practical and I like it! The orange chair and loveseat were Craigslist finds. They need a little bit of wood refinishing work. I have new orange pillows from etsy.com

Other major progress this weekend! I have almost finished refreshing the paint in my hallway. The white hallway paint was EXTREMELY scuffed up and ugly looking. I taped off my red stripe (since it doesn't need repainting and I want to keep it) and I repainted. The reason it was possible to paint? Because I've gotten rid of most of the crap I keep in my hallway! Hooray!

The hallway is cleared out!
Picture taken prior to prepping for painting.

I really want to do a little bit more on the hallway. I'd love to get some track lighting because the hallway has terrible lighting. I know I can get an 8-foot track that would light most of the hallway. Trouble is, I haven't been able to find any track lighting that accommodates energy-efficient light bulbs. Right now nearly every light in my apartment is compact-fluorescent and I don't want to break the trend.

Other thoughts: I found a long skinny (horizontally-oriented) shelf at Ikea. It is very glossy white. I think I could install it right up against the ceiling (it is approximately 10 inches high, 10 inches deep and maybe 70 inches long). I think it would go really well with the linear theme of my hallway, without making the hallway seem closed-off or cluttered.

Also, I am replacing my cheap plastic hallway mirror. I haven't purchased one yet, but I have been looking.

Now if I can just get my cat litter bench finished my hallway would really be coming together. Hopefully I can talk my sister into sending me the bench soon!

More Progress!

Some images showing progress this week! The first photo might not look like much, but look, there's nothing there where a bookcase used to be. I sold the bookcase on Craigslist today. I still need to figure out the best way to store my cds and a few other items. I ordered a fancy Russel and Hazel binder for storing my recipes and takeout menus.

The second photo shows my new bulletin board. It's on the inside of my kitchen cabinet door, and I'm loving it.

Other progress this week:
Really thoroughly cleaned the entire apartment (including floors)
Bought nice new bathroom soap (Olive soap!)
Emptied portions of outbox
Listed 3 items on Craigslist, so far 1 item has sold
Continued sorting through all my cupboards/closets, weeding out unnecessary possessions
Started applying spackle on areas of the hallway that I will be repainting
My boyfriend got in on the action: he removed all my vents and grates. He's taking them to his house and hopes to strip the messy old paint from them. (He's really tall and apparently they have always driven him nuts. I'm a lot shorter, so I never really noticed what a mess they are.)

Working through frustration

I've worked every evening this week as I really want to get rid of my hall bookshelf. I found myself very frustrated because no solution seemed to be the right one, and so many solutions are necessary (need a way to store cds, need a way to store a bunch of assorted crap, such as my owners manuals, maps, etc, need a way to store my recipes, and even need to figure out a way to store my pencils!) I started feeling disheartened. But I didn't let that happen for long, I took action. I took everything off the bookshelf and just put it somewhere, even on a temporary basis. Now I have an empty bookshelf that I plan to list on Craiglist this weekend. I know I'll find storage solutions.

Some items on my done list from this week:
Started emptying outbox
Hung hooks in my closet for purses (unfortunately hung them too low, will fix that soon)
Emptied hall bookshelf
Hung Cork inside my kitchen cabinet door to serve as a hidden bulletin board
Cleaned/sorted through my office supplies and media
Put my recipes into plastic sleeves that will be inserted into a binder when I find one that I like (anyone know of any pretty binders???)

An evening's worth of progress

I'm a little behind due to several intensely busy weeks. I am determined to catch up and so I got a good bit accomplished this evening.

Tonight I went through much of what I have stored on my living room bookshelf and I moved a lot to my outbox. I also went through my hall bookshelf (shown in the photo to the left) and weeded out detritus. All that stuff surrounding the bookcase? That's my outbox, all of it.

I REALLY want to get rid of this bookshelf completely and am trying to figure out how to do so as part of this process. The problem is figuring how to store this stuff or having a willingness to just get rid of it. I plan to find a more compact way to store cd's but am looking for ideas to do so attractively. Anyone, anyone?

This weekend I did make some good progress despite a houseguest that kept me busy much of the time. I have a degree in Landscape Architecture and this weekend I photographed all of my now-very-old work from my graduate program. Then I crumpled up the originals and recycled them. It was hard to get rid of the originals, but I really will never use them again, even for a portfolio. Plus I took photos, so in a way they are still with me...

A Yummy Meal

Here's one of my home-cooked meals from last week. I made it with vegetables from my CSA: lentils, stir-fried turnip greens with hot pepper and garlic, and roasted root vegetables with fresh rosemary (notice the gorgeous purple potatoes). It was a very tasty meal. This is a "green" cure, so I will note that the meal is vegetarian and so am I.

I'm still here

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still here and I'm still curing. I've had a house guest all weekend, so I'll be doing some catching up starting tomorrow!

Green Festival Washington DC

Tomorrow I'm volunteering at (and then attending) the Washington, D.C. Green Festival. I look forward to seeing if I can find some good Green Products to use during the remainder of my Cure. So far I've attended every Green Festival in D.C., and I have been very impressed with all that I've learned.

Week 4: Meal #1

Week 4 specifies that I cook 3 meals at home. That's going to be a challenge this week due to some work related travel, but now I at least have one meal crossed off my list.

I made a vegetarian stew. I got a bunch of vegetables on Saturday from my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I chopped a bunch of them, put them in a pot, and let them simmer. No recipe, just veggies, stock, water, and seasonings. I'm actually surprised at how good it is. The best part is: I did dishes AND installed my new landing strip in the time it took the stew to simmer.

Landing Strip Progress

I just installed a new portion of my landing strip. I can't wait for the next time I get to come home and land.

I've had the key box since my last apartment, but I just finished installing the red wall organizer underneath (I took "strip" literally and ordered the The Magnetic Pocket Strip by Three by Three Seattle).

The door to the left is my entry closet, so that's where coats and shoes go when I get home. Mail and keys will go to the key box and pocket strip. Not sure what I'll do with purse/wallet/cellphone, but I'll get this figured out.