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The Green Cure: Graduation

• Cure Clock: Finished
• Members: 1,735

Here's to the class of Fall 2009! We experimented with some new things this time around (our very own Green Cure, for one!), and while we acknowledge there always things that can be better, we hope some of you came out of this Cure feeling better about your home and yourself. Congratulations to all of you featured above and listed below. If we've missed you, let us know in the comments below and please provide a link to your final pics. And finally, help us improve the Cure by answering our survey at the very bottom.

The Fall Cure: Graduation
Two of Two

• Cure Clock: Finished
• Members: 1,735

I know our online Cure isn't perfect, but I have to say that I really love it. Why? Because everytime I do it I get a lot done. During the past eight weeks, I've fixed everything that needed fixing, rearranged and given our bedroom a small makeover. It feels really good. But enough about me. Here's to the class of Fall 2009! Congratulations to all of you featured above and listed below. If I've missed anyone, please let us know in the comments below (and link to your final pics), and help us improve by answering our survey at the very bottom.

The Green Cure: Send Us Your Photos This Weekend!

Flickr member and Curee In Everything did a whole home cure, and her bathroom is just one example: she gave it the "spa treatment" as she says, and what a vast improvement!

• Cure Clock: 0 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Nine and Beyond, pp. 237-245

>> Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

Hey Curees! We're still waiting to see all of your progress! Upload your photos to our Flickr group, but better yet, email them to us directly! We were planning to do a Graduation slideshow today, but we're going to hold off to give you time to do some last-minute fixing, cleaning, and organizing this weekend, take awesome pictures, and then show it all off to us on Monday!

The Fall Cure: Send Us Your Graduation Photos!
One of Two

Ray's all done! Check out his before and after's below...

• Cure Clock: 0 weeks remaining
• Assignment: Read Chapter 12: Week 9 & Beyond

Congratulations! How did you do? How are you doing? This week our plan is to try and pull as many more of you up on the stage as possible and do something brand new as we honor this class of Fall 2009. Please do all you can to pull yourself together and give us ONE LAST GRADUATION PICTURE.

>> Send Pictures Here!

I've got a little more to do, so don't worry! Just hustle it in and send us your one best AFTER pic with your name and we're going to put together a final graduation post on Friday which we'll publish and email out to all of you. Want a great example? Check out Ray* above and below.

The Green Cure: Send Us Your Photos!
Graduation

First-time Curee Christy has done a wonderful job with her "very small space and even smaller budget." She says de-cluttering surfaces like shelves and fixing small items like batteries really made a big impact on her ability to relax.

• Cure Clock: 0 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Nine and Beyond, pp. 237-245

>> Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

All good things must come to an end (well, in this case most of the good is actually at the end!). Welcome to Graduation. How did you do? How are you doing? This week we want to push and pull as many of you as possible up to the front of the class to show off your work! If you have more final pics to send in, send them to us now and we'll post as many of them as possible this week.

The Fall Cure: Throwing a Party
Week 8-Show and Tell

ivystyle33's card are handmade and beautiful -- the best of both worlds!

• Cure Clock: This is it!
• Assignment: Read Week 8: Throwing a Party
• Members: 1735
Tomorrow I'm headed off to a party at my friend Rachel's house. That's a phrase I use fairly often. My friend Rachel loves to entertain. A call in the morning, "have you had breakfast yet?" turns into a brunch; a bottle of wine and some cheese becomes cocktails; throw a few hot dogs on the grill and that's a barbeque. Yes her house is comfortable and well laid out, yes her fridge and pantry are always full of food, yes she's got a big stash of wineglasses, but her real secret is that her home is well-cared for.

The Green Cure: Celebrating Your Success
Week 8 - Show & Tell

The perfect party table setting from Chez Larsson

• Cure Clock: 1/2 week to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Eight, pp. 222-236
  • Do a final purge for clutter and empty your Outbox.
  • Vacuum and clean the whole apartment.
  • Throw a party with good food, good wine, and good friends.
  • Consider removing the television.
• Members: 1,735 (closed)

>> Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

Next week is Graduation, and we want to see what you've done! Please, please submit your before and after photos to us by next Monday so that we can put together a big picture show! How are your celebration plans coming along? Are any of you planning a get-together for this weekend? Since we're ending the Cure a couple weeks later this year than last, we're now finishing smack dab in the middle of Holiday/Cocktail Party Season. So we're curious how many of you are hosting holiday parties, and if so, are you folding your Cure Celebration party into that?

The Fall Cure: Throwing a Party
Week 8 - Tips & Tricks

Patricia Snook's Thanksgiving table (in England!) was classic and elegant.

• Cure Clock: .5 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week 8: Throwing a Party
• Members: 1,735

Can you believe it? It's December already, and the end of the Cure is upon us. Time to party!! Of course, the "housewarming" at the end of the Cure is intended not just as a chance to celebrate and share all the work you've done, but also as an incentive to help you plow through any remaining tasks and address areas where you may have fallen behind. No doubt some of you are still working hard to meet your goals. Rest assured, it will be worth it when your guests arrive to toast your achievements!

The Fall Cure: Throwing a Party!
Week 8 - Intro

At the Apartment Therapist's family Thanksgiving last week, I worked with my mother's very traditional dining room, building a centerpiece out of plants cut from outside and many, many votives.

• Cure Clock: 1 week to go
• Assignment: Read Week 8: Throwing a Party
• Members: 1,735!

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

Only a few days left. Now is the time to work very, very hard, because you will soon be back on your own again. In writing the book, I really wanted there to be at least one calmer week before the end. Week's seven and eight are therefore both a little lighter and meant to allow you to slow down as you approach the end and catch up if you need to.

The Fall Cure: Sacred Space
Week 7- Show and Tell

soft serve girl/ added a new beautiful blue to her bedroom walls. Anyone else ready for a nap in this calm room?
• Cure Clock: 1.25 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Seven: Creating Sacred Space
• Members: 1735!

There's a moment in the movie Blind Side that's also in the trailer. Leah Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) shows Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) where he'll be sleeping. I've never had one before, he says, to which she replies, A bedroom? No, he answers, a bed.

The Fall Cure: Sacred Space
Week 7 - Tips & Tricks

I couldn't resist resurrecting renngrrl's lovely bedroom from back in the Spring Cure.
A sanctuary, indeed! Love the dresser as bedside table.

• Cure Clock: 1.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week Seven: Sacred Space
• Members: 1,735

Last weekend, a full year after an allergist recommended it, my husband and I finally got around to covering our mattress and box spring with dust-mite-proof sleeves. While we were at it, we turned our mattress, vacuumed under and behind the bed, and washed our comforter and pillows. This full bed "cleanse" was long overdue.

The Fall Cure: Sacred Space
Week 7 - Intro

• Cure Clock: 2 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 7: Sacred Space
• Members: 1,735 (closed now)

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

Hey, take the survey below and give yourself a break. This week is a chance to catch up. I love this week. Not only was it designed to give you a little slowdown, so you could catch up before the end, but it also deals with with the bedroom, which is a fabulous space to work on, it can change a lot with just a little attention and you appreciate anything you do immediately when you get a good night's sleep...

The Green Cure: Greening The Bathroom, Lighting The Home
Week 6 - Show & Tell

Apartment Therapy reader KB used a string of globe lights to light her vintage bathroom, and was thinking about adding some sconces.

• Cure Clock: 2.5 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Six, pp. 185-204
  • Clean out your bathroom. Green your personal products.
  • Experiment with natural scents for your home.
  • Light to inspire with CFLs and LEDs. (It is possible!)
• Members: 1,735 (closed)

Whew! I'm sorry my Cure posts this week have been a little off schedule. Apartment Therapy's 2009 Holiday Giveaway launched today, and we were working really hard on it yesterday to get it all set and ready to go. (We're so excited about all the awesome gifts and think you will be, too!) But back to the Green Cure: how has your week been going? You've probably been making your way through your bathroom, but we also want you to focus on lighting in the rest of your apartment. Good light can transform a space, no matter how small. A well lit room should have at least three unique points of light that vary from bright, concentrated light to soft, ambient light. We advocate using energy-efficient light bulbs, of course, like LEDs and CFLs, but many people have trouble finding one that gives off a pleasing glow, much like an incandescent. Well, we have some recommendations for you!

The Fall Cure: Light Therapy
Week 6: Show and Tell

ivystyle33 has a serene, simple, light filled bathroom thanks to the Cure

• Cure Clock: 2.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy
• Members: 1,735
I was living in my apartment for a week before the electric company and I were able to sync up schedules. Without electricity I had to rely on candles, sunlight, and flashlights to function. My time was ruled by the rising and setting of the sun. It's not something I would suggest but it did give me a greater appreciation for how this simple modern convenience -- flick a switch and a light flares to life -- has changed the way we interact with the world. Light is about illumination, yes, but it's also about time.

The Fall Cure: Light Therapy
Week 6 - Tips & Tricks

It's so important to have direct light on your stovetop! Wig3000 was lucky enough to score the light trim for her gorgeous Wedgewood stove from a generous neighbor.

• Cure Clock: 2.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy
• Members: 1,735

Wow, everybodyâ€”less than three weeks to go! Hopefully you are really starting to see and feel the positive results of what you've done so far. At this point parts of your home are already transformed, and this week's focus has to do with shedding light (literally!) on the changes you've made so you can enjoy them to the fullest. But that doesn't mean settling down to relax just yet! We've got bathrooms to clean and lights to install.

The Green Cure: Greening The Bathroom, Lighting The Home
Week 6 - Intro

green-cure-11.17.jpg

Robin's Before & After living room bookcase. Great job!

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Six, pp. 185-204
  • Clean out your bathroom. Green your personal products.
  • Experiment with natural scents for your home.
  • Light to inspire with CFLs and LEDs. (It is possible!)
• Members: 1,735 (closed)

As we come into Week 6, many of you might have Week 7 on the brain... seeing as how next week is Thanksgiving! Undoubtedly next week you're going to be busy with preparations for guests, so this week is the perfect time to put in some extra effort to make your home beautiful and welcoming. This is also a great time to address the bathroom, since that's one of the rooms your guests will be frequenting when they come over for the Great Feast next week! You've been removing things from your home thus far, so now is the time to put a few luxurious touches back in. Plentiful light and all-natural candles, home scents, and soaps will put your guests at ease and set the stage for a wonderful, relaxing evening.

The Fall Cure: Light Therapy
Week 6 - Intro

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy
• Members: 1,735 (closed now)

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

I can't believe that we're already heading down the final stretch! Now's the time to work very hard and make sure you are doing all you can. This is a good time of year to WANT to fix up your home, but with the holidays coming, there's a lot to do. I say work hard and rest after. This is your moment to do this work and it will pass. Go for it.

The Fall Cure: Getting Into The Thick of It
Week Five: Show & Tell

We think Lucyinthe7thsky's red table is the perfect place to write

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 5: Getting Into the thick of it
• Members: 1,735!

Thanksgiving is in a week and a half. My decision to stay in LA instead of heading to the site of this year's festivities has been the subject of many phone calls back and forth since Thanksgiving is a major deal in my family. When I mentioned that I might be spending it alone: taking a morning hike in the mountains then having dinner at a restaurant and seeing a movie or two, there was a long silence before my mother responded, "You're spending it alone? Where are all your friends?"

The Green Cure: Taking a Deep Breath and Pushing On!
Week 5 - Tips & Tricks

Hanna's simple and sunny home.

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Five, pp. 154-184
  • Declutter your files and office area. Go (mostly) paperless!
  • Take a one-day media fast.
  • Go to bed early and read before bed.
• Members: 1,735 (now closed)

As I've been making my way through this Cure —falling behind, catching up again!— I find myself thinking more and more about simple living. What does it mean? What is the value of it? How can I do it in New York? While it's great to clear out my home so that it looks nice, and while I do love thinking about ways I can "improve" the apartment, the greatest part about doing the Cure, in my experience, has been discovering a newfound appreciation for the things I have and love, and realizing that I just don't need nearly as much as I sometimes think I do...

The Fall Cure: Getting Into the Thick of It
Week Five - Tips & Tricks

k8theriver painted an accent wall and hung some adorable artwork in her son's room.
Looks like he loves it!

• Cure Clock: 3.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week Five: Getting Into the Thick of It
• Members: 1,735

So we've arrived at Week Five of the Cure, which demands some crucial tasks, like de-cluttering your file cabinets, but also some fun ones designed to help you settle more comfortably into your home as it evolves. You may have noticed by now that the backbone of the Cure is really about achieving a kind of intimacy with your home, a heightened awareness of its "well-being," and learning to maintain that awareness as a lifestyle. This week's tasks get at the heart of this goal.

The Green Cure: Taking a Deep Breath and Pushing On!
Week 5 - Intro

Flickr member jenicra84 has a lovely neat living room!

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Five, pp. 154-184
  • Declutter your files and office area. Go (mostly) paperless!
  • Take a one-day media fast.
  • Go to bed early and read before bed.
• Members: 1,735 (now closed)

Remember back in Week One when you made a style file of your favorite inspirational pictures? Now may be the time to look through those images again to remind yourself why you started the Cure in the first place. It's usually around this time that we start to feel our motivation wane ("There's still 3 weeks to go!?") but looking through your style tray should inspire you to push on. We all want our homes to be beautiful, healthy and organized, and we're getting ever so close. So, give yourself a huge pat on the back for the work you've already done, take a deep breath, and get ready for the last leg or two of the race. But it's not all work: this week we want you to take some extra special time just for yourself…

The Fall Cure: Getting Into the Thick of It
Week 5 - Intro

Pics by fellow walker, Tim Goodvin: This is the start at Coney Island

• Cure Clock: 4 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 5: Getting Into The Thick of It
• Members: 1,735 (closed now)

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

Yesterday, Sara, Ursula and I took a bit of a day off our Cure to join nearly thirty Apartment Therapy readers as we walked from Coney Island to Battery Park. It was sort of a day off, but it was also a cure of a different sort.

The Green Cure: Lightening Up The Living Room
Week 4 - Tips & Tricks

jennnc brought all her plants inside for the season and is looking for new places the put them - she's off to a great start with ideas from her style tray!

• Cure Clock: 3.5 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Four, pp. 129-153
  • Pare down your book and media collection.
  • Declutter your living room.
  • When shopping, focus on quality furniture that will last a long time.
• Members: 1,735

For many of us our living room is our foyer, dining room, office and even kitchen â€“ with all that activity going on it can be really hard to keep things clean and clear of clutter. Full disclosure: my house has not always been clutter-free and pared-down, but after nearly a decade of moving every year I looked forward to the purging that came along packing up moving all my possessions to a new home. I started to really hold on to the idea that unless an item was something I really loved or had special meaning to me, it was not worth the effort of moving, keeping and finding room for it in my new place. Once I finally settled down a couple of years ago, my place was broken into â€“ full on ransacked! Much of what my boyfriend and I had decided to keep was gone whether we liked it or notâ€¦

The Fall Cure: Retail Therapy
Week 4- Show and Tell

ivystyle33 has a beautiful guest room all ready for the holidays!

• Cure Clock: 3.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Chapter Four: Retail Therapy
• Members: 1,737...
>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit Your Photos Directly to AT

I am the world's worst decision maker. Given a choice between two things I can agonize for hours or weeks over which one to choose and still, when I make a decision, I'm always wondering, "Did I make the right choice?" When I was doing the Cure, it was this week, retail therapy, that was the one I dreaded the most. I was going to have to plunk down my cash for stuff, because of my budget most of it on Craig's List, that I had to make snap decisions on and that was not returnable. Oddly enough, however, when this week came, I knew exactly what I wanted, including a pair of orange lamps I chased down from Alex on This is Not Ikea. Woooah, what? How did I do that?...

The Fall Cure: Retail Therapy
Week 4 - Tips & Tricks

Linanda de-cluttered the top of a dresser and made room for some pretty
fresh-picked flowers... a great treat for the halfway point!

• Cure Clock: 4 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 4: Retail Therapy
• Members: 1,735...

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit Your Photos Directly to AT

Congratulations, everyone! You've made it halfway through the Fall Cure. You've done some soul-searching, some deep cleaning, some serious de-cluttering and a few crucial repairs. Maybe you've fallen a bit behind, or maybe you're feeling overwhelmed with all that lies ahead, but that's natural at this stage. At the halfway point, it's good to stop and take a breath. Empty your Outbox and enjoy the space you've made. Get out of the house and spend a little time shopping for things you need and love, or re-focus your energies on a DIY project to breathe new life into something old.

The Fall Cure: Retail Therapy
Week 4 - Intro

Wirebrushing our bathroom hooks with my new drill on Sunday

• Cure Clock: 5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 4: Retail Therapy
• Members: 1,735...

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

My apologies! I'm sliding in late to homebase today, but it's not because of my Cure. My weekend was super productive, and I finished fixing all of the items in our home that were on my list. The problem was work. We've been working for over a year on a concept called Marketplace that allows readers to search our database of stores quickly and easily, and it's actually perfect for this week, which is all about Retail Therapy. It just launched this hour. You can see it here: Marketplace.

The Green Cure: Lightening Up The Living Room
Week 4- Intro

My entryway closet and landing strip

• Cure Clock: 4 weeks to go! Halfway through!
• Assignment: Read Week Four, pp. 129-153
  • Pare down your book and media collection.
  • Declutter your living room.
  • When shopping, focus on quality furniture that will last a long time.
• Members: 1,735

Can you believe we're into Week Four already? I don't know about you, but I feel like these last 3 weeks have flown by. I've been working on my own projects, focused primarily on clearing out my closets. See, we do pretty well keeping our apartment clean and clutter-free on the outside, but the insides —those dark hidden spaces called "closets" that whisper "Psst! You don't know where to put that, so give it to me! I'll keep it secret, keep it safe..."— had developed a life of their own, and it wasn't looking very pretty...

The Fall Cure: The Landing Strip
Week 3 - Show & Tell

This landing strip might be more elaborate than what you were considering, but she who has rabbits has been inspired by Morgan's shelving.

• Cure Clock: 4.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Members: 1717!

When I joined Apartment Therapy my brother became a reader. "They're always talking about a landing strip. What the hell is a landing strip and do I need one?" I thought about the piles of mail that littered his dining room table, the sweatshirts, back packs and odd toys his children left hanging around, that there was never any place to put my handbag when I walked in so I ended up toting it around his house til I found someplace that felt right. "Well," I said, trying to be diplomatic, "not having so much stuff lying around might make your house seem calmer when you walk in after a long hectic day, what do you think?"

The Green Cure: Creating a Filter At Your Front Door
Week 3 - Tips & Tricks

Flickr member Jenicra84 has a neat and organized landing strip in her entryway!

• Cure Clock: 5.5 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week 3, pp. 100-128
• Declutter your front entrance, and create a healthy front door filter.
• Cancel unused subscriptions and get yourself off junk mail lists!
• Members: 1,719

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

I always get a little depressed when I open my mailbox, see a bunch of stuff inside and think "Mail!" only to realize that every single piece in there is either a) a credit card solicitation, b) a catalog from a store I've never heard of, or c) an announcement that I've been chosen to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia. (Goodness knows how many of those trips I've given up over the years.) It's depressing because all that mail means nothing to me personally, it clutters up my home, and it represents a tremendous amount of wasted resources...

The Fall Cure: The Landing Strip
Week 3 - Tips & Tricks

Read more about our problematic 12' Landing Strip below!

• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Members: 1,689...

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

The Cure this week as Maxwell told us on Monday, is all about the Landing Strip and the filtering of objects as they come into your home. It can sometimes be a trial and error process to find the exact set up that stops all your clutter at the door and keeps the inside of your home free from the travels of the outside world. This week in my own home I'm struggling with...

The Green Cure: Creating A Filter At Your Front Door
Week 3 - Intro

Laure's landing strip has a place for her purse, jacket, keys and mail.

• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3, pp. 100-128
• Declutter your front entrance, and create a healthy front door filter.
• Cancel unused subscriptions and get yourself off junk mail lists!
• Members: 1,698 and counting...

If you thought deep cleaning your kitchen was satisfying, just wait until this week is over. Entrances are notorious for being the home's catch-all place. In addition to what you'd expect to find there (coats, shoes, bags, keys), there's usually a whole collection of loose change, shopping bags, old magazines and mail, a gym bag or two, discarded trinkets, keepsake boxes from college, and that Hawaii girl bobblehead you got at a White Elephant party last year that never made it past the front door and into your home. (Wait, be thankful for that last one...)

The Fall Cure: The Landing Strip
Week 3 - Intro

• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Members: 1,689...

>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
>> Submit your photos directly to AT

As I sit here tonight composing my thoughts on the Landing Strip section - and getting ready to take some photographs of my own landing strip - I read over what I wrote during Week 2 last spring and was impressed enough to think that I might be hard to top. So, while I take the pics, I want you to have a chance to read it...

The Green Cure Moves to Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Lucyinthe7thsky wants to paint her kitchen table and get some new chairs!

Happy Monday! Slight change in Cure land: From now on the Green Cure posts and emails will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays while the Original Cure posts and emails will remain on Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Since so many of you have signed up for a Mix Treatment, Maxwell and I thought it was better to space out our posts and emails so that you're not too inundated on Monday. So, look for Week 3 of the Green Cure tomorrow on Re-Nest and in your inbox!

Have any thoughts or comments on the change? Tell us in the Comments section.

The Fall Cure: Clearing the Path
Week 2: Show and Tell

Nicolezh is in the kitchen and deciding about the box she just hung, we're swooning over her open shelving
• Cure Clock: 6.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Read Week Two, pp. 70-99
• Members: 1653 and growing!
Wow, two down, six to go. You're starting to get into a rhythm, starting to see the results of what a good cleaning and clearing out can do to your home, starting to look at ye olde homestead in a new light and appreciate some of her finer qualities. Gotta say, we're liking what we're seeing...

The Green Cure: Getting To Know Your Home
Week 2 - Show & Tell

Bethany Obrecht of Found My Animal has a lovely kitchen. It's very small, but it's bright and well organized, which makes it feel larger!

• Cure Clock: 6.5 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Two, pp. 70-99
  • Clean your kitchen, buy a water filter, and cook one meal at home
  • Fix one thing yourself
  • Run your hands over every wall in your space
  • Be a responsible shopper
• Members: 1,647

Congratulations on making it (almost) through Week 2. This week I've been completely slammed helping Maxwell with last minute edits for Apartment Therapy's upcoming book (to be released in Spring 2010 - look for it!), so I'll admit I've gotten a bit behind on my own cure! I'm looking to you for inspiration as I head into a busy weekend of cleaning and clearing out. First on my list: buying fresh flowers. Second on my list: regrouting the shower...

Jump below for a list of Household Fixing How-To's and a few of our recommended water filters!

The Fall Cure: Clearing the Path
Week 2 - Tips & Tricks

Cure participant postmodernmodernist has been doing a great job since moving into a new apartment a few months ago... a little paint and some clutter-clearing works wonders!

• Cure Clock: 6.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week Two: Clearing the Path
• Members: 1,631...

Wow, here we are at Week Two! Itâ€™s been so fun to watch the submissions pouring in, and especially to hear about the plans all of you have for the upcoming weeks. I think of Week Two of the Cure as a kind of â€œeasing in.â€ The assignments, for the most part, are not major projects, but preliminary preparations designed to ease you into the work that lies aheadâ€¦

The Fall Cure: Clearing The Path
Week 2 - Intro

• Cure Clock: 7 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 2: Clearing the Path
• Members: 1,584...

I love doing the Cure. Twice a year I have this great excuse to upend everything, move everything around, buy a few new things and feel the energy come washing back into our home. This weekend Sara Kate started in on our kitchen and I totally lost focus and worked on the bedroom, living room AND bathroom. However, our apartment's so small they're all really connected to one another... Oh, but before I go on, here's a little survey to see who we've got out there. This will tell you a lot about how easy it is for you to get rid of stuff, or how hard it is for you to get into nesting....

The Green Cure: Getting To Know Your Home
Week 2 - Intro

No Accounting for Taste cleaned up and cleared out her kitchen, and the result is "an emotionally changed space that feels new... and mine."

• Cure Clock: 7 Weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Two, pp. 70-99
  Green Focus:
  • Clean your kitchen, buy a water filter, and cook one meal at home
  • Fix one thing yourself
  • Run your hands over every wall in your space
  • Be a responsible shopper
• Members: 1,583

I find the tasks in Week 2 to be some of the most rewarding of all the assignments, since they mark the beginning of a hands-on relationship with your home. For starters, you'll be deep cleaning your kitchen, the room that encompasses many of the green lifestyle tenets we often talk about on Re-Nest: gardening, composting, recycling, drinking pure water, and cooking with organic and/or local food that is good, clean, and fair. You'll also fix one thing yourself (goodness knows we love our DIY!) and spend some time feeling all the walls in your home (a good way to see where you're getting drafts and possibly losing energy)...

The Fall Cure: Creating Your Vision
Week 1- Show and Tell

• Cure Clock: 7 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Read Chapter 1: Creating Your Own Vision
• Members: 1518

We're rounding out the beginning of Week One of the Cure and if you're just ramping up, don't worry you're right on track. This weekend you can start gathering inspiration (like csharpe's bathroom inspiration above), taking your before pictures and spending some quiet time in the least used parts of your home:

The Green Cure: Setting Your Intention
Week 1.5 - Tips & Tricks

Flickr member Candi Mandi's living room was furnished with mostly thrifted finds! It looks bright, clean, and has personal touches without being too cluttered.

• Cure Clock: 7.5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Chapter One: Creating Your Own Vision
  Green Focus:
  • Switch to environmentally-friendly cleaners.
  • Make a list of repairs and solutions.
• Members: 1,515 and counting...

How's your first week of the Green Cure going? Have you removed one item from your apartment yet? From what we've heard, a number of you are so gung-ho to get started, you're practically throwing your things out with glee! Keep a hold on that enthusiasm, because there's cleaning ahead. The green challenge? Use environmentally-friendly cleaners. We'll tell you why they're better and which ones work best...

The Fall Cure: Creating Your Vision
Week 1 - Tips & Tricks

This sunny spot belongs to Flickr Member ivy style33 and looks like the perfect place to curl up with a blanket and enjoy spending time at home.

• Cure Clock: 8 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Chapter 1: Creating Your Own Vision
• Members: 1,309...

The first week of the Fall Home Cure is about putting aside the "I wishes, I wants and the Maybe Somedays." Finding a concrete vision for the direction you'd like to take your spaces and making them reflect you and your family isn't easy. Follow along for some inspiration, tips and tricks on how to get started!

The Fall Cure: Creating Your Vision
Week 1 - Intro

• Cure Clock: 8 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Chapter 1: Creating Your Own Vision
• Members: 1,309...

We have so many sign-ups for this season's Home Cure, most of which have not done one of these before, I want to step back a moment and say WOW. Since writing the book in 2004 the movement towards creating not just a beautiful home, but a healthy and organized home has really gathered steam, as people realize that "decor" is often only skin deep...

The Green Cure: Setting Your Intention
Week 1 - Intro

Green curee bheine is inspired by big windows and plenty of plants in her kitchen.

• Cure Clock: 8 weeks remaining
• Assignment: Read Week One: Creating Your Own Vision
  Green Focus:
  • Remove one item from your apartment.
  • Switch to environmentally-friendly cleaners.
• Curees: 1,291 and counting

Welcome to the Fall 2009 Green Cure! We're happy to have you. Hopefully by now you've signed up through our Cure Main Page, bought or borrowed the book, and read through pg. 51. The first week of the Cure is all about discovering what inspires you and using that as the basis for creating a home that works for you. But bringing in the new means taking out the old, so this week we'll also ask you to get comfortable with removing the unimportant, unhealthy, and/or uninspiring things in your home that are weighing it down...

The Fall Cure: Curees Top 900!
Week Zero

911 Sign-Ups So Far!

• Cure Clock: 1 day till start
• Assignment: Buy or borrow the book!

Cure your home in just 8 weeks. This is just a quick post to say WELCOME to the over 900 people who have already signed up for the Fall Cure by 5pm this Sunday afternoon. Sign-ups are rolling in at about ten an hour, so we may hit over 1,000 by Monday's start. We're so excited! Not signed up yet? Start Your Cure Here.

The Fall 2009 Green Cure: Join Us Next Week!
Week Zero

Last Spring sara.cali from our Flickr Pool showed off some lovely flowers, and a four legged friend!

• Cure Clock: 5 days till start!
• Assignment: Buy or borrow the book! and read to pg. 51

Yes! The time has finally come. The first official Green Cure is launching next Monday, and there's no time like the present to make your home beautiful and healthy. It's not just about organizing your home; it's about managing your consumption and reducing the amount of "stuff" you have. It's about discovering what you love and need in your home and forming new habits that will help you live lighter, cleaner, and better. And that's what the Green Cure is all about...

The Fall Cure: Join Us Next Week!
Week Zero

Posted last Spring Kiki Clark did an amazing makeover of her bedroom, forever recorded here.

• Cure Clock: 5 days till start
• Assignment: Buy or borrow the book!

It's tiiiiiiime people! Time to crank up the engines again, get down and dirty with your home and do something fabulous that you've been dying to do before Christmas rolls around and it's all over. This time we've spiffed up our process a bit and added a new challenge, The Green Cure....

Fall Green Cure 2009: Discussion Board

This is a discussion board for all those participating in the Green Cure.

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Green Cure. Also, do you have any Green Cure tips or tricks to share that have jumped out of the book for you, or that you discovered on your own? Tell us below!

And please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly any time of day or night: click here for submissions.

Fall Cure 2009: Discussion Board
UK, Europe & Beyond

This is for local discussions in the UK, Europe & Beyond...

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Cure. Also, please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly at any time of night or day: click here for submissions.

Fall Cure 2009: Discussion Board
East

This is for local discussions in the Eastern USA (see map below).

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Cure. Also, please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly at any time of night or day: click here for submissions.

Fall Cure 2009: Discussion Board
Canada

This is for local discussions in CANADA!!!

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Cure. Also, please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly at any time of night or day: click here for submissions.

Fall Cure 2009: Discussion Board
North

This is for local discussions in the Northern USA (see map below).

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Cure. Also, please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly at any time of night or day: click here for submissions.

Fall Cure 2009: Discussion Board
Australia

This is for local discussions in Australia!!!

Please comment below and feel free to include links to pics or sites where you are documenting your Cure. Also, please remember that if you want us to post your progress you should email us directly at any time of night or day: click here for submissions.

Buy the Book fast at Amazon or Powell's

Get Started!

Welcome to the Eight-Step Cure. Twice a year we work together to make our homes more beautiful, organized and healthy in just eight weeks. On this page you can find the book, keep up with the weekly assignments, submit your pics and stay in touch with all Curees. This year we're also running a new Green Cure, and urge you to check out this path if you want to raise the bar.

The Green Cure @ Re-Nest

Like the original Cure, the Green Cure will commit to the eight-week program, but will be hosted on Re-Nest.com, taking on an extra challenge and going the "green" way with each week's household tasks. Whether you're an eco aficionado or a green newbie, the Green Cure is for everyone who wants to try and make their home the healthiest place it can be.

How it Works.

Sign Up
Get a Copy of the Book
Start Reading
Get to Work & Keep Us Updated
Check Your Email for New Posts

All Cure posts, Original and Green, will be posted here and on the sites five times a week with inspiration, tips and sharing, while regional discussion boards are linked below. We also have two Cure emails, original & green (choose one or both), that will land in your mailbox and keep you going, even if you forget to check the site!

First you sign up so that we know who you are, what you are working on and that you are ready to commit to improving your home with us. Over the next eight weeks, from Monday, October 12th until Friday, December 11th, we'll be blogging the group cure, step by step, based on the chapters in our book, "The Eight-Step Home Cure."

Keeping track of your Cure through the comment threads as well as through sending us updates with pictures is important. It is from these that we’ll be able to post the group’s progress and share your work. If you’d rather remain anonymous, we understand. Just let us know.

Weekly Schedule

	Apartment Therapy	Re-Nest
Mon	Introduction Maxwell
Tue		Introduction Cambria
Wed	Tips & Tricks Sarah Rae & Susie
Thu		Show & Tell Cambria
Fri	Show & Tell Laure & Abby

Discussion Boards

Green Cure
USA

Links

Past Cures