Apartment Therapy Presents The Cure, Spring 2010

Natasha finished her bedroom during the Cure, while wrangling three kids!

• Cure Clock: 4 Months Till Next Cure
• Assignment: Enjoy

Thanks again to all of you who were not only able to submit your homes, but also took the time to answer our questions about the Cure so that we can make it better. We've been doing the Cure online now since the spring of 2006, and we've been changing it EVERY time based on your feedback and also on our own. We're going to change it again, when we start up in September, but I want to take the time today to answer some of your questions and tell you what we have in store for the future.

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• Cure Clock: Nothin' left! You did it!
• Assignment: Complete the graduation form below so we can see what you've done!

Thank you for taking part in Apartment Therapy's 8-week Home Cure. Sarah Rae gave us a great Before & After roundup on Wednesday, and we've got a few more to add to the mix today. Still haven't submitted your photos and officially graduated? You still have time! Our graduation form will be open until Monday, so share your progress, and tell us how we can make the Cure better. For now, we celebrate a few more brave souls who made it through to the end.

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• Cure Clock: Nothin' left! You did it!
• Assignment: Complete the graduation form below so we can see what you've done!

Over the last several weeks, we've been seeing amazing transformation in homes across the country, wait — scratch that, we mean across the world! We've had a blast walking through the process with you each week and it's been amazing to see the changes occur in your spaces. After the jump we have 15 before and after photos of some great Cure participants who were willing to share their accomplishments with us all. Haven't sent yours in yet? Well what are you waiting for?! We need them all by tomorrow night! Now, on with the show and tell!

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A new kitchen table and kitchen pendant lamp. Great job, kknina!

• Cure Clock: Nothin' left! You did it!
• Assignment: Complete the graduation form below so we can see what you've done!

All good things must come to an end. (Well, in this case most of the good is actually at the end!) Welcome to Graduation week. If you signed up for the Cure 8 weeks ago, please complete the graduation form and show us your 'After' photo! We'll only be pulling pictures from those that have officially "graduated," so it's really important that you take this final step! Also, by completing the form and officially graduating, you'll be eligible to win one a copy of our new book, Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces, so don't miss out!

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A new kitchen table and kitchen pendant lamp. Great job, kknina!

• Cure Clock: Nothin' left! You did it!
• Assignment: Complete the graduation form below so we can see what you've done!

All good things must come to an end. (Well, in this case most of the good is actually at the end!) Welcome to Graduation week. If you signed up for the Cure 8 weeks ago, please complete the graduation form and show us your 'After' photo! We'll only be pulling pictures from those that have officially "graduated," so it's really important that you take this final step! Also, by completing the form and officially graduating, you'll be eligible to win one a copy of our new book, Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces, so don't miss out!

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Bright flowers, a colorful runner, and asparagus — a perfect Spring mix! Via The Kitchn

• Cure Clock: 0 weeks left!
• Assignment: Read Week 8: Throwing a Party
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

Wow. We're almost there, friends. For the last seven weeks you've invested time and energy into making your home better, and now is the time to celebrate all your hard work by throwing a party. Woo-hoo! This is a very important step: you deserve an opportunity to show what you've done. So whether you plan a dinner party or just invite one friend over for coffee, entertaining some guests brings your project full circle and infuses your home with warmth and good feeling.

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• Cure Clock: This is the final week!
• Assignment: Read Chapter 8 - Throwing a Party
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

This week we're all working on throwing a party in our refreshed spaces. Even though it can sometimes seem like a hassle to get things clean, prepped and prepared for friends and family to come for a visit, it's one of the best things you can do for your spaces. Watch the flow of traffic, see where people feel comfortable sitting and more importantly, take a compliment for your recent hard work! Speaking of, on to this week's show and tell photos!

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This past Saturday, I pushed a table outside and Sara Kate whipped up a little lunch for us, Ursula and my mother, who was visiting. I love these impromptu meals. They don't need to be too done up! The wine is a great, cheap find, Colosi Sicilia Bianco 2007, and the runner was made by Sara's mother with fabric from Purl.

• Cure Clock: This is the final week!
• Assignment: Read Chapter 8 - Throwing a Party
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

Now is the time to work very, very hard, because you will soon be back on your own again. And don't worry if you haven't done as much as you planned, the goal is to work hard and enjoy what you HAVE done. Don't beat yourself up. Share what you've done. Throw yourself a party.

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So many of the bedroom photos I'm drawn to have one of these vintage arc lamps on the side table! I'm taking note. Via Design*Sponge

• Cure Clock: 2 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week Seven: Sacred Space

We have now arrived at my favorite week. Week Seven is all about the bedroom and creating a sanctuary for yourself, a place to retreat and rest at the end of a day. It should also be sexy, which Maxwell covered quite thoroughly in his Intro post this week. I'll be talking about making your bedroom a sacred place. The bedroom should be the most unique room in your home, and by that I mean it should be the most private, beautiful, peaceful, and clean room in your home — completely designed to promote rest and relaxation.

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• Cure Clock: 2 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 7: Sacred Space
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

As week 7 is just over the mid-week hump the Cure feels like a downhill race to the finish line. Our Spring Cure Flickr pool is starting to fill up with a few more polished photos and we wrestled up 10 of them that are just out of sight. Here's to hoping these completed (or almost anyway) rooms, nooks and crannies inspire you through the rest of your Cure journey.

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Bedroom inspiration from Grace in LA

• Cure Clock: 2 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 7: Sacred Space
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

What is sexy in the bedroom? This is the perfect question for this week, and one I thought I'd dive into, diverging from my regular path, because this is my favorite chapter and my favorite room. In recommending colors for the bedroom, I usually recommend cooler colors because they promote rest. But I always get the question, what about sex? Shouldn't the bedroom promote sex as well? Let's discuss, but first, tweet your week.

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Such a pretty, colorful bathroom. Via Bloesem

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks left!
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy

Welcome to the weekend of Week Six, where we turn to the bathroom and to lighting the home. The great thing about this week is that up to this point you've probably been focused on removing things from your home, so it should come as a welcome relief that this weekend you'll be able to bring a few luxurious touches back in, like plentiful light, candles, and soap — small things, maybe, but it's all in the details.

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• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

Week 6 and talk about Light Therapy is hands down, my favorite week of the Cure process. Great lighting showcases all of your hard work and transforms a drab space to a real thing of beauty. It can be difficult to break out of the typical lighting mold of a single harsh overhead light with a sidekick lamp near by. This set up rarely works out and this week, we'd like to feature fabulous lighting ideas we've seen so far in our Spring Cure Flickr Pool!

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At BoBo Intriguing Objects at High Point this past weekend, I snapped this pic of how they displayed all of their antiques: lot's of overhead halogen lights pointed towards the walls with candles in between. See the "dark in the middle, bright on the side" effect. As Marc from BoBo said, merchandising is all about carefully revealing something to the eye, not creating a blaring showpiece. Much of this can be utilized in the home.

• Cure Clock: 3 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 6: Light Therapy
• Members: 1,360 (closed now)

With week 6 you're rounding third base and heading for home. This is the week to dig deep, catch up and then plan to bring everything in for a landing in the two weeks after. If you've taken on too much, this is your chance to recalibrate and down shift a little bit. If your momentum is good and you're right on track, this is your chance to push hard and deepen your Cure. Either way, make sure you "tweet your week" and then let's chat about lighting.

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I'm taking a break this week from the Spring Cure Discussion Spotlight to talk about something has been popping up quite frequently in the Comments, on Flickr, as well as in the Discussion board. People are feeling tired, you've fallen behind in the tasks, and you find yourself mired in a "slump" that you can't get out of. Add that to an inconsistent start to the week on our end (we have yet to get our Week Six Intro out), and you're feeling frustrated! I understand. And I want to encourage you to keep going. Here are three things that might help you:

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I love seeing a cheerful office. There's no reason paperwork and filing needs to be dull. Via AT:LA

• Cure Clock: 4 weeks remaining
• Assignment: Read Week Five: Getting Into the Thick Of It
• Cure Members: 1,360 (signup 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…

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• Cure Clock: 4 weeks remaining
• Assignment: Read Week 5: Getting Into the Thick of It
• Cure Members: 1,360 (signup closed)

How's week five going for everyone? We've all in with both feet and some might feel they're doing swimmingly, while others might feel like they need a life jacket to stay afloat (though we prefer water wings). In the Home Cure Flickr pool we have a mix of both and wanted to throw out a little inspiration for those who need help, highlight questions from those needing to make tough design decisions and point out those spaces that are off the charts! Ready? Full steam ahead!

Have you tweeted having reached week 5?

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What can I do with my bicycle and bike rack for the car? My apartment building does not have any basement storage, so they have to live somewhere in the apartment. Any creative ideas?

-LeslieM, April 6, The Spring Cure Discussion Board

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Here's our hotel room this past weekend at Hotel Verneuil in Paris....full story below.

• Cure Clock: 4 weeks remaining
• Assignment: Read Week 5: Getting Into the Thick of It
• Cure Members: 1,360 (signup closed)

This past week I took a few days off and flew to Paris with Sara Kate (Ursula stayed behind with her grandmother). It was my birthday present to both of us, and we both went to soak up French design and food, relax and interview a couple of folks who we are fans of. While not a typical Cure week for us, I thought I'd share with you all some inspiring pictures that helped me to get a new perspective on our own home (ie. eye candy). Enjoy and don't worry if you're experiencing difficulty with your Cure right now. Everyone is. Next week gets much better.

Have you tweeted having reached week 5?

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Cozy blankets, dark furniture, and subtle pops of color keep this white room from feeling too stark. Via AT:SF

• Cure Clock: 5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 4: Retail Therapy
• Cure Members: 1,360 (closed)

We're at the half-way point now. You've done some soul searching, some deep cleaning, some serious de-cluttering and a few crucial repairs. At this point it's good to take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back for coming this far. Week Four is about making your living room truly a place you love to be. 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.

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• Cure Clock: 5 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 4: Retail Therapy
• Cure Members: 1,360

Last week in our Wednesday's Show & Tell post, I took a few moments and shared with your Forester's tale of being a Minimalist Slob. If you missed it, make sure you check back, but this week I wanted to go all out and share loads of photos with you. In celebration of all of your hard work we have a whole slew of Before & Afters to share with you! There's so many inspirational ideas, ongoings and solutions to everyday household problems that I've been waiting for what seems like forever to give their moment in the spotlight! Are you ready for some serious Cure awesomeness? Well buckle up, because here we go!

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I want to turn the largest room in my apartment into a bedroom (one zone) and possibly small living/sitting room (another zone). My bedroom furniture is light colored, but I just picked up a wicker chair, ottoman and small padded bench in a darker shade. What do you think of the idea of different tones? I don't like matched sets (think matching nightstands, end tables, etc.) but I'm lost on the color concept. I'm going for a "beach cottage" look.

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• Cure Clock: 5 Weeks to Go
• Assignment: Read Week 4: Retail Therapy
• Cure Members: 1,360

The pic up top is in our living room. It's a lovely pic from my new book, and it shows a really nice mix of protein and carbohydrate elements combined. Below the jump I list each one with sources, but first, how about a poll?

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We love the large mirror on Flickr member Diademydo's landing strip.

• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Cure Members: 1,352 (join here)

Welcome to the weekend! If you haven't already started, this weekend you're going to be focused on setting up a landing strip in your entryway and thinking more about color in your home. But first, the landing strip: 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, maybe even a bike or a stroller. You know the old saying: "If you're flying a plane, you can't land in a shopping mall." (Okay, so I just made that up.)

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• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Cure Members: 1,326 (join here)

Although this week's Cure is all about bringing color into your home and working out a landing strip, I'd like to take this moment to bring you the words and photos from a man who calls himself "The Minimalist Slob." Forester Michael from Kansas City, Mo. wrote to us to share how decluttering his home not only changed the way he feels in his space, but changed his life all together. His words and pictures are more than inspiring and we hope you're able to gather some inspiration from someone who's been where you are — and not only come out alive, but a changed man!

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This is my first time REALLY cleaning out my closets. Is anyone else having a hard time giving up stuff? I am stuck on stuff from my childhood that I know I don't need and that I totally even forgot I had. What am I supposed to do with this stuff?

Keepcalmandcarryon, March 19, The Spring Cure 2010 Discussion Board

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A lovely landing strip from Tracey, who wanted to make it even better. (via apartment therapy)

• Cure Clock: 6 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 3: The Landing Strip
• Cure Members: 1,326 (join here)

Now we tread deeper into the thick of it. I love the Landing Strip!

In the Deep Treatment you are going think about COLOR and focus on the hallway, an area that is too easily overlooked and extremely important for the health of your home. Building a Landing Strip will help you filter the outside word, keeping your home calm and cutting down on your junk mail will give you back years of life. Enjoy putting together an invitation for week 8's gathering! (Last week's survey: 64% warm, 23% cool, 14% not sure.)

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Flickr member Joywich has cleaned her kitchen already, and it's bright and sparkling!

• Cure Clock: 7 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week Two: Clearing the Path
• Cure Members: 1,286 (join here)

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. There's nothing major, but that doesn't mean the steps are insignificant. They're all designed to ease you into the heavy duty cleaning up and clearing out that's going to come later. But for this weekend, you just need to focus on cleaning the kitchen, fixing one thing around your home, and, if you're doing a One-Room Remedy, making a floor plan for your room and getting a shopping list in order.

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• Cure Clock: 7 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 2: Clearing the Path
• Cure Members: 1,207 (join here)

The second week of the Spring Cure is where we roll up our sleeves and really get down to business. Even though week one was packed full of action, week 2 is where your true Cure colors start shining through. Make sure to check in on Maxwell's Into post if you missed it, it's packed with pictures of his own space and the cleaning he's been doing — on his hands and knees no less! How have all of you been doing? Let's take a look after the jump!

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I've been wanting to do the cure FOREVER and I'm officially signed up. However, as I was reading, I realized that the biggest problem with my place, by far, is its bones. They're bad—like, fundamentally unfixable-crazy-slanty-floors bad. I'm renting (thankfully) and my lease isn't up until the end of August. I've been mulling over moving sooner anyway...Basically, advise me! Is it worth doing either version of the cure (or some bastardized mish-mash) in a place I want and need to leave, preferably ASAP?

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Me on the bathroom floor scrubbing yesterday. I left it spotless, only to have Ursula throw up on it hours later.

• Cure Clock: 7 weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week 2: Clearing the Path
• Cure Members: 1,207 (join here)

This weekend was the most beautiful weekend New York has seen in months. Warm and sunny on the first day of spring, I got to throw open the windows and do a full day of cleaning on Sunday as I cracked the ice on the new Cure. As I said last week, this Cure for me is about decluttering, but first I needed to clean. More on this below, but first a little quiz to see who we've got out there this season:

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This bedroom feels so warm and cozy. (Via AT:SF)

• Cure Clock: 8 weeks to go!
• Assignment: Read Week One: Creating Your Own Vision

I hope wherever you are the weather is as glorious as it is here in New York today. After weeks of grey, gloomy weather and repeated rain storms, the sun is out and it's a fantastic 67 degrees—the perfect way to step into the weekend and begin de-winterizing my apartment. So what is this whole "weekend prep" thing, you ask? Well, since we figured most people are doing the bulk of the week's assignments on Saturday and Sunday, we're going to use Friday as a time to give you tips, tricks, and encouragement to get you through the weekend successfully and one step closer to a cured home!

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• Cure Clock: 8 Weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week One: Creating Your Own Vision

Each Wednesday during The Spring Cure, we'll be bringing you fabulous photos from readers just like you. We're documenting our homes as we go in our Flickr Pool, so make sure you're tagging your photos for us to see! Down the road this space will be packed with makeovers and amazing transformations, but for now, we'd like to show some support for those sharing their "Before" photos with us. We all have clutter, but having a game plan for where you'll be taking each room is important, onward to see what direction others are headed in and offer your suggestions, after the jump!

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• Cure Clock: 8 Weeks to go
• Assignment: Read Week One: Creating Your Own Vision

Welcome to week one and throw open the windows! I'm so excited that it's finally feeling like spring and that it's time to all get started as a group prepping our nests for the summer. (Have you signed up yet? If not, click here.) I have to confess that I've already started. Two weeks ago I bought new sheets for our bedroom and rearranged the living room, and this past weekend Sara Kate and Ursula repainted the kitchen backsplash. But there's still a lot to do, and this week we get to dream a bit as we put together a real plan.

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From our last Cure: Soft Serve Girl added a new beautiful blue to her bedroom walls.

• Cure Clock: Next Monday
• Assignment: Buy or borrow the book and read to page 51

Yes! The time has finally come. The Spring Cure 2010 is launching next Monday (3/15), 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.

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• Cure Clock: 3 days till start!
• Assignment: Buy or borrow the book and read to pg. 51.

Yes! The time has finally come. The Spring Cure 2010 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.

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