The January Cure: More of the same

You all know by now that I signed up for Apartment Therapy’s The January Cure in the hopes of resetting my home after the holidays and in preparation for the new year…and if you saw my first post about it, you’ll know that it hasn’t been going quite to plan. Well, it hasn’t gotten much better since then but I like how the assignments are forcing me to think about my home and how I want it to look and feel. I’m currently reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (a few years late, I know, haha!), so I’m hoping that book along with the Cure will help kick my butt into gear, even if it happens after January ends.

Here’s where I stand with the Cure assignments since the first update:

Day 8 / Clean the kitchen + treat yourself to flowers

This was the weekend assignment from January 11th that I mentioned in the first update. I couldn’t get Korri to help me with this one (he worked the next Saturday and then we had a lot of plans on Sunday), but I did manage to wipe down most of the surfaces and have been good about keeping the dishwasher going so the dirty dishes don’t pile up. There are random piles of paper that need to be dealt with, and I also wish we had some sort of dish rack to tidy up the drying hand-washed dishes. The outside of the cabinets really need to be cleaned (especially the ones over the stove), but I have no idea what is safe to use on finished wood. I might try a white vinegar solution and if that doesn’t work, maybe Murphy Oil Soap? Do you have any suggestions?

Day 9 / Do a bathroom cabinet cleanout

I actually did this in mid-December and found a bunch of stuff to donate! I’m on a mission this year to actually use up what I already have before buying new products and hopefully that will keep the clutter down. I’m sure there will be more products in a few months to a year that I haven’t touched that will then be tossed or donated. I just thought of a good idea: tape the lids on all the products I have and if I don’t use it within the next year, toss it. It’d work like the backwards-hanger trick people do in closets!

I’ve been contemplating bathroom storage since going through my stuff. Right now, I have one of those tiered cabinet organizers for my products so I can actually see everything I have. I also have a couple of fabric bins, and that’s where products go to die because I don’t see them. After going through those, I mostly keep just medication and other items (like tampons/pads) in the bins. I was thinking about getting some sort of drawer contraption like this to use instead of the fabric bins since those bins aren’t keeping me very organized. (Also: What do I do with expired medicine?)

Day 10 / Plan a get-together

We actually had family over a fair number of times in the warmer months (mostly because we grilled quite a bit) but haven’t had anyone over for a while because of the state of the house. I did not plan a get-together but I’m sure one will happen soon enough. They aren’t usually planned more than a week in advance. We do so much cleaning when we know people are coming over, so I understand why this was an assignment!

Day 11 / Find and frame artwork

Most of my “artwork” (mostly photos) is already framed, it just needs to be hung! I do need to figure out what all still needs a frame, though. I often find myself browsing frames at a store and not knowing what size I actually need, so that’s counterproductive. Ha.

Hanging artwork is one of my main projects. We have nothing up on the walls, and I would love to start hanging things since we, you know, live here and have been for going on two years now! Korri has been against putting nails in the wall (even though we don’t rent…) but I think I may have convinced him that it’s something we should do (and we can use Command Strips to avoid nail holes). I’m not going to go crazy and put stuff everywhere, but I have a few things that need a home on a wall and not on a counter top or the floor. I just need a second set of hands to help me hang them straight!

Day 12 / Work on a project

I still haven’t put together a full list of projects, so I didn’t do this assignment…

Day 13 / Clean the bathroom + treat yourself to flowers

This was the most recent weekend assignment. It did coincide with towel-washing day (yesterday), so that was nice! I thought this would be another assignment that wouldn’t get done, but I did end up cleaning both the master bathroom and the guest bathroom late Sunday night! I didn’t do everything (I left the tub/showers and inside of the toilets for Korri, and I’ll do the floors later), but I did clean the sinks, counters, mirrors, outside of the toilets, and the outside of the master shower. I also boiled water and poured it down each drain to make sure those weren’t clogging. I’ll call this one a success!

In the photo above, Rosie was yelling at me to give her water. She’s always been obsessed with drinking water directly from the faucet. When we first moved in with Korri, I was adamant about not giving her faucet water, but Korri gave in a couple of months ago. She’s very spoiled (and hydrated)!

Day 14 / Get rid of paper clutter

This was today’s assignment. Ugh, paper is where everything falls apart for me. I cannot figure out how to get rid of most of it. I did not work on this assignment because it’s going to take way longer than just a couple of hours or even one full day. I’ll be studying this topic heavily when I get to that part of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up!

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There’s another 10 days to go in the month, so let’s see if I can finish better than I started! Are you doing The January Cure or decluttering your home with the KonMari method by Marie Kondo? I’d love to know how it’s going for you!