Estefania's Profile

Day 5: Estefania's List
Over the weekend I did too much and Sunday things starting to fail and nothing worked out. I should have take the day off. On Monday morning the house looked messy, but I fix it up during the day. Yesterday I took 10 minutes to visualized the living room with less furniture, things that got moved there over the weekend and needs to be gone. That space also hold a drum set and two little guitars, and it's what we need now: space to move freely and to live life, not to let pass me by. Someday we will have a regular living room for now we use our little "back room" because is smaller and feels comfortable.
Today the house feels refresh and clean.
Only one project? That takes a lot of pressure off me! Thank you Apartment Therapy! I will pick to take the furniture out and find a place for the things that were inside there and still keep doing the other things along, I will share pictures. The idea when I started The Cure, was to work hard in the house for a month, create flow, make it functional and use the rest of the year doing other things. I remember years ago reading Maxwell's book where he talks about going in a bike trip to Europe and how he realized that people with less stuff moved faster and enjoy more. I really liked that idea and the opportunities that creates for all of us to stop consuming and start living life instead.

Day 3: Estefania's List
Yesterday the kids picked up the paint colors they wanted at the hardware store: purple and blue. I got 7.75 FL OZ container of each that will be enough for parts of a bookshelf and desk. I also got six light bulbs and spend less than $10.
I usually have little "out boxes" and when they are full I'll take them to the car. I'm constantly taking things to any donation center when I pass by going somewhere else, I don't make special trips or I most likely will be complaining about it. I had give away things on Craigslist and FreeCycle or companies that will pick up from your house (even big items), good options for when you don't have a car. You can always sell the expensive items if you want to take the time.
Today I started The Cure by cleaning out a closet that is under construction since two months ago when we removed an old heater. We fixed the hole in the wall and temporally we are going to use it to store some books, musical instruments and a surf board until we decided how is going to be utilized. I vacuum and mop the living room moving everything around, he will have to rearrange the drums. I still don't know where I am going to move the doll house, the wooden suitcase and the chair. I removed stuff from the shelves I cleaned yesterday and place there two old radios. In the "imaginary out box", the porch, I took a little kid bed and the mattress that nobody is using, or will. When I go shopping this afternoon, I will look for potted plants with flowers. For cleaning I mostly use white vinegar, dish detergent, baking soda, brush and elbow grease, I'll skip that part. This has been overwhelming for the most part when I look around and see things everywhere. But I am not giving up just yet. Tomorrow will be another day, now is time to relax.

Day 1: Estefanía's List

Definitely not ready to start the January Cure but feeling that I should anyway. We rented this house two years ago: two adults and tree kids. The biggest problem: this house is not functional for us, mostly me: the caretaker of other-people stuff. To get from point A to point B there are all this things, I call it obstacles, in the way. Lack of storage or the amount of things we have laying around is the culprit.
There are lots of things that can be done and the fact that we are renting for who-knows-how-long does not inspire me to make many changes. I try do do things that I can take with me: painting furniture, framing pictures, making curtains, multiplying plants, buying lamps. I try to have no duplicates of things: one set of sheets and towels for each person of the house plus an extra when family is visiting, for example. I avoided including in the list the cleaning and organizing because I do it constantly without good results, this way I can focus on the rest. Here is my little list of short term and just for the record: I observed, made the list but did not stayed calm but I feel better now. For the last two rooms of the house, please note that after several attempts to fix it up, what I wrote seems to be the only available solution.

Entry: Change overhead light. Grow plants in containers, with flowers preferred. Bathroom
Make curtain for little window. Make frame for mirror. Make shelving above door to store only necessary bathroom stuff.

Living Room. Paint "director chair" in white. Make sheer curtains for the front window.
Remove table.

Kitchen. Fix cabinet door. Paint in and out cabinets. Organize inside cabinets to make things accessible.

Kids bedroom. Donate the two pieces of furniture, the table and the drawer. Organize, with the kids, their toys, books and art supplies. Paint shelves and desk on white.
Create a place for them to hung their backup from school. Make their art work into art and hung it in the wall.

Our bedroom. Make sheer curtains for two windows. Change light bulb.Fix lamp for reading.

Laundry Room. Eliminate.

Carpot. Eradicate.

Seems that I have more things to do now. The January Cure starts now. Estefanía