What was that? Retail therapy? Yes, please!  So today is the start of week four of the spring cure, and we’re almost half way! The kitchen and entryway are done, and now it’s on to the living room… so yeah, another week with not much to do. Loving the cure this time around, maybe I should have picked the “one room” option.

Week 4 To Do List:

• Clean up living room and related closets – closets? I wish!
• Declutter books and all media – did in 2007, and have since only added a lovely stack of travel guides. :)
  
• Cancel 75% of the catalogs you receive – I think the only catalogs I get are J.Crew and the occasional Crate & Barrel…
  
• Empty Outbox this week
• Confirm what you need to increase or decrease color in each room
• Identify what you need to increase or decrease softness in each room – bunnies?
• Cook three meals at home this week – does breakfast count?
• Send out your invitations

What I need to + / – on the color and softness scales in each room…

Area: color – to add (subtract)
Hallway/Entry:  warm – nope
Kitchen: warm – hang orange pan on wall?
Dining room: warm – make space for my “office” stuff, possibly get a desk
Living room: warm/cool – already perfect!
Bathroom: cool/warm – change the framed artwork
Bedroom: cool – remove red pillows

Week 4 is even easier than week 3. Oh and I bought a super bright Gerbera daisy this weekend. I think it might need a Liberty of London planter to go in… hmmm….

… because Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) was totally thinking about his apartment decor when he wrote A Lack of Color. Ahahaa, anyway… I’m always a little confused about cool vs warm colors and how they mix, so I found this week’s Apartment Therapy reading rather interesting — how certain rooms lend themselves to specific color and movement:

Cool colors (blues, greens, grays) are contracting and calming; warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) are expansive and stimulating. Just as breathing is made up of contractions (the in breath) and expansion (the out breath), you want to feel this movement as you walk through your apartment. This is done by alternating warm and cool colors.

According to AT, here are the rooms that lend themselves to warm/cool…

Area:  movement – color { my apartment!}
Hallway/Entry:  contraction – cool {warm!}
Kitchen: expansion – warm {warm}
Dining room: expansion – warm {warm}
Living room: expansion – warm {cool and warm?}
Office: contraction – cool {what is this “office”}
Bathroom: contraction – cool {cool and warm?}
Bedroom: contraction – cool {cool}

So in applying the 80/20 rule, I think my living room is a good example: 80% base colors – brown couch, white rug, espresso accents, with 20% blues and brighter colors mixed in. My bedroom however, is 20% bright Mediterranean blue (only one wall), but I also have a bright painting and colorful planters, so I think it could use some direction. But I guess that’s for next week.

Week 3 To Do List Recap:

• Vacuum/dust
  
• Clean entryway and closet – the closet is my Outbox at the moment
• Declutter entrance
• Move all old mail, catalogs, magazines to the Outbox
• Look into what you would need to create a Landing Strip -  already done
• Cancel any unused subscriptions
• Identify cool rooms and warm rooms
• Apply the 80/20 color rule
• Cook two meals at home this week
• Design an invitation for your housewarming

on to week 4!