January Cure··3 min read
Apartment Therapy Cure: Our January Cure, Better Late Than Never
We started the January Cure with good intentions and finished it in February. Here's our honest report on what worked and what didn't.
We'll start with a confession. When we announced we were taking part in the January Cure, we fully intended to tick off every assignment on schedule. Then real life arrived, the emails stacked up, and by the middle of the month we were several days behind. So this is our report on the Apartment Therapy cure done slowly, imperfectly and partly in February.
The good news is that it still worked. Our living room is calmer, our kitchen drawers open without a fight, and we've made more trips to the charity shop in six weeks than in the previous six months.
Why late is fine with the Apartment Therapy cure
One of the nicest things about the programme is that it doesn't punish you for falling behind. The assignments are designed to stand alone, so you can pick them up whenever you're ready. We ended up doing two or three in one weekend sitting, then going quiet for a few days, then picking up the thread again.
If anything, doing it late took the pressure off. There was no sense of failing a test, just a list of useful jobs waiting for us. If you signed up and drifted, we'd urge you to dig out those emails and start again from the beginning.
The house didn't need a perfect month. It needed us to keep coming back to it, one small job at a time.
What worked for us
The single most useful step was the initial list. Walking around each room and writing down every irritation, from a dripping tap to a picture we'd never hung, gave us a clear map of the month. Simply seeing the list made the jobs feel finite.
Clearing one area at a time also made a huge difference. We used to tidy by moving piles from one room to another. This time we committed to finishing a single shelf or drawer before moving on, and actually removing what we didn't need.
- The bookshelves: we gave away two boxes of books and finally had space for the plants and objects we love.
- The kitchen drawers: inspired by our post on open shelving in kitchens, we pared back to the tools we use every week.
- The hallway: shoes and bags now have a home, and the front door no longer opens onto chaos.
- Fresh flowers: a small weekly bunch became a reward that made the whole thing feel less like a chore.
What we skipped, honestly
We didn't do everything. The deep clean of the oven remains a promise rather than a reality, and the cupboard under the stairs has been shut firmly and is not being discussed. We also found that the more reflective assignments, the ones asking us to think about how a room should feel, were easy to postpone when we were tired.
That's fine. The apartment therapy home cure isn't an all-or-nothing contract. We'd rather complete two-thirds of it properly than rush through everything and feel worse at the end.
Tips if you're doing the january cure late
If you're tempted to start your own catch-up, here is what we'd suggest from experience.
- Batch the small tasks. Several assignments take less than an hour, so pair them up on a Saturday morning.
- Keep a donation bag by the door. Anything that leaves a shelf goes straight in, and the bag goes out when it's full.
- Take before photos. They're the best motivation when progress feels slow.
- Don't buy storage first. Clear things out, then see what you actually need.
Where we go from here
The real test is whether the calm lasts. We're trying to keep a ten-minute evening reset going, putting things back where they belong before bed, and so far it's holding. We've also started a short list of improvements we'd like to make properly, from better lighting to finally choosing a rug.
If you missed our first post explaining how the programme works, you can read about signing up for the Apartment Therapy January Cure. And if you're halfway through your own, keep going. Late really is better than never.
Questions readers ask
Can you do the Apartment Therapy cure late?
Yes. The assignments stand on their own, so you can start or catch up at any time and work through them at your own pace.
What is the apartment therapy home cure?
It is another name for Apartment Therapy's January Cure, a free series of short, practical assignments that guide you through decluttering, cleaning and improving your home.
Do you have to complete every January Cure task?
No. Finishing the tasks that matter most to your home is more useful than rushing through all of them. Treat the programme as a guide rather than a strict contract.
