Apartment Therapy: the January Cure 2023

Apartment Therapy: the January Cure 2023

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The January Cure is one of Apartment Therapy’s longest traditions of helping you reset your living space for the upcoming year. See how my progress stacked up this year while cleaning my home during The January Cure 2023!

What is The January Cure 2023?

The January Cure before is a free 20-day program from Apartment Therapy dedicated to help you love your home. It gives you one task each day to help you prepare your space for the new year – all without stressing you out.

Cleaning and organizing your home doesn’t have to overwhelm you! If you don’t know where to start then this is a good assignment for you to take on. Once you sign up for the email list, you’ll receive one task each day during the week. There are no tasks on the weekends. But, if you’re like me, you’ll probably get busy during the week and end up completing some tasks on the weekend.

January Cure 2023 Summary

If this is your first time participating, then you’ll want to take your time with the tasks! Apartment Therapy tends to keep the tasks super specific so they aren’t overwhelming. These tasks can be handled in a short amount of time. But they also want you to think of a bigger “project” that you’ll want to focus your time and energy into this month that will help you feel refreshed and renewed!

I think the tasks are designed to be small that you can “get over the hurdle” of getting started. The January Cure is a great way to get over the busy-ness of the Holidays and set you up right in the new year! In the mean time, you can review my progress from last year.

It kicks off Monday, Jan. 2, 2023!

Week 1

  • Day 1: Declutter one drawer, anywhere in your home – For this task, I chose to declutter under the master bathroom sink. I had some old organizers from our apartment that weren’t cutting it in the new space. I purchased these lazy susans that make a world of difference for vertical storage.
Bathroom Under Sink Organization Bathroom Under Sink Organization
Bathroom Under Sink Organization Bathroom Under Sink Organization

Shop Bathroom Organizers



  • Day 2: Create a to-do list for your home – I’ve already had some ideas written on other lists (and some in my mind), so this task is excellent for the first morning back to the office. I had Monday off this week, so this morning was great for a brain dump. While I was busy thinking about what should be done around the house this month, I was also able to start a few other lists too.
January Cure to-do list January Cure to-do list
  • Day 3: Set up an outbox (and declutter intentionally) – I worked ahead had already created my outbox during the holidays. I moved everything to the spare bedroom so I could keep it all in one place. I have some items for sale on Poshmark. If they don’t sell by the end of the month, then I’ll get rid of it by the end of this project.

Janaury Cure 2023 Outbox

  • Day 4: Clear expired items from all over your home – My husband cleaned our our pantry and we worked to clean out expired items out of our fridge.
  • Day 5: Clean the floors and treat yourself to flowers – My husband cleaned the kitchen floor and I didn’t lift a finger, haha. I did not buy any flowers.

Week 2

  • Day 6: Take a mini-meditation and pick a project – I focused on cleaning up my makeup vanity. There was hardly any space on top and there was makeup smeared on the glass. This project scaled a little bit because I also cleaned out all my old, expired makeup. Then I also cleaned all my makeup tools and sponges. What I thought would be quick turned into almost an hour of work. But I feel good about my clean space.
  • Day 7: Do a 30-minute closet cleanout – I worked through my closet by hanging up any items that were out of place. Then I grabbed clothes that no longer fit, have holes, or don’t look too good. The ones that don’t fit I will try to resell, but ultimately will end up in my outbox.
  • Day 8: Kick off a living room reset – I worked through the living room quickly to tidy it up. Any sad looking cushion I fluffed up. I folded the blanket and I put the clothes in the closet.
  • Day 9: Plan a get-together – I have a get-together planned in a couple weeks. I recently had a murder mystery dinner party featuring the Hunt A Killer game at my house. My friend ordered a game of her own and she’s hosting!
  • Day 10: Clean the kitchen and treat yourself – I put items away in the pantry. I put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher. I cleaned up my island that sometimes doubles as my work space. Then I wiped all the counters down.

Week 3

  • Day 11: Find and frame some art – I couldn’t find any art to frame! The last piece I purchased was from my trip to Hawaii, but I was proactive in ordering a frame before it arrived in the mail.
  • Day 12: Work on your project – I haven’t brought myself around to this one. It’s soooo boring.
  • Day 13: Get your sofa into shape – I got my sofa in shape during the living room reset.
  • Day 14: Do a 3-minute surface sweep – I had to clean more than 3 minutes, but I was able to get it done this morning. The dog puked on the carpet, so I had to clean that up. Then, a skirt I put in the dryer had shredded. So I had to rewash my clothes, sweep the floors, and clean the dryer and lint. Don’t skip read the washing labels on your clothes!
  • Day 15: Clean the bedroom and treat yourself – I had the rugs cleaned on Saturday. The company came out to the house and also cleaned the rugs in the bedroom. Since I already cleaned up my makeup area during the first week of the challenge, I have a fairly clean bedroom as well!

Week 4

  • Day 16: Set up a home landing strip – We already have a landing strip in place for keys, bags, coats and shoes.
  • Day 17: Clean up the bathroom – I gathered all the dirty clothes and did a load of laundry.
  • Day 18: Take stock of your linens – I recently purchased a new blanket and sheets for our bedroom.
  • Day 19: Reset your living room and empty the outbox – I finally dropped the couch off with the upholsterer. While technically not the living room sofa, it is something that’s been on my to-do list for a while.
  • Day 20: Relax and enjoy your home! – I can’t relax because I still haven’t worked on my project, haha.

Keep following along as I update on my progress through these daily challenges.

Update March 22, 2023:

I finally finished my project of cleaning up my desk cables! I ordered a new monitor shelf, so I figured it was time to finish the project and clean my home office.

Join the January Cure Facebook Group

Did you participate in The January Cure 2023? What was your big project?! Let me know in the comments below! You can also view my past participations in the January Cure.

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