Apartment Therapy: The January Cure 2025

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 2025!

Every January, Apartment Therapy’s January Cure inspires thousands to declutter, reorganize, and refresh their living spaces for the year ahead.

The January Cure 2025 was no exception, offering a structured, day-by-day approach to tackling household clutter and cultivating better home habits. Whether you followed along daily or need a quick recap, here’s a summary of this year’s challenge and the biggest takeaways.

What is The January Cure 2025?

The January Cure before is a free 18-day program (last year it was 20 days) 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 2025 Summary

This year’s challenge maintained its signature mix of decluttering, cleaning, and habit-building, but with a renewed focus on sustainability and mindful living.

Here are some of the standout tasks and themes from the January Cure 2025:

Week 1: The Foundation – Small Wins, Big Motivation

• Day 1: Declutter one spot and set up an outbox – Easing in with a quick, satisfying task
• Day 2: Make a cleaning to-do list – Put together things you clean regularly as well as ones that need to be cleaned just once a week or month
• Day 3: Do a 3 minute surface sweep – Grab a box or bag, set a timer for three minutes, and then spend that time clearing surfaces.
• Day 4: Clear the clutter in any room – ll you have to do is clean one room at a time.
• Day 5: Pick a task and treat yourself – It’s a “choose-your-own-adventure” Cure day

Week 2: Deep Cleaning & Organization Boost

• Day 6: Use the one word method – this single word will be a lens through which you can look at your daily life.
• Day 7: Create an intentions list – Now is an excellent time to refer back to the word that you came up with yesterday, on day six of the Cure.
• Day 8: Start a living room reset – Decide on the things that absolutely must stay for it to remain functional
• Day 9: Step up your routine – Give yourself a pat on the back, take a break, and find a small way to save the day
• Day 10: Pick a task and treat yourself – It’s a “choose-your-own-adventure” Cure day

Week 3

• Day 11: Follow the two-minute rule – choose instead a task that is easy, so you can check it off and be done.
• Day 12: Do an audit of your home – Today’s assignment is to walk around your home and make a list of what projects you need to complete and where.
• Day 13: Get your tool kit together. – Once you have your tools, keep them together in whatever container makes the most sense for you.
• Day 14: Start your home maintenance project – Choose a project from the day 12 list that feels achievable to you.
• Day 15: Pick a task and treat yourself – It’s a “choose-your-own-adventure” Cure day

Week 4

• Day 16: Set up a home landing strip – Think of this like a built-in command center, aka an organized destination for all your coming-and-going necessities.
• Day 17: find and frame some art – Not only can art make a space seem more polished and personal, but it also can provide a focal point in a room or a jumping-off point for a color palette.
• Day 18: Give your shelf a mini makeover – Essentially, the rule of thirds moves the focal point of a piece off-center, and that creates visual dynamism and tension in a composition, which can make it more memorable and fulfilling to look at.
• Day 19: Style your sofa – You start with two sleeping pillows and two shams for a base, then perhaps a lumbar for the one, or an assortment of throw pillows in odd numbers.
• Day 20: Enjoy your home – do final touches, then sit back, relax, and enjoy the lovely and clean home you’ve created.

January Cure 2025 Final Thoughts

I had a good start with the first week of assignments. Then Zack had to go away for a work trip the following week, so I fell behind taking care of the dogs.

Then we had three people pass away in our family, which led to us going home for week four.

While I did complete some of the tasks I set out to do, I didn’t even begin to think about some of the bigger projects! Like I said last year, I have more hope for next year’s Cure!

Did you participate in the January Cure 2025? What was your biggest takeaway? Share in the comments!

Cheers,
Katie