The Interview/Self Diagnostic

Favorites

Actress: Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Garner, Meg Ryan
Actor: Clark Gable, Pierce Brosnan, Matt Damon
Artist: Mersad Berber, Jack Butler Yeats, Ansel Adams
Writer: Jane Austen, Dorothy Sayers, Harper Lee
Music: Barenaked Ladies, other groups I can’t even think of right now (I tend to like individual songs rather than groups)
Restaurant: Cheesecake Factory
Television Show: Alias, Fawlty Towers, House
Clothing: Ann Taylor, Principles (UK store), Gap

How would you describe your style (3 words):
1. Classic
2. Eclectic
3. Disjointed

Personal History:

Where have you lived?
1. Where were you born? Washington DC
2. Where you grew up? Washington DC
3. As an adult? Washington DC, Barbados, Kuwait, Bosnia

What three adjectives describe the qualities that you admire in people?
Intelligent, confident, witty

Apartment:

What is the problem with your apartment?
1. Overstuffed
2. Disorganized
3. Awkward

If your apartment could speak, what would it say is the problem?
I’m too crammed with stuff to ever be comfortable. I know I’m smaller than your once and future homes, but I aspire to be more than just a glorified storage unit. Appreciate me for what I am rather than condemning me for what I am not!

What one thing would you like to do or do more of in your apartment?
I want to be able to entertain without making excuses for the state of the house, and to feel comfortable and relaxed in my home rather than constantly stressed because of the clutter.

Eight weeks from now, when this project is done, if friends came to visit, how would you like them to describe your home?
1. Comfortable
2. Clean/Tidy
3. Interesting


Head
1. Does your home support everything you want to do?
Not really. I’d like to entertain more, and feel more relaxed when I’m home alone. Some of the things in my house make me happy, but the overall effect right now is more stress inducing than anything else.

2. Do you use your home often?
Yes- when I’m not at work, I’m at home.

3. Is there room for everything you want to do in your home?
I would like to have a small desk to hold the laptop when I’m not surfing the Internet on my couch, and to hold the printer and scanner which I use less often now that they are not out and about. I would also like more closet space- the two tiny ones I have are laughable.

4. Is there a good space for what is most important to you?
I love to read and to relax when I’m at home. I do have a wonderful reading spot in a squishy double papasan chair under the window, but the clean laundry tends to build up there for lack of drawer space in the bedroom. Creating space for the clothes I wear by getting rid of the ones I don’t is a major focus for this cure.

Heart

5. Do you consider your home beautiful?
No. It has good bones (hardwood floors, high ceilings, large windows) and some lovely décor, but the clutter prevents the house from shining the way it ought.

6. Do you feel you have a sense of style?
I believe I have a strong sense of style, but don’t always express it. When I have space, my house has style.

7. Does your clothing express your style?
No. My clothing expresses very little at all.

8. Does your home express your style?
Elements of it do. My collection of art and artifacts from my travels expresses a lot about who I am and what I do. These pieces make me happy; the fact that it is hard to focus on them in the house does not.

Breath

9. Do you consider your home comfortable?
No not really, though some days are much better than others…

10. Do you sleep well at night?
Usually, though I sleep better when my husband is in town.

11. Is your apartment organized?
Resounding no, echoed by anyone who has been in the house lately!

12. Is it easy to clean and declutter?
No, I hate to clean and hate to declutter.

Bones

13. Do you consider your home to be in good shape?Yes for the most part. I have some cosmetic issues I hope to address (note to apt management- stop painting all the lovely vintage hardware on the doors and in the kitchens of the building!) but everything is in working order.

14. Is everything in good working order?
Yes, though I should knock on wood with that answer...

15. Do you take care of repairs quickly?
Yes.

16. Do you clean your home often?
No. I hate to clean- hate it, hate it, hate it!