This Is the Best Way to "Just Start" Any Home Project in 2025
Apartment Therapy’s January Cure is a free 20-day program that’ll help you refresh your home for the year ahead. Sign up here and get all assignments delivered to your inbox.
Welcome back to Day 14 of the Cure — and the fourth day of home projects week! If you’ve made it this far, you’ve already completed a two-minute task at home, made a list of home repairs you’d like to tackle this year, and created your home repair command station. Way to go!
Today, we’re taking the next big step: starting a home maintenance project. This doesn’t mean finishing a whole project; instead, this project kickoff is all about mapping out what you want to do and how you’ll get there.
Day 14: Start your home maintenance project.
Remember that audit you did of your home a couple of days ago? Time to read through it again! Choose a project from the list that feels achievable to you. My project is going to be painting my hallway.
Now, open up a new phone note (or grab a new sheet of paper) and write the name of your project at the top. Then, break down that task into smaller pieces. Here’s how I like to think about it.
1. When do I want this done by?
Give yourself a deadline. For my painting project, I’m going to say the end of January.
2. How long will it take, roughly?
Just a guess is fine! But thinking about the scale of the project right away can help keep your expectations in check. It’s totally OK if you realize the project you chose is going to take weeks, not days, and you want to swap it for a different one. I think painting my hallway can be done in one full Saturday or Sunday.
3. What will I need?
What supplies will you need to do this project? If this is something you need to hire out for, what type of pro will you need to call? For my painting project I’m going to need a roller, paint brush, paint tray, painter’s tape, and paint. I’ll also need dropcloths to protect my floors and a step ladder to reach the higher parts of the walls.
4. Can I break this into smaller pieces?
I love to chop up larger tasks into smaller pieces that I can check off one by one; that way, I can see my progress. Think of the various stages of your project — getting a quote from a contractor, purchasing supplies, prepping the space, etc — and list each of those as its own task.
For my painting project, I have the following subtasks:
Choose a paint color.
Buy paint.
Wipe down walls with a damp rag.
Tape off walls.
Paint first coat.
Paint second coat.
From there, you can schedule your mini tasks into your calendar and check them off as you go. It’s much more satisfying (and motivating!) than having one giant task (“painting the hallway”) sit un-checked for weeks.
What home maintenance project did you choose to work on? Share your project plan with us in the community forum.
More ways to participate in the January Cure:
Sign up for email updates.
Visit the 2025 January Cure page and catch up on assignments.
Download the January Cure calendar.
Join the conversation by checking out the Cure board in our community forum.
Check off that you’ve completed this task and track your overall January Cure progress here!
The Cure Program is a tradition here at Apartment Therapy — it happens every January, April, and September. Click here to learn more about the year-round program and when to sign up.
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