I started on the Kitchen Cure this past weekend with a thorough clean-out of the fridge. (See the Week 1 Kitchen Cure assignment here.) This was not the most fun of tasks. No, decidedly not. Especially after I’d emptied the contents of the fridge and stood staring in disbelief at the amount of grit and gunk coating the bare shelves. But once I scrubbed and wiped, the ultimate sensation was extreme satisfaction. More

• This Week: Clean the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry
• Time Left: One weekend down. 3 1/2 weeks to go!
• Cure Takers: 2273 and counting... (newbies, sign up here)

Good afternoon, Cure-takers! We're off to the races with the first Kitchen Cure assignment last Friday. Did you have time over the weekend to clean out your fridge, freezer, and pantry? If you didn't, no worries! You have the rest of the week, and we have some good inspiration for you coming up. Tell us how it's going! More

• This Week: Clean the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry
• Time Left: Lift-off! Four weeks to go!
• Cure Takers: 1,900 and counting... (newbies, sign up here)

Welcome, everyone! There are almost 2,000 of you signed up! Don't worry, it's going to be very cozy here at The Kitchen Cure, with lots of one-on-one attention. If you participate and submit, the community will help you along. Each week you'll have an opportunity to submit your progress. Also, get active in the Flickr pool. The more imagery you all share, the more helpful you are to each other. I may even show up in your inbox with some advice if you ask me point-blank for help (email me!) If you're shy and want to watch from afar, that's okay too.

This week we start you on the path toward a completely clean kitchen. You'll clean out and clean the fridge, freezer and pantry or cabinets (wherever you keep your dry-goods.) Read on for the week's assignments. More

Your kitchen might be sick, or maybe all it needs is a little tune up and buffing. The majority of kitchens I see, including my own sometimes, display, at the very least, symptoms of chaos, disarray or atrophy. What you see above is a shot of a kitchen before the last Kitchen Cure. I chose this photo not to scare you, but to help you feel like you are not alone.

Our kitchens need love and attention just like our bodies. When your kitchen is an organized and happy place, you will cook more often. Simple. More

Does your kitchen need a little attention before the fall hits in earnest? Before the holidays arrive? All of us could use a little time to focus on the kitchen this time of year, and the Fall Kitchen Cure will help us all do it together.

Want four weeks of encouragement and help in getting your kitchen sparkling, de-cluttered, and ready for holiday entertaining? Sign up today for the Kitchen Cure! It kicks off this Friday, October 15th.

• Sign up here: The Fall 2010 Kitchen Cure

This is the place for all Kitchen Cure-related discussions — a free-form space for questions, answers, inspiration and links to what you're doing.

Please comment below and feel free to include links to sites where you are documenting your Kitchen Cure. We'd love to see (and share!) photos of your progress! To share kitchen photos, upload them to our Kitchen Cure Group at Flickr.

• The Fall 2010 Kitchen Cure Page
• The Kitchen Cure Flickr Group

What challenge have you overcome in your kitchen? We removed the large plaster hood vent that was hulking and non-functioning, placed an undercounter refrigerator where the dishwasher had been (since most of my dishes are vintage, and I didn't use it anyway), removed the layers and layers of linoleum and vinyl and painted the floor, and used a salvaged cabinet from my downstairs neighbor who remodeled his place to replace the old, oak refrigerator cabinet that stuck out too far, and thus it limited my usable counter space.

The Kitchen Cure wrapped up last week (we showed you a big gallery of our readers' victories and improvements) but here is just one more inspiring example of a reader significantly improving his kitchen during the Cure. Jeremiah's before and after is pretty impressive! More

Our Kitchen Cure just wrapped up its final week, and we hope all of you who participated are luxuriating and feeling victorious in your freshly clean, freshly Cured kitchen. Here's a look at a few particularly victorious readers — they sent us photos of some especially improved things in their kitchens. More