Are you constantly running out of hangers? Is your closet overflowing? It's time to give some thoughtful attention to your closet. We’re sharing some tips, products and ways to get your closet organized.
What We're Reading
Organizing Tip: Start Small with these 3 Steps
donating and selling books
As organizers, one of the questions we consistently get from our clients is how and where to donate or sell the books that they are ready to pass along. We've compiled our list of recommendations and are eager to share it with you.
If you are ready to organize and purge your books, we recommend that you take the time to look through all the books throughout your home. Rather than simply purging a bookcase in one of many places that you keep reading material, plan to put your hands on every book in the house! Don't forget cookbooks, textbooks, and children's books. Once you've gone through all of them and have your purge pile, the following steps will come in handy...
Step 1: Determine whether each book is donate-able/sell-able or whether it simply needs to be recycled. If it's water damaged, dry rotted, or torn up it's not worth donating. Go ahead and recycle that sucker.
Step 2: Donate: If you don't want to fool with selling, simply donate your books to your local library or to a thrift store. If you have children's books to donate, you can also drop them at one of the many free little library's around town.
Step 3: Selling: There are many approaches and ways to go about selling your books. For a quick way to offload mass quantities of books, McKays is our recommendation. The amount of books you drop off will determine how you sell/how long you wait. For guidelines check out this link. In addition to McKays, Amazon now has a buy back program for certain books that they will pay shipping for and purchase from you in exchange for an Amazon gift card. For textbooks we recommend Barnes and Noble's buy back program.
Step 4: Enjoy the space you've created in your home by purging the books that you no longer need or want!
books, books & more books
DECIDING WHICH BOOKS TO KEEP
Photo via bookriot.com
Consider these questions when sorting through which books you'll keep and which you are willing to part with:
When was the last time I read this book?
Will I read it again?
If it's a cookbook, do I use it? Hint: the presence of food stains indicates a keeper.
Is the book a classic?
Does the book have specific value — is it a signed copy, first or collectible edition?
Is the book out-of-print or hard to replace?
Do you have mulitple copies? (Just keep one)
Do you have an electronic version of this book? (Let the paper version go)
Is this a book I've borrowed and need to return?
WHAT TO DO WITH BOOKS YOU'RE LETTING GO OF
Donate to: Friends of the Knox County Library, KARM, The Salvation Army, local churches
Specifically gift relevant books to: family members, neighbors, co-workers, or friends.
Recycle: if a book is beyond repair & has seen better days
Consign: your books at McKay's Books
WHAT'S ON OUR BOOKSHELVES
Chasing Slow, Erin Loechner
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo
domino: Your Guide to a Stylish Home, Editors of domino
The Nesting Place, Myquillin Smith
STYLED BOOKSHELVES
Photo via designsponge.com
Photo via designsponge.com
Here's a fun video showing a few different ways to style your own bookshelf. And a cute infographic drawing of the different styles!
donations 101
Once you've purged, it's helpful to know which organizations locally need which specific items. It's empowering to know your donation is going to a purposeful cause and is serving your local community. We've put together this resource of where to donate specific items!
Household Items-
KARM: drop off and pick up available
Ladies of Charity
Angelic Ministries
Antiques, vintage furniture & historic building materials-
Salvage Shop
Clothing & accessories-
bare.Thred: Exciting things ahead... Be on the lookout for information regarding donations on June 1. They repurpose clothes and aim to reduce clothing waste in Knoxville!
Bikes-
Kickstand
DreamBikes
Medical Equipment-
East Tennessee Technology Access Center
Arts & Craft Supplies-
The Basement Community Arts Studio
Eyeglasses-
The Lions Club
Volunteer Ministry Center
Construction & Building Material-
Habitat for Humanity
Please share other specific donation spots in Knoxville that you know of!
*Blog Image from Native Maps.
The Dreaded Paper Piles
If you have paper piles everywhere, feel overwhelmed with starting a filing system, or feel like your current filing system isn't working, we have a few ideas for you...
1. Create an active set of files that are easily accessible (not in your file cabinet). Use this to keep track of the paper that come in regularly. Think school, sports, events, and other family/kid related paperwork.
2. Each year, go through your file cabinet top to bottom and shred the things that are no longer relevant or needed. If you're not sure, check this list to see what's safe to toss and what you need to keep.
3. Move things online- many services offer the option of going paperless. Take the time to switch your regular service bills to online billing methods to save paper and save space in your file cabinet.
Image from Space for Living Blog
4. Start with an efficient and organized set of tabs. Half of the battle of paper organization is figuring out how specific to be when creating labels and tabs to keep things in order.
5. Figure out what system works best for your stage in life, time, and personality. Maybe simple is best for you- try this 4 file system. There isn't an end-all-be-all best way to file, so finding a system that works for you is really important and will make all the difference in being able to stay organized.
Lastly, If you can't imagine facing the paper on your own, give us a call and we will work through it with you!
Why not just leave all that stuff in the attic?
People often take action on spaces or rooms that guests or family see and utilize but what about the spaces that most people don't see; the ones that internally weigh you down? Most of us have a stash hidden in our closets, attics, or basements. Why not leave it there?
Image from Sundaytimes.co.uk
The problem with accumulating things and then hiding them away is that one day they have to be dealt with by you or by the family you leave behind. Often times we carry around subconcious guilt or anxiety about those spaces. We form attachments to our stuff or maybe attachments to the idea of having access to stuff. There is a process that one must go through to mentally prepare to let go of things. Part of the decluttering process begins with a good look at how you think about your things. For many of us, holding on to things is a way to feel safe about a future need that may or may not ever occur. We encourage you to think about what it would be like to only keep items that truly give you joy? Sometimes it's simply a matter of stopping to think about the purpose you originally had behind a purchase. You may find that it's served it's purpose and can be passed along. We've found that decluttering doesn't come naturally to many people. Organizing and decluttering your home can be really overwhelming, even scary at times. On top of those things, letting go is HARD! It usually takes an outsider to help you not get stuck in your head when trying to make decisions on what to keep. It's only natural to begin thinking of all the reasons to not get rid of things when the real question (and way less time consuming question) is whether keeping it will bring you joy. Being ready to declutter doesn't happen over night, it's a personal journey that doesn't work if you've reluctantly agreed after being coerced by a friend of family member. The decluttering and ultimately the organizing process only works when you truly want to be free of your stuff.
Image by Texture Photo
Our goal is never to convince anyone to do anything they don't want to do but rather for you to be so convinced that you need freedom from your things that you make the move to call us. We want you to be the hero of your clutter problem and we are here, ready to guide you along the way.
Real Life Capsule Wardrobe
Before: Disregard the top half of the closet in both pictures. It belongs to my honey and he isn't quite sold on the idea of a capsule wardrobe.
After
Yall.....things got really real over here last week.
Let me begin by saying that I probably purge more than 80% of the population and thought a capsule wardrobe would be a cinch for me. It was wayyyy harder than I imagined.
Through the process I realized several things.
1. It's somewhat easy to purge your own closet of things that you don't like anymore, never liked and kept out of guilt, or things that are (let's face it) NEVER GOING TO FIT again. I did this kind of purging before I brought out the big guns.
2. An extra set of eyes is super helpful. I called in reinforcements and tried on almost every article of clothing I had (an embarrassing number) and said "fire away" to two amazing humans who said "please don't wear that in public" or "you should definitely keep that" to each item I tried on.
3. I realized that I was keeping several things that I loved and wore almost the entire summer (4 years ago) and just hadn't stopped to realize that I don't love anymore.
4. I filled up 3 laundry baskets of clothing/shoes to get rid of or sell and don't regret any of it. I was honestly shocked that was able to let them go so easily after I had a second party agree they were past their prime or unflattering.
5. I might have a shoe and shirt problem. You guys... it's bad.
Here are a few pictures during the process. My room was totally clean pre-capsule making and this is what it looked like after about 30 minutes. YIKES!
The hardest part was the final narrowing down to the smallest amount of clothing I could manage --we are talking a total number of 40 items including pants, shorts, skirts, dresses (not fancy ones--just everyday ones), shoes, and shirts. NOT EASY YALL!
My capsule broken down contains 5 pairs of pants, 2 shorts, 3 skirts, 1 dress, 2 vests, 19 shirts, and 8 pairs of shoes.
The only purchases I made were two pairs of shoes for my summer capsule. Both from Target. I've been wanting a pair of more stylish tennis shoes to wear for the summer and I spotted these and couldn't resist.
I'm only a few days in but I'm totally sold already! My mornings are drastically less chaotic because I have so much less to weed through. I love how open my closet feels now. I even went out and treated myself to some new wooden hangers.
We would love to hear from you! Would you ever try doing a capsule wardrobe for a season? Have you done it before? We want to hear about it!
Capsule Wardrobe: A Help You Dwell Challenge
I'm taking the plunge and I'm inviting you to join me.
If you aren't familiar with the concept of a capsule wardrobe, essentially, it is a simplified wardrobe of versatile pieces that you love wearing. In other words, for each season, you pick a certain number of items and wear only those. For the Summer season, I will be picking 37 items (including tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and shoes) and donating, or packing away the rest.
I have a closet and a dresser full of clothes that don't often get worn. I gravitate towards a handful of clothes that are my favorites. I love clothes but I hate my tendency to try on 85 different outfits only to go back to those favorite pieces that make me feel awesome. In an effort to practice what I preach when it comes to an organized and decluttered life style, I am committing to a capsule wardrobe plan for my summer.
One of my 2 closets currently
Why am I doing this?
1. I want to buy less but buy better quality.
2. I want my mornings to be more simplified
3. I'm interested to see whether I get bored wearing the same items in various combinations or whether it's freeing to have less to choose from.
4.My closet space is limited and not designed well. I want to be able to see clearly what I have and currently I have too many clothes for my space.
So, over the course of the next week I"ll be narrowing down my wardrobe and will report back in 2 weeks to let you know what items I chose for my Summer Capsule and how it's all going.
For more information about what a capsule wardrobe is, check out this description. Want to know how to build one? Here is a guide.
Yard Sale 101
Help You Dwell has been busy lately clearing the excess from houses, garages and basements. Springtime is a great time for this! And working alongside our clients as they let go of all kinds of items to go to new homes is so satisfying both for us and our clients. One way several clients have decided to go about the purge is with a yard sale. A yard sale is a great choice if you have the time, energy and neighborhood to pull one off.
HYD recently had the opportunity to help a client from almost start to finish in preparing for a huge sale. We thought you could benefit from some of the planning tips we used to make her sale a success. If a sale is right for you, read on for a timeline of how to go about hosting your own successful sale. This is a great time of year to hold one!
SALE PREP
PLAN A DATE, GET A BUDDY (OR A FEW)
- Yard sales are always more successful, less work, and more fun with friends &/or neighbors
- Saturdays always get the most traffic and Spring or Fall are the best times to hold one
- Check your local weekend planner guide for other events you may have to compete with
- Set time. Sales usually start at 8am and we suggest an end time as well, that way you can do an "everything's half off" when you're about to close up shop
2-4 WEEKS OUT
- Gather items and place in one space in your home
- Store sale items in trash bags or boxes so you're not tempted to extract an item once you've tagged it a sale item (Stay Strong - Let it Go!)
- Plan an exit strategy, either schedule the charity pick up (Habitat for Humanity ReStore or KARM Store) or the vehicle you will load to donate the items that don't sell
- Begin pricing. Think to yourself, "How much would I pay for this item at a yard sale?" or check online for suggestions if you're not an avid yard saler. This site is helpful.
1 WEEK OUT
- Place Craigslist advertisement. Read other ads first to get ideas of how to grab shoppers' attention and make sure to be clear on location, date, and time. Also, adding lists and photos of items helps draw more to your sale. Lastly, if you're not interested in "early birds," use a phrase like "early birds pay double" or "no early birds please."
- Use social media. Facebook is an easy place to just post your Craigslist ad.
- Make signs. Think less is more. Your sign should be on bright poster board, backed with cardboard and write with a thick black marker. Just write "Yard Sale" plus location, date, time. Arrows are great too especially for neighborhood sales.
THE WEEK OF
- Gather tables, tarps, tents, tablecloths to display and protect items
- Visit bank to obtain change
- Finalize pricing
- Get drinks and snacks for sale workers
DAY BEFORE
- Set up sale area
- Get items as close to prepared sale area as possible
- Gather grocery bags, boxes, and packing materials for customers to use
- Have apron with pockets, fanny pack or cash box ready
- Keep pricing materials close in case you missed any and need to add a quick price
SALE DAY
- Post signs
- Move all items to sale area
- Sell it all!
Spring Cleaning Challenge Week 3
Now that the weather is getting nicer we have been finding it hard to stay motivated to be inside all day. Often organizing can be time consuming but we have come up with a few more ways to declutter in quick spurts so you don't waste your day away. I often find that the kitchen is the easiest part of the house to purge. Offices are hard because of the surplus of paper, closets are hard due to the volume of items that get crammed in so they aren't seen, kitchens, however, are really easy to purge in a timely manner.
image:designsponge
1. Take a quick scan through all of your kitchen cabinets and drawers and remove anything that you haven't used in the past year. We all have those random items that someone gave us, or we found in the car etc that somehow end up in our cabinets and never come out. We all have duplicates and half working items as well. Now is the time. You have our permission to give away the mismatched plastic cups, the chipped mugs, and the really unfortunate serving platter from your great aunt. When you have room in your kitchen cabinets to clearly see the things you love, you will be more likely to use them.
We have found this article to be helpful when we feel like we need permission to purge.
image: goodhousekeeping.com
2. Purge your fridge. Maybe it's just me but I always seem to accrue salad dressings and condiments and promptly forget about them. Take 5 minutes to check the expiration dates on items in your fridge that you typically don't think about. While your at it, a quick scan of your pantry can't hurt either. Pay attention to canned and bottled items that we tell ourselves "last forever". I promise they don't.
Spring Cleaning Challenge
Source Unknown
“That’s what decluttering is: taking time to decide what’s important enough to remain in your life. It’s not about getting rid of everything, or emptying your life completely. It’s about figuring out what matters to you. And then getting rid of what doesn’t.”
For the month of March our blog entries will be centered around Spring Cleaning. Rather than overwhelming you with long detailed lists of things to do each week, we will give you two quick ideas to break up your work into manageable weekly to-do’s. We want to keep it simple and to the point while giving you helpful tips to stay motivated.
This week’s challenge:
1. Take a trash bag to your bathroom and fill it with anything you don’t use or anything that has expired. For items that haven’t expired but you don’t use, think about donating to a homeless shelter (The Volunteer Ministry Center or KARM) or giving them to a friend. Let yourself off the hook and don’t guilt yourself into keeping a bottle of face wash that you hate just because you used it once and didn’t like the result. In the future, look for small bottles when trying out a new product or do some online research and read customer ratings before buying.
2. Go through your email and open up any email that you didn’t sign up for or always delete before reading and unsubscribe yourself. One less piece of junk mail clogging up your brain and your inbox. * https://unroll.me/ makes it easier to unsubscribe from multiple emails at a time
Closet Purging 101
February is a great time to go through your closet. Purging your closet prior to switching out seasonal clothes makes it easier to see what you have and see what you need next winter when you transition again. We have come up with a few suggestions on how to get started and questions to ask yourself when you get stuck.
One of the most helpful things is to closet purge with someone who you can trust to tell you the truth about what's flattering and what's not, what looks dingy, and what is outdated.
We always suggest pulling everything out and categorizing by type of item. For example, shoes, belts, t shirts, nicer shirts, skirts, sweaters, jackets etc. Pick a category and go through each item and decide whether to keep it, give it away, return it to someone, or trash it. Once you are done with the category, put the items you are keeping back into the closet.
Often times when organizing you will end up with a "maybe" pile or those items that are just really hard to make decisions on. The following 4 questions may help you figure out why you are hesitant to let it go which may help you make a decision.
1. Do you feel good about yourself when you wear it?
2. Have you worn it in the past year?
3. Do you have other clothing items that look very similar or serve the same purpose?
4. Are you holding onto it for sentimental reasons or out of guilt? (We often recommend photographing beloved clothing items that you know you won't wear again so that you can have a visual memory to hold onto that won't take up place in your closet. Trying to keep your closet limited to items that you actually wear will make getting dressed a lot easier.)
BONUS- A great resource article for you… Second Chances: Renovate Your Wardrobe Instead of Buying New!
