Tag: cleaning closet

Fall Fashion for the Fastidious Declutterer

Posted on by Jordank

September is when the haute couture #fashion houses release their new designs for the year. And while few people can afford to shop the actual runway looks of Paris, New York and Milan themselves, the annual tradition helps set the trends and drives demand for new #clothing at every price point.

This year, the hottest #fall #fashions for women include the relaxed suit, the track pant, the draped top and the corduroy vest, according to Vogue. Men will be wearing knit hoodies, cardigans, rollneck sweaters and long trenchcoats, GQ says.

If you follow the #styles, you may have a lot of #clothes from past seasons in your #closets and drawers. Some may fit perfectly and look great season after season, while other garments may be a bit snug, outdated or just plain unflattering.

With the weather starting to turn cooler and new fall styles hitting the stores, it’s a great time to take stock of your #wardrobe. Do so before you start any fall clothes #shopping, so everything will have a place in your #closet and your personal style.

Start by purging your #closets and #drawers. Take everything out and try things on. Sort your clothes into “love it,” “hate it” and “maybe” piles, says fashion blogger Jo-Lynne Shane. The love-its can eventually go back in the closet, and the hate-its — at least the lightly used ones — can go directly into a #donation pile.

Clothes that just don’t get worn can go in the donation pile, too; there’s no benefit to save #garments for someday. “Once you ruthlessly purge your closet and get rid of all the stuff you don’t wear and don’t love, you can start to rebuild your wardrobe into one you will love to wear,” Shane says.

Once you’re done, you might be surprised at all of the #space you once dedicated to unflattering, ill-fitting and otherwise useless clothing. Contact ClothingDonations.org for a #free #donation #pickup and say goodbye to those garments for good.

Afterward, reward yourself with one or two new pieces if you feel like it. You’ll have a streamlined, stylish wardrobe in no time and help the nation’s #veterans, to boot!

Rainy Day? Pick a Closet to Organize

Posted on by Jordank

Spring is now officially just days away, and there will soon be more rain coming down than snow. Take advantage of one of your gloomier spring days to organize a closet for the upcoming warm-weather seasons. First, make sure you have enough boxes and bags at the ready, says professional organizer Denise Levine. Then, pick a closet and empty it out completely. Dust, clean and vacuum the space. Then sort your clothing, returning only the clothing you use to the closet, boxing the stuff you won’t need again until next winter, and bagging up the rejects for your next ClothingDonations.org pickup.

Is It Already Too Late to Spring-Clean?

Posted on by Jordank

Can you believe that spring started only a couple of months ago? Back then, it seemed like there was all kinds of time to sort through the junk and spring-clean the house, but with Mother’s Day over, summer will be here before you know it. And with Memorial Day just around the corner as the “official” start of summer, there isn’t much time left to accomplish important tasks like these.

But there’s really no bad time to spring-clean. For example, SpringCleaning365.com suggests that you dedicate just five to 15 minutes per day, every day of the year, to specific cleaning and organizing tasks; by the end of the year, your life will be less cluttered and less stressful. For May, the blog suggests (among other things) dedicating an entire week to a master closet purge and a thorough cleanup of digital photos.

While digital photos can undoubtedly benefit from better organization, that closet purge will be good for more than your own mental health and well-being. After you set the winter clothing aside for storage, donate the extra garments you no longer need to ClothingDonations.org, which will distribute them to local resale stores and dedicate the proceeds to veterans’ programs.

Cosmopolitan offers a complete how-to on performing a closet purge. It says to get rid of “clone” clothing (stuff that you have multiple other and better versions of), as well as the things you bought but never wore. Also get rid of “other you” clothing, the magazine says—things you last wore years ago, when you were skinnier/heavier/younger/trendier than you are right now.

You will find “junk” during a closet purge—stuff that’s too tattered or stained to pass along to friends, relatives or ClothingDonations.org. Donate these items—at least the softer, more absorbent ones—to the rag bag. That way, they can help you with the next step in your spring-cleaning regimen: wiping down and scouring the various parts of your home that tend to collect dirt and grime.

No matter what the calendar says, it’s never too late to declutter and spring-clean!