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Organizing For The Winter

The change in weather means one thing; more clutter. With the weather turning cooler, we’re trading tank tops for coats, and flip flops for boots. While this is a good time to put those summer clothes away for the year, it’s easy to let your organization fall to the wayside with thicker shirts, bigger coats, and muddy boots. We’re here to give you some tips to keep yourself from drowning in down coats and feeling organized!

Declutter Clothing

The shift in seasons is a perfect time to go through your clothes and pitch what you don’t need before putting them in storage. If it doesn’t fit, or if you never wear it, get rid of it, but don’t toss it in the garbage! There are new regulations for donating clothes during the pandemic, to see what they are visit here, as well as check your local businesses for their requirements. If you have higher-end or newer clothing, check out websites like ThredUp. ThredUp is an online consignment and thrift store that pays you a percentage of the sale when your items are purchased in 60 to 90 days.

Once you’ve separated the clothes you’re not keeping, store the clothes you won’t be wearing for a while in storage tubs or labeled boxes out of sight. This will free up space you need for the clothes you’ll actually be wearing, which means no more piling clothing in random places because you have no room for it!

Did you know…?

Individuals in North America throw away roughly 81 pounds of textiles per year, a whopping 26 billion pounds each year end up sitting in landfills across the US and Canada. Those materials take anywhere from 20 to 200 years to break down, and during that process are releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Recycling or donating when it comes to clothing is crucial to preventing further damage to the environment and atmosphere, and also helps those in need!

Shoes & Boots

While we might not get as much snow as the northeast, it can still be wet and muddy. Putting a mat right inside your doorway will help you get rid of some of the stuff that may be stuck to your shoes. You can even go one step further… A great idea is to use a cooling rack placed on top of a waterproof tray. This will let whatever snow and mud might be on your shoes drip off into a tray that you can dump out! No more wet socks for you!

Hats & Gloves

There are a few different options for storing hats and gloves! The fun thing about smaller items is you can choose baskets, bins, etc to match your style. If you have a number of hats and gloves, or a few people living in your home, simply label which container belongs to who. These could be put on shelves near your door, in your mudroom, or even hung up on the wall.

Coats

There are many ways to hang your coats, whether on hooks, on a rack, a stand, etc. Just be sure whatever hook or rack your use can withstand the weight of heavy or wet jackets. If your coats are wet, hanging them on a clothing line in your mudroom is ideal. Just like with the hats and gloves, you can choose whatever works best for you and your style. If you’re going to be hanging wet clothes near or on your walls, be wary that it can damage their finish. Using a piece of cork board as a buffer between your coats and the wall is a good way to avoid any issues.

While Kathleen’s can’t go through your clothes for you, they can help you clean your home! Reach out today to have the girls in green get your home shiny and clean!