Tag: cleaning clutter

Now’s a Great Time for a Garage Sale

Posted on by Jordank

With the summer nearly over and the leaves starting to turn, you might think that it’s too late to have a #garage, #yard or #tag sale. But late summer and early fall are great times to weed though your old stuff and sell some of it.

First of all, the #weather is favorable – not too hot and not too cold. This is the time of year that people in cooler regions try to take advantage of the great outdoors before it’s too late, and people in hotter regions venture out of their air-conditioned living rooms.

Offer people something to do while they’re out enjoying the weather, and they will come. What’s more, you won’t have the competition you would for a big summer sale. More people are in town — not visiting relatives, at vacation rentals or at summer camps.

Furthermore, this is a fantastic time to go through your extra #stuff and #declutter. If you have children, you can take all of those outgrown school clothes and resell them. You can also get rid of any outdoor games or summer sporting goods that didn’t get used.

Offer a warm beverage such as coffee, cocoa or cider to entice passersby to your sale, Bob Vila suggests: “You might rope in some hesitant shoppers and maybe even meet a few new neighbors.”

Stage a #sale now, and you’ll make money to use during the #holidays. #Thanksgiving and #Christmas will be here before you know it, and you can put a dent in the cost of hosting and giving long before the twinkly lights go up.

If you have extra #holiday tchotchkes to sell, now is the time; you’ll be helping other households get a jump on the season, even as you increase your home’s usable storage and living space.

Observe and post any precautions against the #coronavirus you’ll ask patrons to take at your sale. You may wish to provide disposable masks and hand sanitizer to any browsers who didn’t come prepared.

Finally, be sure to schedule a ClothingDonations.org pickup for the days following your garage sale. You’ve decided to get rid of that stuff, and stuff that goes unsold that you continue to store inside your house or garage is still #clutter.

Fall is not only a beautiful season; it’s also a great time to get things done. Have a garage sale while you still can! You and your neighbors will be happy you did.

Vote to Clean House – And Help Veterans

Posted on by Jordank

Greetings, readers! The Organizing Blog is back from its six-month pandemic hiatus — and just in time for a presidential election that’s sure to be contentious. Today, get out and exercise your right to vote if you haven’t already.

You may be in the mood to “clean house” with your vote, given the disruptions COVID-19 has brought to everyday life. Are you better off than you were four years ago? Hard to say — but life pre-COVID was almost certainly less stressful.

House is also where you’ve probably been spending a lot of time since March — and you and your family members may be confined there again if the current spikes in coronavirus infections don’t abate before winter.

After you’ve voted, binge-watched your Netflix shows and baked a loaf of sourdough, you may look around your home and find that spending lots of time there has led to added dirt and clutter. And that means it may be a good time to literally clean house.

Maybe you bought a lot of extra stuff online that you later found out you didn’t need in lockdown. Maybe working from home or switching the children to remote learning has created new, voluminous piles of papers. Or maybe the boredom and added wear have you wanting to overhaul the space altogether.

Whatever the reason you want to clean house, remember the nation’s veterans as you declutter, organize and sanitize your space. Donate the stuff you no longer want or need to ClothingDonations.org; we’re again scheduling pickups in many areas.

Veterans are vulnerable during the COVID-19 crisis. Most Vietnam vets, for example, are now over 65, and many have preexisting conditions that could make a coronavirus infection life-threatening. And they, too, feel isolated and uncertain in their homes.

The stuff you donate gets resold at secondhand stores to fund programs that provide veterans with health care, housing and other resources. Box it up as you clean house and  then arrange for a #donation pickup online at ClothingDonations.org or by calling 888-518-VETS.

You’ll not only be able to enjoy a cleaner, clutter-free home, but also help veterans feel more secure in theirs.

Give Up Clutter for Good

Posted on by Jordank

Just a week ago, New Orleans revelers celebrated Mardi Gras, tossing some 25 million pounds of beads. The following day—Ash Wednesday—marked the beginning of Lent, the annual religious observance that asks Christians to engage in six weeks of penance or self-denial by giving something up.

Whether or not you’re a regular churchgoer, there’s one way to give things up that will reward you immediately, even as you help others: Pledge to give up clutter during Lent—and maybe for good—by cleaning out your old clothing, housewares and other unused goods and calling ClothingDonations.org for a pickup.

Clutter not only gets in your way, it clutters and confuses the mind. “Like used plastic shopping bags stuck on the branches of a riverbank tree, our clutter poisons our view and enjoyment of the objects that we do need and want and use,” says green living expert Annie B. Bond.

Her “8 Easy Steps to No More Clutter” begin with a thorough sorting exercise. Arrange your stuff into five categories: “Essential” things you need every day; “Favorites” such as photos, jewelry, and souvenirs; “Other people’s stuff” that winds up in your space; and “Annoying” or “Downright gross” items like junk mail and dirty laundry.

Start with the gross, she says, and sort out the simply annoying. Return other peoples’ stuff and find places for your favorites. Finally, put all of your essentials in places you can access and use them. Anything that still doesn’t have a home when you’re finished is clutter—and you can throw it away or donate it.

This is a comprehensive approach to spring cleaning, to be sure, but with almost five more weeks of Lent, you’ll have time to give something up and still do the virtuous work of helping others. When you donate the stuff that clutters up your house, the proceeds go toward programs that help feed, house and thank the nation’s veterans for their service.

There’s never a bad time to give up clutter, but you, your family and the nation’s veterans will all be better off once you do. So start today—you’ll be happy you did!

Time for Garage Sales

Posted on by Jordank

Garage sale season is right around the corner! Don’t get stressed out a week before 一 start preparing for your sale today. Go through different rooms for items you no longer use, but are still in good condition for selling to your neighbors. Better yet, donate gently used kitchenware and clothes to us! Simply visit the ClothingDonations.org website, schedule a donation pick-up time, and we’ll take care of the rest.