Organize Archives

Caring for our Lovely Linens

March 27, 2018 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

I was inspired to write this post after finding sadly rumpled fitted sheets and other linens jumbled into closets and baskets time and again. Our lovely linens are slept on every night, they dry us off daily after we shower or wash our hands, we count on them to keep crumbs and stains off our tabletop and other surfaces. I love linens, old and new…I adore their function and beauty so lets give our linens some love and learn to care for them to help them last.

Think about all the linens you use in your daily life, how and where you use them, store them, fold them and treat them. Though I don’t necessarily fold everything as Marie Kondo does, I do take the time to thoughtfully fold or hang each linen, giving them adequate storage to keep things neat and tidy and allow for easy access.

Keeping Linens Clean

Because I have a degree in fibers, people often pick my brain about cleaning their linens, especially vintage and antiques. Though I won’t go into great detail about vintage linens in this post, I will offer some suggestions for cleaning which will help prevent damage to your linen collection, no matter the age. The most important thing to know is what fiber your linens are made of and feel them to determine if they are brittle and dry, if so they may not be strong enough to clean. Most vintage and antique linens are likely made of cotton, linen or a blend. Special linens like blankets and some towels may also contain other natural fibers like silk or wool. Cotton and linen are fibers made from plants, wool and silk are made from animals, therefore each type of fiber will need to be cleaned differently. If your not sure, check out this post for more helpful info. Generally speaking, treat your linens in a more delicate manner than you might some other household laundry. According to Victoria & Albert Museum (and other textile conservationists),

“If you wish to preserve your textiles, you need to avoid or minimise the need to clean them. It is important to prevent dirt accumulating rather than causing unnecessary damage by repeated cleaning treatments. Not all textiles were originally intended to be washable.”

If you get a stain on linens, pre-treat as soon as possible. Lots of people like to use products like oxy clean, which are safe and effective in a general sense. If you are stain prone and want more specific stain pre treatments, check out these specialized products formulated for specific stains. Use color safe (non-chlorine bleach) on colors, and chlorine bleach on whites as needed (use caution, this can degrade fibers over time). Add vinegar to substitute half or so of the detergent which will help remove extra detergent residue.

Sort linens by color and type of fiber, washing according to labels (if you can find them). Wash towels using cool or warm water (unless you feel the need to sanitize, if someone has been sick for example), without fabric softener which can prevent towels from absorbing water and doing their jobs:). Shake towels when removing from the wash to fluff them up before drying. I recommend cleaning delicate items separately, using delicate laundry bags for smaller items and hang them to dry. Hang dry as many items as possible which can help prevent wear and damage.

Dry cleaning may not be necessary if the linen is made of cotton, linen, acrylic (blends), nylon or polyester. When a label says “Dry Clean”, it is recommended but when the label says “Dry Clean Only”, that’s what is highly recommended to prevent damaging the item. The site “Tip Nut” offers some great recipes for cleaning vintage linens. If you are a linen lover like I am, see this excellent video to learn more about specific vintage linen cleaning products and techniques.

Linen Storage

Where you store each type of linen, will of course depend on your home’s storage spaces. You may have room to store your extra towels in the bathroom, extra sheets in a closet or cabinet etc. Many homes have a “linen closet” in a hallway, outside the bedrooms. These widely vary in size and function. Take a quick evaluation of where you currently keep where. Furniture can also function as a great place to store linens, especially place mats, fabric napkins, table runners and other kitchen/dining room linens.

Overflow and extra storage can be placed in plastic bins if needed. Store less used items with cedar chip sachet’s (I can’t stand Moth Balls-who can!?) to protect them from moth damage. Always, always store linens clean. Body oil and food residue will attract moths and cause long term damage. Prevent linens from directly coming into contact with wood, some plastics and cardboard, which are not archival or acid free. We often find yellow stains on older linens that were stored improperly. If you have vintage or antique linens, invest in archival storage to preserve your treasures.

Kitchen & Dining Room Linens

Since these are often both functional and decorative, there are no “rules” to how many you might have. Some people collect liens, other use paper towels for everything, not sure why when there are so many fun kitchen linens! When it comes to purging kitchen linens, let them go when they are badly stained, miss matched, have holes or are “out of style” or you’ve changed your decor.

The kitchen is the obvious spot to keep towels, rags and aprons as well as frequently used place mats and napkins. If you have a spare drawer or two you can store these items directly in your cabinets. You can also keep some linens in baskets, neatly tucked into your pantry or other convenient spots. Keeping like with like w

ill minimize rummaging through and leaving linens in a jumble. I prefer to hang long table cloth’s and runners, ironed and folded. If you dry clean your larger table cloths, remove the plastic and leave linens hanging. I recommend storing seasonal linens with other seasonal decorations, with the exception of table cloths, which should be hung or folded neatly.

Hand Towels
Dish Towels-some people differentiate -for example using flower sack cloths for drying dishes
Aprons
Place mats
Table cloth’s
Fabric Napkins
Cocktail Napkins
Table Runners

Bedroom Linens

As a rule, keep 2 sets of sheets for each bed in the household, that way you are only storing one set of extra. Reuse, donate or recycle old sheets if they are badly stained, torn or very worn. If you have extra closet space in the bedrooms, you might be able to store bedroom linens in each bedroom closet. This can help to identify what sheets go on what bed!

Keep like size sheet sets together, folded neatly (see how to fold a fitted sheet here) and either on a shelf or in a basket, labeled (with the roo

m/size). Like kitchen linens, bedroom linens can be seasonal and may contain body oils that should be cleaned before storing linens for the season.

Sheets-flat and fitted in various sizes
Blankets
Duvet’s
Duvet Covers
Coverlets and quilts
Pillows

Bathroom Linens

Fluffy towels, who doesn’t love them!? Some people use a different towel every day, which honestly seems excessive to me, especially since we use our towels to dry off our Clean bodies! I recommend changing towels ever few days to week, depending on your personal preference and lifestyle. I prefer a tri-fold for towels, which make them look neat when hanging on the rod but also allows them to evenly dry between uses. However you like to display your towel, use the same fold when you store them so that you are not re-folding when you put out new linens.

Hand Towels
Bath Towels
Wash cloth’s
Floor mat’s
Beach Towels

PS…I didn’t mention Ironing…did you notice? Bah, I don’t love to iron and tend to go for fabric’s that don’t require it, or I steam, or I store up ironing and do it all at once while watching a movie! How about you? Do you like to iron, love to do laundry, hate to fold? What’s your least or most favorite part of taking care of your linens?

Love or Loath Laundry? Quick Laundry tips

March 13, 2018 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Home, Kids & Family Organizing, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 1 Comment

Do you love or loath laundry? I don’t mind it but I know for so many people Laundry is not about love, at all! That’s why I work with my clients to create a laundry schedule, including what I to keep on top of weekly laundry tasks.

In creating a laundry schedule I ask a few questions to help determine what the best household action plan for doing laundry…here are some questions you can use to create your own laundry schedule.

How many household members? How many loads of laundry per person per week do you generate?
How many “able bodied” people do you have do delegate laundry to? Kids age 10+ should start learning to help with laundry, including having a laundry basket in their room, helping to bring laundry to the washer/dryer, helping to sort, fold and put laundry away.
Do you have a cleaning person that helps with laundry? If so, what day do they come and what laundry tasks do they do or could you delegate to them (sheets and towels or more)?
Do you and your kids do sports activities or work that generates extra dirty (stinky:() laundry? If so, how soon after these activities do you need to wash things (to re-use or prevent smells)?
Do you take a lot of things to the dry cleaner? If so, do you have a pick up drop off service or is this something your drycleaner offers?
Do you have a lot of ironing, do you like to iron?

With all this info in your back pocket, calculate how many loads need to be done per week and who will do them. Then, take a look at your weekly schedule and assign laundry tasks by the date to yourself or other household help (kids, spouse, cleaning helpers etc).

I change and wash whites, or linens (towels, sheets and the oddball other white items) on Wednesdays and thus the term Wednesday Whitewash! Maybe doing a couple loads mid weeks and more on the weekends makes sense to you and with your schedule or maybe your weekends are busy with family activities and your better off tackling one load per evening through the week.

Keep Laundry Contained

In my observation, many people do not have laundry baskets, have them where they need them (in the bedroom, bathroom or closet) or seem to use them at all! I find laundry in piles on the floor, draped over furniture, hanging form hooks, light fixtures and everywhere else you can imagine. If you don’t know what’s clean and what’s dirty, you will constantly be re-washing items or at least giving your nose a workout with the sniff test. Keep dirty laundry contained in a basket or bag and use this to take laundry to your laundry area and then sort (or buy bins with sorting compartments if you have room). There are tons of great laundry basket options, like these available…so measure your space and determine what/how many you need and invest!

Minimize Maintenance

When you buy new clothes, think about their laundry requirements.

Sort laundry by color and by weight. I don’t like to wash my husbands heavy duty work pants with my delicate tops or undergarments (which should be in a bag). Sort weekly loads by dark/light/white and weight. This helps keep clothes looking newer longer.

Do you love linen but hate ironing? Maybe these things should be kept for less frequent use or sent to the dry cleaner?

Keep it Green Clean

Do you dislike using dry cleaners because of the chemicals? If so, look for a green cleaner in your area. While we are talking about green options, look for cleaning products that are phosphate free and use minimal scents and chemicals (though there seem to be more an more products on the market to mask odor-that doesn’t mean it’s really clean!). This might seem obvious but wash things only when needed. If you’ve only worn something for a couple hours, didn’t sweat or spill on it, then wear it again before laundering. This is not only going to save you time, it will keep your clothes looking new longer and will save resources (water power etc).

Consider hanging delicate, knits and lightweight items to dry (like the French do!). I use a collapsible laundry rack to dry about 1/3 to 1/2 of every laundry load, it takes a bit more time to dry but it keeps my clothes fro wearing out as quickly and saves energy. When it comes to stains, do pre-treat as soon as possible and if your really stain prone, check out these stain specific products (not all stains are alike!) by Carbona.

Any way you schedule it, whether you love or loath laundry, having this household task in perpetual motion will keep you from melting or collapsing under this task mountain!

Understanding How we Learn

March 1, 2018 by Heather Filed Under: Inspiration & Education, Productivity, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Understanding how we learn can unlock many opportunities and stop us from berating ourselves for not doing things the way we think we “Should”. The word should, should be used with caution…it’s a slippery slope but I’m getting way off track here. Lets get back to understanding how we learn.

Have you ever thought about how you LIKE to learn or what feels natural to you? Are you someone who can pick up a book, follow diagrams and move forward with the making? Do you like to listen rather than read? If someone shows you how to do something can you pick it up and go with it? Do you need to read, write and listen to really absorb new information?
Do you learn by connecting with the person, thing or idea?

What are your biggest obstacles to learning? How do you identify or define them? Maybe you haven’t given much thought to how you learn, since you may no longer be in school but learning remains a big part of life for many of us, whether we are learning for professional reasons, creative reasons or are just curious by nature (that’s ME!).

There are 7 basic learning styles described below and shared directly via Learning Styles Online, where a wealth of more in dept info can be found if your deeply interested!

Seven Learning Styles

Visual (spatial):You prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding.
Aural (auditory-musical): You prefer using sound and music.
Verbal (linguistic): You prefer using words, both in speech and writing.
Physical (kinesthetic): You prefer using your body, hands and sense of touch.
Logical (mathematical): You prefer using logic, reasoning and systems.
Social (interpersonal): You prefer to learn in groups or with other people.
Solitary (intrapersonal): You prefer to work alone and use self-study.

In addition to these 7 styles, Experiential learning techniques utilize a variety of the learning styles above but are more specifically defined as “learning through reflection on doing“. Experiential learning and “teaching” through skills transference are a big part of the hands-on organizing process, though experiential learning can exist without a teacher. This type of learning gained more influence in the early 70’s through the research of David Kolb (no relation to the Kolbe personality testing). There are additional learning styles defined within the Kolb experiential learning method, more can be found on them here. Some of his findings share similar theories understood about personality types, which is partially what led me to want to share this information. If you missed my recent post about personality types, see it here.

Kolb states “that in order to gain genuine knowledge from an experience, the learner must have the four abilities described below:

Concrete Experience: The learner must be willing to be actively involved
Reflective Observation: The learner must be able to reflect on the experience
Abstract Conceptualization: The learner must possess and use analytical skills to conceptualize the experience
Active Experimentation: The learner must possess decision making and problem solving skills in order to use the new ideas gained

In most cases when someone wants to become more organized, they have an interest in learning the skills needed and are willing to try new systems as well as reflect on how the process worked for them. This type of learning is familiar in the professional organizing world largely because this type of work is often self motivated, requires reflection, analytical skills to visualize the outcome and problem solving to make adjustments to new systems or processes.

The questions below are helpful in the reflection phase and are defined as the five stage experiential learning cycle:

Did you notice…?
Why did that happen?
Does that happen in life?
Why does that happen?
How can you use that?

Recently, there have been quite a few recent articles written discrediting learning styles as myth. Some of these new theories don’t discredit learning styles completely (some have) and others have shifted towards Learning Strategies, which might actually be a more accurate way to think about how we learn!

Mostly, I think it’s important to understand why we want to learn, how we learn and what we can do to better support our unique, personal process of learning. Science and technology may determine that some of what has been largely adopted as truth may not be fully accurate for all of us. I’d have to agree with that because as much as these theories might seem concrete, how we learn in real time will be deeply affected by so many factors, I for one am grateful for people who want to keep learning about learning. I’ve found some great articles written on the site Learning Science and Cornerstone University if you want to dive deeper.

Ultimately, it’s incredibly helpful when we can better understand our own learning process. Giving a bit of thought to how you learn can make learning much easier and more fun.

What do you know about your learning style or learning strategies? Do you fit neatly into one category or do you find you are a combination of different learning styles or strategies?

Wrangling Donation Resources

January 25, 2018 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Tips & Resources, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Wrangling donation resources can feel like a huge hassle. Getting organized isn’t just about purging but it certainly helps to motivate us when we know the stuff we no longer need is going someplace it is needed and will be loved.

For some people getting stuff out of the house as soon as a decision is made to part with it is essential (lest you dive back into your own give away bin to take stuff back out!).Have a plan for when and where you want to haul your donations before you begin so they don’t sit around your home or car, tempting you to keep things.

So that you don’t fall into that trap I want to share some of my favorite convenient resources for donations. Some of these are local to the region I live and work in, some are national (with local or virtual options).

Choosing who to donate to…

This can be a challenge for some people, others really don’t care as long as it’s GONE! Some considerations to keep in mind when donating to any non-profit.

Will my donation end up in the hands of someone who can actually use it?
How much $ goes directly to the charity versus overhead/operations?
What are the causes I feel passionate about (pets, homeless, children, housing etc)?

With the above in mind here are some Donation resources for you to consider, the important thing is to make a connection between your passions and those in need. Think creatively and determine where your goods will do the most GOOD!

National: Donation Town, Salvation Army, Goodwill, Fema and Purple Heart

Pet Causes: ASPCA Local Shelters, Pet Consignments like Animal Helpers ReTail here in Charleston (proceeds split between two shelters)

Other Special Causes: Local Homeless Shelters like 180 Place here in Charleston, Schools and Teachers Supply Closet in Charleston (specific teachers or counties offer school drives), Libraries & their book sales, Orphanages like Low Country Orphan Relief here in Charleston, various Churches, Missions and other community or spiritual centers.

When possible, take a picture and list “In Kind” items being donated if you would like to write them off for tax purposes. It’s important to include your full name and contact info, the date and a clear description of each item and the condition they are in. More information about donation receipts can be found here.

It is ultimately up to the donor (you) to assign a dollar value to your donation.

You can determine basic values for clothing and household items using this simple Donation Calculator spreadsheet, or there are programs that will help you do this and include the deductions in your annual tax filing.

When you are ready to donate items, where are your favorite places to go? Do a little homework for national organizations at Charity Navigator so that you can be sure your efforts are gong directly where you hope!

Amazing Storage Hacks from A to Z

October 13, 2017 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

When I look for storage solutions to organize projects, I love to explore my clients’ homes to see where we can utilize storage hacks from A to Z. This might mean creative reuse or DIY solutions to make the best of their belongings. Storage is not just about the container; it’s really about knowing what you need to store before you start creating a storage solution. Storage is not the first step in the process of getting organized; it’s the next-to-last step (followed by maintenance).

With a bit of planning and gathering, you can have fun, stylish, and inexpensive storage using supplies you already have or can purchase inexpensively.

Here are some Amazing Storage Hacks from A to Z, found on Pinterest.

Use hooks and other hanging hacks for so much more than you imagined, including your pants, kitchen utensils, sports gear, shoes, and more!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/417779302924931797/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/93238654768372833/

More Storage Hacks from A to Z…Magazine Holders and Magnets are a marvelous thing! Use magazine holders for food, water bottles, gift wrap, office supplies and so much more!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/43347215135092470/

Attach magnets to millions of small things to keep them conveniently in place!

Finally Zip ties are your friend! Get to know the zillion things you can use them for!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AQKYCbE-JMgLUvTG1_2sRzXoSOBo5r0sE9Z5_EeXC4jNdkm19ZODny0/

To see more amazing storage hacks from A to Z with more ideas I’ve collected (and am constantly adding to), check out my Pinterest ‘Storage’ board and follow along. If you love creative reuse, check out this past post on clever DIY Storage solutions.