Pesky Home Projects, How I Organized Our Coat Closet

Now more than ever I’m noticing certain areas in our home that just seem to feel CLUTTERED. Small areas that wouldn’t normally have bothered me so much if I wasn’t staring at them 24/7.

I asked my Instagram community what they would like me to organize next a few weeks back. I picked something really easy like a drawer and then something that would take a bit longer and something I assumed people had little interest in, our coat closet.

Boy, what a mistake! HA. Almost everyone picked organize the coat closet in our entry. I wasn’t sure that I was even going to tackle this at the moment but the more I looked at it the more it became clear that I had to do this. Between January - March of this year it exploded. Between all Bendels meds and things that started to show up at our apartment un-wanted it became a hidden dumping ground.

When everything arrived it was really easy to put everything that we had in it’s place and label each bin.

I knew this would take some time to do because I can’t just leave my apartment and pop over to the container store. Once I settled into that reality I was good to go.

I took everything out of the closet and laid it on the floor. I began sorting things (donate, recycle and keep).

I quickly arranged our coats so they are color coordinated and by length. I did a few measurements and planned out how many bins I needed and picked a few sizes.

I highly recommend these chalk labels. I used a few left over for some bins in our bedroom closet. You’ll find all the items below in the ‘home styling & organizing’ section.

Enjoy!

Yours in style, Allie

Spring Clean Your Winter Sweaters

SPRING CLEAN YOUR WINTER SWEATERS

Learn all my tricks to care for your natural fibers at home.

Now that you’ve invested(and worn) you precious knits all fall and winter long it’s time to clean them before you tuck them away for the season. We no longer have the luxury of saying “I’ll just drop them off at the dry cleaner on my way to work…” so here are my tips for cleaning them in the comfort of your home. If you love a video I linked a HOW TO video from my youtube channel at the bottom of the article :)

Make sure you have the items to do this properly. You will need the following:

1. The Laundress | Wool & Cashmere Shampoo. 1 bottle will last you months if not YEARS. If you don’t have this cleaner than my back up of choice is Woolite (a mild detergent) or baby shampoo.

2. A ‘delicate’ garment bag for your wash (wash bags). You can find these anywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes. Simply google “garment bag for washing delicates” and the choices will pop up quickly.

Now that you have what you need, here is how you can safely clean your items. Place one item in a bag. Don’t double up. Don’t overload the wash. I stick to washing at most, two sweaters of the same color at once. This will take some time but we all have lot’s of time right now.

If there are any special detailing on your sweater(s) that you are worried about - turn it inside out before placing the sweater in the garment bag.

Once you have one sweater in one bag place it in the washing machine. You can use the COLD cycle or HAND WASH if your machine has that option. DO NOT WASH ON HOT (bc obviously). Use your Laundress Wool & Cashmere Shampoo(just a tiny bit) or the mild detergent as mention above of your choice.

Once your wash is done, simply remove the sweater from the bag, carefully un-wrinkle it and lay it fat on your dryer (preferably while running and drying other clothing but you don’t need to) or place on a drying rack so the sweater isn’t hanging or drooping while wet. This means when it’s on the rack make sure it’s well supported on the top rack. If you place it flat on a surface then just make sure to flip it so both sides air equally.

Voila! Your cashmere and wool sweaters will feel so much softer( and fresher) than ever before. Now they’re ready to be stored clean.

Yours in style,

Allie