House Tips


5 Ways To Declutter Your Space For The Holidays

Messy piles of stuff aren't just ugly; they're stress-inducing. Interior designer Taniya Nayak, host of HGTV's Destination Design, makes straightening upless of a chore.
Mason jars are great organizers: They look pretty and are functional. Line them up on top of your dresser or bathroom sink, and keep hair bands and clips and makeup brushes in them so that stuff isn't loose.
Shoe stores will often give away whatever boxes they have lying around. Ask a cashier for some, and use them to file documents (like credit-card statements, tax info, etc). Label each box with what it holds, and then stack them in a closet. 
Like to keep magazines (ahem, Cosmo) in the bathroom to read in the tub? They look sloppy heaped on the back of the toilet. Grab an extra towel rod at the hardware store, and install it (it's as simple as screwing it in) within reaching range. Hang mags over it so they look pretty on display — the way they do at cafés.
For less than $10, you can buy bed risers — little plastic blocks sold at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that you put your bed on — that will give you about 42 extra square feet of storage. Then keep your winter clothes and things you rarely wear in containers underneath so they're not clogging up your closet. To hide everything (and avoid that dorm look!), use an extralong duvet or a dust ruffle — you can get cool, totally non-granny- looking ruffle-free straight ones — so your bed looks bigger and more majestic.
It's just plain annoying when too many dishes end up crammed into your cabinets. Pick up little hooks with screws on the end at a local hardware store, and screw them into the bottoms of your cabinets. Then hang coffee mugs on the hooks so everything's less crowded.



Tips for washing your cold weather gear






Yesterday, after a period of time too embarrassingly long to pinpoint, I was suddenly compelled to wash a couple of the wool shawls I tend to cocoon myself in year-round. Despite the fact that the other apparel in my rotation gets laundered with regularity, for whatever reason my standards for hygiene slip drastically when it comes to cold weather accessories and outerwear. And now, motivated by how easy it was to hand-wash and rack-dry my scarves (which I swear are now softer than before, not to mention laced with the pretty floral scent of my delicates wash), I got to wondering what else in my fall wardrobe could use refreshing, and how to go about laundering things like down vests and fleece jackets. And onrealsimple.com just now, I found out exactly how to do just that—and more. Here’s a re-cap of what I learned:

Down jackets and vests should ideally be washed twice per season. You can toss your puffies in the washing machine, using cold water. Skip the detergent, which can flatten the feathers, and tumble dry on low using a couple clean tennis balls to redistribute the feathers. Make sure the feathers are totally dry (this may take a couple cycles) to avoid clumping.

While it’s pretty obvious that tights should be hand-washed (and that you ought to aim to do this after every use), I also learned that if you’re in a pinch and need a quick refresher for a pair you’ve already worn, you can toss them in the dryer for ten minutes. Though they suggest tossing in a deodorizing product called the Refresh’n Dryer Towel too, I suggest making your own dryer sachet (which is really easy btw—just take some cotton muslin bags, fill ‘em with lavender and a couple drops of lavender essential oil, and sew them shut) for this purpose.

Fleece pieces need a little TLC, too. To keep the fabric from getting crunchy or pilled, wash fleece goods inside out, and take care not to wash them with other lint-y items, like towels. Give them an extra-thorough rinse to make sure there’s no detergent lingering on the fabric before letting them air dry.

Hats, gloves, and scarves (all of which I have a tendency to ignore, from a maintenance perspective) should be washed three to five times each season—especially considering all the makeup and skin oils that tend to rub off on them. Handwash all the knit items, and if you have structured hats or leather pieces, take them to the dry cleaner.

And when it comes to sweaters, I’m a die-hard hand-washer (it’s gentler on fabrics than dry cleaning, not to mention works out to a fraction of the cost). I learned something new though, which is wool sweaters don’t need to be washed as frequently as your cashmere or cotton pieces, since the material naturally repels dirt and dust.

Source: realsimple.com
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