Despite Louisiana feeling like an actual oven, summertime is nearly over. The days are getting shorter and schools are back in session. However, there is no need to succumb to summertime sadness, because fall is only a few short weeks away. Ah, the season of pumpkin spice and sweater weather. Well, not really the second one. The temptation to breakout a cute sweater is almost unbearable, at least until you step outside. The South has no understanding of fall weather. So what do you do when it’s mid-November and still 90 degrees outside? 

“Have a capsule wardrobe,” says Martha-Carol Stewart, founder and CEO of Chaos Organizing. The versatility of classic, staple pieces will make seasonal transitions easier, while also creating more closet space. A win-win.

Stewart, who started Chaos Organizing with a mission to help people organize their homes so that they could live efficiently, shares a few tips on how to calm your closet no matter what the wardrobe demands of the season require. They key, she says: Define your goal and then ask yourself if each item is helpful or hurtful toward your goal.

“You want your closet to feel like a happy place,” she says, not a room filled with clothes you no longer fit into. Create a pleasing aesthetic by using matching hangers, and organize by labeling and having a home for everything. “It simplifies life.”

Decluttering our homes is especially important during the fall as we prepare for the upcoming holiday season, Stewart notes. The holidays, she says, have a reputation of unforgivably filling homes with chaotic clutter.

After all, tis the season of decorations, cooking, candy and, of course, presents. Yes, holidays mean peace and joy, but let’s be honest, they can be stressful. Think endless trips to the attic for decorations, desperate searches for the perfect presents, and wrapping paper everywhere. Basically, a clutter nightmare. How to ease the pain? Organize it.

“Your home needs to be a place of calm, peace and fun,” Stewart says. “Focus on more of the family, and less on the stuff.”

To avoid losing your sanity searching for Christmas presents, Stewart recommends gifting “experience gifts” like concert tickets, spa days and gift cards, instead of tangible items. This no-stress-needed method takes the worry out of shopping, and prevents the possibility of Christmas presents becoming clutter. 

“Emotions are more attached to experiences,” she says. “My son’s 18th birthday present was tickets to Paul McCartney, and he’ll never forget that.”

These types of experience gifts are about the gift of time, and creating memories that will last much longer than a scented candle or clothing.

Since spending time with family members is a staple of the holidays, Chaos Organizing is hosting a clinic to share their favorite holiday-decluttering tips to ensure that the season will be centered around family, not stress. The clinic will be held Tuesday, October 1, at The Royal Standard from 10 to 11 a.m. Stewart and her team of professionals will cover tips like decorating without clutter, organizing gift wrap and clutter-free gifts.

“My goal for this class is to each people how to find peace,” Stewart says. “My Christmases are so special now, and not anxiety ridden.”

Every day during the month of December, Chaos Organizing will post clutter-free gift ideas on its social media and blog posts. For more information about Chaos Organizing, and tips on how to create an organized home, click here.