Interview with Samantha and Emilio from KWPO about the link between organization and ‘green’ living

We were invited to The Eco Cast Podcast, by The Eco Market. Jen invited us to speak about how organization strategies can help us lead a greener lifestyle.

This is the blurb of the podcast:

In this episode, we featured Samantha and Emilio from @kwporganizers – Waterloo-based organizers with a passion for community and ‘greener’ living. We talked about the role organization has in our ability to lead a ‘green’ lifestyle, our consumer culture and some of the negatives associated with that from a waste standpoint, waste reduction, ‘eco’ ways to get rid of your stuff, resources in the Kitchener Waterloo Region, and lots more. Enjoy!

You can visit the podcast for more episodes here. 

Click here to learn more about The Eco Market.

Our Choice for Top 2018 Inspiring Documentaries

In 2018 we were able to host 4 documentaries each season that inspired conversation in our community about different ways of living, working, and loving. We were honored to host our documentary series at a local independent theatre, The Princess Cinemas. After each documentary, we would have a discussion or Q&A to help digest what we had watched — this was probably one of the biggest highlights. 

Hosting the documentary series allowed us to expose ourselves to new ideas and also meet a great community of people. We highly recommend you watch these documentaries if you get the chance. We especially recommend that you treat yourself to a night at your local theatre as well because you never know who you might meet. 

Heal (2018)

Director Kelly Noonan Gores’ documentary takes us on a scientific and spiritual journey where we discover that our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have a huge impact on our health and ability to heal. The latest science reveals that we are not victims of unchangeable genes, nor should we buy into a scary prognosis. The fact is we have more control over our health and life than we have been taught to believe. This film will empower you with a new understanding of the miraculous nature of the human body and the extraordinary healer within us all. Visit the official site.

Living the Change (2018)

Directors Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson have brought together stories from their travels, along with interviews with experts able to explain how we come to be where we are today. From forest gardens to composting toilets, community supported agriculture to time banking, Living the Change offers ways we can rethink our approach to how we live.

Each and every one of us has the power to create change. Living the Change sets out to inspire us to do just that. There are so many exciting and important ideas and initiatives out there, so much hope and inspiration. We want to generate discussion as widely and deeply as possible about how each of us views the future and our part in it. Visit the official site.

Generation Wealth (2018)

For the past 25 years, acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles, Thin, kids+money, #likeagirl) has traveled the world, documenting with ethnographic precision and an artist’s sensitivity a vast range of cultural movements and moments. Yet, after so much seeking and searching, she realized that much of her work pointed at one uniting phenomenon: wealth culture. With her new film, Generation Wealth, she puts the pieces of her life’s work together for in an incendiary investigation into the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen.

Spanning consumerism, beauty, gender, body commodification, aging and more, Greenfield has created a comprehensive cautionary tale about a culture heading straight for the cliff’s edge. Generation Wealth, simultaneously a deeply personal journey, rigorous historical essay, and raucously entertaining expose, bears witness to the global boom-bust economy, the corrupted American Dream and the human costs of capitalism, narcissism, and greed. Visit the official site. 

You Are Here: A Come From Away Story (2018)

When U.S. airspace was completely shut down in the hours following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and all civilian airliners within reach of the U.S. were ordered to land at the nearest airport, 38 planes landed at the Gander airport. With no warning and with no time to prepare, a city of only 9,000 residents played host to more than 6,500 frightened, exhausted, and hungry passengers who “came from away” around the world.

Director Moze Mossanen travels deep within this unique tale to shine a light on the actual Newfoundlanders and passengers whose lives have inspired the musical Come From Away. This includes the mayors of Gander and Appleton, Newfoundland, community workers, police officers, TV reporters, and more – all real-life people who worked tirelessly alongside countless others to comfort and care for their unexpected guests.

Wellness Programs Employees Will Love!

Promote Health, Happiness, and Productivity

Reduce Health Care Costs & Absenteeism

Employers offering wellness programs can help the company reduce health care costs, increase productivity, and improve employee morale.

Wellness programs will help employees create a more mindful-friendly working space, reducing stress, distractions, increasing work-life balance, and promoting their overall mental health and happiness.

There are plenty of benefits for both employers and employees and that’s why wellness programs are increasing every year.

In the past couple of years, we have had the opportunity to work with companies creating inspiring, practical, and accessible workshops and the results and feedback have always been outstanding!

Life has many moving pieces (Body, Mind, Work, Family, Social, Stuff, Finances, Giving Back…) and we all need to become aware of our needs in order to take steps to cover them.

We are all “busy” trying to manage every aspect of our lives, and many times we stop spending time reflecting and becoming aware of what’s important and what’s not. Becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed. Not knowing how to move forward with everything we “need” to do.

In our hardcover book “A Recipe for An Extraordinary Life“, we share a lifestyle design method based on organization, minimalism, and self care.

This method will help you find your own recipe to live a life that includes everything that you love and makes you feel well. At the same time as taking care of your responsibilities (as fast as possible 😉 )

It’s all about being intentional of how you are investing your time, energy, and money.

We have delivered a presentation based on our book many times and people are always very inspired to take action. It’s all about practicality!

Self care is a very powerful tool that can help you become aware of your needs, and start taking steps to nurture them. 

“Declutter Your Mind with Self Care” is one of our most popular workshops. We presented this workshop yesterday at the University of Toronto and many participants commented on how much better they already felt after writing down their own self care list and becoming aware of some of the simple and easy things they can do when they are not feeling well.

It’s very important to understand our basic human needs like eating well, sleeping well, having a comfortable home to live in, having a supportive family and social environment. These are just some examples of basic human needs that many times we neglect and they can have a HUGE impact on our overall mental health.

A few weeks ago I shared a blog post called “How to Be Ultimately at Peace with Yourself“. In this post, I shared Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He proves how important it is to cover your basic human needs in order to create the life that you want to live.

It’s very easy to get distracted by life’s “busyness” and neglect basic human needs like eating properly, getting enough sleep, maintaining an organized home, and managing our time and energy. We see it all the time!

This is why we offer workshops, courses, one on one help, and a lot of FREE content through our blog, youtube channel and social media! To help you become aware and find ways to take positive actions to change what you want to change in your life.

One of the main obstacles that many companies face when trying to create wellness programs is getting their employees motivated to participate. Very frequently, we all say: “I don’t have time for that!” when it comes to learning new things. And it’s normal. YES, it’s totally normal. If you barely get through your day and are always struggling to find the time, it may seem silly to “waste” your precious time attending this new thing.

We would like you to think about “investing” your time instead. If you can learn something that can help you save time every single day. Would that be worth it?

One of the most successful ways we have found to get people motivated and inspired to come to our workshops has been talking about “cool” topics like:

How to Embrace Minimalism in Your Life

What the Heck Is Bullet Journaling

The KonMari Method. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Wabi Sabi A Wise Japanese Tradition for Achieving a Balanced Lifestyle

How to Hygge. The Nordic Secrets to a Happy Life

Canada Mental Health Association invited us to present at their PD Day, and the topic they wanted was how to use Bullet Journaling with Self Care. It was a great presentation and the participants left motivated to use journaling to track and improve their mental health and habits.

Are you an employer looking to inspire and motivate your employees?

Are you an employee looking to benefit from creating a more mindful-friendly working space?

Wellness programs can be the answer! And we are here to help you design and promote a customized series for your company culture.

This is what you can get when working with us: 

• Assessment of your current company culture and research of topics of interest.
• Graphic design and promotion of the event or series.
• Delivery of engaging presentation(s)
• Team building and practical exercises.
• A discounted copy of our hardcover and electronic book for your participants.
• Discounted access to our KWPO Academy for all your participants, so they can keep learning at their own pace.
• Video recording of the session for later use.
• 1 on 1 assistance and accountability after the session for those who need more help.

We are looking forward to having the opportunity to inspire your group! Let’s chat.

Explore the topics that we offer here. 

Turning a Passion for Minimalism into an Impact Business (interview)

He wanted to know how we are building an impact business around organization and minimalism. 

This is a snippet of his original post: 

“Samantha and Emilio are full of energy and have a certain zest for life that is contagious.

After their interview, I got a copy of their new book, A Recipe For an Extraordinary Life.” It’s an easy read that offers a lot of great insights and inspiration.  They don’t just help you declutter your space but also your mind.

In this interview, we talk about how they turned that passion into a business.

Decluttering is their genius. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. They want to help you remove the things you don’t need to be doing and focus on what really matters to you.”

Click here to read the original interview

We hope you enjoy it. Let us know your thoughts about this interview. 

Chat About Organization/Minimalism/Self Care with James Lott Jr.

Partners in life and business, they wrote an amazing book “A Recipe For An Extraordinary Life.”

The book is great and the how the book is made is unique. The book is made by hand by a local publisher in Waterloo! Check out how he made it in this video!

Learn some of the tips that James Lott Jr is now using!

How are you integrating organization, minimalism, and self-care in your life?

Get Your Bullet Journal Quick Fix at Five with CTV’s Rosie Del Campo

I’ve always written in journals, but the Bullet Journal is different.

After being introduced to the idea of Bullet Journaling by an Instagram account, Boho Berry, I was immediately intrigued. I started doing some research and discovered that using the #bujo (the short form hashtag for Bullet Journal) could be an amazing way to display AND organize your entries. 

As you might have learned from my excitement in the interview with Rosie Del Campo of CTV’s Quick Fix at Five… Bullet Journaling can be adapted to suit any need.

However, I have never been one to tell lies. The Bullet Journal does come with a learning curve. I had to search high and low to design a journal that suited my needs. There wasn’t just one place to learn about the things you should know before putting your pen to paper. Trust me… I went through a couple “sample” journals in finally designing a journal that worked for me. 

Bullet Journal is inspiring people to get back to their creative side.

The benefits?

• less distractions
• one place to store your ideas, notes, lists, doodles, appointments, reminders, etc
• a powerful tool for reflection
• a form of active meditation
• exercise for the right side of your brain

You can dive deep into the world of Bullet Journaling, but don’t let that intimidate you. It’s worth it. 

We believe Spring cleaning is a solid investment in your health & happiness.

What’s the history behind Spring Cleaning?

According to Wikipedia, “Some researchers trace the origin of spring cleaning to the Iranian Nowruz, the Persian new year, which falls on the first day of spring. Iranians continue the practice of “khooneh tekouni” which literally means “shaking the house” just before the Persian new year. Everything in the house is thoroughly cleaned, from the drapes to the furniture.”

I mean, you all know that excited feeling when you can finally open your windows and breath in the fresh air without fearing frostbite, right? Along with that feeling you may also hear the little cleaning elf on your shoulder whispering it’s time to start the dusting and washing. Don’t worry, it’s totally normal.

Spring cleaning is a behaviour practiced around the world. And we have personally seen the benefits on the faces of those people who practice it. However, Spring cleaning is not always top of the priority list as the weather improves, but you can change that if you want to.

This tradition means starting off new which is aligned with the renewal of nature. Because it has become part of our culture, everybody has a good feeling about it and that might be the reason that everyone likes to participate in it. In my opinion and based on my experience, we get energized and feel/think more positively after the cleaning. – Negin Hematlooeian

A few benefits of Spring Cleaning

• Improved air quality
• An excuse to have a party
• Items in the home are cleaned and maintain higher value
• Winter items are stored away; Summer items are ready to use
• Mentally and Physically you feel a fresh start
• An excuse to rearrange spaces
• A chance to declutter un-used belongings that built up over the winter

Most people understand the concept of Spring cleaning and widely accept that this is a good investment of time. But it is common to not know where to get started. It is for this exact reason that we have created a small guide to help inspire you to get started and be confident you’re making good use of your time.

That’s it?

Not all Spring cleaning lists look the same. I encourage you all to spend some time thinking and planning out your Spring cleaning. Remember, you don’t want to over do it and burn out, but you also want to feel a difference. “Happy Spring Cleaning!” whispered the elf. 🙂

Digital Organizing Tips with CTV Quick Fix at Five

This happens to me very often! I get my phone to check my calendar and there they are, new emails, a missed call, messages…  I do have most of my notifications turned off, but it’s still not enough…

That’s why in a world with 24/7 access to information and entertainment, it’s becoming more and more difficult to focus and get stuff done. 

Setting up the intention before using your electronics could save you a LOT of time. Distractions are a part of our day and they can really slow our productivity, and affect your mental health!

Using a timer can help you control how much time you spend on a specific task.

Watch our latest segment with CTV Quick Fix at Five where we share some Digital Organizing Tips.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to digital organizing?

To be a member of Canada’s national association Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) there are a few requirements. Businesses or individuals must pass course requirements, uphold a code of ethics, and contribute member fees that contribute to continual professional development. Have you ever worked with a professional organizer? There are many benefits to getting organized with professional help.

KW Professional Organizers have been POC members since 2013

Early on in our business we always felt it was important to stay connected to our growing industry and learn from fellow professionals. Having been members since 2013 earned our business silver leaf status with the association. Also, Samantha previously volunteered for the national board and local chapter for 4 years while growing KWPO.

Our roots getting started

When we first started our business we called ourselves GK Improvements. “G” for Garcia. “K” for Kristoferson. “Improvements” because we knew we wanted to help people improve their lives through organization. We have transformed a lot since 2012, but our mission has not changed. We’re here to inspire and empower people who are ready for change through Organization, Minimalism, and Selfcare.

Now in light of Covid-19 and a big shift in online course enrollment, we offer online education to help fuel the movement towards simplicity. Our course offerings focus on divulging our experiences gained from being professional organizers since 2012.

How our POC membership helps our clients:

• Annual conference for continual education
• Contacts for assisting clients who move cross-country or even internationally
• Insurance
• Ending stigma towards hoarding tendencies and consumerism
• Safety & ethics for clients

A big thank you

As members of POC, we strive to contribute to our industry through volunteerism and upholding our code of ethics. We are grateful for the professional development opportunities and connections offered through POC. In fact, our local chapter of Grand River Ontario has played a significant role in our business formation and development. We are currently members of the Cyber Chapter. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank POC and all its members across Canada for their support and leadership.

​

Every year The Record newspaper holds a Reader’s Choice Award… and we won!

Why winning your favourite organizing service award means so much to us.

As we pass our 5 year anniversary of being in business we always reflect back on why we are here. And the answer is always “to be here to help you.” Thank you for this award.

Without you we would not be in business. Without you we would not wake up in the morning and feel excited to go to work. Without you we would not have confirmation that there are others who are passionate about organizing and living well as much as we are!

If you’re just learning about us…

Here’s the main ways we can help you:

• we publish a weekly blog
• we produce online courses
• we wrote a book which guides you through building an extraordinary life
• we speak on the topic of Organization, Minimalism, and Selfcare
• we offer coaching services
• we help you let go of clutter

It is through these offerings that we pursue our mission. Our mission is to inspire and empower people who are ready for change. No matter where you find yourself on your journey we want to support you. 

We wish to thank the other winners: Heart of the Matter and 4 Life Transitions. There are many professional organizing companies registered in the Grand River area. If you want to learn about the other companies we encourage you to visit Professional Organizers in Canada’s (POC) online directory. We are members of POC and are currently fill two volunteer positions on the executive board.

Swedish death cleaning, döstädning, defined by my family

As more blogs are written about döstädning I had to ask my Swedish family what they believed the word meant. My uncle Åke put it plainly for me saying, “Deadcleaning means that you get rid of your things so your children don’t have to take care of too many things after you.” 

You can watch Emilio share with CTV News a quick summary of what Swedish death cleaning is and why it’s important for you to consider.

Is döstädning the same thing as downsizing?

The closest term in English for Swedish death cleaning we feel is downsizing. Downsizing being the term most older adults have coined for starting to let go of their life’s accumulation.

The trigger for me to write a short blog about the word was that same uncle from Sweden. We sent them a copy of our hardcover book for Christmas. When they received it they wrote us, “Today I was very glad to find your nice book in our box. I’m so proud of having a relative writing a book, and it will certainly help us organize our life. Being 75-it’s time to get rid of all old things and make our “deadcleaning.”

He used the term so easily like he knew that this was a part of life. We often forget that death will eventually come for us all and what we leave behind will either be seen as pleasant or burdensome. It’s never too late or too early to consider what you have and why… in fact it is quite a freeing experience to know that your material items are just that… material items.

Below Left: My Kristoffersson Family Reunion in Bollnas, Sweden, 2012

Below Right: Döstädning is not the only Swedish word we use in Canada. I spotted Fika on our neighbourhood cafe sandwich board 2 summers ago.

Don’t get down, get organized and keep living fully 🙂

Here is what we recommend:

• Really take time to think about your wishes — then write down your intentions.
• Consider those who will come after you.
• Who would get value from your things now or in the future?
• Make an event out of it — have a photo sorting party, laugh and enjoy your memories with those you love.
• Don’t let your age get in the way — this can be done at any stage in your life

If you like reading you can learn more by reading The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning.

Have you ever thought about what will happen with your belongings when you die?

Organizing photos and tips for sharing them with others.

Every year we’re taking thousands of photos, but what happens after?

The biggest take away from this segment with Rosie DelCampo and CTV’s Quick Fix segment is to ask yourself, “What will I do with the photo after I take it?” Remember the more photos you take results in more photos for you to organize. 

5 Ways to get photos organized:

• Get Help — enlist your family or friends to help sort and decide on what print photos to keep and which to let go of. This is a great activity for families who are challenged with large amounts of family albums.
• Digitalize — clear the photo clutter and get those images into digital storage
• Make a Photobook — this can be done with a traditional album, scrapbook, or printed digital book
• Prioritize — select a spot to display in the home and set a limit to how many are displayed
• Digital Frames or Screensavers — link your digital folders to a screensaver or upload images to a rotating digital frame for trips down memory lane

Watch Samantha downsize all the photos she inherited from her grandma here.

We hope you enjoy this segment. If you have questions or want to see something different please comment below!

Learn how to make mealtime easier and fun Quick fix at five – CTV Kitchener

Rosie Del Campo (CTV Kitchener) and Emilio Jose Garcia (KW Professional Organizers) share with you tips to make mealtime easier. 

Secrets to making mealtime easier

One of the first and most important things to make mealtime easier is to eliminate frustrations. Take a moment right now and reflect on your own habits around cooking. Can you quickly identify any frustrations? 

For example, you regularly put a pot of soup on stove to heat up and leave the room, returning to find a mess all over the stove. Or maybe it’s making the decision on what to have to eat everyday and getting overwhelmed by choices.

Getting everyone in the house on board with mealtime habits and routines is also a great way to ease frustrations around mealtime. Although it takes time to ‘train’ new habits into other members of the house, it is well-worth the investment as they become solidified into the new norm.

Ways to make mealtime fun:

• pick a theme (example: specialty dishes from different cultures, finger foods, breakfast for dinner, bbq)
• each person has a responsibility (example: Samantha cooks, Eva sets the table, Emilio clears the table)
• pick a topic to talk about over dinner (example: what’s your favourite animal and why? the best covid-19 friendly places to visit, what is your favourite dinner?)
• create a great atmosphere ( example: set the table, light a candle, select music that moves you, put away all devices and distractions)

Tools to use:

• shelf dividers
• lazy susans
• a timer
• meal planning app
• glide out shelfs
• small electronic appliances: hand emulsion blender, toaster oven, food processor, crockpot, rice cooker or instapot 
• physical calendar or meal plan

Enroll in Meal Planning for Any Diet course from our KWPO Academy for in-depth explanations, how-to’s, and recipes.

Learn tips that will help you declutter your closet.

Capsule wardrobe helps you simplify your closet and keep only the things that you love to wear. Also, allows you to be more intentional with the things you want to wear depending on the season we are in.

If you are feeling frustrated and you don’t know what to wear in the mornings, this video is for you!

Project 333 is the minimalist fashion challenge that invites you to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months.

Project 333 – The Rules

• When: Every three months (It’s never too late to start so join in anytime!)

• What: 33 items including clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear, and shoes.

• What not: these items are not counted as part of the 33 items – wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewelry that you never take off, underwear, sleepwear, in-home lounge wear,  and workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)

• How: Choose your 33 items, box up the remainder of your fashion statement, seal it with tape and put it out of sight.

• What else: consider that you are creating a wardrobe that you can live, work and play in for three months. Remember that this is not a project in suffering. If your clothes don’t fit or are in poor condition, 

You can find more info about project 333 here.

The way you fold and store clothes will change dramatically how you can use the space and how easy it’s to access your clothes. In the video, Samantha shows how you can fold your clothes and store them up.

Are you looking for ways to let go of the things you no longer need?  Check out our course “How to Declutter and Organize Any Space”.

Have you heard about clothing swaps?  They are a great way to give your unwanted clothes a new life!

Are you feeling inspired to declutter your closet? 

Parenting strategies and tips to manage day-to-day family life with CTV News Quick Fix at Five. 

The challenge of getting organized and staying organized.

It’s normal to have clutter and feel overwhelmed when you have a young family, work full-time, and want to maintain a social life.

In order to prevent the clutter and overwhelm from interfering with your health, physical or mental, we agreed to offer advice for CTV News Kitchener’s Quick Fix with Rosie Del Campo. Rosie called us and informed us about the new segments they were producing to provide helpful advice for their viewers. 

Setting yourself, and your kids, up for success with these tips.

Video Break Down

Minute: 0:21 – The Secret to Success

Minute: 0:30 – Vertical Storage

Minute: 0:53 – Closet Storage and Labels

Minute: 1:50 – Children’s Paperwork and Artwork

Minute: 2:35 – Talking About Letting Go of Art

Minute: 2:55 – Professional Organizers in Canada

Learn Tips to Declutter and Organize Your Garage with Susan Cook-Scheerer and Rogers Daytime.

Decluttering and Organizing your garage can be FUN!  Make the most of your space by following these tips:

The first step for success is to define your desired outcome. What do you want to store in it? What kind of activities are you planning on doing in your garage? (Examples: storage, gym, music room, crafts) Would you like to park your car inside?

Make sure you book enough time to get the project done. It’s ok to ask for help if you don’t have the time or if you don’t know how to get started.

The next step is to declutter your items. Is there anything in your garage that doesn’t belong there or you don’t need anymore? If you run into unwanted items you can give them a new life by selling/auctioning/consigning/donating them. Please don’t take them to the landfill. Someone else will be very happy using them :).

Once you have only the items that belong in your garage, then it’s time to organize them. You need to find homes for every item. Use labels (masking tape and a marker will do) to make sure you can find your items in the future.

Create a system that everybody can follow. 

Think vertically when it comes to organizing your items. Use the wall space as much as possible with multi-purpose hooks. Group things together (Examples: tools, sports equipment, Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations).

Follow these steps to declutter and organize your garage successfully.

These are some before and after photos from a past project.

Watch our latest Rogers Daytime 20 interview about Paper Management Tips.

Paper management could be very challenging for some people.

Every paper you have involves one decision you need to make. The more papers you have laying around, the more decisions you will need to make when you want to organize them.

Join host Susan Cook-Scheerer from Rogers Daytime 20 as she interviews Samantha Kristoferson and Emilio Jose Garcia from KW Professional Organizers. share tips and ideas to set up systems to get your papers organized.

Want to learn more? Read our post “Tips to win the constant battle against paper clutter“.

Are you having trouble with paper? Is tax season a stressful time for you? Can you find a paper when you need it?

Downsizing and Decluttering Tips

Join host Susan Cook-Scheerer from Rogers Daytime 20 as she interviews Samantha Kristoferson and Emilio Jose Garcia from KW Professional Organizers.

KW Professional Organizers share downsizing and decluttering tips that they have used successfully to help their clients since 2012.

Angela Smith is hosting her 2nd Annual Clothing Swap — learn why she continues each year.

How to Organize a Clothing Swap

Recently I was invited to participate in a Clothing Swap hosted right here in Kitchener-Waterloo! I, myself, had never participated in one before and had only heard of Food Swaps and Children’s Clothing Swaps. My interest was sparked. 

KW Professional Organizers often comes across many who struggle with letting go of ‘stuff’ or wanting better ways to share their abundance. We think that a Clothing Swap is a great opportunity to share a unique and fun idea for downsizing!

I sat down with the host, Angela Smith, to discuss the why’s, what’s, and how’s of Organizing a Clothing Swap.

Where did you get the idea to host a Clothing Swap?

Angela was living in Taiwan the first time she heard of and participated in a clothing swap. She had a hard time sourcing clothes that fit properly and it turned out so did a bunch of her friends who worked there.

She said that the event in Taiwan was a bit of Free-For-All and saw everyone bringing what they didn’t want, throwing it into a pile, and just digging through it to find things they loved. Problem solved!

She has since refined the process and now in her 2nd annual event has learned the do’s and do not’s of clothing swaps.

My donations for the Clothing Swap!

Hanging and Organizing!

How does the process work for participants?

It’s best if participants know about the event well in advance, so they can take the time to go through their closets for donations. Some people may not be able to attend the actual event, but can still donate clothes. Vice versa others may not be able to donate clothes, but be able to attend the event!

In a nutshell, anyone who attends the event is allowed to take as many or as little clothes as they wish. Angela doesn’t set limits because it changes every year — one year you find heaps that suit you and other years maybe only one or two pieces work.

There are rooms or spaces available so that guests can try on anything to be sure they like what they’re taking.

What do you need to host a successful Clothing Swap?

15 Things to Consider

1. CLOTHES – without them the event doesn’t work. Make sure everyone knows well in advance that you’re collecting donations and that they are to donate laundered clothing only.
2. Clothing Hangers – ask friends for some, shop around at second hand shops to pick up extras, collect empty ones from all
   

   Get creative with displays

   your closets!

3. Clothing Racks – again, ask friends if they have any to borrow, have a look on Kijiji, get a bit create with shower curtain rods in door ways or other such DIY ideas.
4. Signage – if you have extra time to get creative you can make signs that detail what is on offer (Example: Clothing Type, Sizes, Name of the Event, Etc)
5. Mirrors – if you have extra throughout the home you’ll want to get them in accessible areas so guests can make best decisions
6. Change Room Space – dedicate bathrooms, bedrooms or hang curtains so that everyone is able to try on what they’re taking!
7. Timing – Spring or Fall are great times to host in Waterloo Region because of the changing of the seasons & weather
   

   Shoes are Swap-a-ble!

8. Invitations – make phone calls, send text messages, create a Facebook Event, mail your family, send a carrier pigeon — get the word out to your network in any way that best suits you *Remember even if someone can’t attend in person they may still have clothes they’d like to donate!
9. Bags – make sure your guests can take home their new wardrobe with ease, ask them to bring a re-usable bag.
10. Snacks & Refreshments – this is a social occasion so feel free to indulge a little while the fashion show transpires.
11. Music – Keep everything light hearted and fun with a little pick me up music!
12. Place to Donate – At the end of the night there will be left-overs — do some research and consider taking them to a local shelter, thrift store or charity!
    

    Angela includes products as a new swap item

13. Explain the Process – let your guests in on how it all works — they can read this blog 🙂 or you can let them know how it works when you invite them!
14. No Money – this is a money free event and the selling of clothes is discouraged
15. Accessories – you can expand on clothes with purses, belts, jewelry, hats, scarves, shoes, etc

Why do you enjoy hosting the Clothing Swap?

Angela says she loves second hand everything and getting people together  for out of the ordinary events.  Hosting events is one of her passions and a Clothing Swap is something different. Angela also goes deeper mentioning that this is an alternative to traditional shopping and she would like to open people’s perceptions of shopping second hand.

She mentioned that a big benefit to hosting is getting a first view of what is dropped off. Another benefit was getting to choose a place to donate all the left over clothes. Last year’s event saw the majority of clothes heading to Monica’s Place in Kitchener, Ontario.

Getting clothes ready for donation to the clothing swap. Laundered, Folded, READY!

What is the most challenging factor in hosting a clothing swap?

In this fast paced society the biggest challenge is getting people to respond in advance.  Angela said that it is a huge help to get clothing donations prior to the actual event so that she can properly sort, hang and fold them for display.

What do the future Clothing Swaps events look like?

Angela aspires to continue to grow participation in her event and eventually host it outside her home at a larger location. She is a fountain of ideas when it comes to creative events and if you would like more information regarding hosting a clothing swap or other such events please email her.

Angela Smith is 35, living and working in Kitchener Waterloo. She believes in living local, second hand and being creative.  During her vacation time she bounces from continent to continent and on her weekends she is an avid explorer within a 100 km radius.  She enjoys organizing out of the ordinary events, large and small.
If you want to start a conversation with Angela be prepared to discuss food, fashion, travel, re-purposing, music and/or outdoor activities.

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