Autumn Reset Challenge: Wardrobe & home reset

Autumn Reset Challenge by Penny Golightly Week 2 wardrobe and home reset

Welcome to Week Two of the Autumn Reset Challenge, which is the wardrobe and home reset. The aim this week is to streamline and declutter your clothing for slightly cooler weather, and prepare your living space to make it more cosy.

Obviously it’s too much to change everything around you from top to toe, and from ceiling and to floor. Let’s keep it specific and manageable!

Here’s the basic challenge for this week:

Put high summer / holiday clothes into storage
Put anything unwanted to one side
Create a quick capsule wardrobe for autumn months
Do one specific deep clean
Change up the decor in one room

Work through this list in order, and remember to keep it simple.

Put hot weather clothes into storage

Get the heatwave and summer holiday clothes, footwear and accessories out of the way. If you aren’t using them, they’ll just be getting in the way of the things you need. Clear that clutter!

Now’s also the time to get those autumnal fashions out of storage, and maybe air them or give them a quick wash to freshen it all up.

Put any unwanted clothes to one side

If you know you aren’t going to wear some of those summery clothes again, don’t put them away in storage to ‘deal with later’. Likewise, if you take transitional / autumn-y things out of storage that you realise you no longer want, don’t add them back into to your rotation.

Divide unwanted items into designated piles, such as:

Sell (for example Vinted, eBay, locally)
Swap
Donate
Recycle
Upcycle / alter
Repair

Set a timeframe for sorting these out. Ideally, do any recycling or donating this week, so you aren’t tripping over bags or boxes.

Quick capsule wardrobe for autumn months

Try creating a mix and match capsule wardrobe for everyday autumn wear. Match it to your real lifestyle, such as office appropriate, smart casual, or relaxed casual etc. Remember to include items to make it warmer or cooler, as the weather’s likely to be quite changeable.

Add in a jacket or cover-up or two, and at least two sets of footwear, plus everyday bags and accessories. Keep it fairly simple, and don’t overthink it. Need a few pointers? Have a look at my capsule wardrobe ideas.

If you think there’s anything missing, such as a new pair of shoes or boots, or a longsleeve top or two, add it to a short shopping list and start looking for deals and discounts.

Pick one specific deep clean to do

Choose one cleaning activity that’ll make your home feel relaxing or more cosy, gather the necessary equipment together, then blitz through it quickly. Don’t hesitate or the task could expand into something overwhelming.

For example, you could deep clean one room. Alternatively you could undertake a specific task around the whole house or flat such as dusting the blinds, or cleaning all your picture frames or mirrors. Or perhaps do a batch of seasonal laundry, such as autumn bed throws or cushion covers.

Change up the decor in one room

Now for the fun bit. Time to look around one of your rooms, such as your living space or your bedroom. Start by putting anything very summery away, such as fans, summery throws and cushions, pictures, or room fragrance.

Have a quick tidy up, and start to get your chosen room ready for cosy season. That could include a new table lamp, warmer or richer home fragrances and scented candles, cosy cushions and throws, heavier bedding or curtains, autumn foliage, homemade crafts, or even a bit of early Halloween decor.

Anything missing? Add it to your (short) shopping list, or keep an eye out next time you go shopping.

What’s happening here?

I’ve already put my high summer clothes away and taken my autumn things out of storage; we’re still having some sunshine but it isn’t quite so hot. The sundresses, flip flops and straw bags are now boxed up on a high shelf with some anti-moth sachets, and aren’t cluttering up wardrobes and drawers unnecessarily.

Unwanted clothes and shoes have been divided into ‘sell’, ‘donate’, and ‘recycle’ piles to sort out later. There’s also a small mending pile to deal with when I have more time (probably will get done in front of some autumn schedule TV, let’s be real here.)

The Green Co kitchen degreaser and eco dishwasher tabs

My personal big project this week: deep cleaning the kitchen

While we always keep on top of everyday cleaning here, I also like to do a semi-regular deep clean to keep the kitchen looking and feeling extra nice. That includes things most of us would never do on a daily basis, such as cleaning out extractor fan filters, oven bottoms and doors, the tops of cupboards and so on.

My favourite eco-friendly kitchen degreaser was discontinued over a year ago, and nothing has cut the mustard (or grease) since – so I was very pleased to be offered a sample of The Green Co‘s Green Tabs Kitchen Degreaser, in their starter kit of reusable spray bottle and dissolvable cleaning tab.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll probably know that my reviews tend to be thorough and occasionally brutal, and there’s no ‘pay for play’ here. So, it’s good news for The Green Co, because their degreaser performed very well. I tested it against a big brand from the supermarket, and The Green Co cleaned a bit more efficiently, plus it had a much lighter and more pleasant fragrance.

It’s a winner, and I would happily use it again. The kit costs £13.95 as a one-off and the plastic-free refills are £12.95 for 8 (makes a lot of spray). Free P&P on orders over £10.

I also tried their Eco Dishwasher Green Tabs which include rinse aid and salt, and they cleaned just as well as an expensive brand, removing all traces of food and leaving no smears or marks on glassware. These are excellent quality, cost £12.56 for 50 washes on Subscribe & Save, and they’re a definite repurchase.

Finally, I took some slightly musty mid-weight autumn knitwear out of storage and gave it a freshen up with their Laundry Detergent Green Sheets, fragrance free version (fragranced ones also available). These are waterless detergent sheets you drop into the drum, currently £12.56 for 64 sheets on Subscribe & Save, and they freshened everything up perfectly while being extra gentle on delicates.

That’s three winners out of three, in case you’re looking for some new environmentally friendly cleaning products.

I’ll get around to digging out our boxed-up autumnal home decor over the weekend, including a warmer sofa throw. We also have mini-pumpkins and scented candles to pick up next time we do a supermarket shop, to decorate the mantelpiece in the living room.

Enjoying this post? You may also like:

What sort of deep clean will you do? One room or something around the home?

Do you have any favourite autumn decor ideas?

Full disclosure: Cleaning products kindly gifted for an honest review. Not a paid post or an advertisement.

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