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By Owen Jones, October 4, 2011 4:59 pm

One way of dividing up people that crosses the barriers of age, sex, religion and ethnicity is whether you are a hoarder or not. There are a great deal of hoarders, although some hoarders refer to themselves as collectors or only nostalgic.

That last sentence might be a tad unfair. Collecting can be explained away as a hobby and nostalgia can be thought of as a yearning for days when we were in better shape.

However, what it all comes down to for billions of households is the buildup of old junk and old clothing. My mother and her mother had decades of clothes that they were sure would come back into fashion one day.

They were almost certainly right and it probably did, but they had to keep the stuff for twenty or thirty years and then teenagers were wearing it, not middle-aged mothers and grandmothers.

My point is that we ought to clear out our closets and wardrobes more frequently in order to create space and pass things on to those who can use them now rather than in twenty years time. I think that closets should be gone through once or twice a year.

Apart from seasonal gear, if you have not worn something for months, there has to be a good reason. Either you do not like it any more; you have gained weight or it does not suit you. So why not pass it on? Write it off and let someone else benefit from it before the moths do.

You could donate them to the Salvation Army, Shelter or any other charity shop or wait for your local church, school or scout brigade to hold a fund-raising bazaar or bring-and-buy sale.

This clears out room for you so that you can see the wood for the trees, permits a charity to profit from your surplus and allows someone more disadvantaged than you to wear good quality clothing at less than the retail price.

If you have let spring cleaning drift a bit, not to worry. There are charity shops that have racks specializing in old-fashioned gear. They call it retro and there are loads of individuals who enjoy wearing it.

There are also theatre and film companies scouring the secondhand clothes shops searching for period clothing. One of your old suits could feature in the next Fifties remake!

However, passing your old, good quality clothing on to charity shops or specialist retro shops, whether you donate or sell them, is merely one side of the coin. You can also purchase from these shops.

If you have not been in a charity shop for years or think that you would not be seen dead in one, then you should go along and have a look. They are no longer the sad, amateurish places that they once were. They are run professionally and have a decent turnover of stock. They are a particularly decent source of warm winter clothing such as overcoats, so why not do everyone a favour and go and have a look sometime soon?

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now concerned with the jean jacket. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Mens Overcoats For Sale.

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By Owen Jones, August 12, 2011 8:43 am

Most households have some type of arrangement near the main entrance to their house, usually the front door, for storing residents’ and visitors’ coats. Some houses have a simple row of hooks in the hall, whereas others have a dedicated coat closet or cloakroom.

Furthermore, most of these spaces are fairly chaotic with coats heaped over other coats which are heaped on top of other coats that no-one has worn for years.

You should apply the same rules to organizing this area, let’s call it a cloakroom for easy reference, as you do to your bedroom closets or wardrobes. The trick is that everything must have a place and everything must be in that place, which means that you and all the family or all the household have to know the rules.

It simply does not make for a tidy cloakroom if some folk stick to the rules whilst others do what they want. Let’s take an average family or household of four as another norm. Four people like this will own a coat or two each, a jacket, perhaps an umbrella and a number of pairs of shoes and a pair of slippers maybe.

You could install a shoe rack so that every person can store, say, three pairs of shoes each in the cloakroom. If your shoe rack has four levels then three pairs of shoes and a pair of slippers per person. Everything else has to be stored either in the bedroom or the garage. Some footwear is seasonal, so this should not be too much of a difficulty.

Similarly with coats and jackets. You could have a row of coat hooks around the walls of the cloakroom and allocate every member of the household a definite number of hooks. (Look out for the cloakroom hooks that have a top and bottom hook – two for the space of one).

Again, all non-seasonal coats to be stored in the bedroom. One more tip here, remember to assign a row of pegs for visitors. Perhaps one of the small walls of a small cloakroom could be set apart for guests.

A perfect cloakroom would have a shoe rack on the floor level or a bit higher, then a row of double coat hooks and then a shelf running around it. This shelf is very important. Individuals used to wear hats a lot more than they do now, but some people still wear gloves, scarves and shawls that they would rather not hang on a peg and others like to ride a motorbike.

Never worry, you will always find something to put on a shelf in a cloakroom even if it is only a tin of air freshener to spray around before guests arrive.

One more thing that is frequently found in cloakrooms that you should reserve space for is the vacuum cleaner. It is handy to have a vacuum cleaner in the hall to suck up the bits of mud and garbage that inevitably get carried or blown into the hall, but you will always have room for one in a well-organized cloakroom

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a number of topics, but is now concerned with the jean jacket. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Mens Overcoats For Sale.

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By Article Writer, September 18, 2010 7:54 pm

Have you been pondering the idea of building a shed from scratch? While most of us already know that storage sheds are necessary addition to our property, a lot of us will avoid performing this task because we might not have the skills to build it correct, and hiring a contractor can cost to much. While some folks do have the skills to build their own shed, many will not take the time to build it strong and durable.

Without a doubt it is a fact that having step by step shed plans will be the ideal way to learn how to build a shed. A detailed plan takes out the guess work while you’re doing the project, preventing wasted material as well as time. Also, before you even actually start building a shed, you should have all the tools and material needed, this can make building effortless and fun.

There are a few steps you will need to take care of before building the shed. First, you have to know where to build. Avoid unlevel land areas and make sure that there are no cables, wires, pipes running beneath it. You should also check with the building department prior to building. This should be done to avoid any issues or having to tear down the shed.

It can be crucial that all the material is available before you begin. The wood of course is your most single important material. Some of the basic tools you will need will be a saw, hammer, ladder, level, and a tape measure. Based on your plans, measure your wood and cut them to size. If pouring a concrete slab, prepare the area and mix the cement. Just like when you build a house, you will start from the bottom and move upward. Begin with the foundation and then adding the walls, windows, doors then your roof.

Don’t skimp on the nails, make sure that they securely fasten and attach all parts of your shed. Check and reinforce all the parts before moving to the next step. Find all weak areas and fix them. Once you have the walls secure move on to the roof. Build the roof so that it will withstand the weather conditions in your area. If however you feel you lack the skills or time, you can always shop around for shed kits.

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By Article Writer, June 10, 2010 10:30 pm

Building a shed is an economical way to get the storage space you need. The first step in the process is to check with the local building department to find out if a building permit is required and if so then one should be obtained before continuing. The permit will list the legal requirements for the area including such items as the requirements for the setback from the property line, house or fence. Continue reading 'Building A Shed From Scratch'»