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Getting Organized for Fall (or, the Just Get Rid of It Method)

On fall resets, edits, and cleaning. Plus some links & recs of the week...

Alisha Ramos

Sep 12

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These Friday posts are typically for paid subscribers only, but I’ve unlocked today’s. Enjoy!

This week, while Andrea (our designer who did our new kitchen) was helping me style my shelves, she gave me the pep talk I didn’t know I needed: “If you’re not actively using it, hide it in a cabinet. And if you never use it and it’s not special, just get rid of it.”

I am, unfortunately, a chronic hanger-on. My inner monologue goes something like: But I might need this one day. But it’s too nice to get rid of. But I paid $2.45 for this bud vase at World Market. (True story.) Andrea’s reminder was a useful nudge that sometimes the clearest path is…straight to the sell or donation pile. I’m applying it most aggressively to the longtime aesthetic eyesores in our house. Why keep a bench around if we never sit on it and it doesn’t even look good anymore?

This photo has nothing to do with organizing, but how gorgeous are these pansies I saw yesterday?

The relief you’ll feel mentally and physically—as your home slowly declutters—will be worth it. I’m holding on tight to this reminder as I make my way through various rooms and corners of our home this fall during what I’m dramatically calling “The Big Edit.”

Here’s my personal fall organization checklist…

Closet: I’m in the middle of a ruthless edit: pulling anything I haven’t worn (and don’t want to wear), and stashing true off-season stuff (linen pants, etc.) out of sight so I can actually see what’s in play right now. Next up: a better storage system for belts, handbags, and shoes. The final flourish will be steaming everything before it goes back on the rack: oddly meditative, and one of my favorite little rituals.
Kitchen/Fridge: Okay, our kitchen is mostly free of clutter as we’ve just moved into it, but the fridge, freezer, and pantry are another situation entirely. We desperately need to do a deep edit of what’s lurking in all the corners.
Baby/kid things: The biannual Everest climb of parenthood is upon me: reorganizing Lily’s wardrobe. Translation: folding away the clothes she somehow outgrew overnight, deciding what to donate, and refilling her dresser with seasonally appropriate things that actually fit. It always feels like an ultra-marathon disguised as a closet clean-out, so I’m preparing accordingly (carbs, playlist, mental pep talk). Beyond the dresser shuffle, I’m also trying to level up on the lunchbox front this year. Specifically: more nutritious, less pasta and cheese sticks. I ordered a new stainless steel bento box in the hopes that shiny compartments will equal shiny motivation.
Books: My piles overfloweth. I’m doing a deep clean and edit of books. I tend to only hold onto books I loved and/or would like to reread. Anything in the “it was just okay” pile is being ruthlessly edited out, given to friends, or donated. (And occasionally given away in our subscriber chat, too.)

What’s on your fall get-organized list?

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📚 Book club reminder: We’re in week 2 of our “slow read” of Isola by Allegra Goodman. See more details here and join in! Paid subscribers get access to all discussion threads.

Read: Ruby Tandoh’s new book, All Consuming, which is a cultural history of how we eat today, covering everything from how Gourmet’s magazine shoots changed food photography forever, to TikTok-driven food trends, to the improbable global conquest of bubble tea. It’s less “food writing” in the recipe sense and more a map of how taste, culture, and commerce collide. (Order on Bookshop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble)

As a companion read, I also recommend Ruby’s can’t-miss New Yorker article [*paywalled] about her experience on Great British Bakeoff, for gems like, “Paul Hollywood will handle your bread like he is airport security.”
Also has a GREAT cover
Watch: Michelle Dockery’s Architectural Digest home tour. The actress, of Downton Abbey fame, shares with her producer husband Jasper Waller-Bridge¹, is beautiful, full of humor, and inviting. That gorgeous kitchen with the green French doors! Because I could happily listen to Dockery talk about anything all day, I went digging for interviews and found a 2022 episode of Tea with Twiggy—yes, Twiggy as in the 1960s icon. It’s a charming conversation about her path into acting, for anyone curious to learn more.
I had to get a close-up of those gorgeous bookshelves!
Stream: The new season of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, because…d’oh. How else might you kick off a fall weekend?
Buy: These cozy clogs that I’m asked about all the time are finally back in stock. They’re my designated house shoes and I can’t recommend enough.
Supreme comfort.
Listen: Blood Orange’s new album, Essex Honey. This album is perfect for playing as a work soundtrack or on a cool evening. It’s got an ethereal and melancholy vibe. You can expect experimental instrumental sounds, cool collabs (like Caroline Polachek, Lorde), and an overall unexpected feel, entirely out of range of what’s popular on the top charts these days, which feels like a relief.
Try: If you’re in a decluttering mood, I highly recommend joining your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook. I’ve found new homes for all sorts of items I thought may go into the trash pile.

Next week: I’ll be sharing my big list of fall new releases I’m looking forward to reading. So many great books are coming out this season.

A few more things for you…

Reads & delights

More on the getting-organized note: This piece on “the secret to an uncluttered home” by Laura Fenton. Laura shares a brilliant question to think about when you’re tidying your space: “What is your home’s baseline?” That is, what is the end goal you’re trying for? Is it easy to visualize when you’re “done” cleaning and organizing your space?
A portrait of working mom life: The recent campaign imagery coming out of brand Paloma Wool beautifully captures the dualities of parenthood. Mother, designer, manager, creative—the boundaries between work and life are blurred in this series.
Floral delights: Ann Helen Petersen shares her learnings from growing an accidental dahlia farm. (If you have the opportunity to plant dahlia tubers, even just 3 or 4, I highly recommend it; it’s easy - at least in Zone 7! - and they are so beautiful.)
Weird but good: Strangers share their (fascinating and FUNNY) responses to writer Ann Friedman’s prompt: “surprise me.” I’ve been texting my friends various animal facts from this webpage this whole week like, “Wombats have square poop but not square buttholes.”
Send this to your most committed-to-Halloween friend: See the delightful and inventive costumes at this World of Interiors party. (via A Thing or Two)
Dear Apple Watch users: Is this the most brilliant hack for curbing phone addiction? (Also, perhaps the most expensive…)

Miscellaneous finds

Another fall find: I found a good alternative for the sold-out black leather Sézane jacket I mentioned in this week’s style column, and it’s this one from Quince.
Pretty plates: East Fork just released “malachite,” a deep emerald color, and “sepia,” a burnt orange, in a high-gloss glaze, and they’re stunning. Would make a fun gift, too. (Thanks Grace Atwood for the tip!)
Indie storytelling: Friend-of-the-letter Elise Hu is raising money for her documentary, WINDSWEPT, a coming-of-age documentary film about four ordinary kids who lost their homes in January's LA wildfires. Donate at this link.
The most underrated flower: Pansies.
Exhibit A

Books & culture

New fun cookbook alert: Soju Party: How to Drink (and Eat) Like a Korean by Irene Yoo. (Illustrations by Carolyn Yoo)
Another book on my radar: A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting by Casey Johnston. It’s time to detangle the words exercise from weight loss.
Attention Audition by Katie Kitamura fans: There’s an adaptation coming to the screen, starring Lucy Liu and Charles Melton (!). [ICYMI, read my book review here.]
And my dear Maggie O’Farrell fans: Her new novel, Land, is coming next October. It’s a historical novel set in Ireland. Can’t wait.

Hope you have a restful weekend.

PREVIOUSLY ON DOWNTIME…

Style & Shopping

5 Things I'm Eyeing for Fall and How to Style Them

Alisha Ramos

Sep 10

5 Things I'm Eyeing for Fall and How to Style Them

Friends, the mornings are feeling crisp. We’ve got highs in the low-70’s and lows in the mid-50’s here. This weekend, I put away my summer dresses and pulled my warmer knits down from the upper shelves of my closet. I’m making space for the new season and all the beautiful textures it’ll bring into my wardrobe.

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What’s in my chaotic week survival toolkit + charming nursery finds

Alisha Ramos

Jun 13

What’s in my chaotic week survival toolkit + charming nursery finds

Every Friday, I share a roundup of fun and practical recommendations—think books, recipes, little joys. Paid subscribers get the full post, plus bonus monthly content. Subscribe for $5/month here!

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