The Top 6 Excuses for Clutter

“I want this chartreuse muumuu to go to a good home.”

Solution: People often want to find just the right place for their belongings. The problem is, trying to find just the right place can be paralyzing, says interior designer Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan. And while you wait, say, for your niece to move into a starter apartment, your old love seat and dinette set gather dust.
 
To satisfy your desire for perfect placement, look for a charity with which you feel a strong connection―perhaps a shelter for women. To identify a worthy one near you, visit charitynavigator.org, a nonprofit research group that evaluates charities based on how effectively they use donations. Go to the Advanced Search page, select “Human Services” charities, and type in your ZIP code. Contact the three- or four-star charities that interest you and ask if they accept donations. If that sounds like too much trouble, call your nearest house of worship and inquire whether it has a clothing drive coming up. Ask if the donation is tax-deductible, and get a receipt.