Home Goods Swap with Friends!

It’s that time of year again. The new year has inspired you to organize all aspects of your life. After you jam your final holiday platter back into its assigned cabinet, not to be seen again for another year, you decide to start with your kitchen and vow not to buy another unnecessary item in 2025 (we’ll check back later on that one!).

If you’re like me, you’d carefully box up your items that are in good shape, put it in the trunk of your car and drive it over to your nearest Goodwill. Recently Karen was organizing her kitchen and had a bunch of barware that she could no longer use. It just so happened that her good friend’s son was moving to a new apartment. She asked if he could use it and, no surprise, he said he would love it!

O’So Pro tip: always accept Karen’s stuff - it’s usually amazing!

This made us think: if you could do a clothing swap, why not organize a home goods swap - sort of like a “Friends Marketplace” (without the potentially creepy exchange of goods with a stranger). Since most of us have adult kids who are starting their apartment journeys and don’t have a lot of extra money to spend on wine chillers or chip ‘n dips, the swap takes on an even better audience. Plus, you get to declutter and know that your stuff is ending up in a good home.

Who Should You Include:

All your friends that are looking to declutter or downsize and those you know that have adult children getting their own apartments. This might take a little bit of effort - cleaning out cabinets, taking photos, writing descriptions, etc. so make sure your group is all on the same page.

How to Organize:

Unlike a clothing swap, we believe more of an online marketplace would work best- especially since many of these items will be bulky and hard to transport. You could do it by email or text chain, but we thought an easier way to do it would be for each participant to make their own Google Doc with photos and descriptions of their items, something like this:

Pick a start date a few weeks in advance so that everyone has enough time to do the pre- work involved. You also want to make sure all the items are ready to go - cleaned, packaged up, etc. We want this to work efficiently - and fairly. There’s inevitably going to be some super popular items; get ready to answer inquiries promptly!

What Should be Included:

Anything that could be used in a home! The most important thing is that the items are working and in good condition. Toasters, bookends, bedding - the sky’s the limit!

Encourage the swappers to share the items in their new home. And try not to collect more than you give away!