Declutter before Christmas? Really? Is there not enough to do? – well, yes – and no. Because you’ll be getting SO MUCH STUFF come into the house during the festive period, you need to get rid of things that you really don’t want any more to make room. Here are the rest of the reasons – plus some great ideas of what to declutter as well…
So – let’s start with WHY you need to declutter, and then we’ll get on to the WHAT….
Reasons To Declutter Before Christmas
Here are 3 reasons why it makes perfect sense to sort through your stuff before the festivities start…
#1 – Make Space For the New
Have you heard the phrase “one in, one out”?
When it comes to staying organised and keeping control of how much stuff you have in your home, this is a fantastic rule to live by.
For example – if you have 5 pairs of jeans and buy another one – you should ideally let go of one of the 5 you already have. I’m not saying get rid of perfectly good jeans, but I am saying that this rule makes you think twice about buying even more stuff if you already have enough at home…
And this rule can work really well at Christmas.
You know that when 25th December comes around there will be a few (or a lot) of new things coming into your home. Presents for each member of the family amounts to quite a bit of extra stuff to store and look after.
As such – why not make space for things now – and declutter things that you do not want or need any longer?
Get the whole family involved which teaches a fantastic habit, and leads me nicely on to the next reason….
#2 – Teach Kids To Give As Well As Receive
If you get into the habit of decluttering before Christmas, you will have ‘stuff’ to let go of.
One of the best places to see this go to would be to charity.
Charity shops are always looking for good items to sell in the run up to Christmas especially – and as such you can give your unwanted stuff to a place that can make money from it for good causes.
This is such a great idea to teach your kids – as it helps them to realise that they can help others over Christmas – which can be a really powerful message for them.
Get them to sort through their toys – and to let go of what they don’t play with anymore. This will then leave some space for any new toys they may get, and stop the toys getting out of control which they can all too easily!
(It also means that they will be able to easily play with what they have left as well – as all too often toys become mixed up and kids don’t know what they actually have anymore. If there is less to play with, they will tend to be able to play more!)
#3 – Make Cleaning And Tidying Easier
This is one that makes me more motivated to declutter at this time of year – most definitely!
When Christmas decorations and all the other holiday decor goes up, there’s new clutter around the house – and that all makes things harder to clean and tidy as it is.
The last thing you want to contend with on top of the Christmas decor is excess stuff around the house that really doesn’t need to be there.
As soon as you declutter – the house will feel tidier, and be much more easy to keep on top of over the festivities. AND it means that when the decorations come down, it will be even tidier than it was before!
aaaand, breathe!
What To Declutter Before Christmas
As you hopefully see by now, the reasons to declutter are pretty good ones, and you could get ahead of the game quite easily by doing a little each day so it doesn’t take up too much time.
But – what should you actually declutter at this time of year? The Holiday season calls for a few things to go…
Old decorations
Anything that’s are broken or that you don’t use any longer
Extra home accessories
Anything that you’ve been wanting to declutter for a while. They will be added to with Christmas decorations over the holiday season, so you won’t miss them as much.
Out of date food
Anything in the fridge, freezer, pantry, and cupboards. You’ll be buying extra food at this time of year – so make some room!
The spare room
If you’re having guests and the spare room resembles more of a storage space than a relaxing bedroom, now is the time to get it under control for the holidays
Old Toys
Get the kids to at least donate 1 or 2 to a charity shop so that some other kids get to enjoy them over Christmas. This will make space for a new toy (or several…) too.
Old wrapping paper and supplies
No doubt you’ve been in that wrapping storage space in your home quite a lot with all those Christmas gifts to wrap.
There may well be paper and items that you’ve avoided using as they’re past their best, or bits that are too small to wrap anything. Now is the time to declutter them!
Entertaining items in the Kitchen / Dining room
Anything that you won’t be using again. Usually Christmas brings the most entertaining that you’ll do – and if you’re not using some things over the next few weeks – chances are you won’t need to use them ever… (serving plates and dishes, for example)
Diaries / Planners
For the current year. They probably won’t be used in the few days of Christmas – so it’s worth making space getting rid of them now.
Something that will be replaced over Christmas.
If you’re expecting a specific Christmas gift, and you have an older version – why not let that one go now, ready?
So – are you now ready to declutter before Christmas?
If you can get control of your stuff by doing a pre Christmas declutter, then you can start the new year with a clean slate – how does that sound!?
Christmas clutter is enough in itself – so you may think twice about NOT doing it!
And if you’re ready for more decluttering, why not head over the Decluttering section of the site next – there’s loads to explore there that may just start that brilliant new year habit of decluttering, a little earlier this year!
