7 Areas to Declutter Before Christmas
Christmas is fast approaching. Since we love to enjoy the festive season, we’ve always liked cleaning and decluttering during the fall so that we feel less stressed and overwhelmed when the holidays come.
Fall is also the best time of the year for decluttering your home if you’ve never tried. A decluttered house will make your life so much easier.
Get your house decluttered for the holidays. Hosting parties and welcoming overnight guests during the holidays will become less stressful if you have a clutter-free home.
You definitely want to have room for your guests and the things you and your guests bring into your house.
When you’re going to clean out all the spaces, be ruthless with the things that you no longer use or love.
Are you ready to get your home clean and tidy for Christmas and the New Year? Here are the 7 areas you will want to declutter.
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Things to Declutter Before the Holidays
1. Declutter Your Entryway
Since the entryway is a high-trafficked area, you need to declutter this area regularly to keep it functional and clutter-free.
If you’re like me living in a region that has a long cold winter, fall is the ideal time for decluttering and organizing. Tidy up the entryway and get ready for the guests.
Take off your shoes as soon as you enter the door, and put the shoes on a quality boot tray. This helps to protect your flooring from all salt ice, snow and dirt.
Put the summer shoes like sandals and flip-flops away so that you can make room for the household members and guests to place their winter boots.
Since bulky winter jackets and winter gear can also take up a ton of closet space, make sure to declutter and organize the front entrance closet at this time of the year.
2. Declutter Your Home Decor
It’s time to prep and clean your house for the holiday season. Throw away or recycle all the broken seasonal decorations. Donate all the unwanted wrapping paper, Christmas lights, ornaments, and decorations, etc.
Only keep those decorations you truly love.
Too much home decor can make your house look crowded and cluttered, and decorative accessories can often take up storage space.
Are there any souvenirs or decorative accessories that sit on your shelves that don’t bring your joy or you just keep them because they are not broken? Purge them now and start to decorate your home with style and intention.
3. Declutter Your Closet
When was the last time you cleaned out your cluttered closet?
The season change is the time of the year to do a thorough declutter of all the clothes, shoes and accessories.
How to clean out the closet and get rid of clothes?
Here are the easy steps you can follow. First, empty the closet, put them all on the bed.
Purge any items that have gone out of style or don’t fit you anymore. If you don’t love or haven’t worn them in years, just let them go.
Do not keep things sitting in the closet, taking up space and you know you will not wear them again. Bag up those items to sell or donate.
Don’t forget to take the bags to your car as soon as possible. Any clothes that cannot be repaired or broken accessories also need to go.
Now, put things back in your closet. Store them by category or color.
Follow the “one in, one out” rule. When you bring one thing into the closet, purge one thing. It’s one of the best ways to keep your closet organized.
4. Declutter Your Kitchen
Taking everything out and getting rid of unnecessary and duplicate items. Duplicate cooking utensils and kitchen gadgets can take up your valuable kitchen storage space.
Keep the one that functions best and keep what you actually use regularly.
Clean out and organize your pantry to maximize the cabinet space for the holidays. Toss the expired items, and minimize the spices and condiments.
I usually keep less than 10 condiments that I use regularly. Toss the old spices that have lost flavor. Stock the spices that you use regularly.
We all want the refrigerator to be ready for the extra groceries and Christmas cooking. Toss the expired food from the fridge and freezer. Clean the interior with warm soapy water.
Use containers to keep things in place and easy to access. You may also want to line your shelves with washable mats that can keep your fridge clean.
Related decluttering your home posts:
How to Get Motivated to Declutter Your Home
How to Declutter When You’re Overwhelmed by a Messy House
5. Declutter Your Playroom
It’s the best time of the year for a huge decluttering.
When there are so many things going on during the holidays, do a pre-Christmas declutter to make room for new toys.
Decluttering kids’ stuff means clothes, toys, books and crafts all included.
Children grow so fast and outgrown clothes can be taken for donation or stored to pass on to another child.
Get rid of the broken toys and give outgrown items to charities.
Reorganize your kids’ artwork and crafts. Set up a system that can display your children’s artwork. You may also want to use a clipboard to hang their artwork.
We’ve limited space and it’s impossible to store every single piece. Digitizing the art pieces is the best way to keep all the memories.
Some children have a hard time letting go of anything. When my child was little, we encouraged her to give away the old toys that she no longer played with. She liked this idea as she knew she was helping other kids and she needed to make room for new toys.
6. Declutter Your Garage
Many families tend to use their garages as storage. Or very often, unused things tend to get dumped in the garage.
Cleaning out the garage helps to free up your garage space so that you can actually park your car in your garage.
It’s time to declutter the garage before the holidays. Toss out the items you don’t need anymore. Sell or donate the items that you’re not using or recycling properly.
Take out the old furniture that you’ve been wanting to reupholster for years. Ask yourself if you would work on it any time soon. If not, take it to the thrift store.
Get rid of the old paint cans that you won’t use anymore. Safely dispose of paint and paint cans in your area.
Check your tool collection and get rid of the duplicate tools if you’ve got an overflowing toolbox.
Purge the old sports gear you no longer use. Donate the gardening tool you no longer need. They can all take up a lot of space.
Camping gear or sports equipment can make the room look cluttered if they are lying around the garage. Pegboard, rack and storage shelves can help to keep them well organized.
7. Declutter Your Office
If you’re like me keeping a bunch of gift bags, gift boxes, wrapping papers, tissue papers, Christmas cards, and birthday cards, or else, right now it’s time to declutter and purge the excess.
You’ll find it easier to look for the one you need when the holidays are coming.
Organize your gift wrapping station and check if you really need to buy extra wrapping paper, tape, and scissors. Check them out before you buy them.
Unclutter your book collection. Sell or give away those books you won’t ever read again. Decluttering your bookshelves and making room for new gifts (books) coming into your home.
Related cleaning and organizing your home posts:
Easy Spring Cleaning Tips for a Sparkling Home
How to Clean Your House Fast and Efficiently
Final Thoughts on Decluttering Before the Holidays:
Having a pre-holiday declutter in the above 7 areas will make your home ready for the festive season. Everything gets organized and you’ll find things easier.
You know what you really need to buy. It helps to make life easier, save money, reduce stress and find more joy this holiday season.
If you’re looking for ways to simplify Christmas and enjoy the holidays more, check out the following posts for inspiration:
5 Simple Ways to Have a Debt-free Christmas
Free Printable Christmas Planner
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