Before you even start to think about festive planning: declutter your home. It might seem like a whole heap of work on top of everything else you need to do for the festive holidays but it’s worth it and you don’t need to do everything just a few key areas.
Decluttering right before the festive season begins will make space in your home for friends, family, and their inevitable gifts; it will create an environment that feels good to be in and will set you up for a fresh start for the new year. Decluttering could also save you money by rediscovering items you need that you already have, things like decorations, kitchenware, and gift wrapping supplies.
Declutter these five areas of your home before the holidays and you’ll create a home that’s ready for the festive celebrations.
1 | Kitchen Pantry
The best place to start is in the kitchen. Go through all your perishable and nonperishable goods, checking expiry dates and making sure there’s nothing that’s gone off hiding at the back. Go through all your cupboards and shelves; throw away expired foods and donate any in-date tinned food you won’t be needing. Check spices and packets, and make a list of things you need to replace or stock up on. Now would be a great time to compile a festive menu and start checking off what you need to purchase in the run up to the holidays. If you have kitchen gadgets that are broken either repair or recycle them, and donate any unwanted gadgets especially the single-use ones. Make room in your kitchen for the extra food you’ll most likely be stocking up on.
2 | Decorations
This is one of those tasks that often gets left until the very last moment, when the tree is in place and you’re ready to decorate.. only to find the lights are broken, decorations are missing, and some of the baubles are smashed. We box everything up at the end of the holidays and never look at it again until the following year. These boxes get shuffled around and the contents don't usually get checked on. Things get broken or tangled without us even knowing, and when we pull it all out twelve months later we get a nasty surprise. Go through your box (or boxes) of decorations and check to see whether all the lights are working. Recycle or trash broken ornaments and baubles, detangle the lights, and make a note of anything you need to replace.
3 | Winter Clothes
It’s likely your winter clothing has been stored away somewhere until the colder weather hits. Once it’s time to start wearing those clothes you haven’t worn for several months, give your wardrobe a refresh with a decluttering sweep. Go through your wardrobe and remove any unwanted coats, jumpers, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks and donate them to homeless shelters. There’s always someone in need of warm clothing. As the festive season tends to provide opportunities for more dressier clothing, you might want to take the opportunity to go through your occasion and evening wear to remove any items that no longer fit or you won’t wear again. Donate everything you no longer want, your wardrobe will look refreshed and be primed for all those festive events.
4 | Unwanted Gifts
If you have a tendency to stow away unexpected and not-quite-right gifts at the back of cupboards or hidden away in boxes, now is the time to start clearing them out. You might be surprised at what you’ve hidden away for twelve months. There's likely to be a mixed bag of beauty products, food items, candles, decorations, novelty gifts, and books. Go through and check on what gifts you have; throw away expired food and beauty items, dust off ornaments, board games, and novelty items. Decide on what needs to be thrown away or recycled, and what (if anything) is worth keeping. You might find you can repurpose some of the items or that everything needs to be binned; use this as an opportunity to purge all the useless clutter that's been lurking in the hidden spots of your home. It might be possible to regift some items (with extreme caution) to people who have more use for them but don't feel bad about getting rid of things you don't need or want to keep.
5 | Books
With the cold evenings and longer nights you might be tempted to stop in and read more often than you did in summer. Before you stock up on new books to read over winter, go through your bookshelves and declutter the ones you’ve already read. Make a pile of books to read and ones to donate. Gift your favourite reads to friends and family, and donate any remaining unwanted books to charity. This little decluttering task will help you rediscover new books to read and old favourites to revisit, and save you a little money in the process. It’s a simple decluttering task to get you excited about cosy night’s in with a good book.
