It’s the most magical time of the year… and somehow, the most cluttered too!
Despite how much we keep saying ‘this year we are going to keep it simple’ Christmas always tends to just run into this big, exciting, happy, mess. And as much as I love it, it can also be a little overwhelming.
Decluttering your home before Christmas can help in SO MANY ways.
Being able to sort through things, clear some space (both mentally and physically) and just feel like you are in control of your home, can have such a positive impact on how you handle the festive season.
Regardless of whether you’re having a house full of guests or a quiet and relaxing Christmas, use the holiday season as an excuse to declutter your home and feel better for it.
I”m all about simple, quick, easy decluttering techniques to help you through, so this is how:
** Keep in mind, when decluttering, it’s always good to be able to recycle, repurpose or reuse where possible. This doesn’t mean you have to reuse the things you’re decluttering, you could donate them or even sell them and make some extra cash too! **
Key Area 1 – Toys
Okay, I know this is area can be overwhelming but don’t overcomplicate this one.
Toys are such an area of clutter. They break, things go missing, and before you know it you have a bunch of half broken, half missing toys that (somehow) the kids are still so attached to.
And, if you’re anything like me, you just close the door to the toyroom, or put everything into the big toybox, close it and just forget about it… Until it becomes too much.
Keep this one simple – declutter anything that is broken, not working, missing essential parts or just not wanted/needed anymore.
Key Area 2 – Clothes
Now, before you go pulling out all of your clothes and putting them in a big pile on the floor, there’s an easier way!
With decluttering, it’s a lot less overwhelming if you do it in phases. For example, don’t expect to complete a comprehensive declutter of your wardrobe in one day.
Decluttering is something that times some time to build into. You might be a bit more conservative the first time you declutter, but each time after that you get a little more ruthless.
With your clothes, make a few passes of the basics, things that don’t fit, aren’t in good repair, or that you never wear, and that’s a pretty good first pass of your clothes declutter.
Key Area 3 – The Kitchen
The kitchen is a great place to get in and declutter before Christmas, especially if you’re the one hosting the festivities and therefore cooking for a whole bunch of people.
I swear, I have so many double ups in my kitchen purely because I needed a specific tin or item for a specific dish and I had forgotten I’d already had something appropriate. It’s easy to do, especially at this time of year.
Go through your kitchen and take stock of what you’ve got, donate what you don’t need, and clear out the clutter in the kitchen.
Key Area 4 – The Pantry
When was the last time you took an inventory of your pantry? I mean actually got right up in there and made a list of all the things you have?
Like a reverse grocery shopping list, but instead of what you have to buy it’s all about what you already have. You might be surprised at what you find.
I was a little appalled to find I had been carting the same bunch of grocery ‘basics’ around for a few years (through too many moves) and they were out of date… by a lot!
This is the perfect time of year to go through and work out what you do have so you’re not buying and doubling up for Christmas cooking (saving money!!) and it is also a great way to help you meal plan too, by seeing what you already have and using that to create meals.
Need some inspiration to help you kick off your decluttering? Grab your copy of our free Decluttering Checklist:
Key Area 5 – Email Inbox
With all the sales and the craziness that comes with the festive season, so too does copious amounts of emails. All kinds of marketing from all kinds of companies… some welcome, some not so much.
What’s your email inbox looking like at the moment? How many emails are sitting there unopened? That little red number on your phone, taunting you…
I don’t know about you, but I always feel better when my inbox is empty. Truth be told, it’s rarely ever completely empty, but when it is, it just feels so refreshing.
Tidy up your inbox the easy way by just spending 10 minutes a few times a day deleting old emails and removing anything that doesn’t need to be in your inbox.
I find the best way to do this is to switch every time I open Facebook to mindlessly scroll, I change to my emails and start deleting. It amazed me at how many times I opened Facebook each day, but it did help me get my emails cleared out a lot faster.
You could also use a service like Unroll that stops excessive emails by delivering all of your subscription emails in one single email and allowing you to roll them up easily.
I do suggest if you want to unsubscribe from emails though, to do so with the ‘unsubscribe’ link in the actual email to ensure you are removed from their email list. Unroll simply blocks that email, not unsubscribes.
Key Area 6 – General Declutter
There is a lot of power in this kind of decluttering. You don’t have to do a full deep declutter of each and every room to feel the decluttering effects.
All you need to do is simply walk into each room and find 5 things you can remove from that room. That’s it.
This is such a simple way to ease into the decluttering process, to remove excess from each room and to declutter quickly and easily. And you’ll be surprised at just how much it makes a difference.
Decluttering doesn’t have to be an overwhelming and tedious process. You can easily declutter your home before Christmas, or before any event coming up, and it only takes a small amount of time to do so.
