Decluttering before Christmas is a fab idea so you don't have to deal with it over the festive period! Get ahead before the busy season begins…
The festive season is almost upon us, some of us may be feeling over excited – some of us may just feel even more stressed than usual. Now's the perfect time to sort out any clutter, before the Christmas mayhem begins.
By decluttering your home beforehand, it means you will be free to enjoy the festive season and you can head into the New Year with a spick-and-span house!
We're not just talking about shoving everything under your bed or inside your wardrobes, we mean well and truly decluttering your home. If you just want a quick fix, perhaps in time for the in-laws visiting take a quick look at our Top 10 Quick Tips for an Organised Home. But, if you have a little more time on your hands and want to create a long term solution, read ahead for our tips on how to declutter in time for Christmas.
Here we go,
- Create a system for sorting
Before you get started, grab 3 big boxes. A storage box, a recycle box and a keep box.
If you haven't already got any, you can get some stackable boxes easily online. Your storage box can be popped into the attic.
With your recycle box it's entirely up to you where you want your items to go. Perhaps to the local charity for donations, or if you want to make some cash Gumtree, eBay or Magpie for old CDs and DVDs.
And with your keep box, you can find a place for each of the items in your home.
2. Let the ‘sorting’ commence
Start room by room sorting out any clutter, don't set yourself too much to do, perhaps do one room at a time and come back to the next one on another day.
You might find it hard to decide which box to put things in so here's a couple of helpful methods:
When was the last time you used it?
If you lost it, would you replace it?
Do you already have another item that has the same purpose, but better?
Is it easy to replace?
Does the item have sentimental value?
If you get to the children's room, you know what's coming next. Sorting out old toys. Yes, we said it. You've probably already guessed this would be on the list but it's an important one, especially so close to Christmas. Go through each of your children's toys, one by one and let them decide which toys they are finished playing with. Then you can decide what box to pop them in. This way you can make room for any new arrivals, whilst keeping anything sentimental in a storage box.
3. Remember to declutter those drawers
It's easy to toss things in drawers just to hide them, or perhaps because you don't know where they belong to begin with. But after some time this can start to build up and cause yourself a headache at the thought of rifling through them in the hopes you'll find what you're looking for. Say no more, decluttering your drawers is probably the most painstaking one, but it's definitely rewarding! So, the plan of action is as follows:
- Invest in drawer dividers. They're perfect for tidying up your drawers, they make everything easier to find and they're even pleasing to look at
- Remove all the contents and clean the drawers to get rid of any dust
- Sort and group similar items in piles – there may be some which are suited better somewhere else, and some can go in that Recycle box if you don't think you'll use them anymore
- Pop the remaining items back in the drawer in an orderly manner
4. Tidy up any general 'house' clutter
Without a doubt 'house clutter' will build up even more over Christmas so why not try to tackle any unnecessary clutter beforehand? Here's a couple of common hacks:
- Lots of us have 'important' letters hanging around the house taking up room on the kitchen counter, and on various cupboards around the house. Although we might want to keep these safe for something, why not have a letter tray to store them? That way you know where they are, and they're all together! It also means you can file away all those miscellaneous letters and receipts you don't quite know what to do with.
- Cable wires can become a pain, especially when they get tangled and let's admit it, they're not the most attractive sight to see sprawled out everywhere. If you haven't already, separating them through a cable management box is a good solution – plus they look nice too. You can also shorten any of those long, annoying cables with a cable tie too.
- Organising any shoes heel to toe will maximise space
- Lots of belts, or scarves? Why not arrange them together on a single hanger? Either use one of your own hangers, or find a cheap one to buy.
5. Have a sigh of relief – decluttering feels good!
Well done you've tackled the painstaking task of decluttering – give yourself a pat on the back!
Remember to keep at it, don't let all your hard work go to waste in a couple of months' time. If you see any clutter slowly building up, take it on from there!
