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4 Reasons to Declutter Your Home Before Christmas and Where To Start

4 Reasons to Declutter Your Home Before Christmas and Where To Start

4 REASONS TO DECLUTTER YOUR HOME BEFORE CHRISTMAS (AND WHERE TO START)

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it can also bring extra chaos and clutter. Here are 4 reasons to declutter your home before Christmas. I’m also sharing some simple tips on where to start decluttering that will make a big difference to how your home feels and looks this holiday season.

PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS

Christmas is an exciting and busy time of year for many of us.  There is so much to plan and organise and our homes, calendars, minds and hearts become full of things to do, places to be and people to see.

There are many ways that you can get organised and simplify your Christmas. To get started with a quick checklist, try these 30 things to organise for Christmas for some ideas.

One other thing that I find really helps me plan and prepare for this busy season is to declutter my home before Christmas.

For those of you who know about decluttering and have tried it yourself, you’ll know that decluttering is an ongoing process! It’s not a case of do-it-once and you’re done. The clutter tries to creep back in on a daily basis and you need to watch out for it and come up with some great daily strategies to make sure you stay on top of it.

At Christmas it’s especially important to keep those routines up. Clutter comes back in many forms. It could be projects and paperwork your kids bring back from school, seasonal advertising that comes with the post or clogs up your email inbox.

It doesn’t even need to be clutter. It could just be extra ‘stuff’ – food for parties, presents to be wrapped, the gift wrap itself, Christmas decorations to be sorted and put up…

Christmas (however simplified you try to make it) and however much you avoid the temptations of the Christmas shelves in shops, comes with stuff and it’ll be easier on you if you find a way to manage it!

As I mentioned before, one of the main ways I manage this extra stuff in my own home is to declutter before Christmas.

REASONS TO DECLUTTER BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Here are some reasons to declutter before Christmas. Not only will this make your home easier to manage but it will also help to simplify your home and life this holiday season. I’ve also shared some suggestions of where you could start decluttering too.

1. Make space to store things

This is probably one of the most obvious benefits but it’s also certainly one of the most helpful! Christmas comes with stuff and that stuff needs to be stored.

Think about what you’re likely to have more of in your home in the run up to Christmas and where you’re going to store it. Here are some examples:

  • Declutter some of your garage or loft space to put the presents that are waiting to be wrapped in there.
  • Declutter your freezer and get rid of or use up food that’s past its best so you can make space for new food you need to buy for Christmas.
  • Declutter your kitchen. Are there any baking trays, roasting pans, utensils, gadgets, crockery, cutlery or glasses that you don’t use? Could you sort through some of these and work out what you’ll definitely need to use over the holidays. Chances are, if you’re not using it at this busy season then are you really likely to ever use it?
  • Declutter your food stocks and pantry. Do you have all the ingredients you might need to cook your Christmas meals. Spices, herbs, flour, store cupboard staples and so on. Decluttering your kitchen cupboards can help make meal planning easier and ensure you don’t run out of food, or accidentally buy multiples.
  • Declutter Christmas decorations. Before you put up the Christmas decorations, take a moment to look at what you’ve got. Do all the lights work, are there any broken baubles, threadbare tinsel?! Think about how you want to decorate your home and do you have the right decorations to do this? Get rid of anything that’s broken or doesn’t work. If your budget is tight and you don’t want to buy new decorations, maybe just focus on one or two areas of your home only. Maybe a tree and one other focal point such as around the fireplace (if it’s safe).

2. Make space in anticipation of new things

One of the ways in which I help reduce the clutter at Christmas (and help my loved ones choose gifts more easily for me), is by writing a wish list.

I usually include a small selection of things that I’d love to receive just in case anyone’s stuck for ideas on what to buy me. Not only does this help them but it also helps me because I usually have some kind of idea of what I might be lucky enough to receive! The same works for my kids too.

So, one of the other main reasons to declutter before Christmas is to make space for some new gifts instead of having to find more storage or let them get lost amidst things I already own.

Here are some examples…

  • Declutter your bathroom cabinets and donate/get rid/use up any bath and beauty products you’ve had lurking at the back to make space for some lovely new items you might receive.
  • Declutter the toys and get rid of/donate anything that your kids don’t play with so you can make space for some new ones
  • Declutter your books. Have you got books that you’ve never read, won’t read or won’t read again that you could donate? You might get some great new books this Christmas which could make better use of your shelves!
Reasons to declutter before Christmas

3. Easier to keep your home clean and tidy

When you have less stuff, it’s definitely easier to keep the home clean. When there’s less stuff to move, you can vacuum or mop the floor more easily, clean the inside of cabinets, dust the tops of tables and wipe the kitchen counters.

It’s also easier to keep the home tidy, especially when you’re likely to have more guests popping over and generally more people in your home. The kids are off on school holidays too so that can cause extra chaos even without Christmas thrown into the mix!. You can re-set your home in a flash without needing to tackle it like some huge military exercise.

Not only is it easier to keep the home clean and tidy, but it’s also quicker. It won’t take you ages to clear up and put everything away. A few minutes here and there just to return everything to its proper home, plump up a few cushions and stick a laundry load on, is all that will generally be needed to keep things ticking along.

4. A time of giving, not just receiving

This is one of my favourite reasons to declutter before Christmas. I appreciate we’re very lucky in many ways. We have food on the table, presents under the tree, family and friends to keep us company.

Many people aren’t as fortunate and Christmas can be a difficult time of year for many.

I think it’s important that my kids recognise and understand this too so we make a point of going through our stuff before Christmas and donating what we can.

It helps my kids understand, and reminds us all, that Christmas is a time of giving, not just receiving.

Some examples are:

  • Food to the local food bank
  • Toys, books and clothes that are in good condition to the charity shop
Reasons to declutter before Christmas

RESOURCES TO HELP SIMPLIFY CHRISTMAS IN DIFFERENT WAYS

Here are some more resources to help you enjoy a simple, stress-free Christmas:

MORE RESOURCES TO HELP YOU DECLUTTER

Here are some more resources and articles to help you declutter your home before Christmas (and at any other time of year too!)

  • How to Declutter When You Feel Overwhelmed by Stuff – Decluttering our homes can be tough. Getting rid of our stuff can be hard, physically and emotionally but particularly if we have a lot of clutter, not much time and don’t know how and where to start. If you feel overwhelmed by your stuff, here are some tips on how to declutter when you feel overwhelmed by stuff.
  • Is Decluttering About Letting Go of Clutter or Getting Rid of Stuff? – What perspective do you take on decluttering? Is it about letting go of clutter or getting rid of stuff? Here are some thoughts around decluttering and why your approach is so important.
  • Minimalism and Hygge: How to Make Your Home Cosy Without Adding Clutter – Here are some ideas on minimalism and Hygge and how to embrace both whilst enjoying a simpler lifestyle. I’m sharing some tips on how to make your home cosy without adding clutter so you can enjoy feeling warm and safe at home and still stay clutter-free!
  • How to Declutter Your Home and Life – Clearing clutter is often the first step to creating a simpler life, with more time, more ease and less stress. Decluttering isn’t always easy but this guide provides some helpful tips on how to declutter your home and life and make space for what matters most to you.

START DECLUTTERING YOUR HOME RIGHT NOW!

I hope you enjoyed this article and began to think about how clutter might be causing stress and stuff in your home this holiday.

If you’d like to start decluttering your home right now, pop your details in the box below to receive a free guide and workbook to help you declutter before Christmas (and hopefully keep the clutter away afterwards)!

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I’m Antonia and on this blog I share practical inspiration to simplify your home, time and life. Follow me on InstagramFacebook and Pinterest! You can also subscribe to Balance Through Simplicity and receive regular simplicity tips straight to your inbox for free. Make sure you never miss an article plus you’ll get a copy of my free Declutter Starter Kit as a welcome gift!

Laura

Wednesday 22nd of November 2023

I think these are excellent tips, Antonia. The ones about decluttering fridge, freezer and pantry are also valuable before any "feasting holiday" like Easter or Thanksgiving (though I don't think the UK has Thanksgiving, does it?). Anyhow, thanks for the great pointers!

Balance Through Simplicity

Thursday 23rd of November 2023

Hi Laura, No we don't have Thanksgiving in the UK. Yes I agree it's good to go through our food stocks before special occasions and even regularly. It's amazing what gets pushed to the back of cupboards or the bottom of the freezer. I try to make a mindful note of what does get left so I know to think twice about buying it again. There's usually a reason why these things get forgotten about. Thank you for your comment and for reading!