Holiday Decluttering Tips
The Holidays are a wonderful time. However, they can also be rife with stress and mess. Prior to your celebrations, or school break, decluttering can help reduce the holiday stress. We’ve compiled our six best holiday decluttering tips to help you start the new year, or a new season, with the cleanest home possible.
- Start in the Kitchen: Out of date food is the easiest thing to part with, there’s no sentimental value. Food that is still in date that was purchased for the holidays can easily be stored in a container to be dropped at your local food donation centre, or, if it doesn’t go off, until next year.
- Move to the Wardrobe: Clothing of yours and your children’s that is ripped, stained, outgrown, or has never been worn is taking up valuable space in your wardrobe. Fancier clothing intended for events can also be sold off, swapped or donated if you won’t wear it again.
- Whittle Down your Library: Books are an amazing item to donate. While personal libraries are great for referencing, research, and can be a source of pride, they can also be a source of clutter. If your kids are grown up, box up and donate their childrens books, and don’t forget that university textbooks can be resold online through various websites!
- The ‘Everything’ Drawer: Every household has one. The dreaded ‘everything’ drawer, filled with broken cords, old outdated technology, scissors, giftwrap, and other miscellaneous bits and pieces. Pull out your ‘everything’ drawer and put stationery, cards, and wrapping paper with office supplies, and trash or recycle the broken bits.
- Look in the garage: Just like the ‘everything’ drawer, the garage is a magnet for broken and disused items. Take an inventory of everything from old furniture, discarded toys, and boxes of things intended for donation that somehow never left the property. Exercise equipment can also be donated or boxed up and organised into spare shelving units.
- Simplify the bedrooms: Once you’re an adult and no longer using your bedroom as a combined study and sleeping space, it’s time to turn it into an escape. Bedrooms should have a relaxed atmosphere, so tidy up and put the junk away. Try storing things like shoes and bags in trunks, or in the wardrobe, and minimise furniture down to the bare necessities. You want to wake up in a clean, zen space.
Remember, prevention is better than a cure! The more things we buy, the more they go to waste. Purchase good quality clothing, use libraries, and minimise your waste cycle and your decluttering process won’t be so chaotic next year.
When we take care of our space, it helps minimise the chaos and clutter in our lives. A tidy home equals a tidy mind, allowing us more time to spend with our family during the holidays. If you start taking care of the small details now, as clutter begins to pile up, you won’t be faced with such a big, stressful job. This will leave you more time to make memories and enjoy life, the way it should be!
