declutter

Does decluttering before holidays overwhelm you?

Declutter For The Holidays now to save you tons of time and save your sanity for the holiday season.

Believe me!

When I started prepping for Christmas a couple of months in advance, it became less overwhelming and stressful.

The holidays can be such a busy time for families and often becomes overwhelming to get all the extra’s done.

The holiday season should be about family and fun. With a little holiday prep, I can assure you, this holiday season will be less stressful so you can spend more time enjoying it.

8 areas to declutter for the holidays:

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1 -Declutter Toys

This one is pretty obvious but sometimes decluttering toys can be super overwhelming.

Before you start delcuttering your kids toys, start with the broken toys.

Toys that have missing pieces or no longer work can simply be tossed.

Then take a look at when your children have outgrown or might have duplicates of. These can be given to a new home.

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2 – Declutter Gift Wrap

When I start to declutter for the holidays, I always start with my gift wrap bins. Take a look at what already have as far as wrapping paper, gift bags and labels.

Toss what has seen better days and take an inventory of what you actually need this year.

If you haven’t used tissue paper in years, you don’t need it so pass it along to a friend or toss it. Do not buy things for the thought of I might need it one day.

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3 – Declutter Holiday Decor

Raise your hand if you have bins and bins of Christmas decorations and only use about half of them. ME!!

Christmas for me has always been a favorite of mine to decorate for. I am very guilty of buying more and more and I always put out less and less.

I start to organize for the holidays by going through the decor and see what you actually use and love. The rest can go.

This also includes lighting that may go outside.

Maybe you do not need to declutter them but now is a good time to make sure they work. Nothing is worse than going outside to put up Christmas lights only to find they do not work.

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4 – Declutter Your Kitchen

When the holiday season hits a lot more happens in the kitchen. You might be baking Christmas cookies or hosting more gatherings, so when you declutter for the holidays the kitchen should be a main focus too.

A good place to start decluttering your kitchen is the food.

Decluttering your pantry is the most important part to start with.

Check your spices, your baking supplies and anything that may be expired toss and write a list of things you need.

Again, the key word is need. If you stopped making a recipe that called for an ingredient years ago you do not need to repurchase it.

This goes for kitchen tools as well. If you have spring form pans taking up space but have not made a cheesecake in years, you don’t need them.

They are taking up valuable space.

I use this example from my own experience. When we moved into our new home, I realized I owned 6 spring form pans. SIX?!

I make a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake once a year for my husbands birthday, why on earth did I need 6 pans? Haha

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4a – Declutter Your Freezer

Holidays = Food! Tons of extra food at my house anyway.

Tidy up for the holidays by going through all the freezers you own.

Make sure you have enough room to store extra holiday food that you would like to freeze.

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5 – Declutter The Guest Room

Tidy up for the holidays for your guests.

I love having my house full of family for the holidays. It’s one of the reason’s why when we moved, I wanted a place for guests, so they can visit.

If you have a guest room now is the time to declutter it so you are one step ahead of the game.

Our guest room serves as a hangout spot for our kids sometimes and we tend to use it storage. Okay, truth be told sometimes it looks like Monica from Friend’s hidden closet. Who know’s what I am talking about here haha!

When we don’t have a home for something it winds up in our guest space.

Before the holidays prep your guest room for guests. Purge the items that your waiting to find a home for. Make sure you have what you need for your guests to feel comfortable etc.

Around the holidays, I love to leave a little basket full of goodies. Including my DIY Peppermint Almond body scrub.

This makes it so much less stressful when you have guests stay with you, you have this already crossed off your to-do list.

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6 – Declutter Pet Items

Does Santa bring your pets presents? Garfield our cat gets a few new items every year.

So, just like with the kids toys I like to take a look at what he has already.

If he has treats that are expired they get tossed, if one of his beds has seen better days it goes. This goes with his toys and scratching posts too.

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7 – Declutter Clothing

Just like with toys, kids outgrow clothing like crazy. But, it doesn’t stop there. Take a look at all family members winter clothing.

Purge the items that are no longer in good shape, no longer fit or that you just do not need or love.

Donate items or toss as you see fit.

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8 – Declutter For The Holiday Card List

This one may sound like a waste of time but can save you time when you are writing out your holiday cards this year.

We get so busy during the holiday’s a little prep can’t hurt.

Quickly go over your addresses and see who you no longer send to or make a note of address changes.

Sending out your cards were just made so much less time consuming in advance.

Decluttering for the holidays conclusion:

A little prep can go along way! Delcutter for the holidays one step at a time and start now that way it is not an overwhelming task.

What area do you declutter for the holidays?