How to Declutter Your Home This Holiday Season

‘Tis the festive season and stress is at an all-time high. I used to love Christmas when I was a kid (what kid doesn’t enjoy the glimmering lights, abundance of delicious food, and most of all – presents?).

Then I grew up and saw the other side of the coin – all the cooking, cleaning, decorating, and decluttering that need to take place to make way for all that Christmas cheer.

Indeed, the holiday season is stressful for most adults. There’s so much to do and not enough time to do it. You want to put your best foot forward the whole thing can get a bit overwhelming. Don’t worry – we’re here to help you organise and declutter your home this holiday season.

In this article:

• Get creative
• Divide and conquer
• In the kitchen
• Clear out the cupboards
• Clear out the freezer and the fridge
• In the living room
• In the bathroom
• Conclusion

Get creative

Your home can’t get any bigger (without serious investment, anyway). But you can create a lot more space if you get creative with the tools you have at your disposal.

Take note from people who live in tiny flats. They know how to make the most out of their space. For example, they hang kitchenware on the wall. If it’s on the wall, it’s not taking space in a drawer somewhere.

You can do the same with your kitchen knives. Get a magnetic strip, mount it on the wall and you’re good to go.

Note: Check the reviews before you go ahead and buy one. Make sure you put the safety of your family ahead of saving a few pounds. Also, needless to say, but – keep away from children!

If you’re a wine connoisseur, you should think about investing in a wire stemware rack. It will make your kitchen look a lot more aesthetic, give you an excuse to exhibit your fancy wine glasses, and save you a ton of space. It’s a win-win-win.

Divide and conquer

This principle is as valid in decluttering as it was in ancient warfare. The way to apply it is pretty simple – divide all your items into the following categories:

• Throw away – items you will throw away (recycle, if you can);
• Give away – items in good condition you no longer need. Someone else might make good use for them;
• Store away – items you might need in the future (be very specific about their use and timeframe) but are now in the way and need to be stored;
• Leave – this item is good where it is and requires no intervention on your part;

You need to be brutally honest with yourself about each item and category. There is no place for “maybes” in this exercise. Hesitation means clutter and we can’t have that.

In the kitchen

Your kitchen is likely full of items that are past their prime. Especially herbs and spices that seem to fall through the cracks every spring cleaning. Throw away anything that’s out of date.

Clear out the cupboards

It’s very likely your cupboards are full of half-emptied packs of pasta, rice, and cereal. Throw away anything that doesn’t seem safely edible.

To make more space in the cupboards, move food products into plastic containers. This way, you can easily store a lot more food and recycle its original packaging.

Organise the containers in such a way that you have easy access to all of them and you can see if something is running out. 

Clear out the freezer and the fridge

If your freezer is a den of forgotten foodstuff, you’re not alone. Items can spend years in the freezer before you finally decide to throw them away. Let’s face it – if you haven’t cooked that pack of frozen broccoli for the past three years, it’s not very likely you’ll do it now.

So take everything out of your freezer and throw away the items you’re not likely to eat. Ever. Like that broccoli.

Do the same with the fridge. Check everything for freshness and throw away anything that seems like it can host its own micro eco-system. Especially if it’s a piece of cheese.

Organize your fridge and you’ll suddenly find yourself having a lot more space on your hands.

In the living room

The main problem with the living room is how easily the clutter can accumulate. And so it’s very important to declutter it at least twice a year.

If you have children, there will be toys in the living room. That’s as much of a constant of the universe as gravity. The solution is to have a box somewhere in the corner where you can gather the toys when kids are done playing. Bonus points if you can teach them to store their toys away, themselves.

Also, think about rearranging the furniture. In most cases, furniture is not optimally arranged and a small rearrangement can really open a room up. It’s not always about pointing at the telly.

In the bathroom

The first step, just like going through the fridge and the cupboards, should be to check the labels and see if anything’s expired. Throw items that are past their prime right away. This is especially important if we’re talking about your medical cabinet.

Another problem that often creates clutter in the bathroom is all the half-empty bottles. A great solution I find works for me is to buy a shampoo, a shower gel, and a liquid soap bottle and to fill them up.

This makes it a lot easier to store the half-empty bottles somewhere out of sight (in my case, under the sink), while significantly reducing clutter.

Finally, like in the kitchen – find a way to hang more items on the wall. It’s a great way to reduce clutter and create the illusion of more space without breaking the bank.

Conclusion

Whether you’re having family over or simply want to take the chance and declutter your home for the holidays, organisation doesn’t take as much effort as you think.

With a few simple tricks, you can create a much more spacious and organised environment in your home. While it sounds unlikely, miracles do happen this time of the year. Happy holidays!

Author: Atanas Dzhingarov

Hi, I’m Atanas - brand consultant and writer. I’m helping Samyx Cleaning create the best cleaning company blog on the Internet. Join us on our journey and learn how to live a cleaner, healthier, happier life in the process.