Pre-Christmas declutter

When you start thinking about Christmas decorations, that should be the perfect time to declutter. The holiday season brings with it family visits and gatherings with friends, and this usually means presents are exchanged. Getting rid of unnecessary clutter will bring some much-needed feng shui in your home.

Save yourself the stress by doing a pre-Christmas declutter around your home. This can be in specific rooms (usually storeroom and garage ) or for specific items such as old clothes and toys. We are often likely to add new items to the home during the festive season, so getting rid of what you no longer need allows you to make space for everything new.

When you start bringing out old Christmas decorations from storage, start separating them from the ones you no longer use or haven’t used in a few years. This is the time to donate, and this should extend to holiday decor.

Next, take a look at areas around the house where you display your Christmas decorations. Look at little knick-knacks on your shelves, an old magazine rack, or are your flat surfaces cluttered? This is the ideal time to downsize some of the non-seasonal items that you have had for a long time but no longer love.

If you have children, best believe they will be getting new toys during the holidays, even if you are a staunch minimalist. Stay ahead of this by donating the toys your child has outgrown. It would be best to work with your child to declutter their old toys and make room for new ones.

One room that is often overlooked when clearing out is the kitchen. If anything, it is usually cluttered with all the groceries bought for Christmas and New Year’s menus. We spend a lot of the time in the kitchen during the holidays, so use the time now to remove expired food, move glassware, cups and water bottles that will not be used.

Lastly, make sure you are not over-scheduled during the holidays. Try to limit the number of commitments you have to attend to. We often underestimate how much energy and effort we put into the holidays, even if we are not hosting. And of course, we are still in a global pandemic. Stay safe.