Happy December friends! What a year it’s been. It feels like just the other day I was writing my 2020 Goals blog post and now it’s almost 2021. Even though this year was unpredictable and hard for so many, I feel like it really flew by. As Christmas approaches things can get a little hectic and…. dare I say stressful? I wanted to share what I am doing to declutter before Christmas and therefore prevent a little overwhelm! My house is past due for an organization overhaul, especially knowing all the “stuff” that comes in to the house this month. All the extra food, decor, and gifts can feel chaotic and cluttered especially post Christmas/pre New Year.
I wanted to tackle these tasks now before Christmas and the New Year so I’m holding myself accountable by posting about it. When you’ve got a million things to do it’s really easy to bury your head in the sand and “deal with it later”. But you’ll be so happy and relieved to declutter these 5 things before Christmas.
1. Refrigerator & pantry
Before you load up on groceries for Christmas, take an hour or so and declutter and clean your fridge and pantry! Am I the only one that always has like 10 different expired condiments in their fridge? It’s best to do this when your refrigerator is as empty as possible like the evening before you go grocery shopping. Simply go shelf by shelf and toss out leftovers that aren’t going to get eaten and the expired mayonnaise from 4th of July.
Once you’ve tossed the excess, clean each shelf too. My refrigerator really gets put on the back burner in my normal cleaning tasks and it needed a good wipe down. Now is the time to put like condiments together and organize your shelves and drawers the way that makes best sense for you.
Trust me when I say, you will feel like a million bucks when this is done.
Same goes for your pantry! Toss out the rice cakes from when you were trying to be “healthy” and the stale cereal no one likes. Wipe everything down and take note of anything you know you’ll need to restock or replace before Christmas. This is also a great time to make your weekly grocery list!
2. Closet
Decluttering my closet is what I should be doing right now instead of writing this blog post but here we are… *shrugs*. Your closet is one of the most important things to declutter before Christmas! Many of us either get new clothes as gifts or we buy them ourselves for holiday events.
There is nothing better than having an organized closet when you’re looking for something to wear.
The most important tip I have for decluttering your closet is to make sure you leave yourself time to immediately donate the clothes you’re getting rid of. Don’t drive around with them in your trunk for months!
Get rid of anything you haven’t worn in a year. If you have any holiday events coming up, make note of what you have and what you need to buy. Often when we declutter our closets, we find clothes we forgot about. This can be super helpful before the holidays.
3. Counters/junk drawer
Do you ever feel like you’ve moved the same piece of paper around your kitchen for weeks? Yeah… that’s what we are tackling next! The best part? Decluttering counters is usually pretty quick and easy. In our day to day, we get so overloaded with decisions that sometimes we don’t feel like making another. For example, “should we keep this coupon or note from school?”. Which is why something that’s actually really simple to “handle” like a few pieces of mail gets pushed aside.
Counters and your kitchen area are extremely important to declutter before Christmas because we usually spend most of our time in the kitchen during holidays. Not to mention, it’s so much easier and more inviting to tackle holiday baking and cooking with an organized kitchen and no cluttered counters.
You can never have enough counter space…. am I right?
I’m not sure where your junk drawer resides but ours is in our kitchen. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s called a junk drawer for a reason. However, making time to declutter this spot before Christmas will be super helpful.
Our junk drawer has everything from stamps to safety pins and batteries. Like the counters, this is usually a quick declutter with a big pay off because it feels great when it’s done. Consider investing in some plastics organizers to help keep it organized for longer than a month!
4. Tupperware/cabinets
Before Christmas, take some time and go through all your cabinets. Toss out (or recycle if you can) old Tupperware that is missing lids, cracked, or stained. This is another quick declutter and organize that you’ll thank yourself for doing before the holidays.
Organizing your cabinets will make cooking and baking so much easier and smoother because everything will be in it’s correct place.
5. Important papers/file cabinet
You’re fancy if you have a filing cabinet. We have a box with a couple folders that hold all of our “important papers”. I think we will invest in one of these filing boxes soon. It’s the perfect solution to organizing all those important documents. The dividers allow you to organize by person, medical, cars etc.
Decluttering this space is helpful before Christmas but especially before the New Year. Dive in to the new year with peace of mind knowing all of your important documents are right where they need to be.
My husband and I recently went through ours and found a card from my graduation 4 years ago that had $200 in it. While I can’t promise that will happen for you, it’s still cool! Aside from that, we had been harboring tons of paperwork from old apartments, warranties for appliances we no longer had, and other nonsense that needed to go.
Bonus: Toys
This one is only relevant if you have kids but it is super important. Kids can get easily overwhelmed with too many toys. Plus an excess of toys will quickly make your house feel chaotic. Before Christmas, go through and get rid of any broken toys or toys that are missing pieces. Donate toys that your kid has grown out of. If you think this might be a fight, maybe do it when the kids are in bed. Otherwise, I would say include them and explain that you are donating their old toys to kids in need and making room to get some new ones at Christmas.
Doing this before Christmas will prevent that overwhelm that is sure to come post Christmas when you realize just how many toys you actually have in your house. Plus, everything will be organized and ready for the new toys to be put away nicely…. mostly.
Are you feeling inspired to declutter before Christmas?
Decluttering is such a necessary evil. I don’t think any of us really enjoy it but you simply can’t beat the feeling you get when it’s done. Ensure your holiday is as stress free and enjoyable as possible while also setting yourself up for a great New Year by getting after it now. I hope you enjoyed this post and are feeling ready to tackle these 5 spaces in your home and maybe even more if you’re feeling inspired.
-The Relatable Red
