Get Your Home Ready for The Holidays

The most wonderful time of the year is here! While you might not be making your gift list just yet, there’s still a lot to do, especially if you’re planning on hosting friends and family. For one, you’ll be able to enjoy the holiday season with less clutter. Finding the room for gifts you’ll receive will be easier, as will hosting guests for holiday dinners and parties. Plus, getting rid of things you no longer need or want will allow you to truly start the year with a clean slate. Focus on one room, or even one zone within a room at a time, and complete each job fully before moving on to the next space. Here are some tips to get your home ready starting now. 

1. Use Containers to Sort Items: Before you start to declutter your home, have containers defined for the following purposes to sort items:

• A. Put away: Items that have crept out of their designated storage spaces.

B. Fix/mend: Items that need attention before they're put away, such as a shirt with a missing button.

• C. Recycle: Items that consist of recyclable materials.

• D. Trash: Items to throw away in the household trash.

• E. Donate: Unwanted items that are still in good condition and can be donated to a charitable organization or another person.

2. Keep These Decluttering Rules in Mind:

• A. 20/20 Rule: Get rid of items you can either replace for $20 and under 20 minutes.

• B. 80/20 Rule: According to this rule, we use 20% of our belongings 80% of the time. Either get rid of or store away the 80% that you don't use regularly.

• C. Five Second Rule: Sorting through items, give yourself five seconds to remember the last time the item was used. If you can't remember within five seconds, it's time to get rid of it.

3. Remember to keep your goals realistic and attainable to avoid feeling overwhelmed. What you shouldn't do is pull out all your stuff without a plan for how to sort it. If you do that, you'll likely waste time wading through all of your disorganized items. Consider starting in a space with only a small amount of clutter, so you can get it done quickly and feel like you're making progress and will stay motivated.

Entryway / Mudroom / Foyer:

You may not have a traditional mudroom or foyer, but you definitely have an entryway. No matter how small it is, the best way to make an entryway most functional is to declutter it regularly. Do you have a space for your keys and other important items? Make sure everything is accessible and not too crowded. This will make it easier to leave the house with what you need each morning. The entry is an area that picks up a lot of clutter from other rooms. Spend time putting away things from other rooms that have made their way to the entry.

Coat Closet:

When you pull out your winter clothing and gear, use the time to look at each item to determine if it’s worth keeping for the upcoming season. Confirm that coats and boots still fit, especially on the kids, as they grow significantly over the course of a year. Check items like hats and scarves for holes or tears and match up mittens and gloves. Take the things that are too small or no longer your style and donate to a local charity or find a coat drive near you. Once you've narrowed down the items you want to keep, make sure all the items are clean and organize the coat closet so you’re ready to go.

Linen Closet:

As you’re going through the clothes that keep you warm, tackle bedding and blankets as well. If you plan to have family or friends stay over the holidays, this is especially important to do ahead of time. Sort sheet sets and make sure they’re in good condition before folding them neatly and arranging them back in the closet by type. Next, do the same with towels. Determine if it’s time to replace the ones you have and keep guest towels separate so you can quickly pull them out when family or friends arrive for the holidays.

Gather up all the blankets, comforters, and pillows scattered throughout the house, decide on the number you realistically need to own, and keep only the ones you love. Most linens can be donated to animal shelters, so check with the ones close to you before tossing anything.

Bedrooms:

First, make your bed. It's hard to feel any progress decluttering a bedroom while an unmade bed stares you in the face. 

- Nightstands: Remove anything on them that doesn’t belong there, and put it in your put-away bin. This may include books you’ve already finished reading, pens and paper, and mail. Throw out or recycle anything that you no longer use.

- Tops of your dressers: Pay careful attention to any clothing that is strewn about. Anything that needs folding or hanging goes into the put-away bin. 

- Drawers: Take everything out. Pull out anything that is no longer worn, and put it in your donation bin. Fold and store the clothing you're keeping. 

- Desk or vanity table: Resist the urge to shove things back into drawers; instead, put them in your put-away bin. Toss or recycle anything you haven’t used in more than six months.

- Closet: OK, it's time to declutter your closet. The easiest way to tackle a closet is to first declutter your clothing by type. That means starting with shoes, then boots, then dresses and denim. It’s much easier to decide to toss or keep a pair of jeans if you’re looking at your entire jeans collection at once. So start pulling out different types of clothing, and decide what you'll toss and keep. Once you’ve gone through each type of clothing, you will have four piles to deal with:

• 1. Put away anything that was simply in the wrong spot. 

• 2. Put any dirty laundry into the hamper, or bring it to the laundry room.

• 3. Anything that needs to be repaired should go to the tailor or dry cleaner.

• 4. To get rid of clothes, take them to a donation center or consignment store.

Bathrooms:

- Medicine cabinet: Take everything out, and discard outdated medications, makeup, and skincare products. Put everything you're keeping immediately back into the cabinet, storing the items you use most often at eye level.

- Cabinet drawers: Remove everything. Put the items you're going to keep back into their drawers, with the items you use most often in the top drawers. 

- Shower, tub, and bathroom sink: Finally, pull everything out from these areas and declutter the items there.

- Lastly, everything that did not have a home can be quickly sorted into the five bins you have staged for the purpose.

Kitchen and Pantry: 

- Keeping your kitchen clutter-free can be a challenge because so many different activities occur there; cooking, eating, and socializing. As a result, the kitchen has many different types of items stored in it. You can choose to declutter your kitchen by focusing on one category of item at a time (cutting boards, glassware, utensils, or bakeware, for example) or going by zone through each part of the kitchen.

- Now is the time to organize your pantry in preparation for Thanksgiving, as well as decorating Christmas cookies and maybe even hosting a Superbowl party. Check expiration dates on baking ingredients, spices, and cans. Restock anything you’ll need over the coming months, such as flour and sugar for holiday baking or canned goods for soup recipes. Find a nearby food bank and donate any excess non-perishables that are still within their “best if used by” dates.

Living Room:

- The living room is one of the hardest rooms in your home to keep neat daily. That's because it gets a lot of use, and living rooms don't usually offer a lot of storage features. The key is to find permanent storage spaces for commonly used items, such as remote controls, magazines, and books. Start with bookcases, consoles, and side tables. Then move on to your coffee table and entertainment center. Empty them, assess the items they store, and then return them to their proper storage spaces. Put books away, reduce paper clutter, or return remote controls to their proper places. Grab your put-away bin, and return everything in its place.

- Electronics: Remove everything that is not connected to your television or home theater system. Are you using it? Does it work? Store items such as chargers and gaming equipment where you use them. 

Kid’s Toys, Books, and Clothing:

With Christmas, Hanukkah, and other winter holidays coming, your home is bound to have an influx of new items thanks to generous gift-givers. And if you have kids, the amount of new toys and books can quickly become overwhelming when added to the things they already own.

Take the time now to sort kids’ toys, books, and clothes, eliminating anything they no longer play with or don’t fit into. Assess every toy for wear and tear. Does it still function? Do your kids still play with it? Recycle or store each toy.

Store special items for hand-me-downs if needed. Have your kids get involved with donating the rest so it instills the habits of decluttering and charitable giving. For any unopened toys, there's time to find a local Toys for Tots chapter in time for the holidays.

Holiday Decor:

As you’re putting away fall decor, set aside items to get rid of. Toss anything that is broken, and donate items you no longer want to a thrift store. In the same decluttering session, go through Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s decorations or party supplies as well and assess what you may need for the upcoming holidays..

Gift-Wrapping Supplies:

Perhaps you store gift wrap with your seasonal decor, which would make this decluttering task a simple next step. Wherever it’s hiding in the house, gather all your wrapping or tissue paper, bags, boxes, and tags. Get rid of anything ripped or used to the point you’d be embarrassed to repurpose it. This will give you a good idea of what you actually should stock up on for this upcoming holiday season as opposed to blindly buying more than you need.

Where to Dispose of Clutter:

For the items you aren’t keeping when you declutter your home, you have some options for disposing of them. This is where it's helpful if you’ve already sorted appropriate items into recycle, trash, and donate bins. Make sure you are aware of your local recycling guidelines, as certain items, such as electronics, often can’t go in the regular recycling. Keep a separate bin for those items to bring them to an appropriate recycling center.

Besides a donation bin, you also might want to start a collection of items to sell in a garage sale, and if you plan to give away certain items to friends and family, start bins for each person.

Get ready for entertaining:

1. Make sure you have enough seating. Are you having four or forty people at your annual holiday dinner? While it’s perfectly acceptable to use a chair from your home office at the dining table or drag in that accent chair from the living room, you may need more than that this year. Don’t wait until the last minute to nail your seating arrangement. Remember, if you’re purchasing dining chairs to match your current set, delivery could take a few weeks. Or consider buying a set of folding chairs, which can easily be stored away when you aren’t using them. 

2. Count your dishes. Replace that or anything else that’s damaged or missing. While having one large set of identical plates is ideal, you can always mix and match, such as alternating plain white and holiday dishes. You can also hit up your local thrift store or estate sale for vintage china at an affordable price. 

3. Fix broken appliances. Have you been ignoring that burner that has been on the fritz since last spring? If you’re planning on cooking, take care of this now. Call your local repair person and schedule an appointment. If you need a new part, it may not be readily available, especially if you have an older appliance. Or you may need a new oven altogether. Waiting until the last minute could end up being a disaster.  Don’t forget other things that may need repair or replacement, like your HVAC or even small appliances you use for cooking like your air fryer or food processor. 

December might seem like an odd time to declutter, but it is actually the perfect time to clean out items you forget about throughout the rest of the year. The extra time inside during this part of the year provides the perfect opportunity to notice the clutter that can keep you from enjoying the coziness of the season. Now, get to decluttering so that you can enjoy the holidays!