Decluttering After The Holidays

Ready to get your life back after the magical holiday season is over? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a place for everything and everything was in its place? Between hosting everyone and acquiring more stuff, this season can leave your home a mess. We hope these tips will help get you back on track.

Getting organized is not the most popular subject and it may take some time to wrap your head around the task. My favorite tip from flylady.net is to set a time for 15 minutes and work hard to declutter one small area before the buzzer rings. Even a short amount of time concentrated on a drawer, countertop or closet can make a big difference over time.

Here are some great tips on how to get your life back:

•       Store fold out tables in their basement or garage storage areas, launder and fold ornamental tablecloths and cloth napkins and return them to the linen closet, and take holiday clothing that requires special treatment to an environmentally-friendly dry cleaning service.

•       If you hang holiday lights indoors or outside your home, now is the time to take them down and store them carefully for the coming year. MarthaStewart.com recommends that you keep lights organized by winding the strands neatly around a piece of cardboard that will fit into a labeled plastic bin. Storing holiday ornaments in labeled and/or color-coded bins will keep them organized until the next holiday season. Once they’re safely in bins, they can be placed in accessible areas of your garage, basement, or attic.

•       Do you have leftover wrapping paper? You can store what’s left on the remaining cardboard tubes. Just re-wrap extra paper and loose sheets on the cardboard before storing in a clean, dry area near your decorations. As for wrapping materials such as scissors, scotch tape, hole punches, and rubber stamps, consider storing them in shoebox size, stackable bins in your sewing room, home office, or other accessible area for the next time you’ll need to wrap a gift. If you don’t think you will use it again, find a Girl Scout group or other organization to donate to.

•       For your decorations, gather everything in one room. You can get a visual of everything you have. Sort into categories: Lights, ornaments, stockings, etc. Go through it once and then again: Sell, donate or store. Pack and Label in Containers and make an inventory list. This way you can see all of your items in a clear organized way.

Gifts and toys are a big issue when getting organized. If you don’t want to keep a gift or will never use it, think about donating to charity or selling online and donate the money to a charity. Regifting can be tricky if you don’t remember who gave you the gift. If you do plan to regift, mark the person’s name on a card and keep with the gift. When you take it out to wrap, you will see exactly who gave it to you and hopefully won’t get into an awkward situation. For each toy the children received for Christmas, take out one old toy that they no longer play with. This keeps the number of toys from piling up on you.

In the end, post-holiday organization is much like organizing tasks at any time of year. The key is to remove excess clutter and items you don’t need to make room for the things you will be keeping, and to maximize storage space wherever possible. Label items and storage bins and store them in a neat, easily accessible manner, and clean up any spills or stains that you discover during your efforts. Before you know it, you’ll be back on track and ready for the brand new year.