Even if you are choosing to pursue a simple Christmas (like I talked about here), there’s still a good chance Christmas will bring new items into your home. Taking some time to declutter before Christmas will reduce clutter and stress during the Christmas season!
Grab a box for garbage and donations, turn on a good Spotify playlist and have a decluttering party!
Here are 10 areas you can declutter your home and life before Christmas!
PANTRY & FRIDGE
This is a good time to do a “fridge or pantry challenge”. Here’s one I did earlier this year! The goal with a pantry challenge is to use up the food you already have in your fridge/pantry in order to reduce waste and save money.
Before Christmas is the perfect time to do this because you can put any money you save on groceries towards your Christmas budget. It will also free up space in your fridge and pantry for extra holiday food!
CLOTHING
While it’s technically fall, it’s very much the beginning of winter where I live. I recently switched my clothes over from my summer to winter clothes. I don’t have a lot of specific seasonal clothes but I do like to put some things away for a few months because I enjoy the process of switching things and going through things at least twice a year.
When I put away my summer clothes I really paid attention to which ones I hadn’t even worn all summer. If I didn’t wear it for a whole season, it was time for it to go. If there was an item that I did wear but I never felt confident in, I also got rid of that!
And then when I took out my winter clothes, if there was anything I wasn’t really excited to see, I just got rid of it right away instead of hanging it in my closet.
ACCESSORIES
Similar to clothing, there are accessories that are specific to different seasons. If you have a beach hat that you never wore, or a bathing suit that made you feel uncomfortable every time you put it on. Now is a good time to declutter it.
Take a look at your shoes and if there are any pairs that are falling apart. I find a lot of summer sandals really don’t last long, so it might be time to get rid of some.
And then when you’re taking out winter accessories, make sure that gloves and Mittens have their pair, and if not don’t hold onto them.
Books are often a common Christmas gift. So going into the Christmas season, take a few minutes to look through your current collection and see if there are any you’re willing to part with and declutter before Christmas.
MEDICINE CABINET
Fall and winter are when people tend to get sick the most often. So even if you’re healthy, now is the perfect time to look through your medicine cabinet. Get rid of anything that has expired. Also take some time to stop up on the necessities. There’s nothing worse than needing a medication and having to go out to the store when you feel crappy!
Here you can read about my Holistic Medicine Cabinet necessities!
DAMAGED ITEMS
If there are damaged or broken items in your home, it is a good idea to declutter them before Christmas. Especially if you will be hosting extra people in your home during the holidays, it will feel good to free up space ahead of time!
FURNITURE
We often forget about decluttering furniture. Christmas brings extra items like gifts, Christmas decor/tree, and extra people into our homes. It’s a good idea to get rid of the furniture that you don’t like or don’t use to free up space and allow your home to feel less cluttered during Christmas. You can also sell furniture for a good amount of money, and can put that towards Christmas gifts!
BATHROOM ITEMS/TOILETRIES
Just like clothing, there are probably toiletries that you use during different seasons. Look through your summer items and see if there was anything you never used. A self tanner that always left your skin streaky, an expired sunscreen.
I’ve heard that many women’s shelters will accept lightly used products. I personally haven’t tried this yet because I pretty much always force myself to use a product up…but it’s worth trying if you have a lot of lightly used products that you don’t want to keep!
When you pull out your winter products – heavier moisturizers, the lighter colour foundation…make sure they haven’t expired or dried out.
CHRISTMAS ITEMS
An important thing to declutter before Christmas is your Christmas decor items! I find sometimes I put everything up just out of habit and don’t really think about which items I really love. If you aren’t excited when you pull out certain items, maybe it’s time to get rid of them.
Before Christmas is the perfect time to get rid of these things and either donate or sell them because someone else will be excited and will love the item!
PHONE PHOTOS
As we go into the holiday season, it’s likely that you’ll be going to more events than usual. When you spend time with family and friends, there’s a good chance you’ll take lots of photos! So prepare for that now by going through your phone and deleting, or backing up your photos to free up space! There’s nothing worse than being at an important event and having to delete photos to make room for a family photo!
So there you have it! 10 things you can declutter before Christmas to allow your home to feel calm and less cluttered as we enter the holiday season!
