Declutter After Christmas – A Fresh Start

Happy New Year! Hope your holiday celebrations were so much fun! We got to relax, ate a lot, took the kids to holiday events, and spent some quality time with family and friends. 

Now that the holiday fun is over, we have a lot of home chores to get off our list. It’s time to get clutter-free after the holidays, from leftovers in the fridge to organizing our home. 

Do you prefer to pack up all the Christmas decor right after Christmas or wait until after New Year’s? Either way, I’ve put together a clutter-free guide for after the holidays to help you organize your home for the New year. 

Recycle Unwanted Paper + Boxes

During the holiday season, we used and received a lot of papers and boxes in the course of exchanging gifts. This includes Christmas cards. Go through them, determine the important ones to keep, and gather others together for recycling. Do the same for gift packaging you don’t want to keep. This will also give you a head start on spring cleaning.

Donate Unwanted Items

Christmas Decor

Sort out your Christmas decor and determine which decorations have become too old or are otherwise unwanted. If they are not reusable, toss them. Decorations that are still in good shape but are no longer needed should be packed in boxes and donated for people in need to use next year.   

Old Toys 

Do you have little ones? They probably received lots of new toys during Christmas from family and friends. This is a good time to donate old toys so as to accommodate the new toys they received as gifts. 

Old Clothes

You may have gotten new clothes and shoes as gifts on Christmas Day. If you didn’t, still go through your closet and donate clothes and shoes you haven’t worn for a while, for example, winter coats that have been sitting on the rack for over a year.  

Dispose of Fresh Greens + Real Christmas Tree

Find out the date for Christmas tree pickup in your area and ensure all fresh greens are taken down before that day and placed outside for pickup. If you got a real Christmas tree, this is the time to dispose of it.  

Organize Christmas Decorations  

For those Christmas decorations, you choose to keep, organize them in clear storage containers for easy access next year. Group your Christmas decorations based on their colors, materials (such as glass or plastic), and decor type. 

Protect Your Wreaths + Garlands 

Use a wreath storage bag to keep wreaths together and garlands untangled. You compress the branches back to accommodate more than one wreath in a storage bag. 

Christmas Lights

Christmas lights should be organized with light organizers to avoid them getting tangled up. Another option is to wrap your lights around a piece of cardboard. 

Delicate Christmas Ornaments 

Padded ornament storage boxes are recommended for glass ornaments to keep them from breaking during transportation. Alternatively, you can wrap glass ornaments with paper and place them in clear storage containers. Personalized ornaments should be grouped together.

Artificial Christmas Tree 

Your artificial Christmas tree might have come with a storage bag, but if not, use a dedicated Christmas tree storage bag to store your artificial tree(s). The storage bag protects the tree from pests and moisture during the year. 

Decluttering after the holidays can be stressful and it’s never a fun activity for anyone, but I hope this guide makes things a little easier for you. Try taking your time to organize your home after the holidays in 30-minute intervals with family to make it more enjoyable. 

Cheers to a fresh start!

xo, Gbeke