Christmas can be a bit of a stressful time – suddenly your calendar is full of evenings, afternoons and even mornings of socialising and gift giving. Some people take it all in their stride and glide through it effortlessly while the rest of us seem to get swept up in a snowy whirlwind of chaos and festive generosity.
Whatever your coping technique for the holiday season, clearing your head (and house) in the lead up to the Christmas commotion is always a good idea and spending time decluttering can be really cathartic.
So, before you saturate your house with even more stuff, why not make some room and clear out the things you no longer use.
How to do it? Pick up any piece of ‘clutter’ – ask yourself “Do I need this? Where should it live? Could I live without this? Could it be donated or thrown away?”
Don’t be scared to be a bit ruthless – it feels great.
Here are our seven top tips for decluttering.
- Toys – what do the kids actually play with? Over the next few days, hide their favourite toys and see what they play with instead. Then hide those and see what they go to next. Anything not touched take to the charity shop / ebay it / take it to a local children’s home.
- Clothes – what haven’t you worn all year? If you still completely love it, fine – if not – take it to the charity shop to clog up someone else’s wardrobe.
- Kitchen drawers – how many “everything” drawers do you have? Do you cringe with shame if someone opens them? Clear them out – get rid of the rubbish – take your coins to a local charity, bin the old barbecue sticks and crayons and neon bracelets (we’ve all got (had) them).
- Kitchen cupboards – check best before dates, if you have too many coffee mugs or serving dishes or cake tins for your cupboard, get rid of them!
- Paperwork – throw away all junk mail, pick up a piece of paper and put it into 3 piles to-do/file/recycle. Then file it or deal with it. It won’t take as long as you think.
- Bathroom cabinets – throw away any freebies you’ve been given or pinched from hotels. If you’ve not used them by now, the chances are that you won’t. Check use by dates on your medicines and take any unused/OOD back to the pharmacy for disposal.
- Linen cupboard – it’s time to throw out those old towels (take them to the local animal shelter) and bedding. You only need 2 sets per bed.
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