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Thanksgiving is almost here, while Christmas and New Year’s Eve are only weeks away. Among all the usual preparations for the holiday season – buying gifts, planning family meals and parties, and decorating your home – there’s one first step you shouldn’t skip: decluttering your home.
Removing the clutter throughout your home before the holiday season allows you to enjoy the festivities in comfortable and cozy surroundings and to invite family and friends without worrying that you must tidy up for hours before they arrive.
Although the task seems daunting and time-consuming, especially during this time of the year when you have many other things to do, it’s worth it. In the long run, it saves plenty of time and energy, and your holiday decorations will stand out in a neat home.
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Decluttering doesn’t have to be one colossal effort – you can do it in smaller steps that only take an hour or two at a time. The best strategy is to focus on the most-used areas of the home, such as the living room, the kitchen, and the entryway, and to focus on categories of items. Here are the steps to ensure that decluttering goes without a hitch and doesn’t take too long.
1. Set the Right Tone in the Entryway
The entryway and its organization set the tone for your home’s vibe and energy. It can make you feel calm and cozy if it’s a pleasant and well-organized space, or, on the contrary, stressed out because it’s crowded and messy. Clearing out the entryway will put you in a better mood each time you open your front door, and your guests will also be impressed!
Entryway clutter is usually caused by too many shoes, coats, bags, and other items dumped there. The first step is to eliminate most of them – make a rule about keeping only the shoes, boots, and coats you and your family use daily. Things that are worn only occasionally need to go back to their respective closets.
Make sure there is enough storage space for the jackets and the footwear that stay, and add baskets and hangers to hold all the items you keep in there – bags, umbrellas, keys, sunglasses, and so on. One trick to make your entryway look bigger and friendlier is to update the lighting – get attractive wall and ceiling lamps that illuminate the space entirely.
2. Get Your Kitchen in Shape for Guests
You’ll probably cook and serve many people during the holidays, and your kitchen needs to be up to the task. What’s more festive than a nicely set table with beautiful tablecloths, napkins, matching plates, glasses, and tableware? However, finding your classy dinner accessories will be challenging if your kitchen has mismatched mugs, scratched wine glasses, and old tablecloths. Make the time to sort through all that and keep only the items in good shape.
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Do the same with your pantry – the worst possible time to find out your baking soda is old is when you’ve just ruined a batch of cookies. Check the labels on all the items in your pantry, discard the expired items, and do a deep cleaning of your fridge.
3. Make Your Living Room Ready for Celebration
Your living room is probably suffering from the accumulation of months’ worth of miscellaneous stuff, everything from magazines and papers to kids’ toys and knick-knacks. Put any out-of-date reading matter in the recycling bin, and then sort through all the small items gathering dust on the coffee table, the mantlepiece, and the shelves. Now is your chance to eliminate all those things you don’t like! After all, you need space to set up your pretty seasonal decorations.
If you’re planning larger parties or hosting family members for several days and need more space in your home, rent a self-storage unit and put some of your stuff in there – off-season clothing, small furniture, sporting equipment, etc. Your home will suddenly feel a lot roomier.
4. Purge Toys and Clothes
Most parents have this all-too-familiar problem: hundreds of toys scattered throughout the house, creating a messy and cluttered appearance. You know your kids will get even more toys during the holiday season, so it’s paramount to do a severe purge and teach them something about giving. Help them gather their toys, select the ones they no longer play with, and clean and prepare them for donation. Please do the same with the clothes they outgrew.
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And, while you’re in the clothes department, take the time to clear your closet. Pack and donate all the items that no longer fit you and the ones you simply dislike – make this the first holiday season when you don’t have to dig through the entire closet to find one outfit you’re happy with.
5. Tend to Your Decorations
Find the boxes with your winter decorations and check them out. Many items are probably damaged or not working correctly, while the rest need a little dusting and cleaning. Ensure that the lights you intend to hang inside or outside your home function properly and pose no risks. Once you’ve completed the inventory, draw a list of holiday-related items you still have to buy and do a shopping trip before the stores are crowded.
Completing these steps before Thanksgiving creates the foundation for a stress-free, fun-filled holiday season. A streamlined home, ready for company momentarily, offers more opportunities for spontaneous parties and gatherings with friends and family.