Do you need to purge your clutter before Christmas? Do you want to know how to purge your house before the craziness of the holidays start?
It doesn’t have to be difficult for you to take control now of your clutter, even if you only get a fraction out of your home it’s a start and one you should be proud of.
What we do know for a fact that there are more things coming into our home and being prepared will mean a lot less stress later!
Why Declutter?
It’s not about a major organizing project, but a way to lighten the load. To give you space to breathe and to contemplate how you want to move forward.
What you shouldn’t be thinking about is getting more storage, but reducing the items in your home, making room for anything new.
If there is no room then things need to go. You don’t need to just keep adding storage to an already full room.
How To Declutter Your Home
This isn’t the beginner’s guide to Decluttering, let’s save that for another article! But I will give you a basic idea of decluttering and the process you need to follow!
Thinking about these questions, they will help you work out what is clutter and what needs to go.
- Does anybody use it?
- Is the item broken?
- Does anybody want it?
- Is it something that could be thrown away today?
These are very basic questions you need to ask when on a decluttering mission. They might seem like simple questions, but they will have a major impact on the clutter in your home.
But, be warned clearing clutter from your home is emotionally draining.
This isn’t about getting your home totally clutter-free but taking those first few steps to begin and to understand the process and starting to see what the clutter is in your home.
How Often Do You Need To Declutter?
Going through your home regularly is important, it’s surprising how quickly clutter seems to accumulate without you even noticing it’s there.
All you are really doing is removing those items from your home that you no longer, like, need or want in your home.
The need to purge becomes an essential tool to remove the excess clutter, which everyone builds up over time.
Tips And Strategies To Help You Clear The Clutter
Clutter is great at hiding in plain sight, you can’t always see it but it slowly builds taking over your home.
It knows how to hide in plain sight and slowly over time you will begin to just accept it as part of your home.
You become blind to the excess that you live with, it becomes a burden that you don’t even see, but one that can take a toll on your health and well-being.
When Does Clutter Become A Problem
How much clutter you have will depend on how you live and what you perceive as clutter.
It doesn’t have to look like your house is bursting at the seams with the number of items you have, it’s about how much of these items in your home that you actually need and want.
It only becomes a problem when you have too much and not enough room to live comfortably in your home.
- Don’t allow piles to form in your home
- Put things away where they belong
- If you replace something, get rid of the old item
- Do you need multiples of the same item?
If you are looking for a more detailed plan on how to declutter your home the beginner’s guide, check out this article: How To Begin The Process Of Decluttering
Why Tackle It Now?
We all know what the holiday’s bring. More things into our homes and outside it’s often cold.
If you have so many things in your home that it becomes a problem to heat your home, it makes sense to start getting rid of the excess, you don’t want your home to become a fire hazard.
Not only is it possible to make some extra money to pay for the holiday season but it will make you feel good too.
Making space in a drawer or room is a great morale booster.
How To Declutter Your House
First, you need a plan. I think a plan is the perfect way to start any project.
It allows you to think about what you want to achieve and the end goal you want to reach.
You need to think about what you want your home to look like when it’s completely organized?
What items need to go, and where they need to go.
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What To Do With Clutter
There are so many different things that you can do with the items you no longer want or need.
Just because it’s become clutter to you, doesn’t mean it’s going to be clutter to another person.
For example: If you have one child and they are growing quickly and need new toys, their old baby toys will potentially be clutter, however, what you do with them is the most important decision.
- Sell them
- Clean and store them, you might want another child and these toys would then be required
- Throw them away if they’re broken or recycle them if possible
- Give them to charity or a friend who needs them
It’s about looking at what you need and want for your home to work and making a plan on how to get there!
How To Get Rid Of The Clutter
It’s about finding the right places for the items that you need to let go off.
What’s important is that you take action and get those items to their designated place before they become part of the problem again.
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A simple idea for getting the clutter out of your home:
Try storage boxes like these! Add labels for places you can donate and when they are full you take it to the place named on the label. Then use them again when they are empty.
Don’t Purge Without A Plan
There is no point pulling items out that you no longer want or need without a plan as to what to do with them. If they are left sitting in the way they become even more annoying with nowhere to go.
They become part of the problem again and this doesn’t solve anything, it just adds to the stress.
Emotions Run High
Don’t pull out too much out at once to declutter, it’s an emotional time, items will hold memories and this disrupts the process of decluttering.
You’ll be surprised how much time it can take to go through the things that you own but no longer need; it is often the emotional feelings towards the object that is the hardest to deal with or to let go.
It can remind you of a memory from the past and this makes it difficult to purge the clutter. Don’t feel bad about how difficult it is to purge your home from clutter, everyone will have issues at some point.
Take Your Time
This is why it is important that you do this task in small batches; it’s emotional and can bring back memories that can hinder the process of getting rid of the clutter.
If those memories are too strong and you aren’t ready to let, go just yet and you still have space then hold on to the item but only until you are ready to face the memory.
If you don’t have space you might just need to let it go, but before you do remember those feelings and acknowledge them, even take a photo of the item it will help you remember those memories.
Pushing feelings down and burying them can have an impact on how you feel, talking about those feelings and memories with a loved one can help.
Why Purge Before Christmas
It’s that time of year where you know you will add more to your home, getting rid of those items you don’t need helps to free up space!
If you are in need of more storage for children’s items, it is difficult for children to let go of toys willingly.
I found that when my children were younger it was easier to purge their toys at this time of the year because they’re caught up in the season and what’s coming that they were even willing to help with the sorting process.
Talking About Letting Things Go
It is important, too, for children to understand that they don’t need to have a lot of possessions and that it is good to give them to other children who might enjoy playing with the item that is no longer suitable for them.
But don’t get rid of your child’s things without them, it can make it even more difficult for them to let go of stuff in the future!
Purging Your Clutter
It is not about emptying your home but just getting rid of the excess that you don’t need, what you do with the items is a personal preference.
If you need extra money often it is a good idea to sell these items you don’t need, as a way to bring in some extra income.
Something that we all might need at this expensive time of year!
However, if you don’t need the money and the item is still in good condition you might consider giving the item to a charity. This is great because it allows someone to buy it at a reduced rate from the charity shop, enabling them to have something that is affordable for them and helping a charity at the same time too.
The Positives From Purging
By purging your clutter before Christmas, it will give you more space for the items that you receive as gifts at Christmas.
However, there are more benefits than just that, there is less cleaning to do if there is less stuff around and this is always a bonus especially at this time of the year.
But also, less stuff allows you to see your home, you don’t need it filled to the rafters, it’s OK to have drawers and shelving that are empty!
It will mean that when Christmas is over you are not looking for more storage to store even more items because you will have the space already and waiting.
Why Purge And When To Purge
If you need more storage and you are not increasing the size of your family, you might just need to purge what you have, reducing the need to increase your storage options and saving you money long-term.
This is an ideal time to start a pre-Christmas purge.
Let’s Recap…
Why should you consider decluttering your home now?
It will allow you to free up space ready for the new items that will appear on Christmas morning.
It might help towards some of the costs of buying presents if you are able to sell the items or it might just help someone who is in need and can’t afford the item new.
Whatever the reason, if you need to purge your clutter before Christmas, it is one item to cross off your to-do list.
Remember decluttering is not something that is going to happen overnight, it takes time and is emotionally draining too.
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Louisa Vickers says
Great post. Since I’ve joined your link ups I’ve been attempting to purge my clutter. I’ve managed to do little bits at a time, and you’re right, it is an emotional process. Some things I’ve set aside to sort later, other’s I’ve sold, and I’ve thrown out a lot of clutter in the last couple of months. Thanks for being my inspiration!
Sharon says
Thank you for your kind words, I am glad that I have been able to help it means a lot! Thanks for linking up 🙂
elizabeth says
You are so right – we should declutter NOW as Christmas presents will need homes, too! It is hard to throw away some things, but we need to really search our hearts as to why we are keeping some things. Memories shouldn’t need physical reminders, which clog our homes up with things that are beyond usefulness, in other words – clutter!
Sharon says
Thank you for your kind words 🙂 It is important to remember that those memories are in our hearts and not in the possessions we own! Thank you for taking the time to visit! 🙂
lindsay nichols says
thanks for the article, but am a bit concerned with one photo headed purge your clutter before the holiday and it is showing a golden Labrador!!! Definitely not clutter in my household!!! Lol.