If you are celebrating the holiday season with friends and family you have likely started to dress up your home with holiday decorations, lights, and more seasonal items. This is the perfect time to reduce some clutter in your home and it’s best to start with the big stuff and save the small stuff for the coming year that you can reorganize and declutter the smaller items after the holidays.
According to Lisa Zaslow, founder and CEO of Gotham Organizers, ““People often tend to get bogged down in the littlest, hardest things,” she said. “So, start with things that are big and easy.”. There are many things that you can toss this holiday season and these tips and items may be a great place to start:
1. Seasonal Items That Add Stress.
The holidays are supposed to be about fun and happiness and if you find that going through your decorations adds more stress to your holidays then you need to consider whether those particular decorations are even worth keeping around. Sometimes decorations become tangled or worn and are more of a hassle to put up than anything. If this is the case then consider donating them or tossing them.
2. Decorations You Don’t Use.
If you find some decorations that you no longer have space to hang up or don’t use anymore because of their condition or because they don’t fit with the rest of the theme you are creating then it is time to toss them.
3. Dusty Greeting Cards.
It’s okay to keep cards for sentimental reasons although after a period of time if you haven’t looked at them in a while and they are just collecting dust then perhaps you should get rid of them to free up more space.
4. Holiday Multiples.
Do you have three tree toppers, five holiday platters and six garlands? Since you use holiday items only once a year, having multiples doesn’t make sense. Choose out the one you love the most and find a happy home for the others either in your Ottawa storage unit, recycling, or donate them to the local Salvation Army.
5. Old Seasonal Clothing.
The holidays are a great time to take a look at your winter wardrobe to see if there are some items you no longer wear or that are in need of replacing. You can also free up some more space by vacuum sealing some summer clothes during the winter months.
If you don’t have time to declutter before the holidays, you can do it afterward. Keep in mind that you don’t have to remove all of the clutter from your home as your friends and family are not coming to see a museum, they are coming to see you and your family and will be focused on the festivities and having a good time rather than analyzing every detail in your home. So that being said, take some time to tidy up and move some unwanted decorations into storage or toss them and then enjoy the rest of the holiday season. Once the new year arrives you can take a look at some more decluttering and moving some other items to your storage unit in order to free up more space.