Holidays are the most exciting yet most stressful time of the year. You are busy packing gifts, shopping and preparing to entertain the many guests that will visit over. Although cleaning and decluttering your house is a big part of getting your home ready for Christmas, it’s never a good idea to put it off for the Christmas eve. You don’t want to run around returning things to their rightful home while your guests are sitting in the living room waiting to be served.
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Ideally, anything related to cleaning or decluttering should be done at least a couple days before Christmas. Holidays are for you and your family to enjoy rather than running to the thrift store to sell irrelevant stuff or organizing a garage sale. While you may think that it’s too early to start decluttering for Christmas, let me tell you that this little decluttering activity will help give you a head-start to declutter on a larger scale.
If you’re looking to give your home a much-needed purge before the holidays, here is a list of things that you must get rid of:
1. Excess Décor
Christmas calls for a lot of shopping to decorate your home and ready it up for the festivities. But before you do that, take a tour of your house and sort through the décor items that have been there for a long time.
Do you have décor items that you don’t love?
Has your taste in Home Décor changed over time and you have stopped liking the ones that you currently own?
Is your home having more décor than it actually needs?
If an item of décor gets a ‘Yes’ for an answer to any of the above questions, it’s time to donate it. Donating excess décor will also help clear out some space for new Christmas décor that matches your taste.
2. Kids’ Toys
If you have kids, your home is probably filled with toys and games of all kinds. Toy clutter is one of the most problematic parts that needs to be dealt with properly because there are kids involved. Christmas is the best time to convince your kids to sort through their toy collection and get rid of those that they don’t like to play with. Kids are smarter than you think and they’ll be glad to learn that their old toys might actually be useful to those who are underprivileged.
With teenagers, you can ask them to give away the games with missing pieces or the ones they have outgrown. You may also tell them to set aside the broken toys and games that they don’t like anymore.
3. Pantry Items
Get rid of food items that smell odd or are expired. For items that are yet to expire but you don’t intend to consume in the near future, consider dropping them at a Christmas food donation drive.
Your pantry may have been residing containers and jars that are broken or mismatched. Trash away the broken pieces and donate the ones that are in good shape.
4. Kitchen Items
Your kitchen has a lot of items that you probably haven’t used in the last few months and will likely won’t use in the near future. Here’s a checklist of a few things that your kitchen can do without:
- Storage containers that are stained, broken or lidless
- Mugs and jars you don’t love
- Duplicates like measuring spoons and cups, ladles, pots and pans
- Cookbooks of cuisines that you don’t intend to try or the ones that you already have a copy of
- Excess spices and condiments that can’t be entirely consumed by your family. Donate them before they get expired.
5. Serve ware and Dishes
Most of the serving ware in your house barely gets used either because you don’t like these pieces or you already have a few beautiful ones lying around that get used all the time. Consider donating some of these unused dishes and serve-ware to make space in your house to store other important things.
6. Old Gift Items
We all receive gifts that we don’t like but keep them because someone gave it with love. Maybe it’s time to regift or donate some of these items and get rid of the baggage that you’ve been holding on to. Make sure that you give away these items to people who will be able to use and appreciate them.
7. Makeup And Skincare
You will be using a lot of your makeup products during the holiday season because it’s the time when you visit friends and family and invite them over to your place. Make sure that you only have products that you love using. If you haven’t used a beauty product in the last 6 months, it’s a clear sign that you can do without it. Consider donating or gifting away any makeup or skincare product that doesn’t suit your skin or doesn’t make you feel good.
8. Unused Medicines
If your medicine cabinet is full of strips and syrups that you haven’t used in a while, maybe it’s time to sort it through. Start by emptying out the entire stock of medicines in one place and straight away trash the ones that are expired. Now take note of the medicines that you or your family need every now and then and place them back into the cabinet. These can be the generic medicines for flu, stomach ache, headache and such. For prescription medicines that won’t be needed anymore, consider dropping them off at a pharmacy, hospital or a charity drive.
So there you have it! The motive behind curating this list was to help you declutter stuff that can be donated to people who need it while also making your living space look beautiful before the arrival of Christmas. I hope this list makes your Christmas a lot more enjoyable and peaceful and helps you experience the joy that comes with donating stuff to the needy. Just as Jesus would want it.
Merry Christmas in advance!