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While chaos on Christmas morning is a fun and necessary holiday tradition, there’s no need to carry clutter and disorganization into the New Year. Now that the stress of shopping and gifting is behind you, you can focus on what many people, including myself, would consider one of the best gifts of all: a clean and clutter-free home.
Getting your home back into some semblance of tidiness and organization after the holidays isn’t always easy, but by tackling messes one at a time, it’s certainly doable. From your fridge to your foyer, here are 7 things to get rid of to kick off your after Christmas decluttering.
Related: 30 Things You Can Get Rid Of Today That Will Cut Down On Clutter
7 Things To Get Rid Of After Christmas
1. Old Leftovers
The New Year is a chance for a fresh start, which should probably include getting rid of old, less-than-fresh, or unwanted leftovers that are taking up space in your fridge. If you have a lot of perfectly good leftovers on hand, you can always save those in your freezer to eat down the road.
2. Old Clothes And Toys
If you have limited closet and storage space, make “out with the old and in with the new” your policy when it comes to any new clothes or toys that were unwrapped during the holidays. Make room for the new stuff by setting aside the old stuff to donate.
If you’re tempted to hold onto old items just in case, remind yourself that donating those old items is two gifts in one—someone else will get to make use of your old stuff, and you’ll have less clutter to deal with.
3. Boxes You Don’t Need
Once you’ve taken all your gifts out of their boxes, be sure to break down the boxes and either recycle them to store them away to reuse later. Keep the instructions manuals and anything else that was inside the box, but the box itself is just going to take up space.
4. Christmas Cards
It can feel heartless to put all those Christmas cards from family and friends into your recycling bin, but unless you want to start a huge scrapbook where you memorialize every holiday card you ever get, you don’t have to feel compelled to hang onto them. If there are one or two with photos of your grandkids or that are really meaningful, store them with your other keepsakes and recycle the rest.
5. Decorations You Don’t Want
If your collection of Christmas decorations has officially gotten out of hand, offer the items you don’t want to friends or family, then donate anything left over. Your unwanted decorations may end up making a nice addition to someone else’s collection.
6. Expired Makeup And Beauty Products
Even if you didn’t get new makeup as a present this year, you may have noticed some old stuff while you were putting on makeup for a holiday party or family gathering. Since you’re already in declutter mode, now is a great time to go through your beauty products and toss anything that’s gone bad or you no longer use.
7. Old Catalogs And Magazines
If you’re like me and still get catalogs in the mail then you know how quickly the tend to pile up, especially during the holidays. As fun as it is to flip through them for gift-giving inspiration, you won’t need them in the New Year. If you’d rather repurpose them than recycle them, use a few to make these scented fire starters to help keep you cozy and warm.
What do you like to do to tidy up your home after Christmas?
