Post Christmas Reset: Decluttering Decorations and Organizing New Gifts
In this episode of The Simple Joy Show, I take you through a post-holiday reset, focusing on decluttering Christmas decorations and seamlessly integrating new gifts into your home.
Learn how to assess and pare down your festive ornaments, ensuring your cherished items are stored correctly for next year. I also guide you through organizing your holiday gifts, from prioritizing what aligns with your lifestyle to implementing the ‘one in, one out’ rule to maintain a clutter-free space.
This episode is your guide to starting the new year with a refreshed, organized, and joyful living environment.
Stay tuned for more episodes of my podcast, The Simple Joy Show, where we share tips on living a simpler life every Friday.
USEFUL LINKS:
Letting Go of Guilt When Decluttering: https://simplejoy.co.uk/2023/08/11/guilt-when-decluttering/
Join the 30 Day Decluttering Challenge: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/challenge
Website: www.simplejoy.co.uk
How to Get Started Decluttering When Overwhelmed PDF: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/overwhelmed
Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellosimplejoy
Facebook Group: The Simple Living Society: www.facebook.com/groups/thesimplelivingsociety
Transcript
Hayley Forster [00:00:00]:
In today’s episode, we’re tackling a post Christmas double feature, decluttering your Christmas decorations, and organizing your new gifts. Yes, these tasks can be overwhelming, but with the right approach, we can start the new year with a refreshed and well organized home.
Hayley Forster [00:02:26]:
Let’s start by focusing on those festive decorations. So now that the Christmas season’s over, it’s really time for you to reclaim your space. I love Christmas, and I love all of the joy, the festivity around it, but it can leave you with a little bit of a chaotic home depending on how many decorations you’ve got. If you’re anything like me, you get to post New Year’s or near 12th night, and you feel as though you’re ready to take the decorations down.
Hayley Forster [00:03:29]:
When you take the decorations down, it’s a great time for you to re-evaluate what you’ve got and what you want to use moving forward. I just wanna touch on some key steps on how you can simplify and organize your festive decor. Step 1, I’m pretty sure you know what I’m gonna say here because it’s the thing I always recommend you to do when you first start a decluttering project, and that is to gather everything in one place. So gather all of your Christmas decorations that you’ve used this season and put them in a place where it’s easily sorted through, wherever works for you. This overview basically allows you to see exactly what you’ve got all in one location. It’s essential for you to know what you’ve got before you start the decluttering process and it’s much easier for you to start with everything in one place, rather than doing a little bit of decluttering here and there and dotting from one place to the other. Step 2 – you wanna start going through your decorations and asking yourself which items really bring you joy and what brings meaning to your Christmas season. You wanna keep the pieces that have got real sentimental value or that you just genuinely love, might bring you back some wonderful memories or you bought it when you’re on holiday, something like that.
Hayley Forster [00:04:59]:
Just remember the goal of your Christmas decorations is to surround yourself with items that enhance your festive spirit and that mean something to you. Then step 3 is for you to then identify the decorations that you either didn’t use this past Christmas or you haven’t used in a while. If something’s been sitting in storage, you’ve pulled the storage boxes out of the loft or out of the garage to put things away and you’ve still got things in there that you’ve not used, it might be time to let those pieces go. You could consider donating those items so they can bring joy to someone else’s Christmas. There’s plenty of people I see on Facebook groups sharing their unwanted decorations, and they get snapped up so quickly. Or you could donate them to a charity shop or a local community center or school, perhaps they need some new decorations. Don’t just chuck them in the bin. I’m sure there’ll be people out there that need your decorations.
Hayley Forster [00:06:02]:
Then step 4 is to examine any of your decorations for any signs of wear and tear. If something is broken, it’s no longer working anymore, I want you to decide whether it can be repaired or if it should be recycled or even discarded, if it’s not recyclable. At this point, you’ve got your keep pile, you’ve got your donate pile, you’ve got your rubbish pile, and you’ve got your repair pile, if you need it. That leads us on to step 5, which is once you’ve decided on the items that you’re keeping, think about storage solutions. Proper storage for Christmas decorations is key to keeping them in good condition and also easily accessible for you. We use big plastic boxes. I would recommend using the clear ones, so you can easily identify what’s in them and label them accordingly.
Hayley Forster [00:06:59]:
There’s loads of different storage solutions you can use. We’ve got Christmas tree bags for the Christmas tree, and then we’ve just got big plastic boxes for the rest of the bits and pieces. But you can get bauble organizers and lots of different smart storage solutions. So if that’s something that you want to do, then go right ahead. But you don’t need to go that far. As I say, we’ve just got big plastic boxes that we keep them in, and we’ve got labels on them.
Hayley Forster [00:07:37]:
Then when we put them back, we put them in the order that we will need them out again. Moving forward, just be really intentional with your new Christmas decoration purchases. Before you buy something new, just ask yourself if it fits with your existing collection or if it’s something that you know that you’ll really cherish for years to come.
Hayley Forster [00:10:29]:
Remember decluttering your Christmas decorations, it’s not just about minimizing, it’s about creating space for items that really add to your Christmas joy. So let’s move on to part 2, which is organizing new Christmas gifts. With the festivities behind us, we need to now welcome those new items into our home but maintain the harmony and order of your spaces. You’ve worked hard or you’re currently working hard on creating your ideal home, and you just want to make sure that by integrating these new items, you’re doing so in a way that doesn’t undo what you’re aiming for. So, again, step 1, gather all of your items in one location. This is the point where you’re going to handle any duplicate gifts you may have received or, dare I say it, unwanted gifts. If you receive duplicates or gifts that don’t resonate with you, you can think about regifting them and regifting them responsibly – donating them or exchanging them if possible if someone has given you the receipt.
Hayley Forster [00:11:47]:
And just remember, it’s okay to let go of items that don’t fit into your life. Perhaps you’ve received an item that you’ve already got and you know that you’re just not gonna use it, then it’s okay to let it go. If it’s something that isn’t necessarily a duplicate, but it’s just something that you’re not gonna use or you don’t want, then I would really recommend you go back to one of my episodes, I can’t remember the number of it, but I’ll include the link in the show notes, which is talking about releasing the guilt of letting go of unwanted gifts and, how that can be really difficult and how you can talk yourself through it. I would recommend listening to that if you need it. But don’t be ashamed if you get gifts that don’t necessarily work for you. In our family, we have reduced the amount of gifts given. We only really gift to the children and we get very small token gifts for the adults. When we are buying gifts for people, I do tend to ask, is there anything that they know they want or they know the need, so I’m being really intentional with my gift giving, and I know it’s gonna be something that they use. But you may have people in your family, your friends, that have bought you gifts, and they may have bought you something with such love and kindness, but it’s just not something that you’re gonna use, and that’s okay.
Hayley Forster [00:13:10]:
Don’t feel guilty about that. So just go back and and listen to that episode if you find as though that’s something that you struggle with. But just evaluate all of the gifts that you’ve received and segment them. Make a pile of the things that you want to keep and then the things that you perhaps want to donate. Step 2 is to find a home for each item. For the items that you’re keeping, find a specific place in your home, where they’re gonna be used or they’re gonna be stored.
Hayley Forster [00:13:58]:
That might mean you need to do some reorganising. You might need to reorganise a drawer for any new kitchen gadgets, Or move some stuff around in your wardrobe for any new clothing you might have received, or finding a perfect place for decorative pieces that you’ve received as well. Just make sure you make time to do that, and don’t just pop it on the side and say, “oh, I’ll do it later.” I always say that clutter is delayed decisions, and it’s usually delayed actions as well. So just take a moment and find out where you’re gonna store and locate those items. Perhaps you may have had a clear out before Christmas. That’s what we tend to do. We have a clear out of the kids’ bedrooms and the kids’ play areas and I usually have a bit of a clear out of the smellies and cosmetics and things like that in preparation for the Christmas gifts in coming.
Hayley Forster [00:14:49]:
But if you’ve not had a chance to do that before Christmas, then now is the ideal time. Step 3 is let go of the old. So try and embrace the one in one out rule. So if a new item is replacing something that you already own make sure that you let go of the older ones. So perhaps you have received a new item for your kitchen utensils. You can let go of the old one that you used to use that no longer is needed. Consider donating that to charity shops or anywhere that may find your item useful. That really helps you avoid accumulation in your home and keeping your space clutter free, because you don’t want lots of items that are redundant taking up space in your cupboards and your units.
Hayley Forster [00:15:40]:
Then step 4 is to just organize your items thoughtfully. Do it in a way that complements your daily routines. For example, if you’ve got some new books, make space on your bookshelf, or if it’s some techie gadgets, find a way to incorporate them into your existing setup. Just think about where they are best placed to be positioned in your house that you’re able to make use of them. I would say the last step really is just for you to take time to appreciate and use your new gifts, which is why step 4 is so important. You want to make sure that you put these gifts in a place where it makes sense for you and makes it easy for you to appreciate them. Often we put new items to one side, we might forget about them, we’ll put them in a cupboard, they’re still in their packaging. You want to make an effort to really integrate them in your life from when you’re getting them because otherwise, there’s no point in you keeping them.
Hayley Forster [00:16:39]:
So use that new journal, read that new book, wear the new scarf, try out the new kitchen tool, just make use of the items. Because if you just stick them in a cupboard, they’re either going to stay there forever and go to waste or you might miss an opportunity for something that really adds value to your life that you didn’t actually realise. But integrating new Christmas gifts into your home is all about thoughtful organisation and maintaining that balance between what we own and what we truly need and what we truly enjoy. That’s it for today. Post Christmas, decluttering and organizing is about starting the year on the right foot. It’s about cherishing the joy of the season while still maintaining the simplicity in order that brings you peace, joy, and calmness, which is what we’re all striving for. So if you have any post Christmas organising tips or decluttering successes, please let me know. Share them using the hashtag simple joy show.
Hayley Forster [00:17:48]:
And just remember, it’s all about finding the joy in simplicity. So thanks for tuning in, and here’s to a decluttered and organised start to 2024.