Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is just two weeks from today! This means a few things:
1) My son’s birthday is tomorrow.
2) The “busy season” for the Garveys is officially in full swing!
3) Blog writing time is hard to come by right now!
So, today I’m going back to the archives. It’s hard to believe, but as of this month I have five years worth of newsletter archives! The tips below are from October 2005. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
The holidays are a clutter-full time of year! More items and activities come into our homes and lives during this season than any other season of the year. To make sure the clutter doesn’t inundate you this year, take simple actions now. You’ll be sure to enjoy a clutter-free holiday season!
1. De-clutter your kitchen.
Before the season breezes in, lighten up your kitchen. No need for a major overhaul (you can do that in January.) For now, just open your cupboards and pantry doors, looking inside for unused, unwanted and unneeded items. Get rid of plastic cups (you know, the ones that multiply in your cabinets while you’re sleeping?), appliances that haven’t seen the light of day in years, and food that’s outstayed it’s welcome in your cabinets. (A quick check of the expiration date will take the guess work out of this one.) By creating a little breathing room in your kitchen now, you’ll find holiday baking and cooking that much more enjoyable.
2. De-clutter your kids’ bedrooms or play room.
Before the holiday’s hit, purge, purge and purge some more. You’ll know you’ve purged enough when you see open space, empty shelves or unused storage bins where once you saw toys, toys and more toys. This space will soon be filled by Santa and all his loot. And won’t it be so much less stressful to already have space carved out before new goodies even land under the tree? Plus, if you donate your lightly used toys to a favorite charity, you’ll help brighten Christmas for less fortunate children. Remember to summarize your donations and get receipts for your taxes!
3. De-clutter your calendar.
If there’s one thing there’s not enough of during the holidays it’s time. Take action now to purge non-mission critical activities or at least defer them until after the holidays. Make room for shopping, baking, holiday cards, parties, and all your other favorite holiday activities.
With a little proactive de-cluttering, you’ll enjoy a clutter free holiday season. Plus you may even find space for some “you time” this year. You’re starting to feel merry already, aren’t you?
I’d love to hear your ideas! What decluttering do you do this time of year in preparation for the holidays?
Great tips. I am menu planning right now. I know that’s not decluttering, but it is how I am preparing for the holidays.
Blessings,
Nancy
I’ve completely decluttered the house after 7 weeks. Even if you do one or two rooms you’ll be so happy with the results. I’m hosting Christmas so I’m happy that I put the effort into it and I enjoy my days so much more. Keeping up is so much easier now. I’m working on meal planning for Christmas dinner. I love the idea of having time to do holiday things and enjoy the season. I always have everything done by Thanksgiving so that I’m not stressed and we enjoy the events that we choose to do. I enjoy reading all your tips. Hope your son has a wonderful birthday.
I’ve decluttered my pantry because my kitchen island is my “no clutter” zone, and if there’s no room in the pantry for groceries, they spill over onto the island! Having those extra groceries without homes at this time of year drives me nuts!
We recently put an addition on and my MIL moved in with us. Our family of five did a LOT of decluttering prior to July. Add a battle with mites in the pantry and I think I’m good to go 😉 Now to just get a handle on decluttering the address list for cards.
I always declutter the kitchen before. This is my big time to make sure the freezer no longer has any meat from April or veggies from June. For the first two weeks of November we limit our groceries to just milk and bread, meat, veggies and anything else has to come out of the pantry or freezer to clear it out.
I actually de-clutter decorations as I put them out. Is there anything I don’t put out anymore or anything that’s broken. I tend to find cute finds after the holidays so I like to make room for them by cleaning out my decoration stash before hand.
Now if only I could get my hubby on board with the lights. We live in a one bedroom condo and we have lights for a two-story 4 bedroom house. Some boxes have yet to be opened and they are about 2 years old or older.
Hey thank you for the cool tips! Personally around this time of year I do a lot of cleaning in preparation for winter. One of the biggest things is to clean up my car.