- Jan 6, 2023

3 Categories to Declutter After The Holidays

By Alyssa Sporrer | Guest Writer | Sustainable Organizers

As the most wonderful time of the year, as some call it, comes to an end, you might be finding the newly accumulated gifts and decorations have nowhere to go. Unless you regularly declutter different categories of items in your home, things will gradually get harder and harder to organize as they grow in numbers.

Hiring a professional organizer or decluttering after the holidays can reduce stress and make the next holiday season run smoother. Children’s toys, holiday decorations, and winter gear are three areas that need extra attention in the new year.

Children’s Toys

As children get older each year, their stash of toys usually grows. The holidays are one of those times when kids often get new toys they’ve been wanting. Toys are a great way to entertain and teach children, but they can take over a space if there’s no limit to their accumulation.

One way to get kids involved in this decluttering process is to have them get all of their toys out, separate their favorite couple of toys, and then look at the rest and decide which ones they don’t use anymore. If you need a little extra help or someone not in the family to guide the process, then hiring a professional to organize and declutter a toy room can come in handy.

A good way to maintain a reasonable amount of toys in the home is to set physical guidelines after decluttering and organizing. Set specific areas where toys live such as dedicated shelves, bins, or closets. If a new toy enters the home and doesn’t fit in the designated areas, then allow your kids to make space for the new toy by donating a toy that they don’t play with often. This not only corrals the clutter but creates great learning moments to teach kids about decluttering and donating.

Children may actually be excited to get rid of a toy if it means they can easily find the new one they want. They may also be happy to pass the fun on to another kid who doesn’t have any toys.

Holiday Lights and Decorations

The number of holiday decorations that people store and display each year varies from family to family. Decorations and holiday lights can bring people a lot of joy throughout the season and bring families and friends together.

However, there is almost always room for decluttering and improved organization when it comes to holiday decorations and lights. The easiest holiday items to get rid of are those that are broken, don’t turn on, or never leave the attic. So the first tip here is to check your lights as you take them down and get ready to store them.

Holiday decorations that are carefully hung and placed throughout the house each year don’t usually need to be second-guessed unless it becomes overwhelming. The items to really evaluate are those left in the boxes year after year during the holiday season. If you don’t take out your old wooden Santa statue in December, you probably aren’t going to display it in May either.

If decluttering your holiday decorations seems overwhelming or you still don’t know where to start, then hiring professional organizers and decluttering help is always an option. Organizing and decluttering help can make it easier to prioritize which things you really love and use, and an organizer can guide you through the process.

Decluttering holiday decorations and lights will also make the decorating process more joyful and fun the next holiday season … because nobody likes detangling a string of lights just to find out they don’t work anymore.

Winter Gear

As kids grow up and you replace worn-out winter gear, the drawers, boxes, and closets full of old hats, gloves, and coats that don’t fit or aren’t worn anymore can overflow pretty easily. For families with children, getting them out the door in the winter is already more challenging because there’s inevitably going to be someone missing a glove or scarf when you’re in a rush.

Decluttering your collection of winter gear can speed up and simplify the process of leaving the house in cold weather. After decluttering and organizing, the boots will have pairs, the snow pants will fit, and the mittens won’t have holes in them. Sustainable Organizers recently decluttered and organized a family’s mud room area and added baskets for each family member to easily store and keep track of their items.

If you live in Colorado or another cold climate, chances are you may also enjoy some winter activities such as skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing. All of these fun activities require gear that takes up space and can be difficult to organize. Ensuring that old or outgrown equipment is sold or donated can make it easier and less stressful to store and find the gear you use often.

The new year can be a great time to re-evaluate your winter gear, holiday decorations, and kids’ toys because you have probably recently used or bought items in each of these categories. Try tackling one category this week and let us know how it goes!