Christmas is over for another year and if you’re anything like most families, your house now feels messy and cluttered thanks to all of the boxes, wrapping paper, decorations, and just general overflow of stuff.
A tidy home helps us feel more relaxed and happy, so let’s get your house in order this week in 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Deal with the wrapping paper and packaging
We use material for our wrapping at home so that just gets folded up and put away for next year. Material saves so much money and mess every year and it reduces rubbish and recycling so it’s been a game changer at our house.
The kids still receive gifts from family and friends wrapped in paper, so we save any pieces that can be reused, then put paper wrapping we can’t save into the yellow recycle bin.
We flatten boxes and put them into the yellow recycling bin.
Any cellophane, bubble wrap or other light, scrunchable plastics get bagged up and scanned for our local council recycling program Curby, and then get put in the yellow recycling bin.
Step 2: Put away new gifts and toys
First, we make some space by decluttering clothes that don’t fit, paper clutter that isn’t special, and toys that aren’t played with anymore.
Here’s my favourite “no pressure” method for decluttering kids’ toys:
- Grab a big box or container with a lid (they have nice ones at Bunnings) and ask the kids which toys they don’t want anymore or haven’t played with in a while.
- The kids fill the box, then you put the lid on and stick a post it note on the side of the box that has a list of what’s inside and the date three months from now. Put the box in the garage and leave it there.
- Between now and March, if anyone wants anything from the box, you can take it out and give it back.
- In March, donate anything still inside the box, and then do the activity again to free up even more space!
Now that there's more space in the house for the new toys and clothes, we can pack them away and make sure the favourites are the easiest to reach and put away. It makes all the difference later when it comes to the kids keeping their rooms tidy!
Step 3: Pack away Christmas decorations
Most families have a day in mind for when they take down their Christmas tree and decorations each year. It might be Boxing Day, December 30, January 1.. choose whatever feels best for you!
We take ours down from January 8, and we do it in stages over 4 days so that it’s not a huge task and it’s a gentle goodbye to the holiday season.
On Day 1 we pack away anything that’s not on the tree, Day 2 we take decorations off the tree and put them away, Day 3 we take the lights off the tree and put them away, Day 4 we pack away the tree.
This staged approach is also really handy if you have babies and toddlers and find the whole packing away of Christmas decos really overwhelming and hard to do with little ones clinging to you!
That’s it! 3 simple steps and your home is back to neat & tidy.
If you’re ready for the next step in organising your home, you might want to check out my popular House & Family Binder. It’s a simple set of prints to help you get organised and run your household without stress and overwhelm.
Check out the House & Family Binder here >>
Here’s to a tidy home and a Happy New Year!
x Marissa
