How to organize after the holidays

Jan 10

Hey there! Do you already have your holiday decorations put away, or will your Christmas tree be up until February? To be honest, I can be either person, depending on the year. This year, I’ve been a little slow to pack up my garlands and lights, but that’s ok. Organization doesn’t mean being perfect all the time.

The holiday season can bring fun and joy, but it can also bring chaos to the systems in your home. There’s a proliferation of stuff -- cards, packages, gifts of all kinds, decorations, wrapping paper, social engagements, emotions. After all the partying is over, we can be left with a feeling of overwhelm.

As a professional organizer, here are my tips for how to handle all of the stuff that came into your house over the holidays and bring (a little more) peace to your home and heart:

Decide what to keep

This is really the first (and most critical) thing to do as soon as you’re ready to move on from the holidays. Take a look at everything that came into your house during the season and keep only what you truly want to have.
I don’t recommend keeping anything you don’t love, need, or want, even if it was a gift (more on that below). If you shove that ugly sweater in a closet, forget about it, and discover it two years later, you’ll still have to make the same decisions about what to do with it. Decide what to do as soon as you can.

Find a home for everything you’re keeping (and put it there right away). If you are keeping a newer/different version of something you already own (for example, you got a nicer coffee maker for Christmas), consider donating or discarding your old item. In other words, follow the “one-in, one-out” rule if it’s appropriate.

Let go of unwanted gifts

Something I hear all of the time from clients is “I don’t really like this, but it was a gift and I feel guilty about giving it away.”

I know that gifts can be tricky. I think honoring the intention of the gift given to us is actually more important than holding onto the actual physical object. Usually, someone gives you a gift to show you that they care about you or because they hope you’ll enjoy it, not because they expect you to become the permanent caretaker of that object. (And if someone gives you a gift receipt, they don’t mind if you return it — don’t feel guilty!)

So how do I handle gifts I don’t love? I go out of my way to thank the giver in a way that’s sincere. I don’t tell someone I loved a particular gift if I didn’t, but I do thank them for thinking of me and for their generosity. If I don’t want or can’t use a gift, I pass it on to someone who can enjoy it more than me. That may mean donating it to a charity, giving it away through my local Buy Nothing group, or regifting to someone who I know would appreciate it.

Sort your trash and recycling

You probably ended up with lots of boxes after Black Friday. Go through any extra packaging and recycle, throw away, or give away what you can’t use immediately. My clients often have a ton of empty boxes they are saving for “someday,” but those boxes can take up a lot of space (and it’s likely that more will come into your home soon). Getting them out is one of the easiest ways you can make your home feel less cluttered immediately. If you have boxes in good condition, you can post them on your local Buy Nothing or neighborhood social media group for someone who is moving.

Take another look at your holiday cards

Before you shove them into a box, look at each card individually. Is this specific card something that will be meaningful to you in a year? 10 years? If it’s not, appreciate the person who sent it to you and recycle the card. If it truly is a keepsake, save it in an album or memory box.