Congratulations! You’ve made it through another holiday season!
The rush is over and it’s time to relax! Or is it? What about all the decorations? What will you do with all the gifts everywhere? The leftover food? What can you do with all the stuff that you have taken out or accumulated over the past month to get your home back to normal?
Well first, take a deep breath…then take a couple of days to relax. After the rush in December, you deserve a couple of days of you-time! Pour yourself a drink, cozy up, and mentally prepare yourself for the organizing you will be needing to do.
OR you want our team at Organize That to do it for you? We can arrange that!
Let’s talk decorations
You managed to get all your decorations out and in their perfect place for the holidays, but alas, the holidays have come to an end, and so must the decorations for another year. Tip: Storage bins are your friend!
Lights – get rid of any that don’t work! And do not try and convince yourself that you will just replace the bulbs. You most likely will forget by next year. Neatly wrap any that work and store them in a bin/container and label it for next year.
Ornaments and decorations – any that are fragile, make sure you store safely – egg cartons or tissue wrap! Try keeping a designated, labeled bin for all your delicate stuff and a labeled bin for all your other stuff that can go together – tinsel, ribbon or garland.
If you have any decorations that you keep in a bin that you haven’t used in the past few years, it’s time to donate it to someone who will use it! If any are in rough shape, throw it out! No need to store items that won’t get used, it just takes up space and builds clutter. Public schools and daycares could also take donations for arts & crafts.
Cards and gifts
They can pile up, especially if you live with family because then it isn’t just your stuff, but others as well! Picking a day where you can go through everything that you have received is a great start to organizing your home.
Cards you received – organize all cards you may have received, perhaps you would like to send thank you cards back, or give people a phone call or text to thank them, or maybe if you are like me you love to keep cards to look back and remember!
For thank you’s, you can organize in a list all the people who sent you a card, and cross them off once you have sent them a thank you! If you are wanting to keep the cards to look at, then place them in an open area that doesn’t build up with other objects. Too many things in one area can appear messy and cluttered. Once you are ready to put them away, store them in a file with the year, and put them in a bin so you can look back for years to come.
Gifts – Organize your gifts!!!! Make a keep pile, make a return/exchange pile, make a pile for gifts that didn’t come with a gift receipt but don’t have a place to live with you!
- Keep pile – All of your gifts that you keep, find a home for them! When gifts are left out it can appear cluttered and overwhelming.
- Return/exchange pile – Once you have decided to return/exchange the gift, tape that receipt to it IMMEDIATELY and set it by a door or in a car so that next time you go out you won’t forget it!
- No place for you pile – It isn’t anything you should feel bad about, it happens all the time! Let’s say someone gifted you something that you have no place to keep, but didn’t include a gift receipt. That doesn’t mean someone else can’t find a place for it! You can donate the gift or re-gift it to someone who you know will have a place!
Leftovers for daysss
If you have a family that goes wayyy overboard on food for the holidays, do not worry! Those leftovers do not have to go in the compost! You have other options before the compost needs to get involved.
Divide and Conquer – Time to get out those containers and divide all that food into meals. That’s right, we’re meal prepping. You can freeze all the food for later or you could feed multiple people for multiple days with leftovers! Just a quick reheat and wham-bam, a delicious holiday meal that you can enjoy more than once!
Donate – Not to get sad, but think of all the people and families that don’t have holiday meals. You can donate your leftovers to those in need. Not all charities accept leftovers, but there are some that do! Take a bit of time to research how to help others in your community.
Final Touches
The organizing is complete, you have your home ready to operate for your normal routine, but remember, the holidays happen every year. Take time to jot down what worked for you this year, and what didn’t so you can be prepared for the future of holiday clean-up!
Want more inspiration and ideas? Let’s chat today about how we can help you organize and spark joy in your life!
