Over the next 3 weeks we will all have “stuff” coming into our homes. It can be food for the Christmas meal, champagne to drink on New Year’s Eve, presents from Santa, Christmas cards from family, the list goes on and on. Now you might decide you want to clear the decks a little before the avalanche of new items, but where do you start so close before the holiday season? It’s really simple: Just look around the house and get rid of stuff in plain sight you no longer use.
It can be: something that’s broken and needs to go to the tip, a toy the kids have outgrown that can be given to a friend or the charity shop, those books you have borrowed from a friend but still haven’t returned, batteries that have stopped working that can go into a recycling box in the supermarket (we all will be there plenty of times before Christmas!), that bag with old clothes you still haven’t brought to the charity shop; you get the idea!
In my job as a professional organiser I always go and meet my new clients for a consultation before we start working together. Part of this consultation is my clients showing me around their home and sharing with me which rooms or areas they feel need decluttering and organising. During this tour they point out items to me that need to go somewhere else (friends, school, charity shop, tip, ebay), but they haven’t done it yet. I always suggest to get all these items together in an area (the spare bedroom, office, any other area close to the front door) and to let them go over the next few days/weeks. Just by getting all the items no longer needed out of the place where they live, helps to kick start the journey out of the house.
As an extra service to my clients I take away decluttered items to the charity shop for them after a session and it really helps them on their way to a more organised home. Once you’ve decluttered and organised your home it really helps to have a basket or bag in a cupboard ready to put in any item you find that can go to the charity shop.
Good luck and have a fabulous holiday season!
