9 Steps to Declutter Holiday Decorations

The holiday season is a time of joy, warmth, and celebration. It’s also a time when many of us dive headfirst into decorating our homes to create a festive atmosphere. However, once the holidays are over, we’re often left with a mountain of decorations to put away. Decluttering your holiday decorations can be a daunting task, but it’s essential for maintaining an organized and stress-free home. In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process to declutter your holiday decorations while preserving the magic of the season.

Welcome to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Each day we do a daily task based on the room we are working on. Today, our task is to start decluttering your clutter in your garage. If you prefer watching videos, check out my youtube channel here. Today, we’ll look at some tips for decluttering unwanted holiday decorations in your garage.

The best way to develop a new habit is by slowly and daily application. We will begin a new daily declutter habit starting with the 2nd bathroom. In the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, we will declutter 30 minutes a day, five days a week on weekdays. Sign up to receive daily encouragement and motivation.

Plus, you’ll learn your specific daily task to work toward completing the goal of a Year Long Thorough Declutter where you will declutter every space and learn how to start to purge your house. Are you ready to finally get organized? If so, will you join us? Leave a comment below to subscribe.

If you are new to the blog, welcome! I blog about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. You can find my free printables to help you get organized in the drop down menu under the Printables category.

Currently we are working on how to unclutter the Garage. The daily task for today, Sept. 22, 2023, is to begin to declutter holiday decorations in your garage. Remember, we are focusing on just the garage area, so don’t declutter your whole house. We will cover each room separately.

How to Declutter Holiday Decorations and Keep the Festive Spirit Alive

Start with a Plan

Before you dive into decluttering, take some time to plan your approach to declutter holiday decorations. Are you trying to stick with a particular theme or color scheme? Create a checklist of the different types of decorations you have, such as ornaments, lights, wreaths, and more. Knowing what you have will help you make informed decisions about what to keep and what to declutter.

Sort and Categorize

Once you have a clear inventory, categorize your decorations. This step is crucial because it will make the decluttering process more manageable. You might consider categorizing your holiday decorations by theme. Create categories like “must-keep,” “maybes,” and “ready to part with” to help you prioritize your items.

Assess Sentimental Value

Holiday decorations often carry sentimental value, and it’s okay to keep items that hold special memories. However, don’t let sentimentality cloud your judgment. Be selective about what truly brings you joy and memories and what you can let go of. If an item no longer holds sentimental value, consider passing it on to someone who may appreciate it more.

Evaluate Condition

Inspect each decoration for wear and tear. Broken ornaments, frayed lights, and faded decorations can clutter your storage space. Be ruthless about discarding items that are no longer in good condition, as they won’t enhance your holiday decor.

Donate or Gift

Consider donating gently used holiday decorations to local charities or schools. Your unwanted items can brighten someone else’s holiday season. Alternatively, gift decorations to friends or family members who might appreciate them.

Organize Storage

Invest in storage containers specifically designed for holiday decorations. These containers often have compartments for delicate items like ornaments and dividers for lights. Label each container clearly to make it easy to find what you need next year.

Streamline Your Collection

As you put away your decorations, take note of what you didn’t use during the holiday season. If certain items consistently go untouched, consider whether they are worth keeping. It’s better to have a smaller collection of cherished decorations than a cluttered one that overwhelms you.

Set a Time Limit

Decluttering holiday decorations can be time-consuming, but setting a time limit for yourself can help you stay focused and efficient. Dedicate a specific number of hours or days to the task, and stick to it to avoid burnout.

Store Decorations Safely

Properly store your decorations to ensure they remain in good condition for the next holiday season. Keep fragile items cushioned and protected from moisture and pests. If possible, store decorations in a cool, dry place.

Decluttering holiday decorations may not be the most glamorous part of the season, but it’s an essential task for maintaining an organized and stress-free home. By following these steps and being selective about what you keep, you can enjoy a clutter-free and more enjoyable holiday decorating experience. Remember that decluttering is not about sacrificing the festive spirit but about enhancing it by focusing on the decorations that truly bring you joy and cherished memories.

I personally have a bad habit of placing items that need to be donated in the laundry room behind the door. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. Delaying decisions means we still need to declutter.

Maybe you have a habit of delaying decisions, too. Let’s decide today where your decluttered items need to go. Do they need to be donated? Disposed of? Don’t delay that decision any longer. If they need to be donated, sort and put them in your vehicle. Then, make a note in your calendar to drop them off at your favorite charity.

As you are decluttering your items, I want you to try not to just move them to another room. You may be tempted to do that. However, resist the urge to keep everything. Decluttering means we actually part with these items. Otherwise, assign those items a permanent home where you can best utilize them.

Steps to Take & How to Declutter Holiday Decorations

1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.

2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.

3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina. This is one of the most useful declutter motivation tips. Listen to your body and work at decluttering when you feel the most alert and energized.

4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. This is one specific way for How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering.

5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. The goal is to purge the dead weight. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later. Read on for more declutter motivation tips and my room specific deep clean checklist, though, as you will begin cleaning after your declutter.

High Impact Decluttering Tips for How to Declutter Holiday Decorations

Supplies Needed:

1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)

2. sturdy trash bags

3. marker/pen to label boxes

Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.

Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.

I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.

How to Declutter Holiday Decorations

1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag

2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have

3.Get rid of items that don’t work or that work poorly, expired items, anything you don’t love, anything that you’ll never use again

4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest

5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option

How Do You Declutter Your Entire House (and get it deep clean?): Need to deep clean?

First, My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

Second, My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

Third, My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

Fourth, My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

Fifth, My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Check out the link above to see a sample page of what you’ll get in my printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3: How do you remove clutter? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.

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