How to de-clutter after Christmas

By Stacie Gaetz

It’s boxing week and there is a good reason it’s called that!

After the visit from the big man in red, there are boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff all over your house.

The time between Christmas and New Year’s is usually a bit of a break for everyone and so it should be. Remember to take some downtime for yourself and enjoy those days where you play with the kids’ toys with them, watch movies, eat snacks and do nothing else.

However, it can also be a great time to clear out some of the things you no longer need that you never get around to getting rid of during the rest of the hectic year.

How great will it feel to start a new calendar year with less clutter?

The novelty of all their new toys hasn’t worn off yet so take advantage and declutter even before you pack up your Christmas decorations and pull out the New Year’s Eve hats and party horns.

Closets

This is a great time to go through the closets and get rid of any winter gear that is too worn out, doesn’t fit or isn’t “cool enough” for your family to wear anymore.

If you or your family members have not worn it yet this winter, it has got to go.

This includes the front closet (hats, scarves, boots, mitts, snow pants/suits) etc and your bedroom closets.

Go through sweaters, t-shirts, pants, dress clothes, shoes, socks and underwear (maybe Santa brought you some new ones). If you haven’t worn it since the weather turned cold, chances are you will not wear it again.

Kitchen

Has your fridge been so full you have been scared to open the door for the past few days? Now is the time to clean out all items that your family will not eat before it goes bad.

This can be hard to do, especially with how much food costs right now, but it doesn’t do anyone any good to have food taking up space and rotting away in the fridge.

The pantry is another great place to clear out. If you are anything like me, you are likely to find a few items in there that expired an embarrassingly long time ago. Now is the time to get rid of them.

If you have food in the pantry that is still good but no one in your house will eat it, donate it to the food bank. January is a month where less people donate to the food bank and any unopened pantry item you can contribute could go a long way to help.

Recycling

That’s right, we are going to talk about boxes this boxing week. It may feel like you have more boxes than house right now. Breaking them down and getting rid of them can feel like an overwhelming task, and you may be tempted to just throw them in the basement once the toys have been snatched from them to deal with it “later.”

However, it can be much easier (and more satisfying in the end) to cut them down right away and get as many of them into your recycling bin as possible. Depending on how many you have, this may also be the one time of year when you need to make a trip to your local recycling depot because there are too many for your curbside recycling to handle. It is worth a little extra effort to get them out of sight and out of mind.

There is a caveat with this one though: Double check to make sure all parts and instructions/warranties are out of the boxes before saying goodbye.

Decorations

If there is anything that didn’t make it out of the Christmas decoration box and into a prominent place in your house, get rid of it. If the item has sentimental value but you do not want to put it up in your home, take a photo of it and keep it in a special album on your computer.

It may seem hard to let them go but you aren’t doing anyone any favors by keeping the item in a box in your basement. Let someone else enjoy it.

Old Toys

From a parent’s perspective this is the best time of year to get rid of old toys because your kids have a ton of new ones to hold their attention.

Some parents choose to do this on their own without input form their kids. They know which toys never get touched and can get rid of them without the children ever knowing.

Others choose to collaborate with the kids and let them decide what to keep and what to give away. I lean toward the latter, especially because my kids are getting older and I think they deserve a say as these are their belongings.

However, it can be helpful to put some parameters around this. An example might be: “You need to get rid of ten toys from this pile and at least four of them must be stuffies.”

This also allows the opportunity for your child to be involved in the decision of where you donate their toys and you can talk a bit about how they are helping another child who may have less than they do.

What to do with it?

Ok so now that you have figured out what is leaving your house, what do you do with it?

There are a few options:

• Anything that is worn out or damaged should be thrown out.
• You can donate to a thrift store.
• You can sell to a consignment store – They probably won’t accept everything you have to get rid of and you will likely end up making a drop off at the thrift store as well.
• You can sell it yourself on Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, or another website.
• You can give it to people you know.

Now that you have taken the time to declutter after Christmas, there is only one question: What are you going to do with all the free space in your house?