How to Get Organized After Christmas
The holidays are over and it’s time to take back control of your new homes in Lakeville MN. When you first moved in, you probably tried to keep everything organized to keep that “new home” feeling, but holiday decorations and gifts can quickly change all of that. Here are some simple tips to control the clutter and make sure everything has a place of its own.
First, look through all of your decorations and get rid of any that are broken, unnecessary duplicates, past their prime, or something that you just don’t like or want to use any more. Do you have strings of lights that don’t work taking up space? Do you have more ornaments than you can use? Now is the time to throw them away, recycle them, or donate them. You don’t have to hold on to every decoration you’ve ever purchased.
Once you’ve thinned your collection, organize the decorations by where you use them. Keep all tree decorations in one box, outdoor decorations in another, mantle decorations in another. The key is to keep items together and labelled, so that you aren’t dragging boxes all over the house or running back and forth. Even if you have a lot of smaller boxes, keep them grouped in one or two larger boxes. Large plastic storage boxes are particularly useful, as they provide extra security and you only have to pull a couple of boxes out of storage.
If you’ve ended up with gifts that you know you or your family won’t use, don’t hang onto them out of guilt. It is better to donate them to a charity or organization that can get some use out of them, rather than letting them take up valuable space in your home. Alternatively, if you have space, store them in a closet or storage box and use them as last-minute re-gifts if appropriate.
Once all of the decorations are sorted and put away and unwanted gifts are taken care of, it’s time to find a place for the gifts that you’re keeping. Clothing and books may be easy, but home decorations, kitchen appliances, toys, and large items need to find a place where they belong. If they’re replacing another item, once again, make sure you don’t let the old item hang around, creating clutter. Don’t forget to get rid of unnecessary packaging. Recycle all of the boxes that things like face creams, perfumes, and toys come in that just take up space.
By spending a little extra time organizing decorations and gifts now, you won’t spend the following weeks getting rid of gift packaging and constantly moving clutter around. Plus, when it comes time to decorate your new homes in Lakeville MN again, everything will be easy to find and put on display once again.
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