Let Go and Declutter These 9 Areas Before Christmas
Time is flying. Christmas is just six weeks away, and you know what that means.
More stuff. More decorations, more gifts, more everything to clutter your home. So, before you add to the chaos, let’s talk about clearing some space.
No tripping over last year’s junk or fighting for room under the tree. Believe me, it’s possible. Just start saying goodbye to a few things now.
Table of Contents
1. The Linen Closet: Streamline Towels, Sheets, and More
The linen closet isn’t just for towels—it often houses extra sheets, blankets, hand towels, washcloths, and sometimes even table linens or seasonal bedding. Over time, it can get packed with mismatched sets, threadbare towels, and outdated bedding.
Decluttering this space now, before the holiday hustle, means you’ll only keep the essentials: 2–3 quality bath towels per person, a couple of spare sets of sheets, and enough blankets for any holiday guests.
Clearing out the old and unused items makes everything accessible and frees up room for any special items you want to have on hand for a comfortable, welcoming holiday season.
2. The Pantry: Clear the Shelves for Holiday Cooking
The pantry can be a hidden mess of expired cans, forgotten snacks, and half-used bags of ingredients. Before the holiday rush, take stock of everything in there.
Toss anything past its prime, donate unopened items you won’t use, and organize what’s left so you can see everything at a glance. Keeping only the essentials and a few seasonal ingredients ensures your pantry is ready for holiday baking and cooking without the stress of digging through cluttered shelves.
3. The Junk Drawer
Ah, the infamous junk drawer—the catch-all spot for random items like batteries, pens, takeout menus, and who-knows-what-else. Decluttering this space means no more sifting through tangled cords or broken bits when you’re looking for something important.
Get rid of stuff you don’t recognize or haven’t used in months. Then, group the essentials, and make this drawer actually useful. A decluttered junk drawer is the ultimate holiday helper, making sure you can easily find what you need, when you need it.
4. The Coat Closet: Prepare for Winter Guests With a Clear Space
The coat closet can quickly become stuffed with jackets, scarves, hats, and shoes that haven’t seen the light of day in years. Before your holiday guests arrive, take a moment to declutter this space.
Keep only the coats and accessories you actually wear, and donate or store the rest. This leaves room for guests’ coats and creates an inviting, organized entryway for a warm holiday welcome.
5. The Kitchen Drawers: Keep Only What You Use
Kitchen drawers are notorious for accumulating single-use gadgets, mismatched utensils, and that one lonely chopstick. Before the holiday cooking begins, clear out the clutter.
Remove items that haven’t been touched in the last 90 days and won’t be used in the next 90. Keep only the tools you use regularly and the ones you know you’ll need within the next year.
With less clutter, your kitchen becomes more functional. You’ll actually enjoy holiday meal prep when you’re not wrestling with drawers when it’s time to cook.
6. The Bathroom Cabinets: Declutter for a Fresh Start
Bathroom cabinets tend to overflow with half-empty bottles, expired skincare products, and random samples. Declutter this area to make space for the essentials, especially if you’ll have holiday visitors.
Let go of anything expired, unused, or unloved, and organize what’s left. You’ll save time in the morning and make room for gifts and purchases to come. It’s freeing your mind for sure.
7. The Bookcase: Make Room for New Reads and Holiday Cheer
Bookshelves fill up fast. Old novels, outdated textbooks, and decorations can crowd the space.
Sort through each shelf and donate books you won’t read again. Keep only favorites and maybe a few holiday reads. A clutter-free bookcase makes room for new stories or seasonal decor.
8. The Garage: Clear out Clutter for Holiday Storage
The garage can be a black hole for old gear, broken tools, and abandoned projects. Clear it out before the holiday rush.
Donate or toss items you don’t need. Freeing up this space means room for decorations, gifts, or even winter storage for a car. Everything becomes easier to find.
9. The Bedroom Closet: Free up Space for Festive Outfits
Bedroom closets overflow easily. Clothes that don’t fit, off-season items, or worn-out shoes pile up.
Go through your closet and keep only what you love and wear. Donate the rest. An organized closet makes picking holiday outfits easy and leaves room for anything new you might get.
Theresa Bedford is a lifestyle and relationship writer with a passion for self-development and to live life to the fullest. She writes about relationships, mindfulness, and simple living. Her work has been seen on the AP newswire, MSN, Wealth of Geeks, Media Decision, and more.
