The Best Places to Declutter Before Christmas to Make the Holidays Easier

As the holiday season approaches, it’s a great time to do some quick decluttering and simplifying in your home and your life. In today’s post, I’m sharing the best places to declutter before Christmas that will go the furthest to simplify your life.

Including how to declutter those key areas quickly and efficiently to make the holiday season easier, less stressful and more enjoyable!

Less stuff makes the holidays easier

The holiday season is a time that’s busier for many of us. And while a lot of the busyness is fun stuff that we look forward to and enjoy, some of the busyness can end up feeling stressful and overwhelming.

But a great way to combat that busyness, stress and overwhelm is by doing what you can to simplify your life ahead of time, before the holiday season. And taking the time to declutter before Christmas and the busy holiday season is a great way to do that!

The more you can clear the clutter, the distractions and the excess “stuff” from your life now, the more time, space and energy you’ll have to enjoy the holidays more when they come.

How to make the most of your pre-Christmas decluttering efforts

There are a couple of important things to remember when decluttering before Christmas to make the most out of your time and effort.

Prioritize where you declutter before Christmas

First, trying to tackle decluttering your entire house in the weeks leading up to Christmas might not be the best plan. Since the holiday season already tends to be a busier time of year, you may not want to take on a big project like decluttering your entire house from top to bottom in the midst of it.

Instead, plan to focus on decluttering a few key areas of your home before Christmas. Decluttering these key areas before Christmas will make the holidays easier and less stressful, while also letting you enjoy the season more as well!

If you’re planning to do a full declutter of your home, try starting earlier in the year, before life starts getting busier for the holidays.

Or plan to do your big declutter after the holidays. The start of a new year is a great time to clear the clutter and organize your home!

You can check out my complete decluttering, Your Clutter-Free Home, for all the tips and guidance you’ll need to declutter with confidence and clarity. Including step-by-step decluttering checklists for every room in your home!

Learn more about Your Clutter-Free Home HERE!

Work quickly

And second, work quickly when you’re decluttering before Christmas. It might not be the most thorough decluttering job you’ve ever done, but any work you put into clearing the clutter from your home before Christmas will help make the holiday season easier and less stressful.

Where to declutter before Christmas

The key to efficiently decluttering before Christmas is prioritizing decluttering the areas of your home that will have the biggest impact on making your life easier. To do that, there are 3 general areas to focus on when decluttering before the holidays.

First, are the spaces holiday guests will see, use or spend time in. For example, the entryway, guest bedroom, your main living room, etc.

Decluttering these areas helps you feel more comfortable and confident welcoming guests into your home. And lets your guests enjoy themselves and feel comfortable in your home as well.

Second, are the areas you use most heavily during the holidays. For example, the kitchen, the pantry, etc.

Making sure these areas are efficient, clutter-free and ready to be used will mean you can do what needs to be done quicker and easier during the busy holiday season. Not only making life easier but also saving you time, stress and energy.  

And third, focus on decluttering any areas that will be impacted most by Christmas gifts. For example, the toys, your kid’s wardrobes, etc.

Decluttering these spaces before Christmas and making space now will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed by “stuff” after adding gifts and new things to the mix during the holidays.

7 places to declutter before Christmas

As the holidays approach, focus on prioritizing some key areas of your home to declutter before Christmas to make the holidays easier, less stressful and more enjoyable.

Here are 7 places I suggest decluttering before Christmas:

1. Declutter the kitchen before Christmas

The kitchen is already one of the hardest working rooms in most homes. But this is even more true during the holiday season. For many of us, the holidays include more cooking, baking, eating, hosting and getting together with family and friends. A lot of which centers around the kitchen!

Simplifying and decluttering your kitchen before Christmas will make your kitchen more efficient and easier to use. Meaning any time spent in the kitchen during the holidays can be a little less stressful and hopefully a lot more enjoyable!

Again, instead of trying to declutter your entire kitchen from top to bottom before Christmas, work on clearing the clutter from the areas that will have the biggest impact on making your life easier instead.

Counters

Clearing the clutter from your counters will give you more room to cook, bake and entertain. Along with making cleaning up from all of the cooking, baking and entertaining a lot easier too.

Dishes and serving ware

Look through and assess your dishes and serving ware before the holidays. If there is anything you don’t need, won’t use or don’t love, this is a great time to let it go. It’ll be easier to find and use the dishes and serving ware that you do use and love when you clear the clutter.

Pantry

If you’ll be doing more cooking, baking or hosting during the holidays, you might be buying and using more food than usual.

Decluttering your pantry before Christmas will not only give you space for the extra food you’ll need. But it will also let you take stock of what you already have on hand, get rid of anything expired and give you the chance to tidy and organize your pantry so you can easily find what you need during the holidays.

Fridge and freezer

Just like decluttering your pantry before Christmas will help make holiday cooking easier, so will decluttering and organizing your fridge and freezer.

Get rid of anything no longer fresh or has gone bad, organize and take stock of what’s left and make space for the extra food you will use over the holidays.

Dining area

Taking the time to declutter your dining area before Christmas will give you more space to host holiday meals and gatherings.

Along with making the space easy to clean up and maintain so you don’t have to stress about mess or clutter in your dining area when hosting.

2. Declutter the entryway before Christmas

Another great place to prioritize decluttering before Christmas is your entryway. If you’ll be hosting guests over the holidays, having a clean, functional and clutter-free entryway will be welcoming for guests. As well as helping you feel more confident and comfortable welcoming guests into your home.

Aim to make your entryway as functional as possible when decluttering it before Christmas. Make sure guests have places to hang their coats, put their shoes, etc. first and foremost.

Next, aiming to keep the space clean and tidy can make the entryway more inviting to guests as they enter your home.

And finally, adding a few small personal or decorative touches can help make the space feel welcoming without overwhelming it with “stuff” or clutter.

3. Declutter the living room before Christmas

Another great space to declutter before Christmas is the living room – or wherever you tend to gather as a family and with family and friends who are visiting.

Having your living space simplified and clutter-free gives you space to host, gather and enjoy your time with the people you love over the holidays.

Clutter-free surfaces will give you space to put food and drinks. Simplifying and clearing the clutter makes space for you and your guests to sit comfortably. And even gives you space to fit more people if you have a big gathering!

Simplifying and decluttering your living room before Christmas also gives you more space to comfortably add a Christmas tree or holiday decorations without overwhelming your space.

4. Declutter the bathroom before Christmas

Take a few minutes to declutter the bathroom before Christmas. Particularly the bathroom holiday guests will be using.

Make sure the bathroom is clean, tidy and inviting for guests to use. Take a moment to make sure it’s stocked with any items guests might need like extra toilet paper, clean towels, extra toiletries, etc. Your guests will appreciate it!

5. Declutter the guest bedroom before Christmas

Decluttering the guest bedroom before Christmas is another great way to give your guests a clean, tidy, welcoming and functional place to stay.

Clear any clutter or things that don’t belong in the room so guests have room to sleep and move around comfortably. Take some time to declutter the closet as well so guests have space to hang their clothes if they’d like while staying with you.

6. Declutter the toys before Christmas

One of the biggest concerns for many families with kids during the holidays is preparing for the new gifts and toys the kids will receive at Christmas.

If you already feel overwhelmed with toys going into the holidays, it can make it feel even more stressful when new gifts come in. Take some time to declutter the toys before Christmas so you go into the holidays feeling prepared for and comfortable with the new things that will be entering your home as gifts.

Include your kids in the process

I recommend including your kids as much as possible, depending on their ages, in the toy decluttering process.

Encourage them to pass on toys they no longer love or play with to other kids who might not be as fortunate as they are. Encouraging empathy and generosity by donating unused toys is a great skill to teach kids, especially during the holidays.

You can even encourage kids to declutter toys before Christmas by reminding them that they need to make space for the new things they’ll be getting as gifts. Often the excitement of making space for new things can help get kids on board with decluttering before Christmas.

7. Declutter holiday décor before Christmas

And finally, as you’re decorating for the holidays, assess your holiday and Christmas décor and see if there is anything you could let go of.

Sometimes a “less is more” approach is a great way to simplify the holidays and decorating for Christmas. Keep what’s special to you and what you really love, then let go of the things you don’t love.

Not only will you be adding less stuff and fewer decorations to your home during the holiday season. But you’ll also have less to pack up and store after the season is over as well!

Decluttering before Christmas: prioritize your time and spaces

Remember, the key to decluttering before Christmas and the holiday season is prioritizing your time and the spaces you’re decluttering.

Focus on clearing the clutter from the spaces that will be used the most during the holidays first. If time allows, you can continue decluttering the other areas of your home. Or go back and do a more thorough decluttering job of the areas you quickly decluttered in preparation for Christmas.

Simplify the holidays with less stuff!

Of course, those spaces you don’t declutter before Christmas will be important to declutter eventually, but they don’t need to take priority during the busy holiday season.

Prioritize the spaces you declutter before Christmas to make the most of your decluttering time and make the holiday season simpler.

I hope this post will help you efficiently and effectively declutter your home before Christmas so you can make the holidays more enjoyable and a little less stressful!