5 Ways to Declutter After Christmas - Cook Portable Warehouses

The holiday season brings on a lot of extra unnecessary clutter. New decorations, wrapping paper, new toys, tools and larger gift items. It can be a hassle as you struggle to find space for everything when you’re already very aware of the little space you have left.

Here are 5 ways to declutter after Christmas and start the new year organized and clutter free!

Be willing to part with broken items. Do you tend to keep lights that don’t work anymore thinking you’ll find time later to find that one bulb that needs replacing? Do you have a pile of decorations that need a little TLC? Are parts broken or need a paint touch up? If you haven’t fixed these items since the previous year, then it may be time to consider getting rid of them. At this point they’re just taking up space you could be using for brand new decorations.

Don’t keep gifts you know you’ll never use. If you’re concerned with hurting someone’s feelings by taking a gift back, then it’s okay to keep it. If you’re not concerned, take the gift back or re-gift it to someone you know would honestly enjoy it. Take inventory of your closet and see if there are any gifts from previous years you have never used. Do you have clothes that still have the tag? Then it’s time to take it to a consignment shop. Have toys your kids played with only once? Then drop them off at a local shelter or church nursery. Don’t allow items that aren’t being used to take up precious space in your home, garage or shed.

Organize decorations with detailed labels. As you put away your decorations, think about how they’re being wrapped. Will this protect them fully until next year? Consider where they’re going. How will you remember where your items are located and in which box? Labeling is key when you’re organizing for long term storage. You might decide to color code your boxes as well as putting specific labels on them. Use green boxes for Christmas items, orange for fall items and blue for spring decorations. Keep track of what’s inside with a few keywords written on the outside. We can help you with labeling efficiently with these FREE labels, plus some additional storage tips.

Recycle holiday cards and limit yourself to the number you keep. Everyone loves getting mail, especially around the holidays. All of those cards can take up a lot of space if you keep them over the years. So, choose just a few to keep or even take pictures of the ones you don’t want to forget. Cut up the leftovers into different shapes to create homemade gift tags. It will help you save space and help you save a little money next Christmas because you’ll already have all of the gift tags you need!

Put holiday items into long term storage. You know when you need these items every year, so there’s no reason to have them taking up valuable space in your spare bedroom or closets inside the house. The best place to put these items is in a weatherproof, durable portable building. In doing so, you’ll have these items safely stored out of your way for the majority of the year. They’ll all be easily accessible from one location when the holiday season does roll around again.

Declutter after Christmas and start the new year with ample space! Want more ideas on how you can use your shed? Download our free shed idea reference guide below.