I was reflecting on that lovely feeling of space you get in January when the decorations are cleared away and I thought I might get in early. So I’m getting a head start with a few simple decluttering steps in the run-up to Christmas.
Space at the table
Our dining room is a clutter magnet. We tend to use the table when we want to spread out papers and then somehow those papers don’t get cleared up until we come to entertain. Paper clutter is an easy win : file, shred, recycle, done. I also find it convenient to park my cross trainer in there, as I’ll only exercise if the machine is right there in front of me – but I think that’s an acceptable use of the space day-to-day.
We’ve got twelve at the table this year. I’ll wait for the day to add the extra leaves and bring out the best table cloth. But I’ve put a centrepiece, just a few baubles and some greenery from the garden, on the table now for a festive look. One thing I’ve noticed is that if you decorate an empty space, clutter doesn’t come back. The empty space on the table is very enticing: I might get a jigsaw out, or one of our board games and see if I can make some memories.
Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
I was thinking that I could move my cross trainer into the kitchen over Christmas and… but then I thought ‘nah’. The thought of trying to cook Christmas dinner for twelve around an exercise machine was more than I could bear. I’ll put it into storage, for the few days we have guests. With Store and Insure I can pay for self-storage cover on a daily basis, so I know I’m getting good value. I can do a parkrun during Christmas week and call my exercising complete.
Get the spare room ready
We’re having overnight guests this year, so we’re making the spare room ready now. I don’t want to do it all in a rush right before they arrive. In the past I’ve found that when the spare room is tidy, it gets used more often as a living space by my family. It’s also useful to have useable space where we can store Christmas presents, or wrap them in private.
Let the Christmas decs speak for themselves
Last year I put all our non-festive ornaments and knick-knacks away on 1 December and it worked really well. It was a bit of a sore point because while putting up lights the previous year I knocked a china monkey that I’ve had since childhood off the bookshelf. It took out a glass dish before bouncing off the TV and smashing itself against the skirting board. Gutting. We’ve wrapped the remaining ornaments and will put them into storage for the duration. The rooms looked very serene and sophisticated for a few days – and then the Christmas decs came out of storage!
How would going clutter free benefit you this December?
