How to declutter Christmas

Keep Calm and Merry On

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and for many of us it begins with the excitement of climbing into the attic, rummaging in the garage or delving deep into the wardrobe to bring out the Christmas decorations. Year after year we repeat the tradition and year after year we momentarily lose ourselves in the memories stirred by many of those shiny baubles and sparkly angels. With Christmas music as the soundtrack whilst we decorate the tree it’s a time most of us enjoy. But when the twelve days of Christmas have come and gone and the prospect of putting all the Christmas paraphernalia into hibernation for another year approaches - excitement fades and lethargy sets in, as packing up Christmas and storing it away for another year can be an arduous task. As can often be the case, the arrival of another festive season leads to the addition of new Christmas decorations with trends changing from year to year. By the time January comes, be it the kids’ craft or some surplus wrapping paper that you’re holding on to for next year, you’ve inevitably accumulated more stuff.

We believe the start of the season is the best time to declutter your Christmas items, when you’re at the exciting stage of unpacking the boxes and bags from your attic and before the post Christmas lethargy takes hold! Doing so at this stage should help you later and may even discourage you from acquiring more ‘pruck’ over Christmas. As you unpack your items take some time to reassess what you actually use. By doing a cull at the start charity shops may well be able to benefit from your decluttering or you may be able to sell some of the nicer pieces on Facebook Marketplace. Claire has had some success with light up garlands in the past.

Decorations

The high street is full of useful items to help you store your decorations, trees and wrapping in an orderly way and there are also great hacks that will help you to do so. Firstly, let’s address the baubles - they can be tricky to store especially the glass ones which shatter easily. We recommend using the Really Useful 35 litre Bauble Box (Argos - £24/€29), these boxes are sturdier than their fabric counterparts, they’re stackable, they have clip on lids that open at either end and they’re recyclable. Another great way of storing the more fragile or unusually shaped decorations is to place them in egg containers and empty plastic bottles can offer a handy solution to the storage of strings of beads off the tree.

Lights can also be difficult to store without damaging the leads or individual bulbs so we advise wrapping them around some cardboard or a hanger, or even winding strings of lights around old coffee cans or Pringles cartons making an x in the plastic lid to feed the plug through. It’s a good idea to label the cartons according to where the lights usually hang for future reference. Reels are useful when it comes to storing bigger sets of lights but they can be expensive and if you can make use of inexpensive hacks and save yourself money then that’s the way to go.

Trees

For artificial trees you can buy storage bags which are preferable to simply putting the dismantled tree in a bin liner and will help to keep your tree in better condition long-term. Amazon have any number of tree storage bags but be sure to buy the right size for your tree. Another idea is to shrink wrap your tree to keep it clean and dust free over the course of the year.

When it comes to real trees (a must-have in our homes), we’re now being encouraged to think responsibly about how we dispose of them, or better still how we replant our tree after Christmas. While it takes some advance planning and an intact root system to replant your tree, it can be done, provided you have the garden space to facilitate this, and it will allow you to enjoy the same tree for years to come. However, if replanting is not an option and you cannot compost your tree yourself, contact your local council about helping you recycle your Christmas tree as many offer kerbside collection.

Wreaths

Is it even Christmas if you don’t have a perfectly curated festive wreath on the door? But what to do with them come New Year? Whether you’re storing an artificial wreath or a wreath ring that you replenish each year, round wreath bags offer the perfect storage solution. Again there are an abundance available through Amazon.

Wrapping Paper and accessories

Wrapping and gift accessories can be a problem to store because of their shape and fragility but IKEA have a SKUBB storage case (£9/€10) that will not only house your rolls of paper but also smaller items such as twine, bows, tags and the like which can be placed in the interior pockets. The case can be easily stored under a bed or in a wardrobe until such time as it’s needed once more.

For other items like stockings, or seasonal cushions we vacuum pack them to save on storage space. If all of this has left you feeling somewhat bewildered - fear not, if you do nothing else buy a number of large clear boxes and store your items in them. By doing so you will at least be able to quickly and easily identify which items are in each box from year to year and that should go some way towards reducing the stress of Christmas.

In the midst of the tree, the baubles, the tinsel and the twinkling lights adorning your house this Christmas we truly hope you will find it to be the most wonderful time of the year. A time that is less about the paraphernalia and more about the people you spend it with. May you enjoy a very Merry Christmas and an organised New Year!

Claire & Lisa xx

(This blog was first published in the December 2021 issue of Ireland’s Homes Interiors & Living magazine.)