Festive Decluttering Hacks For Your Home This Christmas

The festive season is almost here—a time for good food, joyful drinks, and gathering with your friends and family. With the countdown on, there’s no better moment to kickstart the holiday home declutter, making space for all the cheer to come.

This inspired Miroslav Radov at the cleaning company London House Clearing Company Rainbow Rubbish Removals to put together his best decluttering tips to make your home feel calm, organised, cosy, and ready for the Christmas season.

7 refreshing decluttering tips for your home this Christmas

1. The "reverse Santa" rule

We all love our homes to look festive, and it’s hard not to go crazy over Christmas decor and gifts when each year you find something even better than last year. This is when you need to introduce the “Reverse Santa” rule.

How to: For every new gift or decoration you bring in, remove one item from your home. This makes room for holiday additions without the extra clutter.

2. Gift wrap your junk

When it comes to decluttering your space, you come across items you aren’t sure if you want to let go of, wrap it up! The gift wrap technique can help you with the items that you aren’t sure if you need in your day-to-day.

How to: Wrap up your item and if you don’t feel compelled to ‘open’ it by New Year's, it’s time to donate or bin it.

3. The “12 days of decluttering” challenge

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a cluttered house that needs months of cleaning! Well maybe not with this festive hack - this is the perfect way to get everyone in your household involved, especially children.

How to: Set up a designated bin, and for 12 days straight remove those items you no longer need or use. Day one, one item. Day two, two items - and so on!

4. Christmas countdown clear-out

A daily five-minute mini-blitz per zone helps to declutter without you needing to set aside dedicated “decluttering days", and will surprise you with how much you can get done. A way to do this is, instead of tackling a whole room at once, declutter by focusing on specific zones within each room. This technique not only works wonders as working in a time crunch makes your decision process work faster but by taking on small sections at time is less complicated and overwhelming.

How to: Whether it’s a cluttered basement or a messy kitchen, break the room into sections either by space or category, label one box “To Keep” and another “To Go” and set a timer for five minutes each day. See how quickly you can make decisions and clear surfaces!

5. Present triage

If you are struggling on what to keep and what to toss, this method is the one for you. When you’re considering the gifts you plan to give this holiday season, take a moment to reflect on the items in your home; if you can’t envision giving them as a gift, it might be time to let go and create space for what truly adds value.

How to: Make a mental note of the people you want to get presents for this year and look around your bedroom, your living room, your bathroom cabinet. Picture these items as gifts for the people in your life, if you can’t imagine gifting them, why keep it?

6. The snowflake rule

Embrace the idea that, like snowflakes, each item in your home should be unique and essential. By eliminating duplicates - whether it's the extra spatulas or redundant kitchen gadgets - you create a more functional and streamlined space, ensuring that everything you keep truly serves a purpose.

How to: Start by assessing categories like kitchenware or clothing and decide if you really need more than one of each item. Keep only the most functional or favourite pieces, then donate or recycle the extras. Moving forward, commit to only replacing or adding items only when truly necessary to maintain a streamlined, organised space.

7. Holiday-themed declutter bingo

No matter whether you live by yourself or in a full house, it’s hard to get everything decluttered and organised on your own. One way to get everyone involved is to create a Christmas-themed bingo card, with an incentive for your winner.

How to: Mock up a bingo card with common items from your home you want rid of (old holiday cards, mismatched socks, expired pantry items, etc.) and everyone must complete row by row by removing or donating those items. If you are doing it with your kids, family or a partner; you could make it a contest by offering a small prize or a holiday treat at the end. If it’s just you and your partner or flatmates, maybe a round of drinks at your local!

Information supplied by Rainbow Rubbish Removals