Decluttering After Christmas: 10 Smart Tips to Start the New Year

Now that the holiday lights have faded and the carolers are quiet, it’s time to put all the Christmas goodies away and attempt to get back to real life. But once the decorations come down, you may find your home feeling crowded and unorganized — a common conundrum after the fun of the season winds down. Decluttering after Christmas is the perfect fix. As the calendar flips to January, it’s time to declutter for the New Year.

Whether you’re tackling overstuffed closets, making room for all the new bounty from Santa, or organizing Christmas decorations so next year’s seasonal setup is easy-peasy, our guide has you covered with simple, actionable steps.  

10 Tips for Decluttering After Christmas

The key to successful decluttering after Christmas is to work in stages. Focus on progress, not perfection. Apply these 10 tips to declutter, get organized, and start the New Year with a home that feels calm and clutter-free.

1. Take Inventory of Your Holiday Haul

• Make space for a staging area and begin organizing Christmas decorations by category (ornaments, lights, outdoor decor, etc.).
• Remove broken or unusable items (e.g., chipped ornaments, a light strand that doesn’t light, crinkled wrapping paper).
• Set aside anything you didn’t use this year — and remember, donating is always a good step on the declutter path.

2. Get the Entire Family Involved

• It’s never too early to teach kids the value of being organized — and decluttering after Christmas is the perfect opportunity to start.
• Give everybody one job (take the hooks out of the ornaments and put them in a baggie, gather up all holiday tchotchkes and get them ready for storage, etc.). Tasks will go much faster with more hands.
• Make a game out of storing Christmas decorations: When everything’s properly wrapped and stored, reward everyone with a movie night.

3. Declutter One Room at a Time

• Take a stroll around the house, grab anything holiday-esque, and move it to the staging area for categorizing.
• Evaluate all closets for overflowing clutter and consider clearing out for possible storage space.
• Think about items other than holiday decor. Now is also a great time to tackle a full house decluttering.

4. Organize and Declutter According to the “Keep, Donate, Discard” Method

• As you accumulate goodies in the staging area, arrange them according to what you want to keep for next year, what’s suitable for donation, and what needs to be tossed or recycled. (Apply the 12-12-12 rule here —- see FAQs below for deets on this declutter technique.)
• Don’t be shy about purging. If you didn’t use something this year (or last year), ask yourself: Would you buy it again? Is it your style? Do you already have three of the same thing?

5. Label Your Boxes and Storage Containers Clearly

• Have some delicate keepsakes you’d like to keep safe? “Fragile” is an excellent label.
• Label each container according to what’s inside (holiday dishes, ornaments, etc.) or by the room it belongs in once it’s time for organizing Christmas decorations.

6. Store Christmas Decorations Properly

• Use clear storage bins so you can easily see what’s inside (in addition to your clear, specific labels that make organizing Christmas things a cinch).
• Wrap delicate items in tissue paper, hand towels, or blankets — the perfect way to make use of those decorative linens in the off-season.
• Prevent tangled lights by wrapping strands around cardboard or Christmas light spools.

7. Make Room for New Gifts and Decor

• Choose a dedicated space for any new items you were gifted over the holidays (organize white elephant gifts, for instance, within easy reach year-round for regifting!).
• If space is limited, this is a great opportunity to purge and declutter some more.
• Apply the two-for-one method: For every one thing you add to your home, choose two things to donate or throw out.

8. Sell, Donate, or Toss Items You No Longer Use

• Recoup some of your holiday spending by selling ornaments or other goodies you’re not in love with anymore. Facebook Marketplace and eBay are good places to start for resale. If an item doesn’t sell within 30 days, time to donate.
• As you’re organizing Christmas decorations, consider donating items to organizations like Habitat for Humanity or maybe a local nursing home. After all, your declutter could be their delight.
• If anything is broken or unusable, the declutter solution is to toss it in the trash or recycle bin.

9. Designate a Holiday Zone for Storage

• This is a no-brainer: Keep all holiday decor (and that can include Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc.) in one spot for easy access.
• Options for storing Christmas decorations include the garage, basement, hall closet, under the bed, or a PODS self-storage container.

10. Plan Ahead for Next Year

• For easy access when the season rolls around again, storing Christmas decorations with your most-used items near the front is a good strategy.
• Keep an inventory of your decorations, noting which pieces may be candidates for replacement when you’re organizing Christmas decor next year.

The “Keep, donate, discard” method is a straightforward way to declutter.

Decluttering After Christmas — FAQs

Q: What is the 333 rule for decluttering?
A: If you’re having trouble paring down, this nifty rule for decluttering after Christmas will help. Pick 33 Christmas decor items that you know you can’t live without. Put the rest of your goodies into a box and put it in your storage space. If you’re not pining away for the excess items within three months, that’s your signal: Sell, donate, or toss.

Q: What is the 5/7 rule in decluttering?
A: This works for organizing anything in your home — not just storing Christmas decorations. Look around: If you’ve got knick-knacks on every surface, track how often you use and/or admire each item. After seven days, keep only the pieces that caught your attention on at least five out of those seven days. The others can go into storage.

Q: How many days after Christmas should you take your decorations down?
A: There’s no hard-and-fast rule for when to think about storing Christmas decorations, but keep in mind that decluttering after Christmas is much easier when you do it before all the regular household clutter begins to accumulate again. That said, many people of the Christian faith view January 6, the Epiphany, as the official end of the Christmas season and an ideal time to declutter.

Q: What is the 12-12-12 rule of decluttering?
A: This applies to Tip No. 4 above — and it’s a terrific quick win in decluttering after Christmas. Find 36 items and divide them into three groups: 12 to keep, 12 to donate, and 12 to discard. Then follow through on each intention.

Make decluttering after Christmas easier with PODS portable storage containers, delivered right to your driveway to load on your schedule — no matter when you decide it’s time to declutter.

Decluttering After Christmas With Help From PODS

Want to declutter and get organized even faster — and stay organized longer? A PODS portable storage container delivered right to your driveway can make decluttering after Christmas an easier process. Use your container as a staging area to sort through your decorations. (Don’t forget the 12-12-12 rule!) And when everything is organized and packed up properly, you might want to use the container as a storage space. It’s perfect for organizing Christmas decorations and keeping them safe. Just load ’em up, and PODS will take the container to a secure Storage Center until it's time to do it all over again.

Visit PODS online for a free storage quote or call 877-350-7637.

Bonnie Azoulay Elmann is an NYC-based freelance writer and frequent contributor to the PODS blog. Her work has appeared in Glamour, Health, and Parents, among others. She is an extremely driven digital storyteller who may or may not have a slight obsession with fanny packs.

_{*This article was written on behalf of PODS Enterprises, LLC (“PODS”). PODS does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of any information contained in this article and disclaims any liability for reliance upon the content herein.}