11 Things to Declutter After the Holidays for a Fresh Start

Inside: A list of items you can declutter after the holidays to simplify next year’s celebrations and create more space at home in the new year.

The haze of Christmas fun is over and it’s time to take down the tree, store the decor and get your house back in order again.

I almost love this part as much as putting everything up! There is something satisfying about removing the holiday clutter and opening up space in your home.

While you are busy packing and storing all the things, this is a perfect time for a declutter after the holidays to clear out what you no longer need and create a fresh start for next year.

The benefits to a declutter after the holiday means less to store and organize and less to filter through when next year’s Christmas rolls around. There is no need to hold on to items they no longer serve you or your family well.

11 Things You Can Declutter After the Holidays

Baking Supplies

Open frosting tubes, half-used jars of sprinkles, only a scratch of brown sugar left…these are the sort of baking supplies that won’t stay fresh until next Christmas. If there is only a little left or packages are opened and will expire before their next use, throw them away.

Take a look at your flour, sugar and all basic baking goods. Assess how much is left or the quality of what’s there. If you don’t bake much during the year you may as well start with fresh ingredients next December.

Decorations That No Longer Bring Joy

Holiday decorations are meant to bring joy and a festive mood to your home. Before putting all the Santas, brush trees and garlands away follow Marie Kondo’s advice and ask yourself if the item “brings you joy.” If the garland has never been your favorite or the brush trees just toss glitter everywhere or the tinsel has seen better days, give yourself permission to let it go.

Don’t hold onto decor only because you feel its wasteful to get rid of it or it cost a lot of money (consider a resale in that case). You want to smile when you pull all those decorations out of the box next year, not sigh in frustration.

Leftover Food

The honey baked ham was so good (until four days later when I couldn’t even look at another piece). The leftover breakfast casserole, the final few pieces of Hawaiian rolls, the smushed cranberries; all delicious until they weren’t.

Take a couple of minutes to review the contents of your fridge and toss any leftover food, and clean out the storage containers for all the healthy stuff you’ll be eating in the new year! 🙂

Broken Decor and Lights

An easy item to declutter after the holidays is anything that is broken. You will likely not hot glue gun broken ceramics or fix the one strand of lights that has multiple broken bulbs. For any broken decor go ahead and dispose of it properly and start fresh for next year if the item is still needed.

Holiday Wrapping

Take a look at your holiday wrapping supplies and if there are only a few sheets left on the roll, it was a print you didn’t love, or you like to have a fresh look every year, recycle what’s left. Only keep gift bags that are in good condition (and if you have a proper storage space to organize and store them).

Holiday Pajamas

Family holiday pjs are such a fun Christmas tradition. However kids grow (quickly!) and unless you have multiple children or others you know who can benefit from hand-me-downs, there is no need to keep the same pjs year after year.

This year I lucked out and my kiddos were still able to wear last year’s pjs, but that is not always the case. If the Christmas jammies are too small or too worn to carryover another year, they are an item you can declutter after the holidays.

Holiday Books

Every year we pull out the Christmas books and display for reading. Many of these books stand the test of time for all ages. But there are also the toddler board books (with a few chew marks, lol) and a dog-eared early chapter book that has seen better days.

Before reshelving the holiday-themed books take a quick look to see which ones can be donated or recycled. Hold onto classics or ones your kids have truly cherished or received as gifts (quick side note, the library is a great option for reading new seasonal stories).

Holiday Crafts

Throw away cute, but not masterpiece, Christmas arts and crafts you and the kids did during the holidays. Understandably, you want to keep the sentimental items from school or those given as gifts but the random coloring pages, sticker mosaics, or popsicle stick tree? Go ahead and recycle. There is no need to keep every single craft your child created. They’ll never know!

Holiday Cards

I love the tradition of Christmas cards. We mail them every year to family and friends across the country. As soon as we start to receive cards, the kids race to the mailbox daily to see who maybe sent us a card. We display them on the door to our pantry and the kids sit and look at the collage of cards several times a day.

As beautiful a tradition as this is, the card gazing comes to an end. When you are doing a declutter after the holidays, cards are better off with a final appreciation then into the recycling.

Kids Toys

The post-Christmas cloud can set in when you look around and realize “oh my gosh, what are we going to do with all these new toys?!”. I feel you. A toy declutter is a great way to kick off the new year for kids. Go through the old so you’ll have space for the new (read “How to Declutter Toys in 4 Clear Steps” for a simple strategy and storage ideas).

Gift Receipts

If you like to keep receipts, now is the time to declutter those after the holidays you know aren’t needed. Once you are certain your gift recipients aren’t returning or exchanging items (yourself included) you can recycle these old receipts and avoid the paper clutter.

Recap: 11 Items You Can Easily Declutter After the Holidays

• Baking supplies
• Decorations that no longer bring joy
• Broken decorations
• Holiday wrapping paper and bags
• Christmas pajamas
• Holiday kid books
• Holiday arts and crafts
• Christmas cards
• Toys
• Leftover food
• Gift receipts

Ideally a declutter after the holidays will be easy to do since you have to put the seasonal items away and are already in a cleanup mood! Come next year you will be so happen you dealt with this now instead of letting these items linger in your home or be there to sort through next Christmas.