Guest post. Christmas Organisation: Top Tips and Advice

With Christmas on the horizon, now is the time where most people will be thinking of the imminent festivities, planning gifts for their loved ones and trying to remember where you put the Christmas decorations.

In the run up to the big day, you will inevitably have lots of things to organise; writing and posting Christmas cards, heading for the high street to pick up some gifts, taking the kids to Santa’s grotto and ordering your Christmas food and wine so that you don’t have to venture into the supermarket being just a few things on your hectic to-do list.

The thing that many people tend to forget is what happens after Christmas is all done and dusted. Staying on top of your organisation can help for future Christmases so give this some thought when the day is over.

While your kids will be more than happy playing with their new batcave or their awesome dolls house, you can be making sure that everything is in the right place and ready to be put away properly. Here are some top tips so that you can remain organised throughout.

• Keep any boxes for toys that you may sell further down the line. For some toys, still having the original boxes will help to retain value while also providing a perfectly sized box to post them in. Pop them in the loft and, every year, sort through what you may be able to ‘lose’ so that you keep on top of the clutter.
• Be sensible when taking down the decorations:
  • Label boxes well so that you know where things are next year
  • Wrap baubles well so that they don’t get damaged
  • Neatly put the Christmas lights away rather than in one tangled heap (although, no matter how hard you try, they’ll probably be a mess again next time!)
  • Group things together so that you know where to look. Keep tree decorations in one box, outdoor decorations in another and tableware in another – you get the gist.
• Declutter old toys now that your kids have got new ones. Encourage them to say goodbye to toys they don’t play with anymore. Give them to charity or make some cash for their piggy bank by selling them. If you can do this before Christmas, awesome!
• Recycle Christmas cards, wrapping paper and boxes rather than adding them to the normal bin.
• Don’t leave cleaning and decluttering until after the new year – bringing in 2014 will be so much more gratifying with a clean, tidy, organised home!

It may seem boring and tiresome, but organising now will mean less hassle this time next year!