Christmas Overwhelm

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Is clutter coming between you and Christmas?

It’s hard to imagine being merry when you have people coming over for Christmas and the house is not joyful, not peaceful but a mess. It happens to be a cringe of clutter.

Now, as you know, I don’t recommend short cuts but sometimes we need saving more than we need rules. So here is my 5 Step, Stop Gap Plan, to fix the cracks in Christmas. Follow it to the letter and you will fling open the doors to your visitors with genuine joy on Christmas Day.

  1. What You'll Need
    •      cardboard packing boxes
    •      textas
    •      packing tape
    •      vacuum cleaner
    •      wet wipes (I recommend Aldi Mammia, they're thick & fragrance free)
    •      rubber gloves
    •      rubbish bags

  2. Line Up The Rooms

    What are the rooms that will be exposed to guests?  I’d suggest your kitchen, dining room, living room and outdoor spaces.

    What are the rooms you can fill with boxes?  Perhaps your bedroom, guest bedroom, study or workroom and perhaps the garage.  

  3. The Technique

    We are going to pack up each, let’s say visible room, and move it into the invisible rooms. So, put everything that is on the tables, the benches, the chairs and the floors straight into the boxes. If something is obviously rubbish pop it straight into the rubbish bag but now is not the time to ponder over keeping or throwing.  Just put everything in the boxes. Once each box is filled, tape it up and with your texta, write where it came from and try to give yourself a rough idea of what’s in there. Write across the top and down the side if you have to. 'Magazines from lounge', 'papers from spare room', 'letters from hallway' etc. This way If you need to find something quickly, before you're ready to tackle the declutter project properly in the new year, you'll have a clue where it is.

    Then date it.

    The date is important because boxes can sit around. We know that. 

    Now you're ready to move the boxes into the invisible rooms and close the door on them. 

  4. The Kitchen

    We tackle the kitchen a little differently because this is the hub of the house on Christmas Day.

    Separate everything you’re going to need for the day itself. Not including crockery, cutlery and glassware, you will probably need around 10 things. Make sure everything – the pots, the pans, the tupperware, has its lid.  The knives are sharp. The pot holders and tea towels etc are all available and ready for action.  Then put everything that could qualify as clutter into a box, label and date as before.

    IF you have enough time,  go to the pantry with your rubbish bag and throw everything that has expired. Put it into the bin outside, NOW, and this way you know it will be gone with the next collection and your bin will be empty for Christmas.

  5. The Cleaning

    With the clutter removed from each room you’ll see some dust, cobwebs – you know what to expect. Pop on the rubber gloves, take up your wet wipes and you’re away. Use a wet wipe and pop it in the rubbish bag, pick up another and keeping going. They’re brilliant.

    Bring out the vacuum and soon you’ll find every room a sparkling, comfortable, clutter free space.

    So that’s the Stop Gap Plan and I hope it helps you approach the big day with some more equanimity.

You can be the best gift.

In the meantime, give some thought to the anxiety that also goes with gift buying and giving. Do you really want to spend a lot of money and time buying more stuff that could turn into someone else’s clutter? Of course you might just have the perfect gift in mind for someone who needs it and that’s great. But if you’re just giving for the sake of it why not think about giving yourself. A gift of service can mean so much in this time poor world. 

Thank you for engaging with the blog this year, I welcome your comments and feedback and we’ll be back with our thoughts on what we can make of 2016.  In the meantime I wish you all a wonderful Christmas. May it be filled with joy and meaning and much love.