Conquer Clutter In Your Beautiful Holiday Home

The holiday season can bring some special organizational challenges to the average home. Here are some simple tips to help you conquer clutter during the fast-approaching holidays.

-- Don't overdo.

Just as it's easier to enjoy the holidays when you don't over pack your schedule with too many activities, your home will breathe easier if you match your holiday decorating with your personality and time limitations.

If you don't have extra time each week to dust, don't put out a zillion decor items that need to be picked up, dusted and replaced perfectly.

If you detest taking out all those holiday decorations and then packing them up again after the season is over, don't do it. A handful of well-thought out decorations, like centerpieces, will bring you more enjoyment and be easier to clean, thus staying beautiful in your home.

-- Got kids?

Conquer clutter big time during the holiday season by only putting out kid-friendly decor. A big basket for holiday cards, decorations that are hung on walls not strewn on tables, and nothing tall and tippy (things like that are just waiting to fall over and break) can go a long ways towards keeping holiday clutter to a minimum.

-- One thing at a time.

Part of the reason the holidays are such a hectic time of year is because many of us don't EXCHANGE one busy schedule for another; we ADD an additional holiday schedule on top of an already crowded life.

If you are doing this, too, you are definitely adding clutter to your home. Conquer that clutter by choosing some everyday activities that you will deliberately set-aside during the holiday season. By doing so you will eliminate (temporarily) the 'stuff' that accompanies those off season activities. That way you can concentrate on the holiday clutter that is bound to arise. One thing at a time.

-- Plan your clutter.

Instead of getting out the gift wrap supplies and then leaving them out throughout the holiday season, why not focus on getting your shopping done and then having a gift-wrapping marathon one evening? All the clutter comes out once, the job gets done, and everything gets put away, all in one step.

You can do the same for your other traditional holiday activities. If you enjoy baking, then plan a baking day. If you like to make decorations with your kids, then plan a weekend and do it all at once. Need to write cards to friends and family? Pick a night or two and do the whole job. You'll feel great getting these tasks done and the accompanying clutter will be kept to a minimum.

-- Control incoming clutter.

To conquer clutter that can stream into your home on a daily basis is always challenging. If you notice that you get an influx of this type of clutter during the holiday season; children's holiday projects from school, for example, then take a minute to decide upfront what you want to do with that clutter.

Do you want to display it? Pass it along to Grandma? Archive it? Whatever you decide, by having a clutter-control plan in place you are free to enjoy your children's holiday expressions and make the most of their hard work while still knowing that all that incoming stuff will not add to the clutter in your home.

You can lift considerable holiday stress off your shoulders by controlling the clutter that appears during the holidays. Put these simple tips into place to conquer clutter in your home, and enjoy this blessed time of year with your family.