One Room At A Time: How To Organise Your Home For Christmas!

There are things I like to get done before people start filling up my house over Christmas, but my mind isn’t what it used to be and it all seems a bit overwhelming.

This year, I’m getting on top of the pile by tackling the things that need doing in my house one room at a time.

Thats right, this year, instead of running around wildly like a chook with my head chopped off, I’ve made a list, checked it twice, and have set aside some time in my Christmas schedule to work through this stuff.

Want to see my list? I thought you might say that!

Kitchen

Start with your fridge and microwave. Clean the tops, fronts and insides, then shift them to clean the underneaths as well.

Next, it’s on to the drawers. Organise the cutlery and utensils, clearing out stuff that shouldn’t be in there but has migrated during the year. Also take stock of your cutlery, to see if you need to replace missing pieces. While you’re checking through the drawers, take stock of your hand towels, dishtowels and tea towels, making sure you have enough, as well as foil and wraps for the food you’re likely to pre-prepare.

Now it’s onto the cupboards. Go through your plastic containers, throwing out anything that is broken and matching up lids with bottoms. Take stock of your dishes, cups, serving ware and mugs, getting rid of anything you don’t like, and counting what you do have with your Christmas guest list in mind. Organise your stored appliances, and give a quick clean to anything you haven’t used in a while that will come out over Christmas.

Check out the pantry and make a list of all the food stuffs you have in there that you might use at Christmas, to save you from buying more. Your Christmas dinner can be a great way to empty out the dusty cans and bottles from your pantry!

Also check if there’s anything else in there you can use, and perhaps adjust your Christmas menu accordingly. Oh, and don’t forget to check out your cleaning products to make sure you have everything you need for when the hard scrubbing begins!

WANT A COMPLETE CHRISTMAS MENU? CLICK MEEE!

Master Bedroom

In the master bedroom, the best place to start is with your closet. This might be hard for the fashion lovers, but you’ll want to go through both your own and your partner’s clothing, shoes, jewellery, belts, hats, bags and so on. Anything that didn’t get worn this year, or doesn’t fit anymore, should be thrown away (if old) or donated (if wearable).

Also clear out your dressers for old and grungy pyjamas, underpants, bras, workout clothes and everything else. Then, head over to the bedsides and clear up the clutter, putting it back where it belongs.

Kids Rooms And Guest Room

In the kids rooms, start in the closet as well. With clothing, make sure there are no hand-me-down opportunities before you throw away. If your child has grown out of something, but it still has wear, donating it is best. Next clean out the bookshelves, getting rid of books that are really damaged or just not read anymore. After that, it’s on to the toy bins and dress up bins for anything that should be thrown out, whether or not you tell your child!

In the guest room, clean the nightstand to make sure it doesn’t have anything useless in there, and that there’s some space available for your guest, particularly if they’re staying for a few days. Make sure they have access to some clean towels by putting them in the room, as well as anything else to make them feel at home.

Bathroom And Laundry

In the bathroom, empty out the toothbrush collection, where your children’s old toothbrushes apparently go to die. Then take control over the bath toys, cleaning as you go. Shower caddies should come next, just go through all the bottles and simplify as much as possible.

Next up in the bathroom are the cabinets. You’ll want to take stock of of your toiletries cabinet and your medicine cabinet, taking note if there’s anything you’re out of, or anything that is outdated and needs to be replaced. At the same time, go through your makeup bag too, clearing out anything crusty at the bottom.

In the laundry, double check your laundry supplies, and give your washer and dryer a wipe as well. If you have a washer with a drawer, check that there is no mould inside it.

Hallway/Storage Closet

If you have a main hallway cupboard, you should have a look over this as well. Ensure you have all the gift wrapping supplies you need for jolly Saint Nick, and that your gifts have somewhere safe to go when you hide them.

In the sae cupboard, depending on what’s stored there, also take stock of any party supplies, picnic stuff, DVDs and board games, batteries, light bulbs, camping gear, luggage, bags, shoes and linens. Get rid of what’s broken, isn’t used anymore, or should have been thrown out. Organise everything into areas where it can be easily accessed, and easily replaced.

Living Room

The last room to tackle is the living room. This is the main family room, so you’ll want to do it closer to Christmas anyway because you’re likely to have kids in it most of the time.

Start with the coffee table, cleaning the surface, and prepping your camera (with the charger and photo storage) somewhere close by where you can reach it when presents are being opened and celebrations are happening.

After this, check the couch/sofa seams for any lost goodies, and do a good check underneath them as well. Shake the rugs out, deal with heavy furniture indentations (you can use a hot iron and damp washcloth for this), and adjust the furniture if you need to in order to focus on the tree.

Are you ready for Christmas? Congratulations!

Enjoy the holidays!