5 items I always recommend you declutter in November, to ensure the festive season isn’t so overwhelming

Amanda Jones is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on sustainable living and decorating a home in way that is good for the environment. See the rest of her articles here.

November is the perfect month to do a bit of decluttering before the super busy festive season gets going at full steam. Decluttering these items now will ensure you have a little more order in the chaos. Your future self will be so grateful.

1. Seasonal festive decor

This could take a bit of time and energy, depending on how much stuff you have accumulated, but I promise you, it will make you life so much better! Pull every box/bag you have of festive decor out from wherever you store it. Give yourself the time to look at each item, look at it with a critical eye.

Questions to ask, why are you keeping this? Does it fit into your home’s aesthetic? Is it purely of sentimental value to you? Do you use this every year, if not, when did you last use it? Is it broken, (I mean, how many none working lights do you really need?).

I did a thorough declutter of my Christmas decorations about eight years ago now, and it it was a game changer, making decorating the house at Christmas so much easier, I know exactly what I have, and where it is. I reduced our stash by half, which means we can store what we have carefully, looking after what we have, and having less breakages along the way. I could assess what ‘gaps’ we had and only now make intentional purchases. This has saved me so much time, energy and money over the years.

What do you do with decorations you no longer need? Recycle as best you can any broken ones. Ask friends/family if there’s anything they want. Do you know of anyone just setting up their own home, that could benefit from a bag of lights and a few baubles? Freecycle, or another free online site is a good option too. Is your local school/community hall having a charity sale, you could donate to there. Charity shops also start their Christmas displays in November so this is the perfect time to donate any.

2. Toys, books and games

How many of us dread the after Christmas Tetris game of finding space for all our children’s newly acquired toys, I know I did. Get ahead of the game by doing a big declutter in November. As children get older its good (but not always easy) to involve them with this. It helps them to understand we can’t always keep everything and helps them to develop critical decision-making skills that will help them in their future.

Questions to ask with your older children, when did you last play with this? Are you getting too old now for it? Are the toys broken/have pieces missing?

Obviously, I’m not suggesting you dispose of your child’s favourite teddy, they may still want this when they are 80, but its important we have ongoing conversations about our stuff with children, and why its good to let go sometimes.

What do you do with unwanted toys/games/books? Again, ask within your circle of family and friends. Good quality, clean items can be donated to local children’s groups, after school groups, local church halls. Do you have a book table in your local supermarket? Again I’d suggest freecycle, local Facebook groups. If the items have a particular value, you may want to sell it and put the money in your children’s savings account.

3. Winter coats and winter clothing

A few years ago, a local homeless charity advertised for men’s winter clothing, particularly coats. Since then, I’ve always donated any winter outdoor attire to them. Always make sure everything is clean and in good order. Often local religious groups know of people in need, or where to donate them too. Why keep a perfectly good coat in your wardrobe, if you never use it?

4. Unwanted gifts

Controversial I know, but I’m big into regifting, if someone has bought me something I don’t need/want, I have no qualms at regifting it, or giving it away (although I advise not to regift to the person who originally gave it to you!). Please, don’t feel you have to hold onto that body lotion set your great aunty gave you last Christmas, if its something you will never use. Have you got a local jumble sale you can donate too? Or a charity shop, who often display unused gifts on their shelves.

5. The freezer challenge

We are currently doing this, and it can make for some weird and wonderful dinners, but it does mean we will have plenty of room in our freezer to make use of the Christmas offers in the supermarket, or to store a few extra items so you can avoid food shopping in that period between Christmas and new year.

If you want to, this can also be extended to you store cupboard, maybe get to use up that jar of mincemeat you’ve had in your pantry! Having an organised freezer, fridge and food cupboard will ensure you don’t waste food or money in the run up to Christmas.

I may no longer have toys to sift through, (those years go far too quickly so try not to moan too much), and I don’t really have any Christmas decorations now in need of editing, but I honestly believe doing this, really helped me keep on track, in what is possibly the busiest time for me as a mum. I urge anyone to do these, you really will feel the benefit as ‘Full On’ December approaches.