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Christmas & New Year

How To Prepare Your Home For The Holidays

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year, Living, Organizing For The Holidays & Gift Guides

Prepare your home for the holidays with these decluttering, organizing, and early prep tips.

As the holidays draw near, so do all of the “things” that come with them. From decorations to gifts, the holidays bring some major “stuff” into our homes. To prepare your home for the holidays, the best way to keep the clutter out of your home during the season is to declutter, purge, and organize before it arrives.

Here are our best tips on how to prepare your home for the holidays so you can avoid clutter and overwhelm in your space.

Preparing Your Home For The Holidays. These stress-free ways to get your home ready for the holidays will show you how to get in the holiday spirit without the overwhelm.
Preparing Your Home For The Holidays.

1. Start By Letting Go

When it comes to preparing your home for the holidays, the first thing you absolutely must do is purge and declutter. Be relentless when it comes to decluttering!

Move through your home and declutter each room and space at a time. Once you have purged what doesn’t serve you anymore, you can begin organizing and designating spots for any gifts that will come in.

 

 

2. Deep Clean Early

No one wants to deep clean those forgotten spaces that are in our homes in the middle of the holiday rush when guests are coming the next day.

Hit those forgotten spots of your home with a good, deep clean well before the holidays arrive. This way, you can simply do a quick freshen as the holidays near. Imagine the time and energy you will save!

 

 

3. Start Preparing Your Kitchen Now

One of the rooms that get the most action in our homes around the holidays is the kitchen. Start preparing your kitchen before the parties and house guests arrive. You’ll want to go through and lean out and restock your pantry, check on your service ware, and stock the bar.

It’s also a great idea to stock your fridge and pantry with some self-serve snacks and treats that guests can easily get for themselves. Keep some frozen prepared appetizers and pre-made puff pastries in your freezer for last minute, on the fly desserts.

 

 

4. Consider Guest Spaces

If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated room or rooms for guests, prepare those well ahead of time.

If you have a dual space, say an office that doubles as a guest space, think of how you can change this over temporarily to focus more on serving guests for the holiday season.

If you live in a small apartment or home with no extra rooms, think of how you will put any guests up in your home (pull out sofas, etc) and make sure you have plenty of blankets and linens ready. If your space is simply too small to accommodate guests, think about nearby hotels or friends or family that may be able to offer up a room or host your guests.

 

 

5. Set The Mood

Bringing the holiday spirit into your home doesn’t mean you need a million decorations in every room. What really sets a holiday festive mood can be simple and uncluttered.

Prepare your home for the holidays with intentionally and thoughtfully placed candles, scents, cozy blankets, and pillows, warm fires, good music, a festive cocktail, and tasty snacks. Stock up on these items and have them at the ready for any impromptu guests or holiday parties.

 

 

Conclusion

Getting your home ready for the holidays doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you get a head start, declutter and organize, make room for the gifts, deep clean early, prepare guests spaces, and set the mood throughout your home you will have a jump start.

What is your favorite part of getting ready for the holidays? Let’s share in the comments!

5 Steps To Mentally Prepare For The Holiday Season

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year, Living, Organizing For The Holidays & Gift Guides

Mentally Prepare For The Holiday Season With These Mindset Tips And Strategies.

Back to school season is well underway and we are starting to think about the Fall and Winter Holidays. Now is the perfect time to mentally prepare for the holiday season.

Whether we are excited for (or haunted by!) retail stores being three months early for everything, we may be starting to plan, and have some anxiety around, the approaching holiday season.

This week continues our month-long delve into avoiding overwhelm during seasonal transitions and holidays in your home, your work, and personal life.

Today we are going to talk about preventing holiday overwhelm in our own lives by preparing our mindset and our routines for these busy times.

Get into a stress-free and easy mindset this holiday season with these tips.

How to Mentally Prepare for the Holiday Season with These Simple Strategies. The holidays are right around the corner. Find out how to mentally prepare for the holiday season with these strategies and tips!
How to Mentally Prepare for the Holiday Season with These Simple Strategies.

1. Don’t Create Unrealistic Expectations For The Holiday Season

This is probably one of the most significant sources of holiday stress.

As the holidays get closer, we start having all these fantastic ideas, sometimes creating completely unrealistic expectations of ourselves, our budget, and our time.

Take the time to check in on your holiday goals and see what’s realistic for your time and budget and then plan from there. You will end up closer to your vision if you start from a place of what’s possible.

 

 

2. Don’t Compare

It is so true that comparison is the thief of joy.

As tempting as it is, don’t compare or set standards for your holidays based on what someone else is doing. Do what the right fit for you and your family is, and you will have a much more relaxed holiday for it.

 

 

3. Set a Realistic Budget And Stick To It

One of the most significant sources of stress during and after the holidays is because we overspend. Set a budget for yourself and your holiday spending well before the holidays arrive. Include travel and hosting costs along with your gift spending.

Consider starting a dedicated savings account just for holiday spending. Being able to see what you have and where it is going will help you curb financial overwhelm.

Start an account in the Spring, and you will have a nice chunk of money by the time the holidays roll around.

 

 

4. Stick To A Routine

Sticking to a routine is one of the best ways to protect ourselves against stress and overwhelm during the holidays.

Creating a plan that lets you know what is coming up each day is the best way to defeat any chaos that may arise during your day.

When something unexpected happens, remember that you can take care of it and take comfort that your routine will be waiting for you afterward.

 

 

5. Check-In With Yourself

Throughout the holiday season, take a few moments each day and at the start of each new week to check in with yourself. Are you stressed? Are you overwhelmed? If the answer is yes, ask yourself why.

What can be adjusted or removed from your schedule or a to-do list that can relieve this? Can any tasks be delegated?

Adjust your routine and habits accordingly until you find your sweet spot.

Taking note of how you feel regularly can save you from a mega meltdown that makes it hard to climb out from under.

 

 

Conclusion

The holidays can be stressful for many reasons, including financial stress, unrealistic expectations, and packed calendars.

Implementing these tips on how to prepare your mindset for the holidays now will help you to avoid overwhelm and enjoy yourself and your friends and family this holiday season.

Organizing Your Calendar For The Holidays

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year, Fall & Thanksgiving, Living

Skip The Stress And Make Your Holiday Season Happy Again

The holidays bring many social gatherings, expenses related to gifts, and festive parties to attend. However, the holidays can be quite a stressful season. But the good news is: they don’t have to be! Here’s how to organize your calendar for the holidays:

Start by hosting a family meeting at a table where you can all see your month-at-a-glance calendar. Have everyone take turns to share what is most meaningful to them for the upcoming holiday season.

They should also mention any events that should be included in the planning process. Set aside time for special family activities like ice skating, putting up lights, and selecting your tree.

Once you have a better idea of what’s happening for the month, organizing your calendar in these three areas should be a snap! First, we’ll look at organizing your budget, then your time management, then any changes in your routines you might need to make in order to fit in all the events.

Organizing your calendar for the holidays.

Money and Budgeting Tips

Buying Christmas gifts can easily become overwhelming, so here’s a simple tip to make sure you’re not splurging on too many gifts this holiday season. Start by writing a list of everyone you’re shopping for or go ahead and grab The Ultimate Holiday Planner.

Next, with your gift shopping list in hand, select a budget for each person. By setting aside a certain amount of cash for each person and intentionally looking in catalogs and online shops ahead of time, you can avoid much of the last-minute holiday rush.

Time Management Tips

When you’re planning out your month, take a few minutes to find out what time the post office closes each day and when the grocery stores start getting really busy. By planning to intentionally avoid long lines, you won’t waste time rushing or waiting in line!

Tips for Handling Changes in the Routine

In addition to asking your family members what events will be the most meaningful to them during the holiday season, list key holiday responsibilities and figure out who is most interested in which ones.

These could include decorating the tree and home, baking and cooking for guests, and shopping for presents and wrapping them! By giving each family member the opportunity to pick the responsibilities they would most enjoy, you’re giving them the opportunity to take initiative on the traditions they love best.

Even better, you can create checklists of the specific tasks required to complete each job so nobody overlooks an important detail.

By keeping your holidays simple, you can make sure to focus on spending time together as a family. Instead of stressing, organize your calendar to make sure the work is balanced, take time for yourself, and focus on the spirit of the season this year.

The Tradition Of Clutter

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year, Living

The Consequences of Buying Clutter

Clutter comes in many forms and when the holidays roll around, it can be tempting to scroll through Pinterest and dream about having lush garlands and decked-out Christmas trees in every corner of the house.

However, every spring brings more calls from stressed-out clients who ask me to help them organize and store all that holiday decor they had to buy and that now sits in a sad corner of the house or is pilled up in the garage.

This always makes me wonder, why do our traditions become synonymous with clutter?

The Tradition of Clutter
The Tradition of Clutter

Let’s take a moment and address the biggest problems with accumulating clutter every holiday season:

Going Into Debt For Decor

Take a moment and look around your house. Every single item on your shelves, cabinets, and drawers – including all that clutter you now deal with, used to be money.

If you had not spent on everything that you don’t want to clean, fold, or put away, how much money would you have? How many trips could you have made? Or how many (fill in the blanks with your dream experiences and aspirations) could you have enjoyed?

Not to mention the freedom and joy living a debt-free life means.

Cleaning Is Harder With All The Clutter

If your house doesn’t feel ready for fall until your mantle is filled with tiny pumpkins, that’s fine. But think about how you feel overwhelmed and rushed when it comes time to clean your home with all the decor. Are you going to complain about it? Are you going to resent having to do it all by yourself?

In my household, for example, I learned that everyone loves a “decked” house but no one is willing to clean or help pack everything for the end of the holidays.

So, I started asking myself how much time I am willing to devote to “stuff” and how much energy I am willing to spend cleaning a “packed” house.

The choice for a much simpler home decor was obvious which led me to be a much happier mother, which you and I know, makes for a much happier family! 😉

So my suggestion is that instead of buying more things and add more work to your cleaning routine, ask yourself: Is this the best use of my time? Is this where I want to spend my time?

Too often, we buy clutter and create these time-sucking problems just to find out that we are too busy (or too lazy) to deal with later.

So if you want a holiday season free of clutter, free of extra cleaning chores and more focused on people and the joy of being together, here are my tips.

Three Tips for Getting the Holiday Clutter Under Control

1. Focus On Experiences Over Possessions

We all want our kids to have the best, richest memories of the holidays as they grow up. What’s going to matter more to them: new holiday throw pillows in every room of the house? Or taking a walk downtown as a family to ooh and ahh at the Christmas lights?

Nix The Guilt this year and focus on giving your family rich holiday experiences instead of cluttering up every room of the house.

2. Your Home is a Living Space, Not a Storage Space

Instead of scrolling through Pinterest and dreaming about all of the over-the-top decorations for every room, focus on visualizing your ideal space.

Instead of covering every surface with decorations, think about the freedom of empty surfaces, how good clean spaces look, and the small changes you can make to add some festive cheer.

Your home should be functional, as well as fun. Make sure you’re not just storing decorations for every holiday, but really utilizing the space in a way that makes sense for your family.

3. Don’t Reward Yourself With More Stuff

Once you have your space looking the way you want, organized and de-cluttered in a way that is functional for your family… Stop buying things to fill up that space.

If cleaning and maintaining your clutter was too much to maintain, adding new things to that space will only bring you right back to where you started.

Yes, celebrate your new, stress-free space. But don’t reward yourself with more stuff. 

A Case For A Simple Christmas

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year, Entertain, Organizing For The Holidays & Gift Guides

Keeping Christmas Simple & Enjoying It

Have you thought about celebrating a simple Christmas? What I mean is to have a holiday season without the stress, without going all out on decorations, events, and gifts.

Consider celebrating a much simpler Christmas this year. By scaling back, doing less and focusing on the on the experiences you want to enjoy this holiday, you just might find more joy this season. As an added bonus, when you keep things simple, you have a lot more time to enjoy everything this special time of the year has to offer.

 

A case for a simple Christmas and how we are doing it.

What Are Your Best Christmas Memories?

Think back on Christmases past. Chances are that the ones that stand out the most were years when you didn’t have the fanciest decorations, lots of events leading up to Christmas eve and mountains of presents. Instead, if your family is anything like mine, the ones we remember are the years when we had fun and enjoyed each other.

Growing up South of the Equator, we celebrate Christmas on very warm summer days; I remember decorating large branches we picked out on walks during the day with homemade ornaments and with cotton for a “make-believe” snow with my creative aunt; enjoying the family gathering with aunts, uncles, and cousins (lots of them!) while we all anxiously waited for one of my uncles to come in dressed up as Santa. I remember a lot of family, love and so much joy but would never be able to tell you what I got for Christmas.

It’s those simple Christmases that stand out in my mind. They are some of my most treasured memories and the same holds true for the rest of my family.

How We Are Doing A Simple Christmas

Having a simple Christmas is exactly what we are doing this year. No “all out” decor, not even the large tree and ornaments, just the mantel with our stockings and a beautiful garland with lights. Our comfy red pillows and blankets are up, too. I can’t even begin to tell you how good it feels to be free to do just that.

After 2 years of intense changes and moves, I made a conscious decision to keep things simple and I’d like to invite you to join along.

If you think your family may not like your choice to simplify the holidays, you might be in for a sweet surprised.

Truth is, many times we are the ones imposing the pace around family traditions and while our children and spouses may follow along, that may not be what they’d do if given a choice. When I said over dinner that I would like to keep things simple for Christmas this year, everyone was excited about it. There was a sense of relief in the air and the boys immediately asked if we could travel for the holidays. They wanted to “do” something with us, not to “have” one more item under the tree.

It’s Just Too Much

I personally believe that because we have Thanksgiving and Christmas so close apart, it contributes to this feeling of overwhelm we all attribute to this time of the year. To prevent overwhelm from kicking in, we need to create the space we need, even if that means creating new traditions.

 

[clickToTweet tweet=”Prevent overwhelm from kicking in during the holidays, even if that means creating new traditions.” quote=”Say no to overwhelm this holiday season, even if that means creating new traditions.”]

 

So, this year we’re not buying more decorations. Instead, we’re sorting through what we have, picking the things we love and donating what doesn’t speak to us anymore. The house is less cluttered and the decorations that are up stand out. As an added bonus it’s way easier to clean the house, not to mention how it will be much quicker to store everything back when January comes around.

A case for a simple Christmas and how we are doing it.

We are spending the month of December looking at lights, watching movies and Netflix series with lots of popcorn, meeting and hosting friends, and we decided to spend Christmas out of town where we will spend time together, enjoy the season and rest.

The gifts were simplified, too and each of us picked one good gift.

If having only one present under the tree doesn’t sound right to you, maybe you can establish the “four gift rule” where each family member receives a total of four presents. One gift will be something each of us really wants. The second one will be something we need, the third something to wear, and the fourth something to read.

I hope you give a simple Christmas a try this year and find out for yourself if you enjoy a calmer and less stressful holiday season. Tell me what you’d do differently if you were to simplify your holiday season on the comments below!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Jolly Holiday season!

A case for a simple Christmas and how we are doing it.

 

A case for a simple Christmas and how we are doing it.

The Holiday Season & Christmas Planner

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Filed Under: Christmas & New Year

Organizing the Season With the Christmas Planner

The holidays are a wonderful season that most of us look forward to. From friends and family to cookies and ham, there’s so much goodness to enjoy. However, it can become an overwhelming time with so many things to get done, so many details to check off our lists, that some of us start to forget the reason we started doing things.

Personally, this is a time I cherish spending with my children and my husband. Christmas in the US grew on me, and now the US is where I want to be to celebrate it. I want to be home, enjoying my family, spending time together, and creating memories. How do you like to celebrate it?

A simple way to enjoy the season, and skip the overwhelm, is to write down what needs to get done, and for all the planning that goes into the holidays, here is the Christmas season.

Whether your family decides to go big or small these holidays, let’s remember to connect with those we love, to bake the yummy things we like and share them, to help a family in need, to provide for those who can’t do it for themselves right now.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and the most loving holiday season!

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