Getting Ready for the Holidays: A Professional Organizer’s Guide to Preparing Your Home for Decorating
Getting Ready for the Holidays: A Professional Organizer's Guide to Preparing Your Home for Decorating
The scent of cinnamon is drifting through stores, festive music is playing on the radio, and you're already mentally planning your holiday gatherings. But before you reach for those boxes of decorations tucked away in the garage, there's an important question to ask yourself: Is your home actually ready for them?
As a professional organizer who's helped countless families transform their spaces for the holidays, I can tell you that the secret to a beautifully decorated home isn't just about having the prettiest ornaments or the most elaborate garland. It's about preparing your space properly before a single string of lights goes up.
Let's walk through the essential steps to get your home holiday-ready, so when it's time to deck the halls, you can do it with ease instead of stress.
Start With a Clean Slate: Declutter First, Decorate Second
Here's a truth that might sting a little: If your everyday spaces feel cluttered, adding holiday decorations on top will only amplify the chaos. Before you even think about dragging out the tree, it's time for a strategic decluttering session.
Walk through your main living areas with a critical eye. Those shelves crammed with books, knick-knacks, and various odds and ends? The mantel covered in everyday frames and candles? These surfaces need breathing room to showcase your holiday décor properly.
Here's my favorite trick: Remove your everyday decorative items and pack them away in your holiday storage bins for the season. Yes, the same bins! When the holidays are over, you'll simply swap everything back. This approach keeps your home from feeling overstuffed while giving your seasonal decorations the spotlight they deserve.
Make Space Where It Matters Most
Not all rooms are created equal during the holidays. Focus your organizing energy on the spaces that will see the most action: your entryway, living room, dining area, and kitchen.
The entryway is your guests' first impression. Clear your coat rack, make room on your shoe mat, and create an obvious spot for visitors to shed their winter layers. A small bench or basket for hats and scarves goes a long way toward preventing that awkward pile-up by the door.
The living room needs to accommodate your holiday centerpiece, whether that's a tree, a festive display, or simply a gathering space for family. Don't be afraid to rearrange or temporarily remove furniture to make room. That oversized armchair might be cozy year-round, but if it's blocking the perfect tree spot, it can take a vacation to another room.
Your kitchen deserves special attention. Holiday cooking and baking require space and accessible tools. Clean out your refrigerator and pantry now, ditching expired items and donating unopened goods you won't use. Organize your baking supplies together and make sure essential appliances are clean and in working order. There's nothing worse than discovering your mixer is broken on the day you planned to make six dozen cookies.
Tackle the Guest Room (Even If You're Not Hosting Overnight Guests)
Guest rooms have a sneaky way of becoming dumping grounds throughout the year. If yours has morphed into a storage closet with a bed in it, now's the time to reclaim it.
Clear out everything that doesn't belong. Give the room a thorough dusting, change the sheets, and fold some fresh towels at the end of the bed. Even if you're not expecting overnight visitors, having a clean, welcoming space ready sends a powerful message: your home is prepared for whatever the holidays bring.
Get Your Decorations Organized Before You Unpack Them
Before you haul every holiday box into your living room, pause. This is your annual opportunity to assess what you actually want to display.
Pull everything out in an organized fashion, but sort as you go. Create three piles: keeping and using this year, keeping but storing, and donating or discarding. Be ruthless with broken items, outdated pieces you haven't used in years, and decorations that no longer match your style or space.
For the keepers, invest in proper storage solutions. Wreath bags protect your wreaths from dust and damage. Clear bins with labels help you find exactly what you need next year without excavating every box. Color-coded containers for different holidays make storage areas easier to navigate.
Here's a time-saving tip that might sound unconventional: Consider storing all ornaments in one shallow bin with packing peanuts instead of in individual boxes. It's faster to pack and unpack, takes up less space, and protects your ornaments just as well.
Create Your Holiday Command Center
One often-overlooked aspect of holiday preparation is setting up a wrapping station. Gift bags, rolls of wrapping paper, scissors, tape, ribbons, and bows can take over your home if they don't have a designated spot.
Clear a space now, whether it's a corner of your home office, a section under the bed with a rolling storage container, or a small table in the basement. Stock it with supplies, and you'll save yourself countless trips running around the house looking for tape when you're trying to wrap presents.
Don't Forget the Exterior
Your home's outside deserves attention too. Sweep your front porch, clean your outdoor furniture, and make sure your exterior is guest-ready. Check that outdoor light strings are working before you hang them. There's nothing more frustrating than stringing up hundreds of lights only to discover half the strand is dead.
This is also the perfect time to carve out some discreet storage spaces in your garage or shed. You'll need places to hide gifts from curious family members, and organizing now means you won't be frantically shoving wrapped packages wherever they'll fit later.
Set Yourself Up for Success
The difference between a stressful holiday season and a joyful one often comes down to preparation. When you take the time to organize and declutter before decorating, you create a foundation that supports everything else you want to do.
Your decorations will look better in an uncluttered space. Your home will feel more welcoming to guests. You'll be able to find what you need when you need it. And most importantly, you'll spend less time managing your stuff and more time actually enjoying the season.
Start early. Don't try to tackle everything in one weekend. Work room by room, tackling one space at a time. Set realistic goals based on your schedule, and remember that progress is better than perfection.
The holidays should be about connection, celebration, and joy—not about wrestling with overstuffed closets or searching desperately for the lid to your ornament box. When your home is organized and ready, you give yourself the gift of being present for what really matters.
So before you hang that first ornament or string those lights, take a breath and get organized. Your future self (and your guests) will thank you.
Ready to make this your most organized holiday season yet? At Donna Declutter, we specialize in helping families create homes that work beautifully year-round. Whether you need help decluttering before the holidays, organizing your storage spaces, or tackling those overwhelming areas of your home, we're here to help. Contact us today for a free 20-minute consultation and let's get your space ready for the season.
