5 Things Minimalists Always Declutter Immediately After Christmas That I’m Planning on Doing Between Now and the New Year, too
It's super important to make decisions on your possessions once festivities wind down to prevent clutter from taking over your space and mind in 2026
I've been fond of minimalism for years. Not the exaggerated kind where everything is bare walls and empty shelves, but the kind of decluttering and minimalism that allows you to live in harmony with the stuff you use, need, and love.
After Christmas, this balance can take a bashing, whether it's due to the temptation of holiday sales, an influx of lovely gifts, or the busy nature of the season, where maintaining a clutter-free household may fall to the side.
To help you keep your post-Christmas clutter at bay, I asked minimalists and professional organizers for the top five things they recommend decluttering immediately after Christmas, as well as why. Once these things are removed from your space, you'll instantly feel lighter.
Holiday Decor
Whether it's decluttering holiday decor that didn't see the light of day this year or making decisions bauble-by-bauble while taking down the tree, minimalists often comb through their decor as soon as possible before storing it away post-Christmas.
According to Meghan Coccchiaro, aspiring minimalist and professional organizer at Organized by Meg, an easy way to begin decluttering and resetting a home in winter is to focus on removing what is broken or no longer serving its purpose.
"These items can include torn Christmas tree tinsel, unruly ornament hangers (so annoying), broken ornaments and decor as well as chipped serving ware, ugly or oversized Christmas mugs (or just too many), used up and burnt out candles, bare garland, broken Christmas tree light strands, and stained and worn out linens like dish towels, oven mitts, table runners, throw blankets and tree skirts," says Meghan. "I don't save anything edible including Christmas tree candy canes. I also get rid of nearly empty cookie sprinkles and the cookie cutter shapes I never choose."
Doing this will leave your decoration storage ideas so much nicer to use, only containing what you enjoy having around in your space.
Meg is a Certified Professional Organizer ® and the owner of Organized by Meg ® based in Littleton, Colorado. Her company helps women and families declutter and organize their homes during life’s busiest seasons so that they can focus on what really matters.
Unwanted Christmas gifts
It can be tough decluttering unwanted gifts directly after the holidays. You've only just received them and may feel a pang of guilt at the thought of giving them away. But in the eyes of minimalists, gifts aren't an obligation: they're about thought and gratitude, which has already been exchanged, and that's far more important than keeping material goods you don't need or want.
Besides, if your unwanted gifts don't align with your life or what you love, one of the benefits of decluttering is your unwanted stuff could bring joy to others instead!
"If I received gifts I didn't want or don't need or love, I try to return them right away for store credit, or reset my home for the New Year by selling them or donating them if they're not worth my time to return," says Meghan. "I also put aside certain gifts to re-gift them another year or for another occasion."
When I receive unwanted gifts, I put them aside in a box like these x2 30L Underbed Storage Boxes from Amazon to save for local toy and gift drives that crop up each year. It's become a tradition, so each Christmas I donate last year's items. Though selling, re-gifting or donating are all great options if you don't want to hold onto the stuff for that long.
Holiday cards
Paper clutter piles up faster than you'd realize. What can begin as one or two stray flyers in an entryway can quickly take over a floor. The same sentiment carries through to holiday cards, where a few on the mantle can become boxes collected over the years, or stacks scattered all over the house.
Minimalists take time after their immediate holiday celebrations to curate their card collection, recycling anything that doesn't add value. It isn't ungrateful to part with cards - remember, the physical thing isn't what counts, but rather the thought behind the gesture.
Ellen R. Delap, a certified professional organizer and owner of Professional Organizer.com, shares the importance of this form of decluttering.
"Minimalists are always keeping an eye on their paper clutter. They are reviewing what has come in the mail and deciding what to keep and how to keep it, including holiday cards. If this form of maintenance isn't done, a person can be overwhelmed by paper clutter and break their paper management system. Minimalists know that keeping their systems intact helps them all year long, so it's best to declutter unwanted holiday cards as soon as Christmas is over."
I keep a medium-sized box similar to this Magnetic Gift Box from Amazon for my holiday cards, as someone who personally finds value in their sentimentality. Though I do my best to edit down what I'm keeping, asking myself what makes each card feel special and whether I'll want to read them in years to come,
Ellen believes in working one on one together to streamline your time, space, priorities and more. She aims to create effective strategies for an organized lifestyle and help you prioritize organization in your daily routine.
Kids toys
If you want to ensure your home won't be taken over by toys in 2026, decluttering old ones while "in with the new" is the way to do. It's akin to the one-in-one-out-rule, where old possessions are donated or discarded when a new one that's the same or similar enters the space.
So if your little ones received some lovely toys and gifts this year, encourage them to consider donating ones they've outgrown to others who can enjoy them. Your playroom, living room and kid's bedrooms will be thanking you!
As Jennifer Truesdale, a certified professional organizer and the owner of STR8N Up Professional Organizing Services, explains: "After Christmas is the perfect time to declutter a kid's bedroom or playroom by eliminating toys as any new toys received will be getting all the attention and letting go of the old will be easier to make decisions on.
"When choosing what to let go of, the first factor would be if there were any safety concerns. Look for broken toys, sharp edges, loose pieces that could be swallowed, or any other forms of damage. Extreme wear can also be time to let items go as they might be starting to fall apart. Many toys are also outgrown as the children age and are just no longer needed."
If it helps ease the process, thank each toy as you let it go to help mentally close the chapter it spent in your child's life. Combing through a home's toy storage doesn't have to be a sad thing, just the start of something new.
Wearable items
That dress gathering dust, the five hats you never reach for, and those shoes that are the wrong size that you still can't part with. Whether these items are ones you already owned which you don't wear due to closet mistakes or gifts that don't match your sizing or style, now's the time for them all to go.
Decluttering clothes items as soon as possible post-Christmas will inject a breath of fresh air into your closet and cupboard space, ideal for entering next year with a calm mind.
"It’s often nice to purge and redefine closet space with items that will still be used, serve purpose, and you enjoy them," adds Jennifer. "It's also the perfect time to declutter old clothing if you got new wearable items as gifts that could replace them."
If you have a lot of decluttered items to donate, sell or discard, picking up a spacious bag like the Sweet Needle Heavy Duty Laundry Bag from Amazon can be incredibly useful for gathering everything together.
If you want to declutter your home after festivities are over but don't know where to start, I highly recommend trying out the floor decluttering method. It encourages you to begin by tackling any clutter on the ground, which is highly impactful.
