How to Organize the Christmas Gifts You Receive Straight Away, so You Don’t Create Piles of Clutter for Months
Give yourself the gift of a tidy home before New Year by following these tips and tricks from a professional organizer
The season of giving is upon us, and with it can come clutter. It's a blessing to receive gifts of any kind from loved ones, but it can be tempting to leave these gifts strewn around the house to put away at a later date.
With the rush of New Year and a fresh start "later" can become a month away, then two, or perhaps five. It's easy to fall into the trap of leaving gifts laying around as they don't have a "home" in our house like the rest of our stuff.
To help you to avoid falling into this trap, I asked an organizing pro for their tips on how to organize your home and its newly-acquired things straight away, as well as why each idea is so effective. You won't be tripping over piles of presents come 2026.
Choose a Time to Do it
One of the main reasons clutter can accumulate is not setting a clear block of time in your life to actively reset your home in winter post-holidays. According to Mary Jo Contello, dedicating an evening or two in the near future to organizing your Christmas gifts can make a huge difference to your space, as well as allow you time to give any new items a home.
"If you are off for the holidays, I highly recommend tackling organizing any Christmas gifts before returning back to your normal schedule," says Mary. "Dedicate an evening or day to confront the task, or perhaps if you're busy you could do it on January 1st as a way to reset your home for the New Year."
Setting a reminder on your phone to do this, or sticking a post-it note like the 800 Colored Sticky Notes on Amazon can serve as a great accountability partner to begin organizing your stuff.
Immediately Take Stock
When you open your Christmas gifts, you'll more than likely know in your gut how you felt about the items. Did they excite you, or did you think to yourself "this sadly really isn't very me"?
Mary encourages people to tune into this voice and harness the benefits of decluttering by allowing yourself permission to let go. The first step is to create piles of things you wish to discard, then ask yourself some prompts.
"If a gift is something you just do not need or want, can you re-gift it? Can you return for store credit? Can you donate it to a non-profit for an auction? Or can you just donate it?" says Mary. "Remember as Marie Condo says, the joy is in receiving the gift. This doesn't mean you have to keep it."
Doing this will help prevent piles of clutter from forming in your home, filled with those items you know you don't need to store.
It can be tough parting with a gift. You may feel obligated to keep it, or feel a pang of guilt at the thought of giving it away. If you really don't feel ready to let a gift you know deep down you don't need go, dedicate a small storage idea to keep them together, like this Fabric Storage Box With Lid from Amazon. This way they're all in one place, and come next year you can see if there's anyone else in your life that would love them.
Becoming a professional organizer always seemed like it was a natural fit. I have always had a passion for decluttering spaces and bringing order to homes, offices and the lives of people who are tired of being overwhelmed by clutter.After spending years in the corporate world, downsizing and layoffs left me with a sudden need for a new direction in life. I started Organized by MJ with the goal of not only cleaning and organizing people’s spaces, but also providing them with lasting solutions to avoid “clutter hot spots” in the future.
Practice Decluttering Rules
After sifting through your gifts, you should now only be left with the stuff you wish to keep. Before going around your home organizing them away, you may wish to cast an eye over the categories of stuff you received and implement the one in one out rule. For instance, if you received two lovely new sweaters you can't wait to wear, you might want to check if there are two old ones you're happy to donate to the thrift store. Bearing in mind, the Didn't Know decluttering rule can help with this, where you declutter items if you forgot you owned them in the first place.
Doing this can help to prevent clutter from building up, which can become stressful for your future self.
"You should be mindful about putting items away, and one of my favorite ways to do this is by using the one in and one out method," says Mary. "For example, if you received a new clothing item, then let an old clothing item go so you have the space for it. If your kids received new toys, have the kids let a toy go or maybe even try for two toys if you're hoping to have a clearer playroom."
When I declutter, I like to keep spacious containers near me like the Foldable Storage Cubes from Amazon to collect together my discards through the four-box decluttering method. From there, I then decide what to sell, what to donate, what to keep, and if there's anything in poor enough condition to trash or donate to be turned into rags.
Find Homes for Your New Stuff
Lastly, it's time to actually organize away your new stuff into homes. It can be tempting to just gather gifts into bags and put them in a cupboard to address later, but taking time to take care of your new possessions by incorporating them properly into your life will feel far more orderly.
Mary recommends asking yourself what category your items are under once again, and organizing gifts away accordingly.
"If it is a seasonal item such as summer - put the new item with other like items so you will remember and be able to find it when the season comes around. If it is part of the current holiday season - then pack it away with your Christmas decorating ideas and be prepared to use it next year," says Mary.
If it's a book, add it to your bookshelf. If it's a toiletry, bring it over to the bathroom cabinet or where you get ready. You may find an item or two is harder to home than others. At this point if you're sure you'd still like to keep it, it's best to place it where makes most sense.
For instance if you said you wanted to get into gardening and were gifted a lawn aerator, the shed or your organized garage make far more sense in terms of storage than keeping it cluttering up the entryway.
You'll know when your items are organized away properly because you will know where everything is, as it aligns with your current organizing systems.
If you've found yourself with too much extra stuff after Christmas, it may be worth implementing the 'four-gift rule' next year. The rule limits the amount of gifts a person gives and receives, and can work as a great way to prevent clutter for you and your loved ones.
