Messy house? Here are 16 tips to clean and organize for the holidays

Let’s face it, we’re all a little messy. Well, most of us. I know, because I’ve been in your houses for the last four decades as a hard news reporter.

That’s why it’s good to have company coming, because it makes us clean up. No one wants to invite guests over when there are piles of papers on the floor and bills all over the dining room table. And who can sleep in the spare room when it’s full of discarded junk?

Well, we’re here to help. We got tips from some expert declutterers to help you get your home ready for the holidays, and we’ve assembled them in a simple, easy-to-follow list.

1. Begin early. Don’t wait until the last minute. Get assorted boxes and large bags for trash and label them “Donate,” “Trash” and “Put away.”
2. Focus on the high-traffic areas guests will use most, particularly common areas like hallways, living room, patio and dining room. Focus on creating a space where everyone will be comfortable. If your hands haven’t touched it in a year, it can go. If the spare bedroom has become a junk room, all that stuff needs to go – either to the garage or to charity. No one cares about your bedroom, so you can tackle it last or not at all.
3. Declutter one space at a time, and immediately deep-clean it. Then move to the next space. Do not fall into the trap of sitting down to look through anything, or starting to work on another room before you finish the last one. Be cold and ruthless.
4. Every day, grab 10 items you no longer need, and get rid of them, (or at least put them away neatly). C’mon, you can do it. It’s only 10 things.
5. If some of the clutter belongs to your adult children, either give them a date by which they must pick up the item, or it will be tossed. Or fill a box, put it on your car and leave it on their front porch.
6. You have unused stuff in your closets that should be discarded so you can put other things in there. You do not need 18 throw blankets. Give them to the animal shelter for the homeless dogs. Ditto for old towels.
7. Join a “Buy Nothing” group online and post the good stuff that you can’t use anymore. If no one picks it up, donate it. And look through the “in search of” (ISO) posts to see if someone wants what you’re offering.
8. Eliminate piles of mail by dealing with it as soon as it arrives. Sort the bills, the stuff that needs attention and shred and trash everything else. The magic word is “touch everything once.” Don’t sort it and then leave it in a pile. Trash it or file it. (But don’t get rid of medical papers. You might need them someday.)
9. Make a clean-up day that’s mandatory for people in your house. Many hands make light work. Create lists for what everyone needs to do to make you happy, especially removing their personal items to their private spaces. Hand each person cleaning supplies and point them in the right direction. Antibacterial wipes make this easier.
10. Purge your holiday decorations. If you don’t have red-and-green bins to store them, get some. And look first for things that are broken or dirty. Discard them. Then, ask yourself if you really need each item. If not, donate it immediately, so someone else can use it.
11. Those half-burnt candles lying around can go to the big woodpile in the sky. If you like the containers, place the candles in a sink full of hot water and clean out the wax when it gets soft.
12. Go through old photo albums ruthlessly (and don’t get sucked into sitting down and reminiscing while you’re doing it) and pull out a few photos that you must keep to digitize. Then trash the the rest. If you have boxes of slides, either get a device to convert them to digital format (they’re cheap now) or give them to a company that will do it for you.
13. What about the holiday presents? Keep a list of what you’re buying for each person and mark off when you have it, so you don’t get too much stuff. Get gift bags at the dollar store so you can quickly wrap without making a mess (plus, you can reuse them).
14. Go through the kitchen, throw away expired food, and look through to find housewares you never use and donate them. (Admit it, you never use that cake carrier.) Then, you’ll have room to put away things that actually need to be stored. Stop buying the massive boxes of cleaning supplies. They just add more clutter. While you’re at it, get out the good dishes if you plan to use them.
15. If you have a pile of dirty shoes at the front door, get a basket and put them in it. Looks tidier. A coat rack is also useful.
16. Check out the online Holiday Grand Plan for tips on how to clean up and organize your house and prepare for the holidays. This is a free six-week organizing workshop, so you’re already behind for this year, but you might get some good ideas here, like picking one room each week and working there.

And then enjoy your nice, clean, decluttered house! At least until next year.

And thanks to readers Pam Powers, Mary Anne Perez, Vickie Dewey, Deanna Harvey, Jo Murray, Carol Owensby, Beth Harpaz, Sue Siegmund, Jeanne Baran and others for their advice.