How to Have FUN Taking Down Christmas Decorations

Every year it's the same. November hits... along with a hint of snow in the air.... and suddenly I'm all about Christmas. The Christmas train can't be stopped! The tree is up and sparkly. The fireplace is glittering. The halls are decked, baby! The world is aglow with the anticipation of Christmas morning!

Then, somehow, a month later, everything is bleak. The kids are gone back to school or work. The empty packages and wrapping are thrown away. And now the tree that brought so much joy is starting to look like a lot of work.

So, how can I re-capture the joy I felt putting all this stuff up? I can't, really. Nope. Plain and simple. Nothing beats the joy of anticipating Christmas!

But, I can refocus my energy on other things. Here's my guide to ENJOYING putting away Christmas decorations:

1. Put on some music. Christmas is over, and you can finally get Santa Baby out of your head! Use that i-tunes gift card or just turn on Pandora and get a good, upbeat station going. I like "80s pop". It takes me back to my childhood and makes me want to move!

2. Organize and trash it! That's right. This is your big chance to keep what you love and junk what you don't. I keep a few sentimental ornaments and throw away anything that I don't absolutely love. Or donate it, if it's in decent shape. I wrap lights around cereal boxes. Go to Walmart and get a couple of those plastic organizers they always put in place of the Christmas aisle. Use them to neatly put away ornaments. And grab a big plastic box for larger items like greenery, lights and small trees. Don't want to run to the store? Try these DIY organization ideas from Good Housekeeping.

3. Make some cocoa or coffee. And fru-fru it up with whip cream, sprinkles, etc. I like cinnamon and honey. Hey, it's not Christmas, but it's still winter, for crying out loud. It is currently below zero degrees as I type this! So, put on those fuzzy slippers or socks that Santa brought you and drink up!

4. Enlist help. Kids can get in on this cleaning action. Give them a task. Ask them to sweep or vacuum glitter and fake snow. Or get them to clean and organize their new toys while you take down the tree. Also, Hubby may not care one way or another about ornaments, but he still has muscles. I ask Hubby to carry boxes up and down the basement steps for me. He's such a champ about it! (Thanks, Hubby!) Or see if someone can make dinner while you un-decorate. Better yet, get pizza delivered! Call your sister or mom and make a day of it.

5. Laugh. It's easy to get depressed when the house is quiet and the sun is so tiny and shrunken it actually seems to be sucking vitamin D from your pale skin. Seeing the tree come down is tough. So, find a funny video (i.e., Tim Hawkins, FailArmy, Jim Gaffigan, etc.). Put it on while you work to keep your mood light.

6. Think of the future. Christmas may be over, but it will come again. And now you've cleared out the tree, you have space to re-decorate. Move some furniture around. Think about throwing a few touches of spring into your home. Buy some fresh flowers! Go out and find a bird nest (like this one my daughter and I found in the snowy woods. Don't worry. It was long-vacated and its occupants enjoying warmer climes!) Enjoy your newly-cleared out home and look forward to warmer days!

 

What do YOU do to make cleaning up Christmas more fun?

Comment here or on my Facebook page!

 

Now that Christmas is cleaned up, here are some ideas for updating your home in the new year!

Update Your Home for the New Year!

Resolutions.

We've all got 'em. Mine is pretty much always to lose weight. It lasts for a week or two until the willpower fizzles out and chocolate starts sounding way better than skinny jeans.

But one resolution we CAN keep is to update our house! You might have visited your parents or grandparents this holiday season. Maybe their homes make you jealous... or maybe you look at the same old wood paneling and dusty, outdated curtains and wonder why they never change their style. Of course, if you're like me, you go home and look at your own dusty curtains and wonder why you never change YOUR style.

Enter the Home Update Resolution!

This is the year. You can do it. It starts with some simple baby steps.

Home Update: Baby Steps

1. Clean. I know. It's no fun, but put away your pouty face and get out those rubber gloves. Wipe, vacuum, pick up. You can do it. I believe in you.


2. Declutter & Organize! Now that you've got some space on your dining table, use it as a command center. Start emptying out your kitchen cabinets and drawers. Make piles for "Keep" "Junk" and "Donate".  Anything you haven't used lately, or items that are broken... toss them. Now is NOT the time to be sentimental. Just because your great-aunt Mabel passed down that cracked ugly cookie jar does NOT mean you have to keep it. Take a photo and start a donation box.

 

Need some ideas on how to organize? Check out my Pinboard:



Here is a link to my Pinboard for organizing and decluttering.


3. Paint the Wood. Some of you will cringe when I say this. I know it is a fad right now to have white painted wood. So, you don't HAVE to do this, but if you have 70s wood paneling that isn't even real wood. Please. FOR HUMANITY. Paint that stuff white! But start with a good cleaning and some Zinsser primer first. And if you're feeling really feisty... paint your outdated wood cabinets, too!

Here is what our dining room looked like after painting the bookshelves and wood paneling.
So much brighter!


4. Change Your Curtains. Maybe they came with the house. Maybe you just don't think about them, but curtains can be like wrinkles for your house... they make it look OLD. Take a look at your favorite rooms on Pinterest. What do they have in common? I bet many of them have simple white curtains or NO curtains at all. I realize naked windows are not always practical, so if you need curtains, make them simple and clean. For our curtains, we used a package of twin flat sheets we bought on Amazon. In white. We clipped them with black curtain rings and saved a TON of money by using electric conduit instead of curtain rods (cost was around $3/rod!). Plus the conduit is WAAAAY less flimsy.

In our daughter's room, we used sheer lace curtains and metal electrical conduit for the curtain rods.
It is much cheaper and stronger than regular curtain rods!

This was our daughter's room before. No lie.

5. Paint Furniture. This is like the wood dilemma above (see #3). I know your orange-ish cabinet and your dark brown buffet and your honey blonde dining table all came from Grandma so-and-so, and she'd roll over in her grave if you painted them, but honestly... they look weird together. So many different wood tones. And they make your house so dark. Take another look at your favorite Pinterest homes. What color are the cabinets, the tables, the buffets? If they're white or gray, then you might want to consider painting your own furniture white or gray, too. Just a suggestion.

 

See what this dresser looks like after a coat of paint.

6. Update Your Art. Not ready to leap into painting furniture or rooms just yet? Try something smaller. Make a family name sign. It will add some quick and easy farmhouse charm to your home. And maybe it will even give you the redecorating bug, who knows?

 

Good luck decluttering and updating your house. Here's to a clean, fresh and beautiful NEW YEAR!

Want more farmhouse style décor? Check out this post about Galvanized Farmhouse Finds from Hobby Lobby.

Want an even EASIER way to redecorate your house? Get printable art in my Etsy shop!