Making Space for Holiday Gifts

November 15, 2024

The ability to buy and receive gifts is a luxury. It’s a privilege to have the extra money to purchase presents, or to have the extra time to make things for others. It’s a blessing to have people in your life who give you gifts. Gift giving and receiving is a love language for many people. They feel loved when they receive gifts, and the express love by giving gifts. So why can this time of year feel so overwhelming? In this post, I’ll talk about how to make space for gifts so you feel more holiday joy rather than feeling like you’re drowning in stuff.

Making Space to Store Gifts to Give To Others

Be conscientious about clearing a space in your home to store gifts to give away. This may involve some serious decluttering so that you have adequate space. If you’re a big gift giver, designate a large space, like an entire closet or small room for gifts. You may want to use storage bins for each person, and install appropriate sized shelving so you can utilize the vertical space efficiently. This may be a space you use all year to collect gifts. Or maybe in the holiday off-season, you use this space to have better access to seasonal items that may otherwise be in a deeper storage space. Or perhaps this space will stay empty when it’s not the holiday time. Try to imagine what you will use this space for when you’re not collecting gifts.

Creating an organizational system will prevent gifts from getting lost and will mitigate overbuying. I can’t count the number of times I’ve uncovered holiday gifts that my clients have hidden so well they stayed hidden for years after they were supposed to have been gifted. When gifts get hidden, they often get forgotten about. They get mixed up, and you can’t remember who’s supposed to get what. All this can lead to over-buying or disappointment.

In addition to a physical system, I recommend having a digital note where you can brainstorm gifts you want to buy for people. Then, when you do buy something, make a note of that on your list.

Plan your gifts ahead of time so you’re not having to do a mad dash to the mall on Christmas Eve. Organizational systems fail when they are too ridged and don’t allow for flexibility. Keep your organizing system simple. If you can’t designate one place for all the gifts, and you really do need to “hide” them, use your digital note to help you remember where you put them.

For more tips on organizing holiday gifts, read this post.

Making Space to Receive Gifts In Your Home

Now for the really fun part! You may not be able to anticipate what you’ll be getting. I don’t recommend getting your hopes up and setting yourself up for disappointment. But what I DO recommend is to make space for new things to come into your life. Let go of anything that feels stale, such as worn-out clothing, out-of-style accessories, houseware you never use. Don’t keep things just because they’re “still perfectly good” if you have an overabundance of them. This is a great time of year to share your abundance and give items you no longer need to charity. And just in case you need to hear it again- just because you got something as a gift does not mean you have to keep it forever. Declutter, declutter, declutter! Even if you don’t anticipate getting many physical gifts this year, use the holidays to help motivate you to clear stuck energy out of your home. Rather than stockpiling more stuff than you could ever use, let it go. You will feel lighter, more free, and rejuvenated. If you don’t have time to do a whole house decluttering, pick a category of stuff to reduce, and see how good you feel after you’ve given it away.

In addition to decluttering your own stuff, if you have kids, help them declutter their stuff too. The little ones will obviously need more of your hands-on help to purge through what they no longer need. But once they can walk and talk, have them help you fill up a bin for donations or trash. Some parents want to take charge and do all the decluttering for their kids, and others will have their kids be more active in choosing what stays or goes. It really depends on the kid. Do your best to help transfer decluttering and decision-making skills to your kids, but don’t let their inability to let go take over your home.