Thanksgiving can bring a lot of joy and stress, especially if you're navigating a cluttered home. From panicking about guests arriving to struggling to find what you need in the kitchen, there are many reasons why a home can benefit from good decluttering prior to the holiday.
It's important to note what to declutter in November and the rules that follow. You don't have to remove everything from your life to feel able to breathe in your space again and find what you're looking for.
So, I talked to a few professional organizers to discover what decluttering rules they swear by to inject breathability into a space for a more restful Thanksgiving. None of these rules involve a complete overhaul of your home. Here's what they had to say.
1. Consume the Food in Your Home
If you're looking for things to get rid of for a more minimalist kitchen and an easy, hands-off approach prior to Thanksgiving, it's a great idea to focus on making meals out of the food you already have in your home instead of buying more non-essential groceries. Doing this will help empty your fridge, freezer, and pantry space so that when you do your Thanksgiving shopping, those items will feel less buried, as compared to everything else.
Kiera Malowitz, certified professional organizer and owner of Decluttered, LLC, says, "Thanksgiving typically includes that 10-20 pound turkey, plus mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, a boat of gravy, macaroni and cheese, pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie. If you have any dietary restrictions, that adds another layer of food as well," explains Kiera. "The last thing you want is to be stressed about how to fit all the Thanksgiving groceries in your refrigerator and pantry, so getting creative with the food you already have will help to free up space while also saving money on your grocery budget."
Kiera recommends doing this two to three weeks before Thanksgiving takes place and planning your meals ahead to work with what you have. The Vera Bradley Women's Outlet Magnetic Weekly Meal Planner from Target is a handy tool to help you keep track of your weekly meals, as well as their ingredients. But if you'd prefer something with less structure to jot down your meal ideas, Target has a selection of dry-erase boards available in many sizes, such as the U Brands 16"x20" dry-erase board.
2. Declutter Your Schedule
If you're wondering how to declutter when you have a busy schedule, start by tackling that first. If you're hosting Thanksgiving this year, you'll have a lot on your plate already. Combine this with a full-to-bursting social calendar and appointments, and your brain will feel fit to burst.
Kiera does all they can to declutter their personal schedule for the week of Thanksgiving and recommends it's something you look into this year, too.
"Thanksgiving week is typically a time many take off from work, and while there is a lot that goes into preparing for this gathering, the last thing you want to do is overbook yourself," says Kiera. "Don't try to squeeze in extra appointments simply because you have the time off. It's an easy temptation to try to get in those last-minute hair and nail appointments or meet a friend for coffee, but if you do not have time, it's okay to say no."
3. Downsize your decor
If you're someone who loves a pretty porch or stunning Thanksgiving table decor or table decor for every season, you've likely accumulated a lot of decor over the years. Before the big day, it's a smart move to sift through all the Thanksgiving decor in your repertoire and see if anything in there is merely gathering dust. This will grant you an opportunity to double-check that you have everything you want to decorate with as well while there's still time to purchase any missing pieces.
Mary Jo Contello, certified professional organizer and owner of Organized by MJ, says "You should always review holiday decor prior to the holiday and donate anything you do not love, need or use anymore."
Donating these decor pieces before Thanksgiving has passed will make your decorating process easier, as there will be less to go through while going room to room. Donating your old pieces to a thrift store or community center will also allow others the chance to re-use them.
If your Thanksgiving decor pieces aren't already together in a storage bin like the 103 qt. weather tight tote with wheels from The Container Store, we recommend placing them in there to find easily next year.
Janine Sarna-Jones, CEO and Founder of Organize Me Inc. recommends decluttering your home and decor before decorating your space. "After you have decluttered and done a deep clean, start adding seasonal touches," says Janine. "Small steps will make the process of decorating much less taxing."
4. Focus on Getting it Done, Not on Perfection
Amy Trager, certified professional organizer and owner of Amy Trager, LLC, shared this sentiment with me that I really love. It can be easy to become wrapped up in wanting your home to look absolutely perfect for guests coming over — it's what many hosts are doing now to prep for the holidays, after all. However, that's a lot of pressure to put on yourself alongside hosting and cooking a dinner.
"Getting your space ready for guests and cooking is more important than getting your home to look like a magazine cover," says Amy. As a rule, we recommend starting with decluttering your main Thanksgiving spaces: where you will cook, where you will have your dinner, and where your guest(s) will stay if they are staying over.
Begin by entering the room and tackling quick wins, akin to micro-decluttering: are there items that just need putting away? Are there dishes that only need washing? After these quick wins, you can think into cleaning, followed by finer details. "It's easy to get lost in the details of one task and forget about all the other things on your to-do list," says Amy. "Done is better than perfect is a great rule for Thanksgiving because it ensures you don't initially spend too much time on any one task."
If you struggle with timing, setting a timer on your phone or in your kitchen while you tackle each area of your home can serve as a helpful accountability partner. The yueton Kitchen Craft Mechanical Wind Up from Amazon is a fitting choice for hosts out there who would prefer a physical timer to help them keep track of the passign minutes.
5. Keep a List
A great Thanksgiving hosting tip and rule would be to keep a list. Lists can truly be a lifesaver, and using them to reduce clutter or keep track of the little things you're probably forgetting this Thanksgiving is no exception.
"Lists help you to stay focused on what you can control," says Kiera. "I recommend making grocery lists to help you do your shopping ahead of time. The list will ensure you buy everything you need and don't wind up with duplicates."
Duplicate items will only further clutter up your space and break the bank. If lists align particularly well with your operating style, you could try to make a list of essentials that your guest room needs and aim to declutter the rest before adding some seasonal decor. Or perhaps you could make a broader list of places you need to declutter in your home and tick them off one by one.
Any scrap of paper or a phone app could help you keep track of this list, but if you prefer old-fashioned list-style paper, the super basic Pen+Gear list pad from Walmart is ideal—it even comes in a pack of two.
6. Think about how you can double up
Do you have fall pieces that would still work well as Thanksgiving table decor? Or is there a recipe that can be easily tweaked to serve both vegetarians and non-vegetarians at your party? Doing more with less in these simple ways will add up, leading to less clutter accumulating overall in your home for Thanksgiving.
Kiera suggests the following when it comes to serving your guests and says this rule is very important for successful hositing. "If you have a guest with a dietary restriction, ask what you can substitute in what you are making to accommodate them as well. Most of the time, no one notices the difference in taste or just thinks you are trying a new recipe."
This will save you space and help declutter kitchen countertops in numerous ways. You will have fewer different groceries in your space for different guests, and you will have fewer dishes cluttering up your kitchen for cleaning as you won't have to cook lots of different meals.
7. Declutter your mind
Want to know how to declutter when you are overwhelmed? Well, you will likely have a lot on your mind while preparing for Thanksgiving, so professional organizers recommend doing your best to shift your focus onto the good of the holidays and away from pressure.
Following these rules will help declutter your external environment and in turn will assist with easing your mind. Removing sources of stress from your plate will help you avoid those Thanksgiving mistakes.
Don't be afraid to ask for help from friends, family, or a professional organizer if decluttering for Thanksgiving becomes overwhelming. But taking everything one step at a time is truly the most paced, strategic way to go.
"There's a lot going on," says Amy. "It's easy to get distracted creating the prefect tablescape, which ends up taking longer than you anticipated, which means you absolutely forgot to start defrosting the turkey on time, so now dinner will be a couple hours late."
Make a decluttering checklist, tackle areas one at a time and do your best not to focus on perfection, but instead on enjoying Thanksgiving with those around you.
FAQs
What is the 'golden rule' of decluttering?
According to Mary Jo Contello, professional organizer and owner of Organized by MJ, 'the golden rule of decluttering' is grounded in the questions a person asks themselves to determine whether it's time to let an item go.
"My golden rule for decluttering is to ask yourself do you love it? Do you use it? And when was the last time you used it?," says Mary. "From those responses you can determine if you can let something go. This is the first step in decluttering a space."
Mary continues, "I also believe it's important to have items where you use them. In the perfect world things are in the most logical space so when someone comes into your home they can find basic things like a glass, plate, silverware, etc."
Following these rules will leave a weight lifted from your shoulders as Thanksgiving approaches this year.
But if you're looking for a little extra help getting your home's prime guest areas in good form, I tried this 5-step organizing schedule to get an entryway winter-ready, and experts approved of it.
