So much stuff - where will it all go?!

[NobodyatHome]

I am drowning under decorations, presents, wrapping paper, boxes, deliveries and too much stuff!

I’ve only got two teenagers at home but I do them a Christmas Eve box, stocking, Christmas presents obviously then it’s one of their birthdays on Boxing Day! I’ve also got presents for extended family which I’m wrapping.

Where does it all go for the next couple of weeks and what do we do after Christmas with all the other presents that come into the house?! I’ve got a tiny house and feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff. If you’ve got a garage or a spare room maybe it’s easier as you can store the stuff out of sight but most of it is in my bedroom at the moment!

How are you managing to keep a organised and tidy house at this time of year?

Get your teens to have a clear out of stuff they no longer use/wear or is broken etc before Christmas. It helps to have a bit more space to put stuff away after Christmas and charity shops can benefit

I’m thinking of big families with loads of kids or people who have extended families to stay. How do they manage?!

And I haven’t bought any of the food and drink yet!

I feel the same, it's all piled up in the dining room which is an absolute mess! We do have a shed but it's a bit damp and also full of stuff so don't want to put the presents in there.

I put all presents under my tree once they are wrapped while they wait to be given out. DC presents and stocking gifts are hiding in my bedroom under the bed, as I give out presents the pike under the tree gets smaller and I put any we are given straight under there too.
After Christmas all decorations go back in the loft and we put away the gifts we were given (usually clothes, smellies, chocolate etc)

This year I've used empty suitcases to pack presents away as they're already sat in cupboards taking up space. Hides them well too! That was a tip I found on Mumsnet recently as I had presents stashed all over the place and it was getting out of hand.

In the past I've also cleared the top shelf in the airing cupboard and used that as it's quite a big space. Other places have included the boot of the car and under my desk at the office.

Big tidy up/clear out before Christmas is also a good idea to make space.

I've wrapped and put some in an ikea bag at the bottom of the wardrobe and some in a bin bag under my bed
No idea where to put the food yet as I have the tiniest fridge in a tiny flat

Yes we do need to declutter to create some space. I thought of going to the tip before Christmas to get rid of some of the packaging.

Do this but especially if older teens with decent stuff encourage them to help you sell on Vinted etc! If they help they get a share if not you keep it to put towards Xmas. If they’ve got sense they will take over and start doing themselves.

I have a space at the top of all the kitchen units. I keep the packages they came in, so Amazon boxes and the like. I tell dd I took them in for the neighbor. Too high up for her to see labels. So hidden in plain sight.

Often the box is bigger than the object inside so I add other things in the box and wrap in Christmas paper then back in the Amazon box.

When I decorate for Christmas I pack away some of the year round decor in the boxes that store the Christmas stuff and put them back in the attic. I remember another MN user who stored all her baubles in a collapsible ottoman which was flattened and put away to make space for the Christmas tree.

I learned the hard way never to decorate all the flat surfaces because you still need places to set thing down.

I have a couple of hiding spots for presents from Santa, but others get wrapped, tagged and left under the Christmas tree. I wrap as I go because I find it too exhausting to do a huge wrapping marathon and also it’s much easier to rip up Amazon boxes for the recycling bin, one at a time, than to try and deal with a pile of them.

I know MN doesn’t approve of coordinated wrapping paper but it’s much nicer to make the pile of gifts part of the Christmas decor for as long as you have to look at it. They don’t feel like extra visual clutter, and as long as they’re under the tree they’re not taking up extra footprint.

Pantry and freezer get run down and filled up with Christmas food. This means that I spread the cost by only buying to fill the space available, and it helps reduce the food bill a little bit.

I can tolerate the clutter for a couple of days after Christmas but then everyone is told to find homes for their new stuff. I have a permanent spot for a donation bag under the stairs that gets taken to the charity shop when full. The guideline is one in - one out. With younger dc it’s worth doing a good clear out before the new stuff arrives.

I’ve got presents in an ottoman on the landing, on top of my wardrobe and on top of dps wardrobe that need wrapping and then in the spare room/dps game room there’s a couple of bags of wrapped presents. I’ll wrap dps and ds’s presents soon (I’m waiting for the sticker labels I’ve ordered to come and I want to get all of the ones for people we don’t live with done first so they’re ready to go) and then they will probably just go back into bags and on top of the wardrobes until I bring them down on Christmas Eve.
As for where the presents we get are going to go, I have no idea 🙈😂