With all the things you'll need to do for the holidays, organizing a home for all the festivities isn't everyone's favorite task - but it still needs to be done. To ensure that you don't miss something, this article can give you some steps to help you not forget some of the details.
The next Christmas is Thursday, December 25, 2025
. There are 217 days
left!
Steps
Part 1
Part 1 of 2:
Before Christmas
-
Make plans for all the seasonal activities you'll be participating in. Whether you'll be travelling or stuck in your house hosting your own party/get-together, there will be lots to do to get things organized and ready.
- Don't forget the boring but necessary stuff. You will need clothes to get dry cleaned, as well as bedding to retrieve from cupboards and closets for festive sleep overs. In addition, you will need to make sure that you have enough plates, chairs and glasses for serving meals to more people than usual, and all those sorts of things.
-
Plan what you'll need to cook and bake to ring in season's greetings. Whether it's your grandmother's favorite apple pie, your cousin's favorite fruitcake or a relative that loves Christmas-colored Jell-O, there's always something that can transform your home into the goodness that only the holiday brings in.Advertisement
-
Plan your money according to your individual budget. Make budgets for each family member (including yourself) on what you are willing to spend on Christmas presents. A budget can be a critical method of making sure you don't overspend and end up flat broke in your bank. Even those credit cards can acquire this bad taste if you don't budget your money wisely enough.
- Make a list of gifts for each family member you need to buy for. Make sure to place the approximate value, that the item is normally known to be sold for from most stores, on the one side of the list next to the item. This way, you will know how much the item is known to sell for, and how much you'll need to budget during the Christmas-buying extravaganza that occurs in most families who celebrate Christmas.
- If the item is at sold for 150 US dollars at one store, while other places is 300 and up, you either might want to look elsewhere or find something that's a little cheaper so you can't over-budget yourself and your money.
-
Allow the kids to help decorate the house. Even on the areas that are meant for shorter-sized people, kids can get in the smaller places where adults tend to slack off or tend to miss. A child's attention to detail will be inevitable and can surely help in most projects you'll complete. Delegate tasks that don't have any very-hurtful risks.
-
Plan out the party invitee list. Ask your spouse to help you, so that both sides of the family can join in. Utilize friends of both sides of the family.
-
Decorate the place with lights and decorations. Make sure that all Christmas light strands are in working order, and that there are no wires that have frayed or broken from storage over the past year.
- If they are frayed, don't use that strand. If they have broken, replace what is broken or make the proper adjustments to ensure safe use of the decorating piece. Fraying areas will trump brokenness if both are apparent.
-
Look for additional decorations that will need to be displayed. Whether it's your favorite porcelain Santa collection that's only brought out for the Christmas season, or it's the collectible Christmas village scene, display all the decorations that you own and that fit into your house's theme.
-
Bring out the wrapping paper and bows, along with some holiday cards from storage, as you set up some work areas. Don't start wrapping just yet, though. If you email Christmas cards, you can leave the paper Christmas cards off the list, and prepare to make the adjustments to switch to this form accordingly.
-
Create some crafts that go along with the season.
-
Write and address all Christmas cards that you are planning to send.
-
Recognize that most stores are closed on Christmas Day, so buying everything before then is crucial to the holiday. Christmas crackers, candles, batteries for toys, cranberry sauce and Brandy Butter are just a few examples of things you can forget easily. However, you have the potential to take the edge of the Perfect Christmas so try to get these kinds of things well in advance.Advertisement
Part 2
Part 2 of 2:
After Christmas
-
Prepare for the following year's Christmas season. Shop at shopping malls and bargain outlets, thrift stores and the like for the "after-Christmas sales" for cards, decorations, and gift paper.
-
Get yourself organized for the following year's events. Recognize what you'd like to do different. Is there someone who you'd like to leave off your list, or invite someone who you missed inviting? Is there another part of your house that you forgot to decorate or is there something that was over-decorated and shouldn't have been? The only person who can be trusted to know what things need to change the following year, is the decorators themselves - not the invitees!
-
Make your organizational list part of your Christmas routine for your house.Advertisement
Expert Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
Advertisement
Tips
- Try not to take on too many tasks on all at the same time. Taking them all on at the same time can make many parts of this task tedious, and you'll be much more likely to stop and leave the decorating until the last final seconds. Plan out your time better. Don't rush.Thanks
Advertisement
About this article
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 6,021 times.
Advertisement
