gifts you receiveThis is truly the season of giving! The religions and cultures that celebrate the season include Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, and all these celebrations include giving and receiving gifts. The gifts you receive come from those that want to show their love and appreciation.

I’ve written posts in the past about giving gifts of time, service and memories that will avoid accumulating clutter. This post is about how to find homes for the gifts you receive that will also avoid accumulating clutter.

This concept goes back to the basic organizing principles, in this scenario, finding and assigning homes for your things. The gifts you receive may be tangible or intangible and they all fall into categories that make sense to you.  The categories you choose may be different from what I would choose, and again they need to make sense to you.

Sometimes figuring out categories may be a little challenging. To help get you into the proper mindset, I’ve listed some broad categories below. The list is not all-inclusive, but hopefully it gives you an idea of what I mean by separating gifts you receive into categories. Take a look to see if any of them resonate with you.

  • Clothes
  • Toys-if not for you, maybe for the littles (new term meaning kids, that I’m trying to get used to)
  • Music
  • Books
  • Gift cards
  • Personal care items-soaps, lotions, cologne, etc.
  • Practical items-small kitchen appliances, tools, etc.
  • Food

Now that you have an idea of some broad categories, the next step is to assign homes. Think about the categories you will select for the gifts you receive. Where do these categories live within your home?

Most people store the majority of their food and small kitchen appliances in their kitchen.  Clothes live in closets and drawers. Toys typically live in the littles bedrooms or playrooms. Personal care items mainly live in bathrooms.  The objective is to store your things where you use them for quick and easy access.

You now have a strategy to find and assign gifts you receive during this wonderful holiday season of giving.  And the best part is that you will avoid the clutter build up and stay organized!