The Smart Way to Reduce Gift Clutter This Holiday Season

So many of the things that linger in our homes that aren’t needed or wanted are kept for the wrong reasons.

As a professional organizer, I can tell you one category of items that always sticks around my clients’ homes for way, way longer than wanted or needed: it’s those well-meaning, thought-that-counts, beautiful-but-not-my-style gifts from our loved ones.

According to a study done by RetailEquation.com, $68.8 billion dollars of holiday merchandise was returned in 2014, with 34.8 percent of gift recipients returning at least one gift post-holiday season.

However, many unwanted gifts don’t get returned. They sit in our homes, in the back of our closets, gathering dust and inciting guilt each time we glance their way.

SpareFoot.com’s 2016 Holiday Survey gives us some real data on this. On average, more than 1 in 4 gifts go unused, and nearly 1 in 5 Americans never use half their gifts

This is tough for so many reasons.

It’s tough because the space in our homes is valuable, and the more “stuff” we have to put away and organize, the less time we have for the things that are important to us.

It’s tough because we know that the gift-giver put time and money into selecting the item.

But mostly, it’s tough because there are feelings involved. There are feelings of guilt from the recipient; feelings of fear that they will find out if you have gotten rid of something.

However, I’m not going to tell you how to get rid of gifts. Not today.

Today we are going to focus on the ounce of prevention that can lead to the cure (or at least eliminate some of the symptoms) of post-holiday gift clutter. And you’re in luck - it’s just one simple, somewhat easy-to-follow step.

Here it is.

Are you ready?

Ask for what you want.

Yes, that’s it! Ask for what you want.

Of course, there are different ways to do this. Here are a few of my favorites.

Gather ideas

As adults, we’re so used to holding back that it can be hard for us to even think of what we want. If you’re out and about and come across something you want, snap a picture of it to jog your memory later. This can serve as a helpful tool for the next step, which is...

Make an Amazon Wish List

How lucky we are to live in a time of such great technology. Amazon allows you to add whatever you want to a wish list, and makes your list easily searchable by family members.

(Bonus: if you want to give a gift to someone and don’t know what to give, search for their Amazon list. What a surprise it will be for them to get something that they truly want!)

Make a point to tell your loved ones.

“I am absolutely in love with those polka dot travel mugs that Starbucks has this time of year! I’d love to get one as a Christmas gift!”

Somewhere along the line, it was determined that it was bad ettiquette to ask for what we wanted. However, avoiding asking for what we want is what has gotten into this mess in the first place, so I declare that we save ourselves and advocate for our needs.

Have items in mind at different price points

There are lots of lower priced items that are still luxurious enough to make great and simple gifts. I always make sure that there’s something on my list that’s under $10, like Mrs. Meyer’s gardenia scented hand soap or a simple bottle of organic body wash. Think of the little things that bring you joy as well as the big things.

The culture of clutter has taken over in recents years. As we’ve gotten busier it’s seems that we’ve started to substitute stuff for meaningful interactions and relationships. Our rushed culture has reduced gifts from something that used to be painstakingly thought out and treasured to something that is given due to a sense of obligation.

Gift giving is something that, in the right situation, can be an absolutely beautiful thing. We have all had moments where we get something that we love more than anything, and we will remember those moments forever. Asking for what we want can help us have more of those moments in the years to come.