• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • ABOUT
    • About Me
    • Policies
      • PRIVACY POLICY
      • DISCLAIMER & TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT
      • DISCLOSURE POLICY
      • COPYRIGHT POLICY
  • CONTACT
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ORGANIZATION
    • Organizing Projects
    • Organizing Process
    • Organizing Products & Tools
    • Habits & Routines
    • Productivity
    • Paper
    • Photos
    • Information
    • Kids and Families
    • Holidays
    • Preparedness
  • HOME DECOR
    • Decorating Project Gallery
    • Home Staging
    • Tips & Tricks
    • Home Improvement
    • Tools & Inspiration
    • Shopping Guides
  • DECLUTTERING
    • Decluttering Tips
    • Turn Clutter into Cash
  • CHALLENGES
    • The 40 Bags In 40 Days Declutter Challenge
    • The Organize and Refine Your Home Challenge
    • The 10-Week Digital Photo Organizing Challenge
    • The One Pile at a Time Paper Declutter Challenge
    • The Organize Your Holiday Challenge
  • SHOP
  • PRINTABLES VAULT
    • Become a VIP
    • PRINTABLE VAULT ACCESS
Refined Rooms logo.

Refined Rooms

Organize | Design | Inspire

Home | Organize | Organizing Project Gallery | 5 Holiday Break Organizing Projects to Reign in the Chaos

5 Holiday Break Organizing Projects to Reign in the Chaos

Holidays, Kitchen, Organize, Organizing Process, Organizing Products & Tools, Organizing Project Gallery, Preparedness

5 mini-organizing projects to complete over the holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

Tackle these 5 bite-size holiday break organizing projects to keep you sane during the chaos of the holiday break!

I love this 2-week holiday break with my kiddos home from school, and my husband off of work. BUT…this is about the time that I get a little bit antsy about the chaotic state of the house and the willy-nilly-ness (is that a word?) of our daily schedule.

As a creature who thrives on structure and order, I’ve had to develop some coping mechanisms over the years to successfully navigate extended vacations and breaks. Tackling bite-size organizing projects around the house is one of the things that keeps me grounded during the break.

Of course, there are the larger projects around the house that need to get done, but those require a large chunk of time, which can be hard to come by when everyone’s at home.

So what mini-organizing projects do I recommend completing during the break? Let’s take a look.

woman holding Christmas stockings with text overlay "5 organizing projects to tackle over the holiday break"

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

 

HOLIDAY BREAK ORGANIZING PROJECTS

PROJECT #1: ORGANIZE THE CAR

Typically, I put together a winter emergency kit for my car in early November. I’m really behind this year, but for a GREAT reason. My good friend El Nino came for a visit and stuck around the northeast Ohio area for about 2 months, bringing with him abnormally AWESOME warm weather. Only now in late December do I really see true winter weather on the horizon.

If you live in an area that experiences severe winter weather, you know how important it is to prepare for the worst. My emergency car kits includes:

  • Water and food
  • Flashlight
  • Blanket/hat/gloves
  • Windshield washer fluid
  • Jumper cables (these are always in the car, but I transfer them from under the wheel well to the car kit in the winter)
  • Traction Tire Mats

organizing your car during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

 

I also took a moment to restock my Thirty-One Hang-Up Organizer that hangs on the front side of my mini-van passenger seat. In the summer, I use it to store sunscreen and bug spray, which I swap out for hand lotion, tissues, anti-bacterial wipes and lip balm during the winter months.

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

I also use it to hold doggie necessities (waste bags, portable water bowl), Post-It Notes and pens, my coupon book, and a few snacks for when the kiddos announce that they’re starving.

Click here for more winter car organization ideas.

PROJECT #2: ORGANIZE YOUR PURSE

During the holiday season, monthly maintenance tasks such as organizing my purse seem to fall by the wayside. Then one day I took a close look inside and see this:

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

 

Then I began to dig out the contents, only to discover this:

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

Really?

It’s time to sort, purge, and put Humpty Dumpty back together again:

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

I have a few extra items that always seem to sneak into my purse, namely pens/Sharpies and mini-notepads. Once I purged the extras, trashed the trash and receipts, I used my Pouchee purse organizer to organize what remained:

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

Aaaaahhhh, much better!

organizing your purse during the holiday break @ Refinedroomsllc.com

 

PROJECT #3: ORGANIZE KITCHEN UTENSIL DRAWERS

This drawer is another one of those areas that requires fairly regular maintenance in our house and has been neglected…plain and simple.  It’s been really getting on my nerves this past month, with baking and cooking kicking into high gear during the holidays. This week really is the perfect time to give the kitchen utensil drawer a once over.

Organize your kitchen utensil drawer over the holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.comDuring the process of re-organizing this drawer, I decided that the original drawer organizer I’ve been using for the last decade just wasn’t cutting it. I was able to dig into my leftover supply of organizing products and dig up a few Ikea Stodja Utensil Trays to set up the perfect divider configuration for the space.

Then it was just a matter of sorting like with like and determining that I can live without the Easter bunny spreader and the 5 extra spatulas. There was also the matter of relocating the 10 pumpkin carving tools to the Halloween storage bins, since they are only used during that season.

Organize your kitchen utensil drawer over the holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

PROJECT #4: ORGANIZE GADGET CORDS & ACCESSORIES

Gadget cords and accessories have been multiplying like rabbits in our house over the past year or two and have slowly become the #1 organizing challenge in my house. I suspect that this is a huge thorn in your side as well if you live in a household with multiple device users (and kids who play with toys that use chargers), so I’ll address gadget cord and accessory organization in a separate post.

Organizing Gadget cords and accessories @Refinedroomsllc.com

PROJECT #5: ORGANIZE UTILITY (“JUNK”) DRAWERS

Ah, the junk drawer. I used to have one, but over the past year, it’s overflowed into two adjacent drawers, so now I’ve got three. You’ll witness the transformation of the overflow drawers during the gadget cord  organization process, but here’s the “Before” shot of the main utility drawer:

Organize your junk drawer over holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

Not horrible, but just disorganized enough to be annoying.

It literally took all of 20 minutes to clear the drawer out, clean it, sort items, and place everything that should stay back in.

Organize your junk drawer over holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

Our junk drawer consists primarily of a few basic office supplies (including a large stash of pens, pencils and Sharpie pens), a few toiletry/grooming items, and a few random items (decks of cards and tape measure).

What a difference 20 minutes makes! Once again, it’s Ikea to the rescue…I use a Stodja Flatware tray (which costs less than $2) to divide the drawer, along with a few long, shallow gift box lids to fill in the spare space.

Organize your junk drawer over holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

Because I felt inspired, I went the extra mile and added labels to help keep the writing utensils separated. The kids spend a lot of time rummaging around in the drawer for a pencil to use when it’s time to complete their math homework. Hopefully this will save a bit of aggravation (there’s enough aggravation that comes with 6th grade math homework, right?)

Organize your junk drawer over holiday break @ refinedroomsllc.com

Now it’s your turn…what’s on your holiday organizing break organizing project list?

It should be something you can complete within a few hours’ time.. Be sure to let me know what your project(s) will be in the comments section, then return back here to get some props once you’ve gotten it done!

holiday wreath.
Reduce Holiday Stress by Doing These 8 Things EARLY
wrapped gift - text "how to have a stress-free holiday season".
How to Have a Stress-Free Holiday Season
holiday stationary and colorful pens.
Plan Your Holiday Like a Pro
pink and blue stockings with christmas ornaments.
How to Simplify Your Holidays
decorated Christmas Tree.
Organize Your Holiday Decor
holiday decor storage bin with label.
Creating a Digital Holiday Decor Inventory
colorful wrapped gifts and ribbon.
Organize Your Holiday Shopping
collection of colorful gift wrap rolls.
Gift Wrap Storage Solutions
Christmas cards displayed on chickenwire frame.
How to Organize Holiday Cards

 

 

2 Comments

Previous Post: « The Ultimate Clutter-Free Gift Guide {+Free Printable}
Next Post: LIFE UPDATE: WE’RE MOVING! »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comments

  1. Megan says

    December 28, 2015 at 11:47 am

    That’s a great list! My personal list includes the linen closet (it’s to the point where I’m scared to open it!) and better packing of the Christmas decorations. Thanks for the new ideas on starting the new year organized!
    http://www.excelathome.net

    Reply
    • Natalie Gallagher says

      December 28, 2015 at 3:21 pm

      Aaaahh…the linen closet! That one almost made my list too, but I think it’s going to have to wait until January!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Headshot and About description Natalie Gallagher and Refined Rooms.

BECOME A VIP

GET ACCESS TO MY ORGANIZING PRINTABLES VAULT

PRIVACY POLICY
By opting in, you agree to receive my newsletter and ongoing resources. Unsubscribe at any time.

SEARCH BY CATEGORY

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Footer

DISCLOSURE

This site contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you a penny more). Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

COPYRIGHT

I love it when you share my tips, ideas and inspiration! Please keep in mind that all images and text on this site are the property of Refined Rooms, unless otherwise stated (regardless of whether photos are watermarked or not). Feel free to use one image, provided that a link back to my original post is included. Please do not remove any watermarks, crop, or edit any of my images without first obtaining written permission from me. All free printables are for personal use only. Pinning is always welcome and appreciated! Thank you!

Privacy Policy