Quick Steps to Organizing Holiday Decor

How nice would it be to pull out your holiday decorations in 2016 and have them ALL be organized??

Well, they CAN be!

By taking a few extra steps this year you will be organized for next year’s (stress-free) decorating!!

Here is my quick advice on how to purge, store and organize your holiday decor for next year and the years to come:

PURGE

PURGE, PURGE, PURGE anything you didn’t use this year.

If you never used it this year it’s likely you wont use it next year or the year after, etc., etc.

• If you have more than one set of stockings for your family, keep your favorite set and donate the rest to some elves in need.
• Strands and strands of lights that have missing bulbs and are a tangled mess, send them off with the other misfit toys.

If you purge now, you:

a. already know what you have for next year, and

b. will have less holiday decor to store and take up space

STORAGE CONTAINERS

Speaking of storage…

Have you been storing your holiday decorations in an old cardboard box from that 1980’s TV you got for Christmas over 2 decades ago??

It is time to move on and graduate to plastic (yes I said plastic) storage containers from here on out. Get rid of all the falling apart cardboard boxes you have been using for storage. Cardboard is like that. Plastic is always best when storing items long term. It protects your items by keeping bugs, dust, weather, you name it, out!

You may think, “I don’t want to spend more money this time of year to buy new storage containers,” but it is worth the investment. Especially if they keep your holiday decorations in good condition.

There are a lot of holiday storage containers out there in stores. Buy what fits your item, your budget, and don’t forget to have them all match!

ORGANIZING

There are 2 ways I like to organize holiday decor:

1. First is by room or location
   • Each storage container should hold items for a particular space or room
   • Examples of categories would be:
     • exterior lights
     • tree lights in living room
     • living room garland
     • dining room decorations
     • mantle stocking and decorations
     • front porch decor
2. Second is by type of decor
   • Type of decor is best when you have a small amount of decorations or a small space
   • Examples of categories would be:
     • ornaments
     • lighting
     • greenery/garland
     • stockings, tree skirt
     • small decor items such as reindeer, snowflakes, candles
     • table linens

So ask yourself what way of organizing will work best for you and get to it!

LABELING

Label all of your storage containers so that you know exactly what is in each one.

If you organized them by room then label which room and the items within the container, for example: Living Room – Stockings and Stocking Holders

If you organized them by item then label them so you remember what you have: Table Linens – Dining Room & Kitchen

I hope these quick tips will help you to purge this year to get you organized and ready for next year’s Holiday season.  You know as well as I that the holidays will be back again in a blink of an eye!!

Happy Holidays!

*And don’t forget to leave a comment below about your holiday storage success stories!