We’re knee-deep in the holiday season, and amongst the stress that comes with this time of year, organization often takes a back seat until January. Just think of holiday decorating, for example. People will spend the time and money to organize the main living spaces in their home, but often the seasonal items that are in storage most of the year get overlooked.

Of course, the most-used items and spaces should always take priority. However, if you thoroughly organize your seasonal items once, it will save you an immense amount of time (and stress) in subsequent years during a season when you are already stressed enough.

We offer seasonal decorating and take-down services. As part of that process, we organize holiday décor in such a way that it’s easy to put everything away at the end of the season, and just as easy to decorate again the following year.

Here are some methods we use when organizing seasonal décor:

1. Divide and store items in bins by room (ex. dining room Christmas décor, living room mantel décor, etc.).

2. Label all bins clearly with exactly what goes in each bin. It makes the take-down process efficient each subsequent year, instead of just the initial year the items are organized.

3. If available, include photos of what the décor set up should look like. It’s the extra icing on the cake!

If you’ve seen photos of storage rooms we’ve organized in the past, then you may have noticed that we steer away from using cardboard. Cardboard attracts spiders, and with the number of recluses here in Tennessee especially, that’s something we want to avoid. Clear plastic bins win our hearts. In addition to being spider-safe and easy to label, clear plastic allows you to see the contents of the bins, which is always helpful when looking for something in storage. Also, proper storage is essential for lasting care of your favorite seasonal items.

Below are some photos of ornament and wreath storage solutions we recommend, available from The Container Store (all images and products shown are from thecontainerstore.com), but several stores and sites sell similar products. If you prefer bins that aren’t clear, there are several fabric options available as well, just make sure you use dividers (rather than newspaper, paper towels, or ten-year-old tissue paper) to keep your ornaments safe. Pro tip: buy these products NOW, in early December, rather than the end of the season. Christmas storage disappears from stores surprisingly fast once Christmas day arrives.

Happy organizing!

-Heidi