Tackle christmas teardown like a pro with these 4 tips!

The holidays come but once a year and if you’re like our family, you roll them out earlier with each passing November, and leave them around ever later each January. When my Mom passed, we added her enormous collection of ornaments and baubles, napkins and dishes, to our own stash of Christmas decor. I’ve been working for years to figure out the best way to store all of these beloved (and often breakable) seasonal items. 

Home organizing isn’t just about willowing down your belongings - it can also be about creating space for more of the things you love the most. So yes, before you pack up that fraying “Sleigh all day” sweater, consider whether it still serves you. But don’t lighten your holiday load just for the sake of saving space. Read on for holiday storage hacks that will help you stuff even more joy (and stuff!) into your holiday traditions.

• Find the right ornament storage system.
  Eliminate those countless boxes full of tissue and newspaper and find an ornament storage system that works for your collection. You don’t have to break the bank on this (though you can if you want to!) Count your ornaments and breakable trinkets and select an ornament storage system with a few more spaces than that (let’s be honest, we’ll be buying more). Put fragile items in bubblewrap sleeves to keep them nice and safe.
  

• Choose holiday throw pillow covers to save space.
  Is your storage full of bulky holiday throw pillows? Use Christmas throw pillow covers instead, to put on your existing throw pillows. Alternatively, keep regular covers to put on your existing Christmas throw pillows. If you’re feeling crafty, you can even sew your own covers to ensure they fit your pillows perfectly.
  

• Roll lights onto a wheel.
  The best way to keep lights from tangling and bulbs from getting loose is to use a reel light storage system. I keep 2-3 strings of tree lights plugged into each other and load them all onto the reel and then right back off the reel and onto the tree the following year. [how many fit into a 27 gallon storage box?]

• Color-code holiday storage. 
  Since you’ll be opening all of your holiday storage at the same time, you can skip out on labels by using a different-colored storage box than the rest. All of our family’s holiday storage rests in red-lidded black boxes that hide the chaos until the day after Thanksgiving, or until the darkness of November gets to me (whichever happens first).
  

Now, go reward yourself with something that reminds you spring is coming! (Your favorite summer cocktail? A bright pink pedicure? A new flowery throw pillow? You do you.)

Need more active help with your holiday storage reboot? Mention this post when you contact me and get 25% off your holiday storage project through the rest of January!