All tagged storage solutions

Efficient Tips to Store Your Holiday Decorations

I love the holidays. My mom loved the holidays. And so did her mom. And as such, when my Grandma passed away many years ago, all her decorations went to my mom. And when my mom passed away over a decade ago, both hers and grandma’s decorations came to me. And of course I have my own. So now, one entire section of my garage neatly houses half a dozen bins containing three generations of holiday decorations.

The only problem is that while I live in a lovely home, the amount of decorating space I have is about the size of a studio apartment. I would need about four living-rooms to have enough surface area to display all of the animated holiday characters, ceramic statues and figurines, along with the tree and all its special ornaments. Oh yes, and did I mention we have a train set?

Even with this challenge I still love Christmas and I insist on decorating as much as I can. This has forced me to get a little creative in how I store my holiday decorations, to make it as easy as possible to access everything each year. Or, a subset of decorations some years. It seems every year that the time to put away my holiday decorations comes as fast as it did to put them out.

Every Item Should Have A Home -- Strategies for Keeping Tidy

There is one key component to efficient organization that no one ever really talks about. Mainly because it is often inconvenient, not fun, and often something we don't feel we are responsible for. What is it? Put simply: putting things away.

For many a household, including my own, after an exceptionally busy week, by the time Friday arrives it looks like a tornado has blown through the entire house. I can retrace my steps of projects worked on, meals prepared, mail received, clothes worn, etc. In addition to the steps of my husband, and well, lets not leave the family pets out of the mix. Everyone contributes to the family whirlwind.

Good news is, like at my house, there are strategies that can help make it easier to clean up and put things away. Dare I say, even making the process fun?! The two key components are assigning “homes” for your belongings and corralling them within domestic “zones.”