Stress-Free Storage for the Holidays

The holidays are such a special time of year we all look forward to. However, the most wonderful time of year can also be the most stressful time of year. Organization is key to making sure you are prepared and stress free to enjoy the holidays. 

Decorating can be so much fun, but when you can’t find that special piece, or you don’t even know where to start, those feelings become a lot less about making special memories, and more about frustration that you don’t have a better system in place. Let’s help you get organized so you can get on with enjoying this special time of year!

Here are 3 tips for organizing all your holiday décor. 

1. Make a plan 

Take a little bit of time and think through what’s going to work best for you and the space you have. Think about where your stuff will be stored, what you will store it in, and how you will label each item. We suggest paring down both before and after the holidays so you really are only keeping the things you love.  

It can be a struggle to pare down when you have loving memories attached to things. Make a list of the items that you may want to pass on to a dear friend, somebody special in your family, or an organization that could use some decorations to bring smiles to people’s faces. Whittling down your holiday decor doesn’t have to be a trash or donate situation. You can plan meaningful giveaways that don’t make you feel like you’re losing memories.

As you’re thinking through what kind of containers to store everything in, think about if you have more larger or smaller items.  There is no need to get huge tubs if you mostly have small things that could fit in storage bins on a shelf. Also, think about what containers you already have that you could repurpose and use to store your holiday decorations.  

1. Take Inventory 

Before you put any decorations up pull all of your holiday stuff out and look through all of it. Then, make piles for each holiday, and you can even make groups based on where things will be going in your home. 

As you put everything into containers make sure you are not mixing different holidays into one container. The idea here is that you want to be able to walk into your garage, attic, or storage closet and easily pull out exactly what you are looking for when that time of year rolls around. 

When you’re putting things back in storage after the holidays, this is important to pay attention to. Like we mentioned before, this is a time to pare down so that you start out organized next year. You probably accumulated some new decor this year. It’s time to go back and  revisit the inventory stage

1. Label, label, LABEL!!! 

Labeling is key to organizing and keeping everything organized. Having clear, easy to read labels on each container will take away a lot of stress when it’s time to pull out and put away all of your decorations.  

There are many different ways to label your containers. You could just simply get a sharpie and write the name of the holidays on the outside of the container. If you choose this option, we suggest putting in an inventory list on the inside of the container. This way as soon as you open it up you can quickly see if the item you are looking for is in that particular box. 

For our crafty folks out there, another way to label would be to use a vinyl cutting machine to create stickers for each container. You could put the holiday in larger letters for the top then on the side of the container add a list in a smaller font size.   

We hope these tips help you have a stress free holiday season. Home never feels more important than this time of year.  Contact a lender at EPM and let us help relieve the stress of buying your perfect home for the holidays.