Organize Your Holiday Decorations Like A Pro

It’s that time of year again! The holidays are about to come barreling in. You’ve probably started to see the holiday inventory coming out at your favorite stores, and maybe you’ve already started decorating your home for Halloween. 

This is such a fun time of year. But, it also has a lot of potential for organizational catastrophe! Don’t allow your home to become overrun with holiday clutter. Instead, follow my 5 tips to organize your holiday decorations like a professional organizer would! 

5 Tips To Organize Your Holiday Decorations Like A Pro

1. Edit As You Go

As you pull down the decorations for each holiday this season, I challenge you to edit as you go. If there’s a particular item that you didn’t use last year and you don’t plan to use this year, chances are you will never use it again. Donate that item if it’s still in good condition, or throw it away if it’s not. You’ll be glad to have more storage space for the pieces you still love and use year after year! 

2. Use the 1-for-1 System 

If you tend to buy every pretty ornament or “Give Thanks” throw pillow you see, this tip is for you. No judgment! Trust me, I love holiday decorations as much as the next person. 

However, when you’re shopping all the new holiday decor this year, use the 1-for-1 system to make sure you have space for everything. The 1-for-1 system is simple: For every 1 new item you purchase, you commit to donating or throwing away 1 item in your collection. 

If you just can’t pass up the adorable set of reindeer candlesticks, that’s ok. Just allow yourself to let go of whatever centerpiece you used to use on your holiday table. You probably don’t need both! 

3. Find Multi-Purpose Decor

One of the best ways to save space and make organizing your holiday decorations more simple is to focus on finding decor that will transition seamlessly from holiday to holiday. For example, instead of spooky jack o'lanterns that only make sense for Halloween, you might decorate with pretty pumpkins that can stay out through Thanksgiving. In the table shown above, pine cones work as accents on a Thanksgiving and Christmas table. 

A few pretty, multi-purpose pieces will save you space and time. 

4. Store By Use, Not Type 

After the holidays, there is always that feeling of “womp, womp, womp.” It’s sad to see the celebrations come to an end - made even sadder by the prospect of taking down all of the holiday decorations that lit up your home for the past couple of months! 

One thing that will make the post-holiday clean up faster and more organized is to store your holiday decorations by use, instead of by type. 

Next year, you don’t want to open up a box that says “Christmas Lights,” only to have to sort through the lights for the tree, the lights for the house, and the battery-operated lights for your entryway. 

It would be so much easier to have a box labeled “Tree” that has your lights and ornaments, a lights labeled “Outdoor Lights,” and a box labeled “Entryway Table” that has all of your decor for that one area. 

You will love being able to take down (and put up!) your holiday decorations room by room, or surface by surface. It’s less daunting and more organized! 

5. Label Everything 

If you couldn’t tell from the last tip, labeling is the key to organizing like a pro. Label everything. Tape and a Sharpie works just as well as a fancy label maker. The only thing that matters is that you know where to look for what you need. Think big! Don’t just label your boxes. 

I recommend labeling individual strings of lights by where they go. Add a label to indicate what kind of batteries your decorations need. Label your extension cords so that you know what system worked for you last year. 

Future you will thank you when all of your holiday decorations are organized like a pro!

Need help organizing like a pro? Contact Transformare Organizing Services today.