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7 Easy Steps
to
Organize Holiday Storage
Wouldn't it be nice if you could find your decorations, costumes, cards and
wrapping paper in just seconds and put them away just as quickly after the
holiday? You can with a plan! Use these steps below for organizing holiday
storage and you'll spend less time on this mundane task and more time
celebrating. And don't wait until the holidays, or worse, after the holidays, to
read these tips. That's too late. Plan ahead. Start now. Start here...
STEP #1: COLOR CODE
STORAGE BOXES. You can buy
holiday storage bins, or even ordinary
plastic storage boxes, in different colors. Or buy containers with different
color lids. Or spray paint the exterior of your existing lids appropriate
colors. Use all purple for Halloween ornaments and all green and red for
Christmas items. That way you'll know at a glance which storage bins to pull for
each holiday.
STEP #2: TAKE
INVENTORY. List each item in an individual holiday storage container
on a sheet of paper. Then put that paper in a translucent sheet protector. Tape
the sheet protector to the outside of the bin. You won't have to open each box
now to know what's inside.
STEP #3: MAKE A
BLUEPRINT. Have you ever struggled to repack decorations into boxes
only to find what came out doesn't seem to fit on the return trip? Solve this by
mapping the "location" of the items in the boxes in blueprint drawing fashion.
Of course you'll have to get everything to fit just so in the boxes the first
year. But next year you'll easily be able to duplicate the repacking process by
following your packing blueprint.
STEP #4: USE A
CODING SYSTEM on holiday storage boxes that tells you in what order
to open them. Put the number one on the box that contains the items you'll work
with first. Or write "open first" on certain boxes. For example, at Christmas
you may typically start with your tree stand, tree lights and/or outdoor lights.
Other things you might use first are holiday cooking related items (e.g. Santa
or pumpkin cookie cutters), gift wrap and gift tags. Keep other boxes closed
until you're ready for those items.
STEP #5: CLUSTER.
Two columns of stackable bins that are all orange (for Halloween) in the back
corner of your garage are easy to spot. Always group storage boxes together by
holiday, even if you can't fit all of the holidays in the same section of the
garage, attic or closet.
STEP #6: KEEP A
HOLIDAY PLANNER. Keep one three-ring notebook with the inventory
sheets mentioned earlier. (This can be in addition to taping the inventory
sheets to the individual storage boxes.) You can put all holiday inventory
sheets in one notebook and separate the different holiday information with
notebook dividers and tabs (sold at office supply stores) labeled Halloween,
Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
Keep the notebook on your bookshelf year-round. You also can add divided
sections to this notebook for holiday recipes, holiday collection lists (so you
don't buy duplicate collectibles in a series), holiday gift ideas and holiday
card mailing lists.
It's best to do all of these "printables" on your computer and print them versus
hand-writing them; that makes for easier updating. You can either put the paper
in three-hole punched top-loading translucent sheet protectors or leave a wide left margin
and three hole punch the paper yourself.
STEP #7: START NOW.
Work on your storage plan through every upcoming holiday so that when year two
arrives, your plan is in place and complete. It's an investment of time and
patience that will benefit you next year and every year thereafter.
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