Have you taken down your holiday decorations yet?  Or do you prefer to wait until after the New Year?  We like to keep ours up until around the first or second week of January.  Whatever your tradition is, it’s always nice to have a proper organizational system for returning the decorations to their storage space. 

Returning items to their storage containers should be quick and easy if you have a good system.  It’s a great idea to have clearly labeled Christmas storage containers  for specific items, e.g. wreath box, miniature lights container, garland containers, tree ornament containers, etc. 

It is not recommended that you store holiday decorations, or any long term storage items, in cardboard boxes.  Cardboard attracts bugs and usually fall apart over time. As you are shopping for holiday organizers, consider color coding your storage.  Whether your Christmas decorations are stored inside a closet, in the basement or up in the attic, color coding makes sense. For the holidays, typical colors include red, green and gold, so it makes sense to have your holiday decorations inside holiday colored containers.

If you decide to organize your long term storage by color coding, don’t get lazy and start using holiday colored containers for non-holiday items, otherwise you’ll end up frustrated and confused when you open up a red and green container next year to find the extra bed linens you had been searching for a few months before!   Happy New Year!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops and group presentations. Jacquie is also the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Do the boxes and containers storing your holiday decorations blend in with everything else in your attic or basement, resulting in confusion as you sort through various unrelated items when it’s time to trim the tree? This year, instead of storing your lights, ornaments, knick-knacks and garland in cardboard boxes, invest in containers especially designed for holiday décor.

What’s great about these specialty containers is that they are usually trimmed with red, green or gold and are specially shaped or sized for most holiday décor. Some even include organized dividers for smaller ornaments and breakables. You can find organizers for almost any holiday décor, including tree ornaments, gift wrap and wreaths.  Here are a few to consider:

Find these and more at http://www.homestoragewarehouse.com/holiday-organizers-c-221_307.html

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers Time Management workshops to businesses to maximize productivity.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com.