I adore Christmas, and really enjoy decorating the house, usually with multiple trees. I do not however, enjoy taking everything down, so I need to make it as easy as possible, which means organizing what I have to make it easy to find, use, then store until the next season. I have a room down on the terrace level dubbed the Christmas Room, which stores all the decor for Christmas as well as Easter, Thanksgiving and Halloween. It had gotten a bit chaotic over several years. If I just wanted to put up one or two trees, I had difficulty remembering where specific ornaments and decor were without opening boxes, including those that were labeled in less than specific terms. From all my purging over the last year or so for an eventual downsizing, I accumulated a lot of extra storage containers after donating or selling their contents. So here is how I put some order in the Christmas Room and to all the decorations.
We start with a last look at the tree until the next holiday. Taking it down is not nearly as rewarding as putting it up.
This was the blue and gold tree in the kitchen dining area.
I began by placing all the ornaments from each tree onto my dining room table where I could really see what I had.
I sorted by color and theme. I have ornaments for a gold tree, a blue and gold, old fashioned tree (basically red/plaid/green) and for a dog/wildlife themed tree.
They started to pile up and I was running out of space, so I brought up the storage boxes.
These were mostly from the old fashioned tree.
This was the tree from the kitchen eating area. It is artificial, and now bare except for the lights. It is easier to take it down to the Christmas room by going outdoors rather than down the curved staircase.
Normally the tree comes apart into two pieces, but I decided to leave the lights on, as there are 750 lights, and that many strands of lights are tedious to take on and off. To secure them better, when I put them on this year I used electrical ties to keep them in place, especially when you reach deep in to put ornaments. I ran out of green ones, so I had to use a few white ones.
Here you see the green before I clipped the excess.
It really made a difference, even though moving the tree for storage was a little bit more awkward.
I was over the moon when they came out with the net style kites for outdoor. It takes all of a few minutes to cover all the shrubs. I store these in sweater sized plastic zip bags with the original label.
I picked these up years ago to store the tree light strands. What a difference it made…..no more tangles!
The tops zipper shut, and the bag is made of a a real sturdy, heavy nylon.
Three spools to a bag. The red color makes them real easy to identify and grab. They stack perfectly. I also use wreath containers from the same company.
I already had these green storage containers with red tops. I thought that it would make it easier to tell x-mas from the decor of the other holidays. At the time, that was about the only color available. They came with the dividers. I now find I prefer using clear.
These are clear, and even though the boxes are labeled, I like being able to see what is in the box without opening it. Only they top part has sides that block the view.
I have collected Santas for many,many years, and they do take up a lot of space. I wrap them in bubble wrap, and put several to a clear container, which saves space. Some of the bigger ones, too big for the containers, go in their original boxes.
I save the zip bags from sheets or blankets and quilts, and repurposed them for the tree skirts, holiday fabrics and wreathes. See through so you can quickly find what you want.
I even use then for odd shaped items.
Labeling clearly by color or theme makes it so much easier and pleasurable to complete the decorating process.
The pom is lined with 4 ft wide and 24 inch deep shelving, so items can be stacked while allowing for easy access.
items from a themed tree…..these went on a small white tree with mostly white, gold and feathered birds.
The tree topper you see here has huge sentimental value. It still has the original bag it came in, and its price tag……all of 99 cents. It has always been my favorite tree topper, and every year it tops the main tree.
I have one container that has replacement bulbs, ornament hangers, wreath hangers, i.e. everything in one place to allow decorating to begin. It is the first box I bring up, and by having a box for these items, it really does make a difference.
On one of the top shelves I try and group items that are only used for part of the holiday, like the luminary holders stacked on the left. I use these down the driveway along with lanterns hanging from J hooks or placed on the ground. Unfortunately, the weather the last few years didn’t allow for candles.
This is just a single shelf, but it gives you an idea.
Here you can see one side of the room. The remaining x-mas decor, as well as the easter, thanksgiving and halloween decor are on the other side two sides.
The artificial tree gets brought down last, and is placed in front of one of the shelves in a corner.
I hope this gives you a few ideas if you are looking to organize your holiday decor. This has been done for several years now, but every year I refine it a bit, and it makes it much less frustrating to get through the decorating and take down process.
Thanks for stopping by! Laters, charisse
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