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Pancakes & French Fries

phenomenally indecisive since 1972

Home / Mind + Body / Storing Holiday Decorations

Storing Holiday Decorations

Mind + Body

I received a gift card for this post, though the thoughts and opinions are mine because, believe it or not, a home decor company did not ask me to write about purging possessions and avoiding buying what you don’t need…during the busiest shopping weeks of the year. Also, check out the giveaway at the end of the post.

I work on a fairly regular basis with Wayfair, but there are changes afoot. I’ll no longer be doing monthly posts on their site because they have more guest bloggers than they can handle. This suits me fine because in all honesty, I was having trouble keeping up once I started working full time. We agreed that every now and then they would contact to me to write a home related post if the topic interested me. They emailed me a couple of weeks ago to write and…I guess I didn’t read the fine print because this post is supposed to be about holiday entertaining.

Hahahaha! I hate entertaining. I hate parties. In general, I hate leaving my bubble of safety and interacting with the world for more than minutes at a time. Wayfair, you do not want me writing a post about entertaining unless that post includes a link to a mood stabilizer.

To be fair, they did say I could write about entertainment “woes,” though I doubt woes for them means “I hate everything about it.”

I gave it some thought, and I decided to write about something I enjoy: organizing. Specifically, organizing all the platters that come with entertaining and organizing my holiday decorations (which some of you asked me to do in this post detailing our holiday ornament tradition).

So here, goes.

Platters

The first thing you need to do is get rid of what you don’t use or need. I know that’s not a fun tip you can put on pinterest, but it’s the truth. The best way to get organized is to reduce the amount you have to organize. One way to do that is to buy multi-use items. If it has only one use, it doesn’t take up space in my kitchen. This is why I don’t own a garlic press. My chef’s knife is my garlic press! With that philosophy in mind, avoid buying any old chopping board (unless you’re using it for raw meat). Buy something beautiful and long lasting so that you can use them as cheese boards and appetizer platters at your next party.

Once you’ve cleaned out your kitchen and bought functional, attractive chopping boards you can use as platters, it’s time to organize your now-empty cupboards with rack organizers.

I swear by these in my kitchen. The most straight forward way to organizer your platters is by size with the largest platter on the bottom. That’s great, until you need the large platter. Rack organizers are worth every penny.

Decorations

My Christmas tree ornaments are glass, so the way I store my ornaments may not be necessary if your ornaments aren’t as fragile. If your ornaments are sturdy, you can store them in a regular bin with a snap lid  or in a storage bag with cardboard segments. The reason why this method won’t work with ornaments like mine is because the cardboard can crumple under pressure. If you live in a very humid or damp environment, that’s something to consider, too. won’t survive a wet environment.

When possible, I keep my ornaments in their original packaging. Then I store them in large, super sturdy bins like these. I don’t use segmented organizers because my ornaments are not round or uniform in size. For those fragile ornaments without packaging, I wrap them using a big roll of acid-free paper or tissue paper. The paper is acid-free to protect the finish on the ornament. I wrap them like I would anything fragile before a big move. I keep my paper year after year and mark which ornament goes where, so the process actually goes quite fast. I clearly mark the bins with the ornaments with a sign that says the contents are fragile, this way we know not to stack additional bins on top.

As for all my other decorations, they also go in bins with like items grouped together. All the greenery is in one bin, all the blankets and stockings in another, etc.

And that’s it! There’s nothing to it. The hardest part is purging what you don’t use or need. Last year I did a huge purge of Christmas decorations and put them to use in the library. I plan to do another purge this year, too. Let’s call it another one of my holiday traditions.

Giveaway

Wayfair is giving away $500 good for anything on the site. Not bad! Enter below, and good luck.

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Comments

  2. Carrie K. says

    Love this post, Jules. Simplifying keeps us all sane, and for what it's worth – I host a holiday party each year, but you can usually find me hiding in the kitchen (away from the guests). #INTJ. :)

    Reply

  5. Renata says

    Oh, I don't have a very good system when it comes to storing decorations….but they do all fit in about three bins, so that's something, right? :) Great giveaway.

    Reply

  9. Anna says

    hahaha…there are times when I read your blog and think "Oh good! Someone else gets it! We're so similar" and then I remember that I love entertaining and it all comes crashing down, haha. But, that probably makes this all the more useful.

    Reply

  10. Danielle says

    I haven't a clue on how to decorate our tiny front porch for the holidays – do I keep the bench out there year-round? If yes (becuz the space will look crazy empty w/o it), what can I add to make it look festive? Please understand these are rhetorical questions – tho if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears! In the meantime, maybe something like this would work…
    http://www.wayfair.com/Woodland-Imports-2-Piece-Glass-and-Metal-Lantern-Set-23906-WLI7698.html

    Reply

  23. HeatherL says

    Writing what goes where on the wrapping is brilliant! We never remember & start looking for last year's pictures if we can't find a good spot for something.

    We use those ornament boxes you posted, but I do use the cardboard. we just keep the heavier things on the bottom & larger odd shaped things on the top–we take some of the dividers out to make bigger spaces. We haven't had problems but we only have humidity issues in the summer & early fall.

    I have been coveting a bathroom vanity for about a year that Wayfair carries–we just can't get our act together on getting the bathroom redone, though. I was going to share the link, but read in the fine print that NY residents aren't eligible. I'm pretty sure that is the fault of the state & not Wayfair!

    Reply

  35. Shaina Smith says

    We've been looking for under cabinet lighting for our kitchen for about a year now. When we moved in, there was a fluorescent tube fixture. The light it put out was flickery and yellow but it gave us light to work by. Now that light has bit the dust and we're trying to find an LED or similar that will put out a good amount of light to work by.
    This one looks like it would do the job – and the reviews seem to confirm that thought – but it's quite out of our price range for a quick fix.
    http://www.wayfair.com/WAC-Lighting-24-LED-Under-Cabinet-Bar-Light-WAC4352.html

    Reply
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