Image Credit to Retail Me Not

Thinking about the clean up of all of my winter decor always makes me a little sad; the house looks so bare without all the garland and pretty lights. But organizing and strategizing my repacking approach has given me a whole new outlook. With some of these tips, maybe you too can look forward to your stowing away of seasonal items.

Use a different tote for each room’s decorations. On the bin’s label, mark the room it goes to and a list of the items included. If you love the way the decorations looked this year, snap a photo of your layout and put that inside the box for next year. Finally, if anything is broken or needs to be replaced, leave yourself a helpful note (“buy two strands of lights for item in this box”) for when the holiday totes get unpacked next year.

And speaking of those perma-tangled strings of lights, if you’re not already stowing them away by first wrapping them around a piece of cardboard, make that the one tip you take away from this list! You’ll gain back precious hours of your life and save yourself tons of frustration you’d normally spend picking at a maddening, gigantic knot of lights.

One of the worst feelings when you begin to deck the halls is unpacking boxes of broken decorations. So when it comes time to pack everything away this season, consider creative ornament storage--eggshell cartons, plastic cups packed together tightly, etc-- will keep your precious decor safe and ready to be displayed again.

Along the same lines, whatever decorations you can safely leave as they are, simply pack them intact. For example, we have lovely glass vases we fill with ornaments and use as centerpieces and table decorations around the house. By packing them nicely with bubble wrap, I simply remove them from their storage place, set them on a table, and never worry about refilling them each year. (Pro tip: if dust settles on the ornaments in the vase or on any other hard to clean decor, I simply take a hairdryer to them).

It’s true that taking down all the decorations might not bring a song to your heart the same way getting them out does. Doing the job well is a great way to not only ensure quick and easy decorating next year, but it will also send you into the new year with a clean slate and peace of mind- a great way to begin!