Monday, November 29, 2010

Getting down the Christmas boxes

Photo: David Zellaby via Flickr
Well, today was the day. The day to take down the Christmas boxes from the 'attic' (well, it is not really an attic but it is a space above our garage where all our storage goes) and start thinking about decorating for Christmas.

Boxes after I rummaged through them to get started on decorating!
Each year after Christmas I box up the decorations in clear plastic boxes. I know that a lot of people prefer not to see inside the boxes - it is neater looking I suppose but I like to see inside the boxes for easy identification. I label each box and although I don't list every item inside the box, I do list some of the more important items.


I also number the boxes so that I know how many to take down the following Christmas. If I have 6 boxes total, I will label my boxes, 1 of 6, 2 of 6, 3 of 6 and so on. That way when I go to get the boxes I know how many I am looking for. I also put the following year on the label rather than the year I am boxing up and putting away. I have found that it is confusing to have the previous year's date on the boxes when I am looking for them.

I had to laugh at this label - 7 of 5? At least it had the right date on it!
I also label the ornament boxes that I did not use. Some years I will use certain ornaments and other years I won't. For example, last year I only used white and silver with a few turquoise ornaments. All the browns and golds and oranges and reds were labeled - "Did not use in 2009." That way I know that if I want to replicate what I did the previous year I will not need that box.


I was planning showing you exactly how I packed my ornaments away but when I was taking everything down I was looking at my system with new 'blogger' eyes and realized that I could do it much better! So here are a few tips for you as you plan for packing away for next year ... and I will share my more blog worthy storage with you when Christmas is over!


1. Store like things together. I try to keep my colors together and the type of ornament as much as possible. 


2. Keep the original boxes to re-pack them in later. 


3. Keep the tissue paper from your gifts to wrap your fragile ornaments in. 

Tip of the day: When you are unpacking your Christmas decorations and come upon things that you have not used for a while, take them to a donation center or share with someone else right away. Someone can enjoy them now and you will have less to store next year!

5 comments:

  1. wow you are super organized! It will take me the better part of the day to fetch our boxes out of the basement--so glad to find a fellow interior designer/blogger. Darling blog--glad to be a follower!

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  2. 13 years ago, you got all my Christmas stuff down (20 boxes) and decorated my house while I was out of town for Thanksgiving.! I was battling cancer and didn't have the energy for Christmas. The way my house looked brought tears to my eyes. You kept it simple & elegant. I was forever changed. Last year I gave away all those boxes which said not used in 1997,98,99, etc. Your decorating my house at Christmas was a gift you gave me. I am so thankful that you now do this professionally, as my house has never looked better and the meaning of Christmas isn't lost in all the "stuff".

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  3. Hello Sherri
    Thanks so much for popping by to leave your good wishes it'll be a couple of weeks before I'm up and out but doing ok, thanks again.
    I still check your posts and always get some good, nay, great ideas. So organised, thoughtful and doable. Go share those unwanted decs folks!
    and 7 of 5, priceless!
    pamela xxx

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  4. I always thought my decorations were semi-organized (not that I actually have many really), but you've definitely got me beat! This is all great advice, too.

    What a sweet comment by Robbie, and a great testament to not only your skills, but your compassion. Awesome!

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  5. wow! you take organization to a whole new level...and I love it!

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