Organizing your gift collections

Throughout the year as I see something go on sale that I know a particular family member or friend would like, I purchase it and put it aside for when I need it. My dilemma was I needed somewhere to store these items.
One of my big pet peeves is when “like” items aren’t stored together. I have a two door pine armoire in my study that, although full, wasn’t being used to its maximum potential. I emptied that space and reworked it for my gifts and wrapping collection. Finally, here is what I came up with:
Since the bottom shelf is so deep I found that if I just put baskets on that shelf there was a lot of wasted space above them. Luckily I was able to find these two plastic drawer units yesterday and they work perfectly.
An ideal solution
They are separate units so they can be either stacked together or they can stand alone for smaller spaces like under a bed, for instance. I get so thrilled when I find a tote/container solution that is ideal for the storage solution I am trying to create.
The containers on the top shelf hold my cards, wrap, tissue and party supplies and the two yellow baskets on the middle shelf hold smaller gift items. You will also see that there are two drawers at the bottom of the pine unit.
[LG]These baskets even have wheels.[/LG] The top one holds gifts for my kids where they can’t see them and the bottom drawer holds all my extra picture frames that aren’t currently being displayed and I will eventually have to purge out. I just love how everything is now all in one place. I’m just giddy with excitement and I keep opening the cupboard to just look at it!!! I could stare at it for hours…lol.
The record
Oh I should also mention that I keep track of all these gifts I’ve purchased in a little notebook. At the beginning of the year I write down everyone’s name that I need to purchase gifts for. As the gift(s) is purchased I write what the gift is beside that person’s name. The notebook is small enough that I can take it with me when I go shopping.
This way I don’t forget what I have and it also enables me to avoid buying more than my budget allows for each person.