Organize Your Halloween Decorations

We had a client recently who contacted us to help her with her basement.  Because it is such a catch-all space, basements are not an uncommon request.  When we arrived, she showed us her space that she wanted to organize and we discussed her goals for the project.  The one thing that struck me immediately was that she loved the holidays.  She had holiday decorations for just about every holiday you can imagine and not a whole lot else that she was storing there.  With Halloween right around the corner, I wanted to share with you the process we followed to help our client organize her holiday decorations.

1.      Sort by Holiday – The first step is to sort all of your decorations by holiday.

2.      Keep Your Favorites – Next, take a look at one holiday at a time and take an inventory of what you have.  Do you still like all of the decorations?  Will you use them?  If not, box up what you no longer want and donate it.  You are sure to make someone else’s holiday a little bit brighter!

Holiday Ornament Storage Box

3.      Containerize – Plastic bins are a great storage solution for holiday decorations.  For most major holidays, you can purchase bins that are color coordinated with the holiday (e.g. black and orange for Halloween, red and/or green for Christmas, pastels for Easter, etc.)  You can also use clear plastic bins and apply color coded labels.  This allows you to see the contents through the clear plastic.  There are also specialized containers for items such as trees, wreaths, and ornaments.  Whichever style you prefer, you can ensure that your decorations are well protected.

4.      Label – Even if you are color coding by holiday, we still recommend that you label the outside of your bins if you have more than one bin per holiday.  Labeling makes it easy for you (and others) to find what you need when you need it, and it also facilitates a quick clean-up.

Follow these steps and you will not only be organized for Halloween, but for the rest of the holidays throughout the year as well.

– Donna Lindley, Certified Professional Organizer and owner of Rochester Hills, MI-based Organize Your World, Inc.

Photo credit: halloweenexpress.com

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