Last week I knew it was time to take down the Christmas tree and put away the holiday decorations. This is a task I do not look forward to, for many reasons. It's kind of depressing, this time of year, the end of the holidays with nothing to look forward to but gray dreary days and freezing cold weather for months to come.
As I have gotten older, this task it kind of like a game of hide and seek. I take all the holiday wall decorations off the walls, and then it is time to try to remember where I put the regular decor when I took it down to put up the Christmas stuff! I start thinking.....did I put that in hubby's office? In the bedroom, under the bed? No, I put that in the front coat closet, and when I look, it's not there. It's so frustrating!
The main reason I dislike taking down Christmas decorations is the mess of boxes, bags, and totes that I have to sort through to find the right place to put everything. Old dusty cardboard boxes, cracked plastic totes with ill fitting lids, ripped paper bags and garbage bags. Just looking at that jumble of awful looking containers was enough to make me want to just leave the decorations up!
That is when I decided that I was going to organize my decorations! I started looking through my boxes and realized I had probably never thrown away any decorations or ornaments since I moved into my first house in 1993! All the changes of decor over the years.......country, Victorian, contemporary, and now Americana and I never got rid of any decorations, just added new stuff and more boxes. Wow!
It was a daunting task, but I was determined! I went through each box, this was the stuff in the boxes that I had not put out this year, or to be honest, for a few to many years. I put all the items that a never use anymore into a big cardboard box and marked it for charity pick up. I have to be honest, it was hard.
After that was done, I knew the first thing I was going to need was some new Christmas decoration storage containers. I didn't really feel like going out, so I got a cup of coffee and sat down at my computer to do some shopping online. I started with my usual go to, Amazon. As I started looking, I was surprised at the large price range in organizers. It was strange because they all looked close to the same. But being a veteran shopper of Amazon, I knew to stay away from the really inexpensive stuff, because it would probably not last more than a few years. If I was going to buy storage, I only wanted to buy it once! So an hour later, I made my selections and placed the order. It was less expensive that I have first thought.
This is what I bought:
I really loved this container for several reasons. It is large, so all my ornaments fit in one place. The sides are sturdy so my valuable items are protected. The top opens from either side and inside are 8 separate trays, each of which lift out with handles! I think this will make tree decorating so much easier. There are even two large pockets on the outside to store other things. I put Christmas cards in one and ornament hangers and extra tree light bulbs in the other. It holds up to 128 ornaments.
I remember the days of dealing with dusty old cardboard boxes and all the rest of the storage used for Christmas decorations once a year. Your pretty and practical storage solutions are perfect for always having your Christmas decor stored neat and tidy. Thanks, Tracey.
ReplyDeleteReally excellent suggestions and solutions for the Christmas decor battle we all fight each year! Last year, I saw an ornament organizer that my parents have and loved it! Having the compartmentalized ornament storage box is truly fabulous and protects the precious ornaments better than stacking them in a heap on top of each other. The organization storage boxes really do make a big difference when decorating, and un-decorating.
ReplyDeleteAll Excellent ideas for storing decorations. We have several of the wreath storage bags and really like them. Now, I love the ornament storage box, that is something we really need. Thanks, Tracey for the recommendations and ideas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excellent recommendations, Tracey! We have similar ornament and wreath storage solutions and they do make taking out and putting away our holiday decorations so much easier.
ReplyDeleteThese would make Christmas decoration storage a wonderful thing to do after all the festivities are over. I like that there is something for every possibility. Thanks for pointing out all the possibilities.
ReplyDeleteYou know, we finally bit the bullet and purchased a tree storage bag - we had been improvising for years and finally did it the right way
ReplyDeleteI love storage organisers like these for Trees, wreaths, ornaments and wrapping paper! Excellent ideas and products here. It is so good to have everything sorted and organised. We have a Tree storage and it fits in a lot of other things as well. We still need the wreath storage and wrapping paper one. Thank you for your review and recommendations.
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