Week Four: Organize Your Decor & Gift Wrap for the Holidays

[5 Weeks Before Christmas]

Before you impulse-buy wrapping paper or holiday decorations, go through what you already have! I have fallen victim to this myself, by buying something cute and then finding something very similar in my bin of decor... I know it's more fun to buy, but remind yourself of what you have and then only buy what you actually need or things that match the style of what you have. Organize your decor and gift wrap before the holidays to get one step ahead.

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Declutter Holiday Decor

Get out all of your Christmas decor. Ideally, this step is done when you’re getting ready to decorate, so you have to get everything out anyway. This allows you to see everything in one place and make smarter decisions about what to keep.

Sort: Put everything into categories (candles, general decor, family heirlooms, linens, outdoor, lights, etc). You can also sort by room, if that's easier.

Toss: Broken or damaged decorations that can’t (or won’t) be repaired.

Donate: Decor you didn’t use last year and don’t plan to use again. Duplicates, items you no longer love, or decorations that don’t fit your current style or space.

Test: Test out any electronic things to make sure they still work or see if they need new batteries. If light strands no longer work, you can recycle them at many hardware stores.

Not Sure?: If you’re not ready to donate something, put a label on it saying that you haven’t used it in 2 years.

If it's a family heirloom that you no longer want, now is a good time to ask the family since oftentimes, you'll be seeing them over the holidays.

Organize Gift Wrap Supplies

Gather all your gift-wrapping essentials—wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper, labels, bows, ribbon, and tape—and take stock:

Wrapping Paper: Toss or recycle small pieces, torn rolls, or wrinkled sheets. Donate rolls that you don't love or won't use.

Gift Bags & Tissue Paper: Toss bags that are ripped or very wrinkled. Donate ones that you don’t love. Take stock of your tissue paper so you know what to buy.

Wrapping Accessories: Review bows, ribbons, labels, and tape. Discard any damaged items and make a note of what needs to be replenished.

I just did this and put everything I wanted to donate on our local Buy Nothing page. It ended up going to someone at the American Legion who will use it for veteran families. Donate and you can do good!

Storage Solutions

If your wrapping and holiday decor storage is chaotic, now’s a perfect time to invest in organized storage solutions. When holiday items are on sale in stores, it’s a great opportunity to pick up storage bins designed specifically for holiday decorations and wrapping supplies. Keeping everything well-organized will make next year's decorating much easier—and less stressful. If you purchase the bins now, you will have them for when you put away your decorations again.

Gift Wrap Storage Options:

Over-the-door Gift Wrap Storage This is one of my favorite options if you have the back of a door to spare. It allows you to see it all at once. If you do a lot of gift bags, you may need another option for those.

Underbed Gift Wrap Storage Box Underbed storage works great if you have space under a guest room bed.

Hanging Gift Wrap Storage This style works fine if you don't have a lot of wrapping supplies. You can't put too much weight in these and they aren't my favorite option, but I have used them for clients where there is no room elsewhere.

Gift Wrap Box

This is one of my favorites. It won't accommodate long rolls, but it will fit standard size. I like that it keeps wrapping paper safe from moisture or critters, especially if you'll be storing in the basement, attic, or garage.

Holiday Decor Storage Options:

Wreath Storage Bin I find a lot of people don't know the best way to store wreaths. I really like using plastic boxes so wreaths don't get squashed. Often, you can fit more than one in these.

Christmas Tree Bag

I also find that a lot of my clients try to smash their Christmas tree back into the box it came in. Not worth it! Tree bags aren't expensive and make it so much easier to store and move your tree.

Ornament Storage

You don't need a specialty ornament container, but if you have a lot of breakable or irreplaceable ornaments, it makes packing easier. I prefer the kind with trays so they are easy to pull out when decorating. I have used this kind with clients and they work great for larger, fragile ornaments.

Organize Your Decor and Gift Wrap

Getting organized before the holiday chaos begins not only saves money and space but also helps you enjoy the season more fully. Take the time now to inventory and declutter your decorations. Who knows? Maybe you'll free up some space to add some new decorations? :)

And don't forget to subscribe to the email list for access to the printable checklist, so you can easily check off tasks as you go.

Next Up:

Week Five: Kids' Toys