Christmas Clean Up

Cleaning up the house after any holiday can be quite a task. Christmas seems to be the biggest chore to clean up.

Tradition

Yes, I know it’s January and I’m still talking about Christmas. Many Christian religions and other cultures celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings Day on January 6th (the 12th day of Christmas). This day is celebrated to mark the arrival of the Three Kings who visited the Christ Child, and marks the official end of the Christmas season. In these cultures, it can be bad luck to take down your Christmas tree before the Epiphany. Each year, we wait until January 6th to take down our Christmas tree. It gives us an excuse to enjoy our Christmas decorations a little longer while we recover from the hustle & bustle of the holidays.

Decor Galore

I love to decorate for all holidays, but of course Christmas is my favorite. From the weekend after Thanksgiving, to the Epiphany in January, practically every room in my house is dripping with Christmas! I generally pick an overall theme for a room, and enjoy spending time adding touches to make each room special. My kids always love having individual trees that are decorated to their tastes in their bedrooms too, and this year, my husband asked me to add a tree to our room which was so fun!

But after it’s all said and done, it all has to be put away…….and stored. So where do I keep it all? I actually get asked that question a lot! We rent our home and while our last rental had a great storage shed in the backyard to keep all my holiday goodies in, this one does not, nor is there a reasonable place to put one, so that leaves me with the garage.

Storage Space

Now, my husband is a car guy. He has a ’68 Dodge Charger that he likes to tinker on, and all the tools to go with it, so completely taking over the garage for holiday storage is out of the question for me. I’m also asked occasionally to decorate for a party, wedding, or dinner that may require use of some of my holiday items from time to time. I had to come up with a way to efficiently store items where they would be safe, dust free, and easy to get to if I needed them.

Shelves

Here’s the solution I’ve come up with. We purchased these great Whalen shelves from Costco for one side of the garage. They have 5 adjustable shelves with metal frames and wood shelving, and cost around $60 a set. They can be used in a tall stack of 5 shelves, or split in half to make lower units only. We started out by purchasing 2 sets and have expanded to 6 sets now. They really are the best bang for your buck that I’ve found, and they last a really long time. They are very durable.

These shelves, together, with a series of plastic totes, help me keep everything organized and easily accessible. Now, let’s talk totes….

The Nitty Gritty on Totes

As you can see, I don’t have all of one type of tote. I obviously didn’t start with 20 boxes of Christmas decor, but throughout the years, my collection has grown, requiring me to purchase more totes, and as I assume you already know, products change over time. In addition to that, not all storage needs are the same. Some items are larger and need larger totes, like the long blue ones I have, while other items can be grouped together into smaller totes.

Don’t worry if all your totes don’t match or coordinate with the colors of the season. It’s just for storage. I do have a few red totes with green lids which make Christmas storage an obvious choice, but I don’t recommend going out an buying all matching totes just so they coordinate. That’s a huge waste of money. Start with what you have. For example, I have a stack of Christmas boxes I use as decoration. These boxes also double as storage for small Nativities, delicate collections, and a set of Merry Christmas blocks. I don’t go out and buy additional small totes to store each of those items. I just use what I already have. It saves money, and space.

Handles or Snaps?

When it comes to the style of totes, I do prefer totes that have handles that latch on the ends. It’s easier to move them around and I don’t have to worry about the lids popping off. I’m not fond of the totes that have two hinged flaps that close to form the lid. The centers don’t support much weight so stacking them can be a problem.

I also prefer totes that are clear. A quick glance is sometimes all I need to see if a tote has a particular item I need which saves me a lot of time when I’m looking for something specific.

It’s All About the Label

So, you have totes, and you’ve set aside space to store them, but what about labeling them? I used to use a sharpie to mark on the totes. The problem is, life is ever changing, and I’ve re-purposed totes for one thing or another (some of my totes are 15 years old). This leaves me crossing out and re-marking them, and can get messy. Plus, even permanent markers aren’t really permanent and will fade over time. I’ve also tried printing labels on the computer or a label machine. While these can look pretty, they typically need to be redone each year.

Every year I add new items or get rid of things I no longer need, which means that not everything is going to fit back into the totes the way they did last year. I’ve found the best and easiest option for me is masking tape. I will typically mark the tote itself as “Christmas”, “Easter”, or whatever holiday it is, but I use masking tape and a sharpie to make a contents list for each tote. Masking tape is cheap (you can get it at the dollar store), adjustable (you can cut it as long or short as you need), and removable (useful for the next year should you need to change it.

I’ve also learned to write the year I packed those items. Have you ever opened a box and the contents inside don’t match the list? I have! And it can be frustrating when you’re looking for something in particular. By putting the year, I know that when I open that tote, it is actually going to be what it says it is.

Some Tips on Packing Totes

• Group like items together – Put a whole collection together in one box. For example, I keep my Gingerbread collection in 2 totes so marking them “Gingerbread” is sufficient.
• Pack multiple totes at a time – I lay out all my totes with the lids standing behind them. It’s much easier to pack multiple totes at a time than to focus on just filling one tote.
• Start with the biggest items first – Putting the largest items or misshaped items in first will make the most use of the room in the tote and ensure they fit. After all the large items are in, move on to medium and then small items can fill in spaces that are left.

Don’t Be in a Rush

Sometimes I will find a stray item or two that I missed when I’m packing that I used to toss into a closet or drawer, usually never to be seen again. Because of this, I’ve learned to leave the packed boxes in my living room or dinning room for a couple days. This gives me a chance to make sure I haven’t missed any items. I can quickly tuck these items into the boxes and send them out into the garage to store until next Thanksgiving.

I hope these tips will help you declutter your home from the holidays. Beginning the year off organizing for future events can help give you a peace of mind and make you less stressed as the holidays come back around again freeing up some of your time for family, friends, or other tasks.