@ECBG wrote:
@Mominohio
It's your home. Just do what feels comfortable to you.
I really like the idea of storing each room's decorations in that room; I can do a little of that but not much.
This is a process @ECBG , that I came up with several years ago, and thought I'd give it a try. I have to admit that not every single thing will fit in some of the rooms, like the big wreaths that go on the doors still need to be stored in the basement, and the tree as well, but it has made such a difference in how much time, stress and effort is involved in getting decor up and down for the holiday season. It cut the mess made by a huge amount.
In case we have others that are new here, I'll use this space to explain what I did.
I stopped storing things all wrapped up in tubs and boxes. I stopped storing everything in one or two out of the way places. That was requiring many trips up and down steps (four level house), boxes out. Boxes emptied, boxes returned to storage. Only to, in 6 or 8 weeks, have to run up and down the stairs again, retrieving the boxes, packing the boxes, and running the boxes up and down the steps again to store. It got to be defeating.
First, I trimmed back the number of rooms I decorate. Nothing on the upstairs level gets holiday decor (bathrooms and three bedrooms and a hallway). Just this step eliminated a whole area of the house that no one but us sees, from needing special attention at this time of the year.
Next, I stopped using a ton of little stuff. Like most people, I had collected nice and lovely Christmas decor throughout the years, a little at a time as I could afford it. Much of it was lovely, some even quite high end. But there was a lot, and there often was no really cohesive look to it. So I spent a couple of years actually choosing a theme, color palate, or design for each area I was going to keep decorating, and I invested in complete matching/coordinating things to make each room seem like it was a curated collection (actually it was!). With that new, streamlined and curated look, I found I could create a great look with so many fewer pieces and decorate fewer surfaces in each room.
Then I realized that in most rooms, I had pieces of furniture that could be used just for storing those holiday pieces. In the living room, a big old wooden trunk I had inherited that goes back many generations in my family. In my kitchen, a deep good sized cabinet above the fridge that never seemed suitable or easy to access for general everyday kitchen needs. A few storage benches we were using at the foot of some chairs for foot stools. A front hall closet that the floor space would accommodate more collapsible storage benches for storing holiday items, with coats hanging above them.
It's made all the difference in the world in time, effort, and wear and tear on the knees to do it this way. As I decorate for the holidays, the 'regular' decor fits inside the spaces where the holiday stuff is coming out. At the end of the season, just reverse the process.
It's really been a game changer for me. I highly recommend it to those that have the space and the right pieces to make it happen.
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