Ah, the holidays! There’s a coziness about them. Your home is perfumed with the scents of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter. Everything sparkles under fairy lights.  But getting to this point takes work… a lot of it. Before your home can shine under thousands of twinkling lights, you have to first locate them in the garage. Or was it the closet? Maybe they’re hiding in the attic?  Before you call out the search teams, here are some tips you can use this year to make getting to next year’s festivities easier!  

• Use clear plastic storage bins to hold items for each holiday project, e.g. outdoor lights, outdoor decoration, mantle decorations, tree decorations, dinnerware, etc. This will allow you to see what’s inside, grab a bin and complete the project without having to search for odds and ends.
• Store extra light clips with your outdoor lights so you don’t have to search far to replace clips that may have fallen.  Fascia board grip clips, which are available at hardware stores, are a great way to hang lights for the winter holidays and patriotic bunting for the summer holidays.  
• Use a labeler to identify project boxes at a glance and ensure decorations get back into the appropriate box
• Store treasured, one-of-a-kind family heirlooms, like ornaments, in smaller boxes with adequate padding before storing in a large box. This will protect them in the event the large box is jostled.
• When the season is over, edit your collection to eliminate broken or unwanted items.
• Cure Knick-knack Overload by giving your regular home accessories a holiday this season! Instead of adding to your display, replace regular décor items with holiday items. The benefits to you are less dusting, your regular items will look fresh again after the holidays and the house won’t appear empty when you stow your holiday items.
• Carve out a special storage place for your holiday items. Closet Tailors can install shelving, cabinets and overhead garage racks to keep your holiday items right where you’ll look for them next season.