While it’s always a sad day taking down the Christmas decorations, I have to admit starting the new year with a clean and de-cluttered garage was tugging at my organization-loving heart. For several reasons. But a huge reason being this mound of recycling I continually walked by going to and from the car…
Yikes! How exactly did that develop? I hosted my entire family of 25+ people for Christmas Eve…that’s how!
Additionally, while decorating the tree and house, I noticed quite a few things I hadn’t used in a few years. Instead of donating in spurts, I decided to wait until the end of the season to take a good, hard look at everything. Some bins had also seen better days with the various moves around the country. So when the season came to an end, I was looking forward to getting rid of the recycling, donations AND getting totally re-organized.
Last week, I spent one entire day going through every single bin, removing decor from around the house and organizing it in old and new containment. Couldn’t wait to share this final outcome with you guys!…
I always get a lot of questions about my garage shelving. It’s Elfa from The Container Store. I installed this entire wall of shelving 2 years ago and am still totally head over heels in love with the entire wall. Even my neighbors comment when they pass by. If you’d like to see more about the shelving or installation details, the post is right here…
I always get weepy saying good-bye to my tree…
It’s such a happy sight while walking through the house, especially at night. I’ve collected special ornaments over the years and they mean a lot to me. When it comes to storing them, however, not all ornament boxes accommodate decorator-style ornaments…
This year I upgraded a few plastic ornament bins to heavy-duty woven adjustable storage boxes…
( Large Adjustable Ornament Storage Box )
This ornament box from Improvements is easy to assemble and I love that the dividers are totally adjustable…
The large sparkly green ornaments used to be in a brown box, but now they are safe and secure. I purchased those in Arkansas one season – love them and would be so sad if they were ever ruined!…
Improvements also sells a 3-drawer storage chest that’s great for ornaments, tree skirts or large Christmas items you want to keep safe, dry and clean. I have a lot of small decor items that I would generally put into a brown box…
This year I upgraded to this storage chest…
( Ornament 3-drawer Storage Chest )
My tree skirts are in a shallow drawer, while the rest of my fragile ornaments and decor are safe and secure…
The dividers in the chest are high-quality and adjustable. Nothing worse than those flimsy cardboard dividers that tear after just one season. I love these because they are definitely going to last…
Unfortunately, the chest is out of stock, but some similar options can be found here!
With the ornaments and lights off the tree, time to put the tree itself away. In years past the tree would be covered with a few trash bags and tucked into a small closet in the garage. It always frustrated me to have that closet a waste of useable space…the tree took up quite a bit of room. This year I upgraded to a tree storage bag and found a great spot for it on the floor under all the shelving. So excited to have that closet back!
This storage bag is large enough for a 9′ Christmas tree plus I was able to tuck away a few garlands in here as well!…
Just dismantle your tree and secure the pieces in place with the straps that buckle tight. There’s even an interior pocket for your tree stand, if you have one of those – most artificial trees do.
( EZ Roller Christmas Tree Storage Bag )
The bag is on wheels which makes it easy to pull into the house next season!
My most pressing storage issue was my collection of pre-lit wreaths. I have a LOT of wreaths for the exterior of the house…
Typically, I would just stack them on top of one another on a high shelf. But over the last few years I was hoping for some sort of storage bag to keep them nicer for the long haul. Because they are pre-lit I worried about what was happening to them being exposed to everything…
So this year I grabbed a few double-sided wreath storage bags – these are SO awesome!
Just place the wreath inside, secure with the strap and zip closed…
These bags are high high quality and come in a variety of diameters. I have 2 large wreaths I put on the entry gates every year…
And a few smaller wreaths on the front porch and door…
Really nice to know these have a home!…
( Double Wreath Storage Bags )
Last year I shared my new gift wrap shelf in my home office…
The gift wrap in these drawers is for birthdays and other occasions, not Christmas. And I’m not sure about you but those Christmas rolls seems to be extra long. I always store the Christmas gift wrap in the garage with the rest of the holiday decorations, so this year I grabbed a gift wrap organizer to tuck it all away!…
This organizer frees up a ton of room in my office while keeping it together and organized for next season! Look at how spacious this organizer is!…
( Ultimate Gift Wrap Organizer )
As I took down the ornaments, wreaths, garlands and decor, I took a hard look at everything. That large pile of recycling and 1 trunk full of donations left the house. Felt really good! Next year when I decorate, all that remains is what we totally love and can’t live without.
And when everything was organized in bins, I couldn’t wait to get my garage floor back and put it all away! Felt amazing to sweep out this entire garage!…
I couldn’t be more in love with my re-organized garage and my new Improvements holiday storage!…
Have you started taking down the holiday decorations? If not, maybe investing in a few storage pieces will be just the kick in the pants you need to get motivated.
Hope you enjoyed this peek into my garage…more garage organization coming soon!
xx,
Sam
*No affiliate links were attached to this post. Improvements provided product for this post. All opinions are 100% mine.
These are great ideas. I particularly like the ornament box from Improvements. We have a similar ornament box, but it’s a soft top which means we can’t place anything on top. The one you show appears to have a hard cover, which would be better. Thanks for posting!
The tree bag I purchased from TCS this year did not last. As soon as we put the tree in the bag and lifted, the strap broke. I will check out this bag instead.
That ribbon on your tree is gorgeous!
We upgraded our holiday storage a few years ago and it is well worth the investment.
I think I need a bag like that for MY tree because I keep it in a box right now and it’s ugly and just not effective for storage. Thanks for the reminder, lol!