Organize decorations now, enjoy benefits for years to come

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH REY AU

By Mim King

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The day after Christmas for the English, Boxing Day, is the day many of us begin to think about boxing up our Christmas clutter. More than figuring out how to keep your Christmas lights untangled, the post-holiday wrap-up is an entree into the process of getting organized for the new year. This year, give yourself a post-Christmas gift and get started now.

Instead of throwing everything into one tangled, unorganized bin, use the following list to manage your storage, and start 2004 with a sense of satisfaction.

Do it in four easy-to-remember steps: rejoice, repeat, replace, renew.

Rejoice

Make it fun. If you've got a lot to put away, set a date to undecorate. Get family and friends involved. Celebrate afterward with a small-gift exchange. Turn used Christmas cards into postcards, and send them out as thank-yous or New Year's greetings.

Repeat

The three wise tips:

• Separate it: Like goes with like, either by type (tree ornaments, lights, garland, Dickens village components) or by location or the room the decorations go in (living room, front porch).

• Contain it: There's no one perfect container. The point is to put everything in a container so that contents are in one place, protected.

A simple and free solution is a partitioned liquor box for ornaments, or use sturdy cardboard boxes that gifts came in. Home supply stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, Wal-Mart) carry lines of Sterilite and Rubbermaid plastic totes in various sizes ($3-$16). See-through bins or totes in festive red and green make for easy identification, particularly in crowded storage areas. Craft containers come with or without wheels to suit your needs.

• Label it: Name each box by type or location. Use large-print signs on each container.

Replace

If a holiday decoration doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it or store it for next year's gift exchange. If need be, stock up on or replace holiday decorations, gift wrap and cards during after-Christmas sales (often at 75 percent off). Put your finds into the appropriate bins for next year.

Wrapping materials: Most ribbons and bows will survive well if packed loosely in a plastic box. Store leftover gift wrap by tightly wrapping it around the roll and securing it with another cardboard roll sliced vertically and snapped over the wrapping. You can also use PVC piping to secure the wrap. Plastic containers for wrapping paper are available in various shapes and sizes. Or, turn an unused diaper changing table into a deluxe wrapping station, if you've got room to store it.

Ornaments: Wrap ornaments separately in tissue, shredded newspaper or bubble wrap, and store them in a large, sturdy plastic container. Also, ornament boxes come with dividers to protect precious cargo.

Various decorations: Really think containers here. Oversize pieces probably get their own box; special ones should be labeled as such.

Lights: The bane of most holiday decorators, lights can in fact be tamed. Home-supply and hardware stores sell inexpensive spools for winding Christmas lights, or look for orange plastic extension cord reels ($7). Or make your own with a piece of corrugated cardboard: notch the sides, and wind lights neatly around the cardboard from one end to the other.

You can also store single strands of lights in labeled Zip-loc bags. Bag and label accessories such as extension cords, hooks and extra bulbs.

Lawn ornaments: Until they figure out how to turn these inside out and convert them into an Easter bunny, you should store these well out of the way, following the guideline, "least used, farthest away."

Wreaths: Use a wreath box ($9 at home supply stores) or your old Derby hat box. Or hang the wreath on a clothes hanger, place it inside a drawstring garbage bag in which you've punched a hole for the hanger, and hang it on a storage-area wall.

Tree: A dry tree is neither pretty nor safe, so don't extend the holiday into February or beyond. Set your tree on the curb for recycling sometime in January. (Next year, consider decorating a small potted tree that you can bring inside for a few weeks.)

Tree stand: This toe-smasher will do well tucked in the rafters of your basement or attic, or out of head-banging range on a hook on your storage-area wall.

Where to store it all? If you put items in the attic or basement, beware excess moisture or heat. Plastic bins keep decorations and wrapping paper dry, they won't break down over time the way cardboard does and they are easily washed. You may want to consider cardboard boxes and use silica packets to control humidity levels, or store keepsakes in a drier area of your home.

Renew

Organizing and putting your decorations away is simply symbolic of bringing your holiday celebrations to a close. You now are ready to begin the new year with a clean slate, which gives you the freedom to begin new projects and routines.

Post-holiday organizing is more than how and where you store your tree ornaments. It's practicing how you preserve and care for those icons of your values, hopes, and goals. When 2004 comes next week, you'll be ready!

Where to get more help? The large-chain home-supply stores have all caught on to getting organized, as evidenced by entire pages in their weekend circulars devoted to containers and systems. Home-help TV shows routinely feature professional organizers and organizing solutions. The Internet has an abundance of Web sites offering tips, newsletters and product information (type in key words of what you'd like to organize, such as "organizing" "holiday", "closets"). Look under Organizing Services in the yellow pages, or work with a professional organizer through www.napo.net

Mim I. King, M.A., NAPO, AADMM • San Francisco, CA 415.572.9597 • Lexington, KY 859.313.5050