When there are more bins of holiday decorations in the attic than there are anything else, then I know I am in trouble. last year I did a major holiday clutter purge, and it will make this holiday season so much better for it.
One thing that tends to happen with holiday decorations, be they for Halloween, Easter or Christmas, is that it is easy to accumulate more than you need. One more ornament the kids made at school, a table decoration that you had to have, a box full of stuff you inherited from someone else, etc.
After the holiday, you sometimes don’t want to face the thought of trying to figure out where the stuff goes, and before you know it, there are pumpkins stashed next to patriotic flags which are next to the light up four leaf clover near the attic door. Not only does this make things dusty, but it also makes it harder to find the right decorations when you need them.
The easiest way to get started with busting holiday clutter is to decide on only one or two holidays for elaborate decorating. For all other holidays, reduce the amount you have so you can still put up some touches here and there, but don’t have to worry about an all out event.
Next, group the decorations by type, theme or room. For example, with Christmas, our elaborate holiday, we have a bin just for the lights, another bin for our snowmen collection a bin for the tree ornaments, and a bin for the Christmas village (which will never see the light of day until the kids are older) and a bin for our nativity sets. Not all of the bins are the same size, but they all get grouped together in the attic.
When you are doing your holiday decorating, you might want to take the opportunity to donate extra ornaments and decorations. Last year, if we couldn’t identify where it came from or its significance, it was donated.