Bin There Done That

’Tis the night before Christmas…well almost…and this designer is already thinking ahead to next year. Christmas is a crazy, festive, busy time of year. In fact, I’m pretty sure all of my friends are completely exhausted (although we all still have smiles on our faces!). With that in mind, let’s plan ahead to make next year run even smoother than this year. After all, a lack of sleep can cause wrinkles.
When you are out buying those last-minute items this year, buy some clear plastic bins – lots of them – and some wrapping paper storage containers. Personally, I have three of these handy dandy containers – for Christmas, birthdays and miscellaneous (baby showers, weddings, get well, etc.). By the way,I have already seen a few ads for these containers on sale for 50 percent off this week – you can be organized and save money; a girl’s gotta love it when that happens! If you have the bins at home, you can organize all of your Christmas decorations as you put them away. As you take the tree down, sort decorations and put away the lights, you can put them directly into the bins. Your outside decorations should also have their own bins. I love the clear plastic bins – once each bin has been labelled and stacked, they are then safely stored in the basement until next season. This makes getting ready for Christmas next year a breeze.

Many stores offer coloured bins, or at least bins with coloured lids, so consider buying bins with red or green lids to differentiate them from the other bins in the storage room. My Christmas decorations are stored by colour as I often change decorating themes from year to year or have different colours and items in different sections of the house. The more organized you are, the more efficiently things happen at home.
I also stock up on new decorations, small stocking stuffers and hostess gifts as the retailers put them on sale at the end of the year. So ensure that you have enough bins for any new decorations, gifting accessories, cards and stocking gifts (such as Christmas candles, special ornaments, etc.) that you may need to store. Inside my bins, I use various-sized Ziploc bags to keep light strands from becoming tangled, cards sorted and scented oils and miscellaneous berries together.
The same can be said for New Year’s Eve décor. If you have clearly labelled bins for each special season or day, decorating and hosting a party is easy and you can actually take advantage of sale items you have purchased. There is no savings in buying stuff on sale when you are unable to locate it when you need it.

I also have smaller bins that are filled with ribbons, miscellaneous cards and gift-wrapping supplies, such as scissors, tape and tissue paper. The more organized we become the better life flows – so before you even make a New Year’s resolution to get organized in 2008, get organized in 2007. Start your organizational makeover this year and kick off the new year on the right foot.