“How do you go about organizing your seasonal decorations?”

This is one of the questions I’m asked repeatedly, and today is the day I’m answering it with all the details!

But First, Exciting News!

Before I jump into sharing how I organize my decor, I am so excited to share that this week we hit 40,000 subscribers on YouTube!

I don’t think many people share about how difficult it can be to start a new YouTube channel. I remember the first year I worked non-stop to help get it off the ground, and by the end of the year we had 1,000 subscribers.

To be here, about 3 years later, looking at 40,000 is a dream come true!

Thank you all for the part you hold in the She Holds Dearly community!

In honor of this milestone, I’m holding a brand new giveaway, and I’ll share all the details below!

Update: **The Giveaway is now closed, Congratulations to Heidi & Colleen who BOTH won a “Your Turn Consultation”! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to links to their completed consultations!***

How I Organize my Seasonal Decor:

I think this question is asked so often because decorations that aren’t currently in use and that don’t have a place to be put away can make for a big chaotic mess!

It’s lovely to have things on hand for all of the seasons and occasions, but not when those things feel overwhelming due to a lack of organization.

Being that I do this for my job, I probably have even more decor than the average DIY homeowner, and the following is the system I have found works well for me to keep good track of my items.

This can be easily scaled down for someone who has less decor overall, or adjusted for those who have other constraints, like storage as an example. I realize that not everyone has shop space for setting aside multiple tubs of seasonal decor.

My hope would be that this gives you a place to start to make a plan of your own that will work for you and your space!

*This post contains affiliate links to products I know &/or love.

First Things First: Sorting

My seasonal decor is sorted into the four seasons, and each encompasses smaller holidays and occasions that show up within that season:

• Winter (Christmas, Valentines)
• Spring (Easter)
• Summer (4th of July)
• Fall (Halloween)

Then within each season, I organize things into these large 20 gallon tote bins. I prefer that they be a solid color and NOT see through because I found that it was too much visual clutter to see the things even after they were put away.

These bins can be a bit of an investment, but I think they’re worth it in the long-run!

For Spring, Summer and Fall I have 2 bins each, for Winter, largely because of Christmas decor, I have 8 bins!

Next: Inventory

Stay with me! There are some of you who are already popping open your excel spreadsheets and others that just felt their eyes roll back into their head reading the word “inventory”.

It’s really not as bad as it sounds!

Once my items are organized into their specific season, I catalog them to be able to easily keep track of which items are in which bins.

My system is basic and anyone can do it! (I commend those of you who will take an idea like this and run with it, that’s just not me!)

I have a simple document for each season, and within each document I list my bins “Fall 1”, “Fall 2”, and then a short description of the items that are inside.

Easy, right?!

I honestly think the hardest part of this entire system is remembering to put everything away in the bin I got it from.

Oh, and remembering to add items as I find them at thrift-stores throughout the year!

But all it takes is just a little bit of babysitting on these few documents, and I have a system that enables me to keep up on organizing my seasonal decorations!

Filler Items & Large Items:

There are a few different things that I keep out of my seasonal bins, either because they don’t really fit any one season well (fillers), or because they’re too large (like pictures and small furniture pieces).

For large items that can tolerate being in our shop without heat or moisture control, I put those items on the very top shelf and cover them with a thin layer of plastic to help control the dust.

I add these items to my same inventory pages, on the page for the applicable season, with a note stating that they’re up on the top shelf.

For large items like my artwork and pictures, which I don’t want to risk being ruined from moisture, I keep them inside in our pantry closet off our living room.

Again the top shelf is reserved for the large items, and I just stack them together like books or cookie sheets to save the most room.

Smaller items and “filler” items are sorted into the wooden “tool chests” you see on the middle shelf.

How do You get Started?:

• Declutter

I truly believe that decluttering should always be the first step when it comes to decorations! To be able to see your items with fresh eyes and only keep what sparks joy will be life-changing if you’re feeling overwhelmed!

I recommend being a little ruthless with decorations as you’re going through them. There’s no sense in keeping things that are “only ok”.

If they’re far out of style, broken, or just aren’t something that you enjoy using, now’s the time to gift or donate it!

• Organize

Once you’ve got your items pared down to the things that bring joy, organize them into manageable sections, whether that is seasons like I’ve done, or individual holidays, whichever is going to work best for the pieces you have.

Then get some sort of bin or container to hold the different sections you’ve split your items into.

• Catalog

Last but not least, catalog them somehow! Whether that’s an intricate spreadsheet, or a piece of note paper taped to the outside of the bin, do what works for you and will help you remember what items you’ve placed in each bin!

Then lastly, just remind yourself to plan time for the house-keeping aspect:

• Putting things back in the same bins they came out of.
• Adding new items to the correct bins and to your list as you bring them in to your home.

Viola! You’ll be amazed at how much stress and frustration goes away as you have things organized and easily accessible.

Tame the chaos now and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits for years to come!

Tips for Organizing your Seasonal Decorations:

• Before you get started, have a selection of tissue paper and bubble wrap on hand for fragile items. OR you can plan on packing glass items away with pillow covers, blankets and other linens that you can use to wrap and protect the glass.
• Have a label maker handy! It makes it so neat and quick to label the bins right away as you go!
• Store your faux florals upright in vases and buckets that aren’t currently being used. This helps keep them from being crushed inside the tote bins! (Some of them don’t bounce back after being squished, and you don’t want them ruined!) My tall vases with florals go up on the top shelf with other large items.

** G I V E A W A Y D E T A I L S!**

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed, and the application has been removed. But I do now have Power Hours Available for purchase HERE.

Congratulations to Heidi & Colleen who’s spaces I chose to design for this giveaway prize! You can find Heidi’s Living Room HERE. And Colleen’s Kitchen will be coming in just a few weeks!

*Original Giveaway details*

And now the moment some of you have been waiting for (or maybe scrolled down through the blog content to read ahead of time because you were also very excited….)!

For my 40k subscriber giveaway, I’m offering something I typically only offer to members of my Behind the Scenes Decor Group :

What I call a A “Your Turn Consultation”.

What that means is that I’ll be giving a virtual consultation to one giveaway winner where I’ll :

• Review the pictures of your space and any design problems or dilemmas
• Listen to your dreams and aspirations for the space
• Share my solutions for your space
• This will include mood boards specific to your home with sources and products to give you a good feel for what it could look like. (More about mood boards below if you’re not sure what they are!)
• And the details of the consultation will be featured here on the blog and on a YouTube video!

I’m really excited to share the “why” behind the suggestions that I’ll be making. I think this is something that’s really missing in the design community in our present day and age.

We see things being changed and updated on places like HGTV, and Instagram, but rarely hear WHY certain design decisions were made. I’m hoping to change that!

If you’re unfamiliar with mood boards, I shared about how to create your own mood board last year.

You can enter your email address below to receive your copy of that tutorial video:

And here is a sample mood board that I put together for a Mother’s Room at a church.

And another example of one I put together during one of my Behind the Scenes classes where I taught my seven layers of decorating.

I can’t wait to see your entries into the 40k giveaway so I can choose a lucky winner to start designing for!

And that’s it for this post!

I hope that these organizational tips are helpful for your space! If you have any questions about my tricks for organizing your seasonal decorations, please list them in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer and clarify!

Pin this Tutorial for How to Organize your Seasonal Decorations: