Archive for the ‘Holiday Decorating Junkies’ Category
Holiday Storage Tools of the Trade
Holiday Storage by AtticMaxx
Have recent trips up to your attic for holiday decorations left you feeling less than jolly? Are you ready to do things differently so that decorating for the holidays next year is a whole lot easier and less stressful?
Here AtticMaxx is sharing the Tools of the Trade that Professional Organizers use to tackle the most cluttered attics. Armed with this information, you can pack your decorations away in an organized way so that when Christmas 2013 rolls around, you’ll be ready to deck the halls with ease.
Holiday Storage Tools Checklist
Gather up these tools, roll up your sleeves, and your attic storage area will look amazingly different next holiday decorating season!
- Boxes and garbage bags for donating Christmas decorations you no longer need, use or love
- Sturdy, clear storage containers for protecting your holiday treasures
- Tissue paper or shredded paper for wrapping fragile Christmas ornaments
- A pad of paper to write down notes and inventory items
- Masking tape and a Sharpie for labeling those storage containers
- Sticky notes for identifying categories
- Utility hooks for hanging items such as artificial wreaths and garlands
- An MP3 player loaded with good tunes to keep you motivated!
- And of course… AtticMaxx shelving to maximize your attic storage space
For more helpful tips from organizing experts, see a detailed blog post, “Organizing Your Decorating Stuff” from professional organizers at Minding Your Matters.
Anyone who works in the attic deserves a manicure
AtticMaxx Pre-Holiday Special
Did disorganization steal some of your joy in decking the halls last year? If cluttered holiday storage in the attic was part of the problem, we can help.
The best time to install attic shelving is when the attic is EMPTY of all those holiday decorations. So plan ahead to get those teetering towers of storage bins off the floor and onto shelves for easy access all year long! Order AtticMaxx shelves before 6 pm ET on Monday, November 19, 2012 for guaranteed delivery during the long Thanksgiving weekend.
And, in our opinion, anyone who works in the attic deserves a manicure. So here are our pre-holiday specials through November 30, 2012:
- Spend $100 on AtticMaxx products and get a $15 gift card for a holiday manicure at a salon near you
- Spend $200 and get the manicure, plus a FREE one-year online subscription to the Getting Organized Magazine AND, as a special bonus, receive a FREE e-book: Get Organized: Get Revitalized. The e-book contains 80 quick and easy tips to help jump start any organizing process — it is fun and easy to read and full of helpful pictures
As you prepare for and celebrate the holidays, enjoy our funny twist on the holiday classic ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Our version is called, “‘Twas the Day After Thanksgiving: A Decorating Tale by AtticMaxx“.
Let the decorating commence!
A Decorating Tale by AtticMaxx
‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse
The game on TV was chosen with care
He’d root for a championship with a beer and a prayer
The dogs were nestled snug on their beds
While visions of turkey scraps danced in their heads
So I in my sweatpants, decorating plan in hand
Ventured to the attic to fetch the tree stand
The boxes were stacked high and leaning tall
‘Course the box I needed was under them all
Then from my midst there arose such a clatter
Think he’d spring from the couch to see what was the matter?
My tower of boxes had collapsed with a crash
Spilling decorations to the floor, broken and smashed
That moment I chose to end the disorder
And stomped to the Internet to see what to order
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
An attic shelf system that in no time could be here!
More rapid than eagles my AtticMaxx came
And I whistled and shouted above another game!
With a cordless screw driver and my hair pulled back
I took the first steps toward my attic attack
One shelf, then two, three and four!
In minutes my decorations were ready to store
To the top of my trusses! To the top of my walls!
There’d be no more frustration in decking the halls!
And when I was done I stood back to admire
My organized attic to which others could aspire
My bins sat neatly atop each shelf
It wouldn’t have been easier if made by an elf
Unstacking boxes were a thing of the past
My AtticMaxx shelves were here to last
They held decos for Christmas, Halloween and Easter
And childhood treasures being saved for my sister
Camping, beach, ski, other seasonal gear
To be easily accessed throughout the year
And then, during a commercial, he heard near our roof
The prancing and dancing of his wife like a goof
As I took a step down and turned around
Up the attic stairs he charged with a bound
His eyes how they twinkled, his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
No missing the game for wife’s boxes to tow!
He sprang down the ladder, to his team gave a whistle,
And away he flew back to the couch like a missile
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he fell out of sight
“Happy decorating to all, and to all a good night!”
So…
Holiday decorating need not bring on stress
A woman with a mission can clean up the mess
Don’t let disorganization steal the joy
With a cordless screwdriver – who needs a boy?
The winner of the 2012 Spooky Attic Sweepstakes is Lorie ONeil of Ogallala, NE! Lorie will receive a FREE attic storage makeover with great prizes including:
- An AtticMaxx Shelving System (set of 8 shelves) for attic trusses
- A one-hour consult from a professional organizer
- Eight Rubbermaid® Roughneck® Clear storage containers
- A Fabric Garment Rack Closet
- Two 10-label packs of Post-it® Storage Container Labels 2800-SC
- A $25 gift card for a manicure to use after she’s organized her attic!
Congratulations, Lorie! And for those who didn’t win, you can still take small steps to turn the chaos of your attic into valuable, organized storage space. Organizing expert Perri Kersh offers great attic-attack organization tips to help you get started pre-holiday decorating. And be sure to register on our website to recieve special offers on the purchase of an AtticMaxx Shelving System.
Visit our Facebook photo gallery to view some of the spookiest (disorganized) attic pics entered into the AtticMaxx Spooky Attic Sweepstakes!
Just imagine the joy of being able to find that tree topper this year without having to unstack and dig through piles of boxes! Don’t get aggravated…get organized! Restore all the joy to holiday decorating this season.
If you’ve done the prep work we suggested in Step One of our attic organization challenge, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get started! Pick a spot near the entrance and work your way clockwise around the attic.
Be ruthless and thorough. Open each box and sort into one of the following categories:
KEEP items appropriate for the attic such as:
- Holiday décor you regularly use to decorate
- Off-season clothing you still regularly wear
- Clothing you’re handing down from one child to the next
- Furniture you plan to use again in the near future (wood doesn’t hold up well long term in the heat)
- Archival paper you rarely need (e.g., old tax returns)
- Luggage
- Family heirlooms you use infrequently but treasure
TRASH or RECYCLE items that are no longer useful or in functional condition for others such as:
- Obsolete computer or electrical equipment
- Paper you don’t need to keep for financial, legal or sentimental reasons
- Clothing, furniture or heirlooms that are no longer in useful condition
DONATE or SHARE with Loved Ones items that could be useful or functional such as:
- Clothing you haven’t worn for two or more years
- “Treasures” you never use and keep just in case…
- Furniture you’re keeping but do not plan to use
MOVE ELSEWHERE items you want to keep but that do not belong in the attic due to the elements or to frequency of use such as:
- Photos
- Candles
- Delicate or vintage fabrics
- Books (Silverfish will have a feast!)
- Sporting goods
Once you determine the items you’re keeping, group like with like as natural categories become apparent. Think of how often you access these items when deciding where to locate them in the attic, keeping frequently accessed items near the door.
WOW! You did it-the heavy lifting is done! Remember to let us know if you’re on board with the AtticMaxx “Organize Your Attic” challenge by commenting below or speaking up on the AtticMaxx Facebook Page.
Join us next week for Step Three as we discuss some of the challenges of attic organization and then, for Week Four, we wrap it all up for the “Big Reveal!”
