Episode 17 - Being Intentional with Holiday Decorations & How to Decide What to Purge - Intentional Edit

Holiday decorations are a special way to decorate and be a reminder of the season. It doesn’t matter if you limit holiday decorations or go all out for holidays in your home – this episode will help you purge unwanted items and decorations you haven’t been using, give storage ideas to keep things in good condition and organized for next year, and guide you to make intentional decisions about what you decide to decorate with.

Listen to this episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast now!

Full Episode Transcription:

TIS the season of sparkly lights and Christmas trees everywhere. Holiday decor, no matter what holiday foods for is a special way to decorate and be a reminder of the season, whether you limit holiday decorations or go all out in your home, this episode will help you purge unwanted items and decorations you haven’t been using and hopeless storage ideas to keep things in good condition and organized for next year. If you’re struggling with daily tasks, clutter organization, and finding any sort of work life balance, the intentional edit podcast is for you. It’s time to stop the chaos and live with more intention. I have Lauren and I’m here to help you declutter implement systems and maximize routines that remove the overwhelming unorganized parts of life. Bringing simplicity to your home, come on. It’s time to create a life. You love.

(00:54):

Welcome to episode 17 of the intentional edit podcast. It’s hard to believe that this is already episode 17 and the podcast hasn’t even been out for two months can believe how quickly time is flying by. And that we’re already on this many episodes. Today. We are going to talk about holiday decorations and we all know that holiday decorations look cute displayed in stores and on catalog pages. Social media influencers have been doing an excellent job, tempting us with all the latest Christmas and winter decorations since just before Halloween. Doesn’t it feel like this is the longest Christmas season ever. I’ve had Christmas lights up in my neighborhood since the first week of November. I swear. They went up the day after Halloween. Half of my neighbors have Christmas up and some still had fall up for a very long time. It was a good mix.

(01:41):

Neighbors with creative decorations might make you want to step up your game and influence what you’re purchasing for outside decor too. It’s not limited to social media and catalogs and what you see in the stores. Even the town that I live in has an adorable downtown area that has fabulous Christmas lights that I just love. And I think driving through there and hearing the Christmas music playing, and they have ice sculptures out a lot. Sometimes there’s a Santa Claus on the side of the street. Seeing all that just is kind of brings you the magic of the season and it inspires you. Or at least it does. For me, it kind of inspires me to want to decorate and want to have a little more fun and take those decorations up a notch to bring that to my home too. Of course, sometimes we can be scrolling late at night on our phones and it can lead to purchases of things that we might not need.

(02:31):

It might be something that just catches our eye and we don’t really have a place for it. So it ends up replacing something that we already could have put there or have been putting in that location in years past, if you end up buying something to decorate as a replacement for something else that you already had, and that means you aren’t going to use that item anymore. If that older item is not being used and you’re not bringing it out anymore, that could be something that you could donate. A lot of people don’t have Christmas decorations or holiday decorations for that matter. And it’s something that they would like to do. It’s just not in the budget. Donating the items that are still in great condition that you no longer are using is so beneficial for so many people that want to add to their decor or start having these items.

(03:16):

And they can get them at a lower cost and really enjoy them for many years to come. It might not be your favorite anymore, but it could be a wonderful addition to someone who doesn’t have those holiday decorations. Before we talk about purging and how to handle the holiday decorations that are taking up space in your house ones, you aren’t using seasonally anymore. I want to give you some background. So you don’t think I’m this minimalist Scrooge trying to encourage you to get rid of your favorite things. That’s not where I’m coming from at all. When holiday decor and seasonal decor is in mind, I actually really like holiday decorations. I’m totally here for a good theme. Of course, mismatch, scattered random decor is not my thing, but that’s really fitting with my personality and I’ve always loved planning and intention for anything and that’s included and how you decorate for the holidays and get to enjoy the different season.

(04:06):

When I was growing up, one of my friends had the most magnificent holiday decorated home imaginable. Her mom was a master at transforming the house inside and out to a magical fairytale feeling for whatever holiday. It was really mean, whatever holiday cause I swear she decorated for every holiday, big or small. I have so many memories of going over there at different times throughout the year and admiring what she had created. I remember candy theme one year, or maybe it was just one area that was that candy theme, but there were giant lollipops and candy rack ornaments hanging from a Garland. When you walked into the house, it was like around their front door. Honestly, her Halloween decorations rivaled the Christmas, they were equally fantastic. I even remember a bunch of white feathers and fluff and red hearts. One year around Valentine’s day, the decorations were magnificent and magical.

(04:58):

Everyone who visited their home, I think even people would slow down as they would drive by and look up to their entry because it was always fabulously decorated and just so special as a child or even a teenager. Cause I wasn’t worried about the storage or where those items were kept when they weren’t on display. I was just captivated by the fun and the way that it made me feel when I went there for the season. And it really made that holiday, that holiday come alive. I would say at some point I remember finding out their entire garage was dedicated to storage. It was like all storage of all of these holiday decorations. It honestly didn’t phase me. Now, here we are 30 something years later and I’ve worked in many homes as a professional organizer homes, really with too much clutter and not enough storage space.

(05:46):

So I’m aware, I know that clutter lack of storage and overflowing story, it causes stress. There is a lot of negativity associated with that. Having too many things, clutter and homes does cost cause stress. I’ve also over the years, developed a philosophy of being very intentional with what I allow in my homes and I encourage my clients to do the same thing. How do the things that you bring into your home make you feel, being aware and intentional with what we allow to take up our space and time is important. And the more that we do that, the more that we realize how we are negatively affected and impacted by clutter. But looking back at this fabulously decorated home for every season and holiday I’m beyond thankful, I was able to be a tiny part of that. I was just a guest to going over there.

(06:34):

I think that that amazing mom was enjoying the shopping and the decorating and that she was intentional about creating memories for her family. I’m certain, it brought her joy. She was excited about these things and she was excited to share them with the people that came over. Sometimes there were a Nutcracker that would play music or a dancing Christmas tree or something with flashing lights or whatever it was, it was automated. And she would always get excited to show us those things think that’s so special. And that’s why I can look back at that and think she was going shopping. And she was discovering these things and finding them it was making her happy to have them and put them on display year after year, whether she was changing the theme or not. She was enjoying the entire process from start to finish. Her kids obviously were benefiting from that.

(07:23):

But everyone that went to their home was captivated by this magic where she had transformed her, her home into a Halloween Wonderland or a Valentine’s Wonderland, whatever holiday it was. There was just so much to look at and see, and it felt so magical to be there. It wasn’t just the decorations that were amazing. I think the energy and the atmosphere in the home, just because of the family and their personalities, it all came together. And that family has always been one of my favorite families because of that happiness and fun that they could bring out. And the decorations were a big part of that. The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I don’t think about decorating my own home for the holidays without having those amazing back images of those displays and the fun at their house in my brain. I’m so bad.

(08:11):

I have those as almost like a reference point of what I can incorporate. I don’t go that over the top. I kind of feel like I wouldn’t even do as good of job like bars at very high. It doesn’t matter if you want minimal decorations for the seasons or the holidays you’re decorating for. You might not even decorate at all. A lot of people only have one or two holidays. They decorate a for and nothing changes for the rest of them. Some people don’t decorate for the holidays and they find seasonal decor more. What they’re interested in, a lot of homes are the same all year round, very minimal changes happen, maybe a bouquet of flowers or a wreath on the door and whatever fits you is, okay. It’s really more than okay. If you feel good about it, that’s all that matters. Of course you could be on the other end and go all out over the top decorations at different times throughout the year, whatever side you fall on or somewhere in the middle, being intentional with what you do is important.

(09:08):

I will say that for so many things, whether it’s creating a system in your home or holiday decorations, I am big on being intentional. It will bring you the most joy. You can also look at it from the other side. If you’re not intentional, what you’re doing can also be the cause of your stress. If these things aren’t properly executed, I’m not here to give you a guide on a correct number of holiday decorations per home or square footage or anything like that. Just like with every presume project coaching session or system created, it needs to be customized to the needs of your family. And you need to feel good about it. If you don’t feel good about it. And either way, if you feel like it’s too much or it’s not enough, then you can make the necessary changes. That was kind of a long story.

(09:52):

Are you ready for me to get to the point and give you the actionable takeaways that can help you with your decorations? I’m sure you are. It’s not a secret. That storage space is limited in a lot of homes, condos, and apartments. Even if your current home has a ton of storage space and you have that ample space, it doesn’t mean you have to fill it empty. Shelves and cabinets are wonderful just because you have the space. Don’t think that every space has to have something in it. It’s better to have access in terms of space than it is to fill it all proper storage and consistent purging of items you have stopped using is the key to keeping your holiday storage organized. And once you do this, you will know everything you have tucked away. Nicely in these bends in containers are things that you actually want in your home.

(10:38):

You don’t have to be surprised the next year or feel discouraged. Once you’ve decluttered removed all of the stuff that you don’t put out anyway, then decorating for whatever holiday it is, becomes easier because you’ve eliminated all of the unnecessary, unwanted things. I prefer purging holiday decorations when you get them out to decorate for that particular holiday. But if you have already put up your winter or Christmas decorations and you’ve decorated this already, this can be a great time to purge as well. If you’re listening to this at a different time throughout the year, you can do this with any holiday or seasonal decor. At any point, I’m going to kind of walk you through this as if your decorations are already up because we’re in mid December and you most likely have your winter and Christmas decor up. The reason it’s beneficial at this point is because you are done decorating.

(11:30):

The lights are home. The decorations are on display ornaments on the tree. And you have brought that magic of the season to your home with your favorite things. And your favorite decorations now is a great time to take inventory of what it is still in those boxes. What did you leave in the bins and the storage containers. You made a choice to leave them in there and not put them out this year. You made the intentional decision when you were putting out your decor to not put those items up and you left them in their boxes and containers. You left them in the beds, put the lids back on, close them up. For some reason, they didn’t make their cut and they didn’t go up this year. Most likely this is not the first time that has happened unless you’ve moved or changed locations. And you have a different space that you’re decorating a reason why your coordinates have changed.

(12:18):

If, if that’s not it, then you’re probably choosing to not put the same things up year after year, as you replace or purchase more, you might have more things that are not being put up. Go back to the idea that you made a decision when you were decorating. If there’s items left in your bins and your storage containers, all of your decor is up and you are happy with it. You intentionally left some of those things and did not choose to put them up. Why, why did you do that? If these are valuable to you, sentimental or a favorite, why did you make an intentional decision to leave them in storage instead of putting them up to add to your holiday decorations and that magical feeling, the feeling that you’re trying to bring to your home this time of year. I want you to really think about that.

(13:05):

Be honest with yourself, and don’t just make excuses about keeping the unwanted unused disliked holiday decor really quickly. Let me address sentimental items. It’s common to have a few things that have been handed down or that are special memories for you. Usually there comes a time when we’re ready to discard some of those things. If we’re not ever using them once we’ve had them for awhile, sometimes it feels like we can finally get rid of them. But other times we hang onto them for many years, be honest with yourself about the sentimental items. If these are something you will never display and are just keeping to keep them, think about taking a photo of it and keeping that as a memory, donate this item, you can also contact other family members and see if anyone else wants it. Someone else in your family might, if they want it, they might actually use it.

(13:58):

And then the item is serving a purpose. And that is so much better than just sitting in a box where no one sees it and it never is taken out for many years. You can feel good about passing it onto that family member. If no one wants it, that should help relieve some of that guilt you’re you might be feeling about getting rid of it. You can donate it and not feel guilty about donating it because someone else is going to get that item and actually use it. If there is no way you can part with a sentimental item and it’s too important to you trying to gather all of those pieces that are sentimental and keep them together in one box or bin, you can store that in a hard to reach location. You can put it out of the way up high or somewhere where it doesn’t need to be kept with the rest of that holiday decor section, because you’re not using it.

(14:47):

It’s really more of a permanent storage location or semi-permanent I should say, because you, you don’t need to deal with it every year. You have no intention to get it out. You’re strictly keeping it because it’s sentimental. If a sentimental item is something that you plan to use in the future, that’s a little bit of different case, but I’d still recommend putting it somewhere where it’s out of the way. Not with whatever holiday it’s for. We’ll go with Christmas. Cause that’s coming up, not with the regular Christmas decorations that you keep getting out every year. I can give you an example of something I have. I’m pretty good about purging items that we’re no longer using. I don’t like to keep things around just to have them. I don’t have the mentality that I might need it again someday. And definitely if it’s under a $20 item, this is called the 2020 rule.

(15:35):

And I think it’s so great for so many things. If you could replace something in 20 minutes or less, and it costs you $20 or less, do not even consider keeping it because you might need it again someday. That’s, it’s just not worth the space that it takes up back to the holiday decorations. I have a Christmas tree. It’s one of those silver tinsel trees. I think you might even be aluminum. And it was from the 1950s or sixties. And it has the working color wheel that you plug into the wall. And it shines on the tree. It was my grandparents street and I’ve had it since the early two thousands and my old, old house. I actually put it up and it was so fun. It was unlike any other tree. But when I moved, it didn’t fit in my last house. If you’ve seen these old tensile trees, the tree is actually wider than it is tall.

(16:23):

And they have these long individual branches. It’s not a full tree at all, but it takes up a lot of space with DWIs. I have that tree. It’s important to me moving into that house and realizing I didn’t have a place for it. I made an intentional decision to keep it it’s in a box altogether. Working parts is amazing that that color real still works after all of these years, but it does. I have it in one container. It was stored up in my attic. Once I realized that I didn’t, that I wouldn’t be putting it up. As long as I lived in that house, I, it was pushed to a back section of my attic that was not easily accessible, but my intention was that someday when I didn’t live there and live someplace else, I would be able to put it up again.

(17:08):

I don’t live in that house anymore. I’ve moved since then. And in my current house this year, I think that I have a place where I can put it now after probably eight to 10 years of not using it. I’m excited to finally have a place where I can put it up and have it on display for the entire Christmas season. I was intentional about keeping that tree. It was important to me, but I don’t have sentimental value to physical things. I love pictures. Most things do not have a sentimental attachment to me and I can get rid of them easily. I could get rid of this tree and it wouldn’t be heartbreaking or devastating for me. I don’t even think I would really feel bad about it, but I like the tree it’s special to me. It does have good for me. And it’s something that I wanted to keep.

(17:52):

So I’ve made it possible to be able to keep that where I lived at that time with the future in mind, there are certain things you can do that with really think about what are you keeping? Are you keeping something with the intention that it is to be stored forever? And that’s the end? Or are you keeping something in storage? Because at a certain time you plan to use it again. Those are two different things to consider and only, you know, that don’t feel like you have to keep things. Don’t keep things out of guilt because that’s actually causing you stress. And it is burdening you going back to the general decorations in these bins boxes, containers that you did not put up this year. If they are still in the containers or stored in your basement or attic out of sight, out of mind, type of thing, grab a few trash bags and go to the, that space and ruthlessly, declutter them, toss anything in those boxes.

(18:47):

We’ll toss it into the trash. If it’s broken or stained and then take some other trash bags and place all of your items for donation. So many people that I have worked in their homes have the Christmas bears from the eighties, maybe early nineties, that department store has gave away around Christmas time. And they have them in these boxes or they have them stored in trash bags or something. They never get them out. But for some reason we don’t get rid of them. If you are not using that item, why are you keeping it, think about it? Why are you letting it take up your valuable storage space? If you have no intention of using it in the future, those are the things that you can guilt-free get rid of when you’re finished with the purging wipe down and clean out the containers. So that they’re ready for the decorations that you already have up right now to be put away after the holidays, to take everything down, you put it away and you’re good to go as you take the items down and put them away after the holiday, think about the pieces you’re returning to the boxes.

(19:50):

There may be some things that you put up this year that you don’t love. And you’re just putting it up out of habit. It’s because you’ve always done it. It’s like this cookie jar has always gone here or you’ve always hung this thing up here. You don’t have to do that. Give yourself permission to donate things that you don’t love or that don’t fit the look or the design that you’re going for anymore. If something makes an annoying song, you know, plays an annoying song or has flashing lights that you don’t like, it’s okay to donate those things and not feel guilty. I know I keep saying that, but I want you to feel like you have permission to let go of these things more specific to the storage. I prefer large plastic bins over cardboard, and that goes for any type of storage all the time, things can be damaged and cardboard.

(20:35):

It deteriorates over time. The large plastic bins last, if they’re not clear plastic bins, make sure you label them. You don’t have to be super specific because it seems like with holiday decor from year to year, the same exact things don’t get put back in the boxes. If you’re a person that can manage that and maintain that, you can be very specific with your labels. Labeling generally what goes in there like Christmas decorations, Christmas ornaments, or ornaments. If you have more than one tree for what tree it’s for, and then try to stack each holiday together. So when you go to decorate for Halloween, you can pull all the Halloween boxes out, they’re all labeled, or maybe they’re all the orange and black totes. They’re all in the same general area. Each holiday kind of has its own area. And if you don’t decorate a lot, you might only have one or two bins for most holidays.

(21:26):

That’s fine. Try to keep your storage organized. Reese can be stored in large wreath containers. There’s those big plastic wreath containers you can buy. Sometimes there’s the wreath bags that almost feel like a tarp or a big garbage bag works great too. You don’t have to buy a special storage for each holiday. A garbage bag will do the trick to keep the dust off. It’s possible to hang the large decor, like a reef or the odd shape decorations. You can put those in a basement or an attic, but hanging them up is helpful and can use that hard to reach or awkward space where something like that can hang and be out of the way, but a big storage box or bin wouldn’t fit there. Remember with your holiday decorations, if you’re purchasing new ones or decorating from what you already have, the purpose of holiday decorations is to bring magic.

(22:17):

It’s bringing the magic of the season to your home and family it’s to help with the celebration, whatever holiday it is. What is the celebration revolve around? Why is this significant for this type of year or holiday, whatever it is that you are decorating for, the decorations should enhance that and make you feel good. If your decor isn’t bringing you joy, or it’s causing you more stress than positivity, then think about putting less up and relieving yourself of some of that work, whatever you choose for holiday decorations, going all out. Maybe you want to keep it simple, make sure you’re enjoying it and being intentional with what you’re keeping and allowing to take up valuable storage space in your home and allowing to take space when it’s out. It is a decoration that’s being used. Make sure it makes you feel good. Be certain with what you want to keep and what you want to put out again in the coming years.

(23:13):

Thank you for listening to the intentional edit podcast. If you found today’s episode valuable, tell your friends about it by taking a screenshot, sharing it on social and tagging me at intentional edit. I’ll be back soon with another episode in the meantime, find me at attentional, edit.com and be sure to follow intentional edit on social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, to ensure you catch future episodes, click the subscribe or follow button. Now I am grateful for a five star rating and review from you. Be sure to let me know what you liked about this episode and what you want me to cover in the future.

Listen to other episodes of The Intentional Edit Podcast.

You can listen to THE INTENTIONAL EDIT PODCAST anywhere you listen to podcasts!

If you have questions please send me a DM on Instagram. I do my best to reply to all the messages I receive.

Lauren is the founder of Intentional Edit, a home organization and lifestyle company focused on consciously editing to create efficient and organized spaces. Lauren believes that a functional home that looks and feels good has a positive influence on all aspects of life. Creating systems that allow for the home to function more efficiently, therefore, eliminating most of the clutter and chaos is her priority. While trends come and go organization is always in style!

Intentional Edit participates in select affiliate advertising programs. If you click and/or make a purchase through certain links on this site or any related social media platforms, Intentional Edit may make a commission. All opinions are my own.