It is so much easier to organize your home if you give yourself manageable tasks. Suburbs 101 contributor, Maura Fitzgerald is making organizing less overwhelming with her monthly column: How to Tackle Your Whole House Throughout The Year Without Becoming Overwhelmed. This month, Maura shows us how to get organized for the Holidays.
The Holidays will be here in a blink! Here are some ways to tackle the Home Organization in preparation of decorating, entertaining, giving and receiving.
Holiday Decorations
I recommend taking a morning to categorize and organize decorations for all holidays, not just the immediately impending season. Decorations and specialty service ware can be sorted by holiday and stored in clear bins and labeled according to holiday and item. Don’t forget to untangle and store lights separately in their own clear bin. If you take bit of time to organize all holidays not just the rapidly approaching holidays, you’ll thank me in 2020 and beyond. Clear bins can be found anywhere from Value Drugs to Home Depot to The Container Store. They’re simple, stackable and look great with a festive label from Labelize IT!
Party Pantry
Around the holidays it is also very useful to have a Party Pantry ready to go on a moment’s notice. People visit and pop in and you’ll want to be able to offer them cheer. Stock your bar or designate an area within your cabinet or panty for this purpose. Extra mixers and seltzer, jarred nuts, nice crackers and pretty sweets can make for a lovely, impromptu spread. I recommend corraling these items in a simple basket or bin so there is one designated spot for you to go to when guests arrive.
Open Shelving
I also take time in November to organize any open shelving in my home. It is the perfect month to declutter and style bookcases and shelves as they are on full display for visitors. Bookcases and shelves can be styled by color blocking books and decorative items. They do not have to be in rainbow order – although ROYGBIV looks great in a kids room or playroom. Color blocking adds a level of sophistication that organizing books by size or topic does not. If you have open shelving in kitchens I highly recommend using a portion of it for your everyday ware. This frees up cabinet space for more pantry items (perhaps a party pantry as described above?). I recently moved all of our everyday ware to open shelving in our kitchen and it has been life-changing. I was able to add an extra cleaning supply cabinet with the space created and its been so useful. And the dishes and cups look wonderful displayed out in the open.
Have fun prepping for the season! All of the above tasks are certain to get you in the spirit.
Suburbs 101 participates in affiliate programs including Amazon Associates Program and may earn from qualifying purchases.
About Maura Fitzgerald
Maura Fitzgerald was born in NYC and raised in Bronxville, NY. She holds a BA from Georgetown University and worked in Print and Digital Advertising Sales for 20 years at Forbes and Time Inc. Now Maura is the founder of Fitz Just Right (FJR), a Luxury Organizational Design Company servicing Westchester County September through June and Annapolis, MD in summer months. She recently launched a new label business, Labelize It. Offering Luxury, Custom Cut Vinyl Labels that keep your home and business organized – one label at a time! Maura and her husband love working for the weekends where they have non-stop action and fun with their 3 children….and everything isn’t always organized. She lives in Bronxville, NY with her husband and three children. Website: www.fitzjustright.com Instagram: @labelizeit and @fitzjustright
You May Also Be Interested in:
Thanksgiving Turkey Trots in Westchester, Greenwich, New Canaan and Rowayton
Feeling Lazy? Thanksgiving Dinner Catering in Greenwich, Darien, Stamford and Westport CT
Westchester Restaurants Open For Thanksgiving
How to Organize Your Linen Closet
How to Organize Your Junk Drawers
About Suburbs 101
Suburbs 101 is an online lifestyle guide for the New York Suburbs of Westchester County, Long Island, Fairfield County and Northern New Jersey. Get the inside scoop on what it’s really like to live in the New York suburbs through our interviews with local suburbanites and features on Food, Fashion, Home, Travel, and Local Events. Be sure to Follow Us on Instagram, Like Us on Facebook and subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter.