Our holiday totes live in a deep closet. All the way in the back. Which is a problem right about now, because I need them.
It's the one space in our house I haven't really spent time organizing. It's not overflowing, it's just… a lot. Winter coats. Our wedding attire. My yoga mat. Suitcases all willy nilly. Totes with childhood keepsakes. A few throw pillows I'm still deciding whether I want to keep. Two cassette tape organizers Heath wanted but isn't using. Speakers from a family member that we're not going to use either. The empty box for our Nintendo Switch, which we are not returning and definitely don't need. And, of course, the box of candles we still don't talk about.
I think most houses have a spot like this. Most of the year, it's fine. You close the door and move on. Then the holidays show up and suddenly your house has a lot more to do. More people coming in and out. More food. More of those small decisions that wear you down by dinnertime.
That last part is real, by the way. Everything in your line of sight is quietly asking your brain for attention, and it adds up faster than you'd think. The holidays just pile on.
So no, you don't need to organize the whole house before Thanksgiving. Just the few spots that are about to get a workout.
Start with the entry. It's the first thing people see and the first place to fill up. In Colorado, that means snow boots, puffy coats, and whatever bag everyone drops the second they walk in. Clear out anything that doesn't need to be there right now. Then give people one obvious place for their stuff — a few hooks, a bench, a basket for hats and gloves.
Then the fridge. Holiday cooking takes up more room than regular cooking, and it shows up all at once. Before the big grocery run, toss what's expired and combine the half-used jars so there's one empty shelf waiting for the pie (or the turkey, or whatever you got assigned this year). While you're at it, pull the baking stuff together in the pantry so you're not hunting for the nutmeg halfway through a recipe.
If you've got people staying over, there's a good chance the guest room has had another job since summer. Storage. A second office. The place things go when you don't know where they go. Your guests don't need it to look like a hotel. They need somewhere to put their bag, a few empty hangers, and a bed that isn't also holding the folded laundry. And if you're not sure what to do with everything that's been living in there, you don't have to get rid of it. More on that here.
And then there are the holiday totes. Getting decorations out isn't really the hard part. It's the digging — moving four other things to get to the one bin you need — and then putting it all back in a way that doesn't make January worse.
A few things help. Keep whatever you'll grab first up front. Label the outside of every tote, even if it's just masking tape and a permanent marker. While you're decorating, pull the lights that don't work and anything that didn't get put up last year, and decide on those before they go back in a bin. If one closet has to hold both holiday stuff and everyday stuff, the everyday stuff gets the front. The totes just need a clear path. I did this in a client's under-stairs closet in September — we grouped all their holiday totes together so they could come out at once instead of one dig at a time.
My closet is next. The totes are coming out this week either way, so they might as well go back in better than they came out. The Switch box is not making the cut.
If there’s a spot in your house (or a whole list of them) you’d like working better before everyone shows up, there’s still time. I’m booking across Northern Colorado now. Let's talk →