During the warm days of summer, Christmas is usually the farthest thing from most people's minds. However, summer may actually be a great time to do some pre-planning and organization for the holidays, because we aren't yet inundated with parties, gift shopping, family gatherings, and the other usual holiday distractions. In this article, we'll explain how you can get yourself prepared now so that you'll have more free time to spend with family and friends when Christmastime actually rolls around.

Getting organized and prepared for the holidays can take on many forms. When it comes to little details like planning meals or gift shopping, these tasks are best left until closer to the Christmas season. The best way to spend your holiday organizing energy during the off season is in organizing decorations. Many of us keep our decorations stuffed into a variety of boxes or bags, crammed into corners, closets, and dusty attics. In January, we're usually anxious to take decorations down, so it may seem more convenient to just put it all away, even if it is a garbled mess, and deal with everything next November. But in reality, if you take a little time to organize your holiday decorations, they will be easier to find and use when the time comes, making for a smoother and less stressful holiday season.

There are many different ways to arrange seasonal storage items; you'll want to choose the one that works best for you. One common organization strategy is to categorize your items into groups by type. For example, all the Christmas lights go in one box, ornaments in another, and so on. This can be a very effective strategy, thought it does depend somewhat on how extensively you decorate your home at the holidays. If you have one or two primary rooms that you decorate, this method of organizing will work well. However, if you have a very large home and you have unique decorations for every room of the house, you may want to employ a different method. In this situation, it may be advantageous for you to store decorations by room of the house. So all the decorations for the kitchen are stored together, items for the foyer go in another box, so on and so forth.

Regardless of how you group the items, pay careful attention to the way you store them. For example, try to choose airtight containers whenever possible, and preferably something that pests cannot get into. Holiday decorations of any type, whether its lights, wrapping paper, an artificial tree, or anything else will last longer if they are kept away from extreme hot, cold, and humidity. In general, cardboard boxes are the worst type of storage container, because they are easily penetrated by pests and dirt, and they wick up moisture easily. Clear plastic totes can work well for storing items, because they keep things clean and items inside are easily identifiable. Another option that might work well where space is limited would be special storage bags designed to hold whatever item you're storing: wreaths, ornaments, an artificial Christmas tree, etc.

So while you're lazily enjoying the long, hot days of summer, take a few hours or even a few days to think toward the holidays. Any time you can dedicate to organizing your holiday decorations is time well spent, and when Christmas rolls around, you'll be rewarded with more time, less stress, and a beautifully decorated and organized holiday season.