Image by Thom Watson via FlickrIt's January and the major holidays are over. Every year at this time, while you are putting away the decorations, you may wonder about the expenses of decorating. Our house is a century old farmhouse filled with plaster cracks, uneven floors and tilted window sills, plus a patchwork of different paint and wall coverings. However, during the late season holidays it becomes a palace fit for an royal court. It takes a lot of decorations to cover up the flaws. I used to spend a lot of money on decorating but through some adjustments I have learned how to cut that expense down to little or zero of my holiday budget. With just 5 tips, I'm going to show you how to keep your decorating under control and easily save money at the same time, thus lowering your stress. I'm also very interested in how you cut corners on decorating so you are very welcome to add comments.
Take an Inventory
It is important to know what you have before you start to plan your decorating scheme. Most of the time your decorations are in boxes stored out in the garage, the basement, or in the back of some closet. You do not want to overspend your decorating budget by purchasing duplicate items. Also, if you know what you have you can be creative with some decorations, using them in more than one holiday. Ribbons are a good example. So it's a good thing to have an inventory handy to pull up and look over. Take good pictures and write down rough notes as you do this. What you need to list in your inventory:
- Type of item (garland, statuary),
- Holiday designation,
- Condition,
- Size,
- Location.
Repair and Reuse
The easiest way to save money on decorating is to reuse your decorations. Although putting up the same thing year after year is boring, you can vary where and how you put up your displays to change the look or the theme. But decorations, like anything, break and get old. A stitch here and there, a little paint, or some florists wire and hot glue do wonders to add life to an old ornament and keep the costs down. Do this BEFORE you store them, then you won't have the stress of adding that project to your holiday to-do list.
Create a Decorating Notebook
A good professional decorator keeps extensive notes about each decoration project. Take a hint from the professional and do the same. These notes can be used year after year, saving both time and money.
After the rough notes, pictures and dimensions are taken, assemble them in a cohesive book, journal or a file system. Use whatever is easy for you. The word here is EASY. Holidays are stressful enough. I prefer to use a wire-bound drawing pad with an e-pen and a digital camera for the rough draft, and some good office software to create the final product, but just use what you have available. How you section your decorating notebook is up to you but a good suggestion is to keep the inventory under it's own tab, then assign a section for each holiday. Keep an additional section for notes on new ideas and products and a section with a list of good websites and references. If you have prices, this is extremely helpful to include in your notebook.
Treasure Hunt
I have a house rule that I cannot bring anything home unless I remove something that is the same size or larger. It keeps my house clutter from getting out of hand. However, there is something sad about seeing a beautiful holiday treasure tossed among bits and pieces of old pots and pans and beat up shoes. I do have a weakness for bangles, ribbons and baubles that grace my tree and become beautiful table dressings and a large portion of my holiday treasure chest is filled with used items purchased from a yard sale, a thrift store, or something that a friend was going to throw away. My thought on this is if the piece is in fair to good condition, will be used that year, and serves a part of your decorating theme that you would normally have to purchase new, then consider it. Otherwise walk away. Fast. It's no good to add more stuff to your inventory that you don't have a use for and you won't be saving any money by cashing out on things you won't use.
Another great way to find treasure, save money and to reuse, is to look for items around your house and yard. I look for trinkets and old toys, old pictures and fabric from clothing like lace and velvet. I also use dried flowers and seed heads, pine cones and grape vines from our property. The natural products save me large amounts of money on decorating elements and can be tossed into the compost pile after use.
Organize and Store
Last but not least, when the holidays are over, you just want to get that stuff taken down and packed away. It's easy to just push it into boxes and take it down the basement. Out of site – out of mind. But that will just add to your holiday stress when you have to dig all that stuff back out and make a huge mess that has to be cleaned up. So take your time and use these tips for organization and safe keeping of those beautiful and valuable treasures:
- Store linens in air-tight bags in a dry area,
- Store in boxes or bins that are well labeled,
- Keep away from heat, flame, or wet areas,
- Store on racks or shelves for safety and ease of access.
Keep one box available for new additions during the year. Mark the box well and put it in a place that is easy to get at so you can add to it. Make sure to take pictures of the items and repair them as needed. Most importantly, add these items to your inventory list and your notebook.
Holiday decorating, no matter what the season, can be fun. My old house turns into a show-place several times a year with little effort and a small amount of expenditure. Because I keep everything so organized and look for ways to reuse, my experience is more one of wonder and beauty than of stress. I hope that this helps you in the same way it helps me. I would be very interested in hearing about what you think.
Peace
Marlene at Drag'n Rock Farm
You have some very good money saving tips. There are usually boxes of stuff that goes unchecked. I will consider your ideas on the next holiday. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI also like to decorate for the holidays. I love your notebook idea. I use rubbermaid totes, labels and pictures on them for certain items. I reuse, diassemble and recreate as items get old, boring and it gives other items a new look. Your home is so beautiful. I will be trying out the notebook idea, it will be easier to turn the page to see before I buy something new to add to it. Geralyn
ReplyDeleteI do whatever I can to save on cash outlay so am always looking for ways to do this. I find that organization really saves in that respect but it also saves on so much more: time and stress.
ReplyDeleteI'll be having more posts on organizing in the future. So stay tuned and thanks for the comments! Keep them coming.