The Gift of Order

During the holiday season, attention often turns to giving gifts to our friends and loved ones. But this fun task can turn into anything but if your wrapping supplies aren't well organized. Such was the case with this gift wrapping closet. It had turned into a big mess which made even the thought of wrapping presents in colorful papers and ribbons an absolute nightmare. In just a couple of hours, this seemingly unwieldy pile of all things paper became a manageable wrapping station. See below for the 3 simple steps to create this transformation!

Wrapping closet - BEFORE

1.) SORT - The first step in conquering the chaos was to remove everything from the closet and sort it into like piles. Ribbons and embellishments were grouped together as were other items such as tissue paper, gift bags, packing material, gift boxes and wrapping paper. This really helped in getting a sense of just how much stuff there was and then led to the next step of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. The bonus was that we discovered many cute bags and papers that had long been hidden from view!

2.)  EDIT - The next step was to pare down the collection of wrapping supplies to only what was in good condition and may actually be needed for future use. In this case, there was an overabundance of boxes that were just taking up space and cluttering the closet. We really had to be very honest about actually how many boxes one needs at any given time. (Hint: Not as many as you think! Keep just one box in 3-5 different sizes. That's plenty!) The rest went straight to the recycle bin. 

3.) CONTAIN - After paring down the collection to a reasonable number and variety of gift boxes, we used the bigger boxes as containers to hold the ones we wanted to keep. We did the same with the gift bags. Due to limited space in the closet, the remaining shipping boxes were condensed into larger boxes and moved to storage in the basement since they are not used as often.

Tissue paper was folded neatly and corralled by the use of large binder clips.

Ribbons were sorted and then held together by paperclips. We repurposed a gift bag to hold them all in one place.

The end result is a gift wrapping closet that is not only much prettier to look at but also much more functional.    Rather than digging through an avalanche of bags and bows, we can immediately locate a suitable gift bag or box, tissue paper and tie it up with a bow which saves time and stress. How's that for a present this holiday season?!

Wrapping closet - AFTER

***This project was completed entirely with existing supplies. Keep an eye out for my next blog though where I will profile some great products that can create wonderful wrapping stations in any corner of your house!