Holiday Planning Guide

This year the holidays will look a little different for everyone. While the usual gatherings and activities might not be possible, there are still many activities you and your household can get ready for before the holiday season starts in earnest!

Inventory decorations

For many it might be too early to put up decorations, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pull out what you have and start to do an inventory of your collection. Go through what items you have available and where you want to use them. Check through ornaments to make sure nothing is cracked or broken and test out lights to make sure no bulbs are burned out. By going through what you already have, you can avoid purchasing unnecessary decorations and also make sure you have time to order anything that might need replacing.

 While the weather is still nice, it is a good idea to get outdoor lights and decorations up (even if you don’t turn them on for a couple of weeks). If you have a tree in storage you can pull it out and make sure it is still in good shape or look at ordering in a real tree in advance. Plan out your strategy and holiday decorating early so even if circumstances change, you have everything you need.

Prepare gifts

If you haven’t already completed your holiday shopping, check out our post on getting a head start on your holiday shopping whether online or in-store. Regardless of where you are at with your gifts, it’s a good idea to sort out what materials you have to wrap, decorate and distribute gifts to your family and friends.

Check how much wrapping paper you have left over from last year and estimate how much more you might need. If you already have an idea of what gifts you are purchasing, think about what else you might be able to use. How about reusable gift bags or boxes? In our current circumstances, you may also want to consider whether more sturdier materials are needed if they are being mailed or delivered in advance.

As always, at Calm Order we recommend when possible to consider giving a gift that doesn’t involve any clutter. This is especially important now when limiting physical contact is essential. You can still personalize electronic gifts by designing a festive e-Card or video message. Check out our post for clutter-free gift ideas!

Get packages mailed

With online ordering and mailing gifts more popular than ever this year, it is extremely important to prepare any gifts for friends and family out of town well in advance. Look into delivery times and options for wherever you need to send gifts and make sure you have everything packaged correctly and in the mail before those timelines. To make the process easier, consider if there are other options, like arranging with family and friends to send gifts at a later date. Online certificates or video announcements can also be sent in place of physicals gifts until they can get to their destination in time.

Plan festive crafts

To keep you and your family entertained during the holiday season start researching and planning for holiday baking and crafts. Pull out the festive cookie cutters, construction paper and other supplies to see what might need replacing or replenishing. Not only do these activities keep everyone in the holiday spirit, but they can also turn in to cost-effective decorations and gifts! Many of these materials can be purchased online or at stores with curb side pick-up to make planning safe and easy. While it is not safe to do activities with others in person, you can always consider hosting virtual craft and baking nights to get other family and friends involved.

Get a Head Start on Holiday Shopping

This year make your holiday shopping safe and organized. It may not even be Halloween yet but it’s never too early to start making your purchases – especially this year.

With health and safety and the top of everyone’s minds, shopping early will help you avoid major crowds. Online shopping is also sure to be popular this year, so in order to make sure your packages arrive on time – whether it’s from the store or to send to family and friends out of town – it’s important to make your purchases now. 

Start by thinking of all the people you need to buy for. This way, as you come across things when you go out or browse online, you can start to keep track of gift ideas and how much items cost. Making a list and checking off items you purchase as you go will help you remember what you bought and who you bought for. Budget tracking is much easier this way too – by constantly updating your purchases and what you’re spending, you can make sure you don’t break the bank over the holidays. 

While you’re shopping, it’s important to stay organized and methodical. Keep all the gifts you purchase in one area of your home. Designate a spare closet, a bin under your bed, or a rarely-used cupboard to make sure everything is kept together.

When possible, consider giving gifts that will limit contact or handling by multiple people. For example, consider having items shipped directly to your recipients. To make this even easier, try planning for gifts that won’t create clutter. Not only will it help your loved ones from accumulating items they don’t need, it will make giving gifts much easier and safer like sending gift certificates or unique subscriptions over email.

Holiday shopping requires starting early, creating a plan, and sticking to it. With snow already on the ground, it isn’t hard to get motivated to start your shopping early!

The Home Edit: Our Top Picks

At Calm Order, we like to organize our homes with products that are functional and stylish. Whether it’s bins or hangers, we want these products to add value to your home, not clutter. When people think of organizing products, they often think of boring and utilitarian spacers and shelves – but being organized doesn’t mean people have to sacrifice the look of their home! Sometimes the opposite can also happen. People purchase organizers that look nice but aren’t practical. If it is beautiful but doesn’t function, what is the point of using it? That’s why Calm Order is a fan of using effective and beautiful products featured on the The Home Edit.

The Home Edit, like Calm Order, is passionate about organizing and creating organized spaces that are practical and fashionable. Stepping into a new space and seeing its potential is what our team at Calm Order gets excited about every time we start a new project. We want to make sure that space is organized with the right solutions. The products featured at The Home Edit match our love of design and functionality and implement practices that Calm Order has used since the very beginning (especially when it comes to labels and colour coordinating)!

Here are just a few of our favourite items featured on The Home Edit that we love to use for our projects:

Turntables

These organizers are perfect for so many different spaces – from desks to children’s colouring tables to bathroom vanities, these containers can organize a variety of items. The clear plastic material makes it easy to colour coordinate items. At Calm Order, we love to organize items by colour. Not only does it make it easy to find items, but it adds fun, vibrancy and style to a space.

Inter-design cabinet bins

These bins are the perfect fit for every space. With a variety of sizes to choose from, there are options for any cupboard or cabinet. Their square and rectangular shapes ensure that no space is lost on angles or weird corners. They are easy to use and their clear design make it quick to spot what is inside. Our team always recommends adding customized labels to the outside of these bins to make it even easier to determine what is in each bin.

Modular bamboo inserts

These drawer inserts are the perfect way to organize loose items like cutlery, makeup, writing utensils and more. They are customizable and changeable, so they can work in a variety of spaces. Moving or renovating? No problem! These drawer inserts can be easily taken out and used somewhere else. Not only do they look beautiful, but they make drawers and all their contents look clean and clutter free.

These simple items are the perfect blend of functionality and style – whatever the space, they are sure to add style and order!