The Die is Cast!

So this is what I HAVE to do to get myself moving on taking down the decor for one holiday and moving on to another. No matter how much I might love the next holiday and its decorations, the ones that are up have become comforting and familiar and I always have trouble getting the ball rolling.

This time though I have the added incentive of heading out of town for a full week and knowing that if I don't get the show on the road, I will come home in the second week of December still looking at Thanksgiving.

And so, being the totally "mature" person that I am, I have devised a system that works for me. When I least expect it, I walk through a room and start grabbing stuff and walking it out to the table in the sun room - which is on the way to the garage. Once I have cleared a few areas, I am O.K. and the process can begin. A lot of times I will just grab one convenient "statement" piece and put it in place to help me get in the spirit...this is the one that helped me get moving this time!

Once I had the "big guy" looking over my shoulder, I was good to go!

My next step is to head to my fabulous storage shelves in my garage and begin by bringing in anything in the color scheme of the holiday and putting it on the dining room table. These are usually the larger pieces and I now have my jumping off point and the area I will keep returning to to "shop" for my vignettes. And, remember, all that glitters is not gold - sometimes it is red, green and silver!

The next step is usually to take down all of the Rubbermaid containers in the garage for the holiday and remind myself what I have. These are usually the smaller decor things or ceramics and kitchen and dining things.

Then, I hit all three guest rooms where pillows, faux flowers, wall art and odds and ends are shoved under beds stored.

Lastly, I hit the storage areas in the family room and pull those Rubbermaids (yes, I should have bought stock in this company years ago) where I keep all of the seasonal frames with photos, handmade decor or anything else that I want in climate control.

Now these are not hard and fast rules but it seems that this is usually my MO and it works for me.

So, this is where I started yesterday and still have so much more to do but at least I am on my way. They always say that the longest journey begins with a single step....if I step quickly I just might have most of it done before we leave. You'll be the first to see it - stay tuned.