Organizing a ‘Decor Shop’ for Extra Accessories

As a decor blogger, I’ve collected a lot of home accessories over the years. So it probably won’t come as a surprise that I have a system of storing and rotating my decor. This includes things like extra candles, vases, bowls, faux florals, pillow cases, throw blankets, and anything else I may want to use to switch up a tablescape or signal a change in season. So today I wanted to share with you how organizing a ‘decor shop’ for extra accessories – or a few decor shops, in my case – can help you stay more organized, season to season.

ORGANIZING A ‘DECOR SHOP’ FOR EXTRA ACCESSORIES

Why Create a ‘Decor Shop’?

To answer that question, let’s try a little game of True or False:

● On more than one occasion, you’ve found yourself TEARING THROUGH DRAWERS OR CLOSETS looking for an accessory you could have sworn you put in there months ago: T or F

● You’ve stumbled upon decor that’s been stored away and STILL has the PRICE TAG on it: T or F

● Instead of wading through the disorganized mass of Christmas decor shoved in the back of your basement, it would take FAR LESS TIME for you to go out and BUY what you need: T or F

● While looking through your closets you discover a LOST PIECE OF DECOR that is NEARLY IDENTICAL to the one YOU JUST PURCHASED (been there!): T or F

● You find yourself BORED OF YOUR HOME – the accessories, the styling, the layout. It all feels just so uninspiring, but you don’t know how to freshen things up without SPENDING MORE MONEY: T or F

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

If you can relate to any of these statements, you may benefit from organizing your decor and creating a ‘decor shop.’

Here’s why:

1/ Less Time Wasted

Creating a designated drawer, closet, or shelf with all your extra accessories makes decorating or restyling your home quicker and less time-consuming.

No more digging through your closets or basement storage!

2/ Eliminate Duplicate Purchases

When you have things organized (and maybe even labeled!) you’ll be able to SEE INSTANTLY what you ‘need’ and what you don’t (of course, ‘needing’ is often a very personal and subjective idea, but you get the idea).

3/ Keep Things Fresh at Home

By having access to a designated decor shop in your own home, you can get creative and have fun STYLING & RESTYLING your home whenever you want to freshen things up.

4/ A Feeling of Abundance

When you have a designated spot for extra decor, there’s this feeling that you have A RANGE OF OPTIONS at your fingertips – and, you do!

Once things are organized and sorted into a personalized decor shop, this spot is a reminder that you have a variety of ways to freshen up your home, add and remove items, and play around with your interior style.

Ideas for Creating Your Own ‘Decor Shop’ At Home

As you might expect, I have a few ‘decor shops’ in my home.

The locations are based on ‘most-used’ and ‘least-used,’ starting from the main floor (most used) to the basement (least used).

Altogether, I have 4 Decor Shops (2 on the main floor and 2 in the basement).

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THEM.

1/ MUDROOM CLOSET (throws, lanterns, vases)

As I shared on YouTube a while back, after organizing a few of our cupboards and closets, I was able to clear some space in our mudroom closet.

Initially, I simply stored my GLASS VASES up top, later adding a few OVERSIZED VESSELS, as well.

Later, I added our EXTRA THROW BLANKETS (including Christmas throws) by hanging them up in the closet. I had gotten the idea after perusing decor stores and seeing how they displayed throw blankets – usually on a hanger.

By using some simple hangers, my throw blankets remain EASY TO ACCESS, VISUALLY ORGANIZED and, for those thinner blankets, wrinkle-free.

Along the bottom are all my LANTERNS PLUS SOME BUCKETS and a (random!) summer BASKET I bought while thrifting a couple of years ago.

To keep things visually organized, I placed a couple of items on a SPARE SHOE RACK ALONG THE BACK. Makes seeing all those items in the back so much easier when I open up the closet.

This mudroom closet has made organizing and accessing these items so much easier.

2/ FOYER CABINET (Everyday Decor)

Most of my everyday decor, especially tabletop accessories such as candles, bowls, and vases are all stored in this surprisingly roomy foyer cabinet.

Along the bottom, I’ve grouped them by category with smaller items packed away in clear, dollar store bins.

This ‘decor shop’ is organized into 3 main categories.

On the far left are my TALL CANDLES, CANDLESTICK HOLDERS (+ EXTRAS).

Along the middle are SHORT CANDLES (+ EXTRAS)

On the far right are BOWLS AND VASES

If you can, I would recommend placing small decor into baskets or, better yet, clear BINS WITH LIDS.

I found that by placing my everyday decor into CLEAR, DOLLAR STORE BINS, it makes it easier to see the contents at a glance. It also makes cleaning or dusting shelves far more efficient because you don’t have to pull items out one-by-one.

If there’s room above your bins, take advantage of that vertical space and place things like trays, shallow bowls, and bagged items on top.

WITHOUT FAIL, this system has been one of the BEST WAYS for storing away my everyday use accessories.

3/ BASEMENT CABINET (Christmas)

When it comes to my CHRISTMAS AND OTHER SEASON-SPECIFIC DECOR that is used less often, I pack these items away in the basement where they are stored in 2 main areas:

1/ A Basement Cabinet 2/ Our Basement Storage Shelves

First up, is our basement cabinet which is located in our Lounge Room (which is being updated, as some of you know –>See Our Basement Lounge Room Progress, So Far).

This is what I would call a ‘ROOM-SPECIFIC’ DECOR SHOP.

That’s because this cabinet contains only the decor that will be used to decorate this space. By keeping it stored in the same room, it makes packing and unpacking our holiday decor so much more practical.

So, what’s inside? I made a LOT of paper stars last year (I couldn’t help it – SO much fun!) and stored them using the same clear, dollar store bins that I used in our foyer cabinet.

All my recent handmade ornaments, such as these DIY Macrame Candy Cane ornaments, are also stored here.

I also purchased these lovely red velvet ornaments on sale (at Michaels) and plan to reuse them in this space next Christmas.

If you have the space to STORE AWAY SOME OF YOUR HOLIDAY DECOR IN THE SAME ROOM that you use it in, I say GO FOR IT!

It really makes accessing your Christmas decor a whole lot more practical and efficient.

4/ BASEMENT STORAGE (Christmas & Other Seasonal Decor)

Some of you may already have a basement storage room or area where you store things like non-perishable food, extra toilietries or other supplies.

If you have a bit of space (or can make some room), then I would suggest adding a seasonal-specific storage area to pack away your Christmas (and other seasonal) decor.

Despite the LESS-THAN-PRETTY APPEARANCE, ours is HIGHLY ORGANIZED, divided up into Christmas decor on one side and Spring/Summer/Fall decor on the other.

Starting with our Christmas Decor, I use shipping boxes, xerox boxes, and smaller plastic containers to keep my accessories organized. Using basic blue painter’s tape and a marker, I write down what’s inside.

Nothing fancy, but it WORKS REALLY WELL.

The only more expensive purchase I did make a few years ago was THIS ORNAMENT ORGANIZER (*affiliate link).

It is quite sizable, has vertical storage inside, and a side pocket that CAN HOLD A LOT of holiday accessories.

But perhaps my FAVOURITE FEATURE are the EXTRA-LARGE ornament holders, which I found SO HELPFUL since most other ornament organizers do not take into account oversized baubles.

Next to our Christmas decor is a mix of storage items, including season-specific accessories (mainly along the bottom).

Since I have the same amount of Christmas decor as Spring/Summer/Fall combined (!), I’ve organized the other seasonal decor together, more or less.

➤ Here’s a QUICK TIP for those who have A LOT OF FLORALS:

WRAP STEMS using ALUMINUM FOIL. It is BY FAR the BEST way to prevent the stems from tangling up and keeping them separated.

Althought this area isn’t the ‘prettiest’ of spots, it has helped to KEEP OUR SEASONAL DECOR ORGANIZED & ACCESSIBLE.

FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

Whether you have a lot or just a few extra items, I hope this post has given you one or two ideas to keep your decor – and your home – more organized.

Do any of you have a decor shop in your home? Or do you have another way of storing seasonal items, extra candles, vases or throw blankets? Do tell!

Organizing a ‘Decor Shop’ for Extra Accessories