Every holiday season when you get out the decorations, there always seems to be a period of organization where you need to untangle lights, sort out the broken ornaments and just get all of the trimmings in order.
Next year, skip the hassle of sifting through everything. The year-to-year holiday storage strategies below will help make next December’s decorating easy.
Hide Paper Up High
Utilize a space that is always vacant — the ceiling of your closet. Attach two strings of wire from the front wall above your closet door to the back wall. Make them parallel to each other and about two feet apart. Then you can slide your wrapping paper tubes across the two wires. No more crinkled or torn paper!
Bag Your Lights
The hassle of untangling holiday lights every year can become a dreaded tradition. A smart solution is to invest in inexpensive gallon-sized sealable bags. Label what each bag’s lights are for, such as the tree, mantel or outdoors.
Wrap individual strands around your arm and them place them inside the appropriate bag. Put all bags in one holiday storage container.
Recycle Wrapping For Your Breakables
After you’ve ripped off the wrapping and gotten to the goods, don’t just throw your pretty paper out. Reuse it! Run it through the shredder to create fun filling for the boxes that hold your ornaments and breakable decorations.
Get Crafty With Labels
Instead of writing straight onto the holiday storage bins, tape or glue festive envelopes to the side. Then you can write a list of everything in that box and put it in the envelope.
For those who like everything clean and organized, this means that if you switch out anything in the box, you don’t have to mark it out on the side — just change the paper inside the envelope.
Display Holiday Cards Creatively
Receiving holiday cards is a great way to keep in touch with distant family and friends. Instead of throwing the cards away each January, use a hole punch to create two holes in the sides of the card.
Then insert jump rings to make little picture memory books that you can display on the coffee table every year. For more around the home tips or if you are looking to buy a home with plenty of storage space, contact your trusted real estate professional.
If you’re at the stage in life where home ownership is nearly within your reach, you’re probably wondering whether you should start looking for a home or whether you should just keep renting. Renting is easier, people say, and it gives you more mobility. But over the long term, all that rent money can really add up – and it eventually reaches a point where buying a home is a better deal.
The housing market continues to be very competitive, so you may have to be a bit more flexible with what you are looking for. For example, you may come across a home that is not quite perfect, but it has a lot of the features that you need. In that case, you may be wondering how you can finance a home renovation. One of the best ways to do so is using the FHA Streamline 203(k) program. 
Are you interested in purchasing a house? If so, you probably know that the market is more competitive today than it has ever been in the past. There are a lot of people who are interested in purchasing a home, and you need to take a few extra steps if you want to make your offer as competitive as possible. What do you need to do if you want to maximize the chances of having your offer accepted?
Last week’s economic scheduled economic news included readings on sales of previously-owned homes, housing starts, and building permits issued. Readings on the Consumer Price Index, which tracks inflation, were also released along with weekly readings on mortgage rates and jobless claims.
December’s National Association of Home Builders Housing Market Index reported slipping builder confidence in U.S. housing markets. The Housing Market Index readings fell every month in 2022. Recently rising mortgage rates, materials costs, and inclement winter weather contributed to builder skepticism about current housing market conditions.