I love that our home office has one wall fully outfitted with Ikea wardrobes. The Kid’s room has the same set-up and all that extra storage space on the second floor was a huge selling feature of the house!
With all of these shelves and drawers, we have more than enough storage space for all of our office supplies. So I’ve been able to dedicate a section to holding my stash of gifts and all of the wrapping gear. It is so handy to have everything right next to the desk with a great open surface to wrap just about any sized gift.
Here’s how it’s all organized:
Bins of Gifts and Bags
I’m a huge fan of gathering gifts on an ongoing basis. If I see that perfect item for a friend, I buy it, even if her birthday isn’t around the corner. I also keep my eye out for cool kid presents, sweet baby clothes, and nice hostess gifts at a great price and make regular purchases. (Hello?!? Costco! They often have terrific books for kids!) All of these finds get stored in a bin in my cupboard and before any upcoming birthdays or events, I take a look to see what treasures I’ve got on hand. (Or if, God forbid, it’s Friday night and I’ve forgotten about the Saturday morning b-day party for my 4-year olds friend!)
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I also keep a bin full of gift bags of all shapes, colours, and sizes. Many of these bags are from gifts that my family has received, waiting to be re-used. Not that long ago, I went through all of these bags, recycled any that looked too worn to be used again. Then I hit the local Dollarama and stocked up my bin.
Drawer of Wrapping Paper
The huge drawers in these wardrobes are the perfect size for rolls of wrapping paper. Instead of being stuck in a caddy that was hard to open and too tall to easily store (my previous solution), this drawer gives me easy access to all of my wrapping papers and I can easily rifle through to find the right one.
Extra Cards and Tissue Paper
Another drawer holds three small baskets of greeting/gift cards and tags. Just as with gifts, I’m always on the lookout for great cards. We have quite a collection of fun birthday cards and cool blank ones for any occasion. My sister loves to create beautiful hand-made cards and I have some of those special ones on hand too.
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All of the coloured tissue paper is stored next to these baskets. Again, we save as much as possible from incoming gifts and new packs in an array of colours are picked up whenever I’m at Dollarama.
Boxes of Ribbons, Bows and Little Boxes
I’ve also been collecting ribbons and bows forever. Whenever I get a gift with a nice ribbon or bow, it gets tucked away in one of the Ziploc baggies in these storage boxes alongside a few big spools in my fave colours. I keep small cardboard jewellery boxes and other little containers that come my way, too. Then, when I have a small gift to wrap, I have lots of options to hold any little item.
If you have a mess of wrapping papers or a huge tangle of ribbon, I suggest taking a bit of time to create a storage system for all of your gift supplies that works for you. And build up your own little stash of presents. It will make it so much easier - and quicker - the next time you’re running late for that kiddie birthday party!
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