Image by Pink Sherbet Photography via FlickrEvery year it is the same. The day after Thanksgiving I haul a mountain of Rubbermaid bins full of Christmas decorations up from the basement and begin the task of decorating for the holidays. As I unpacked my neatly organized treasures, it never fails that I end up asking myself, 'where does this go?' Aside from a few unique pieces that take their special place year after year, most of the items tend to get shifted room to room for no other reason than I can't really remember where I displayed them the previous year.

Well, last year I was particularly happy with how festive the house looked and I fully anticipated another bout of Holiday-induced dementia, so I decided to be proactive... I took digital pictures of all the dressed-up mantles, tables, windows, etc. and stored them on the computer in a folder named 'home decor'.

Well, I have to say, that tiny bit of effort 12 months ago saved me a lot of time wandering around the house placing and replacing my holiday decor. It took just a few minutes of flipping through the photos from my computer and the memories came flooding back. Of course, there were adjustments made and new items (from my annual post-Christmas clearance shopping frenzy) to incorporate, but overall the process went much smoother and quicker than years past.

So before that day when you take down your treasures and pack them away for another long hiatus, try snapping of few pictures of your house all decked out. Even if your photos don't necessarily look like they will be in next year's holiday edition of Real Simple, they just might streamline your decorating routine.