What to record for each set
A decoration set is the things you put out together and pack away together: the porch pumpkins and their bunting, the unlit living room pieces, one reel of lights. For each set, six facts are enough to find it next year and to put it back afterwards.
- Set. What goes out together, in your own words.
- Bin. The label written on the box: HAL-01, XMAS-02. No year.
- Space and shelf. Where the bin lives: the garage shelf, the middle left opening.
- Setup reference. One line, or a photo, of how it looked when it was up.
- Responsible adult. Who brings it out and who puts it back.
- Example dates. When it went out and when it went back, so next year has a starting point.
This is not a whole-house inventory. Three rows for three sets is a complete manifest for a household that decorates twice a year.
A completed manifest
Two Halloween sets and one unlit set, all on the same garage shelf. Dates are examples, not rules.
| Decoration set | Bin code | Space | Shelf | Setup reference | Responsible adult | Bring-out example date | Put-away example date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fabric pumpkins | HAL-01 | Garage shelf | Middle left shelf | Porch arrangement | Jordan | 2026-10-03 | 2026-11-01 |
| Porch bunting | HAL-01 | Garage shelf | Middle left shelf | Front door display | Alex | 2026-10-03 | 2026-11-01 |
| Unlit seasonal decorations | XMAS-02 | Garage shelf | Lower right shelf | Living room arrangement | Alex | 2026-11-28 | 2027-01-02 |
Two photos to take
Two photos do different jobs. A setup photo shows how the arrangement looked, so next year you can put the bunting back the same way. An open-bin photo shows what is inside before the lid goes on. Neither one reveals the contents of a closed box, so the manifest row is still what you rely on.
In DrawerPilot, photograph the open bin when you record the spot; the visible items are proposed and you add the rest. A photo can also be set on the spot itself as the setup reference.
Record where the bin went back
The last column matters most: the shelf the bin went back to. Write it down in the last ten minutes of packing up, when you know. A quick check of the whole method is to ask the other adult to find one set from the record alone. If they can, the row is good enough.
In DrawerPilot the record is shared with the household you invite (invitations are part of Pro), so the check is a search: the result names the bin and the shelf.
Pages for one set each
This page is the method. The seasonal pages apply it to one set each: Halloween decoration storage follows HAL-01 out to the porch and back, and Christmas light storage keeps each reel with its display area.