6 Steps to Creating a Gift Closet

I created our closet two years ago, and let me tell you, it’s one of the best, most used, and most helpful spaces in our home. I use it all the time.
With the holidays starting earlier and earlier, creating a gift closet is the perfect way to get ahead and take away some of the season’s stress.

A well-stocked gift closet filled with wrap and a few go-to gifts ensures you’re always prepared and don’t have to run out to Target every five minutes.

So, let’s get organized now, and we’ll breeze through the holiday season with one less thing on our to-do list.

And don’t be intimidated by the word “closet.” My house isn’t huge. This is nothing more than an inexpensive cabinet I found on Amazon that I tucked into the corner of the basement.

So today, I’m sharing how I put our gift closet together using items I already had around the house, the staples I keep on hand so I can always wrap a gift without having to run to Target every time, and how it helps minimize my anxiety.

How Organizing Helps an Anxious Brain.

If a space is messy and disorganized, I genuinely can’t function. I don’t want to sound dramatic, but clutter is a true recipe for disaster for my brain.

I am blast to live with.

But here’s something interesting I’ve realized through this process: while I love having a neat space, the act of organizing itself is surprisingly therapeutic.

For many of us, work can feel all-consuming. I work seven days a week, and my mind is always cycling through ideas for the business. It’s just where I am in life right now, and I’m okay with it.

But the nature of my work—creating content—is relentless. Each week brings a blank slate, making whatever I completed the week before feel like it’s already behind me. The constant push to develop fresh, engaging content can be draining.

This is where organizing comes in. Tackling something like creating a gift closet gives me that satisfying feeling of starting and finishing a project, which, in my line of work, feels rare. It’s like a refreshing hit of dopamine. The project is done, and I can see the final outcome. It’s calming, almost like my mind gets organized right alongside my space.

There’s also something soothing about putting things in their place—somehow, it helps me put my thoughts in place, too. Having a spot for everything in my home is wildly helpful for how both my space and my mind function.

Anyway, I digress.

Why a Gift Closet is Helpful

My gift closet came out of a larger organization project we tackled a few years ago.

We converted our garage into a gym and office, which left us with only one small room in the basement to hold basically everything we need to store. It didn’t take long for that room to turn into a chaotic mess.

As we started sorting and purging, I realized we had gift wrap scattered everywhere. Christmas wrap was crammed onto a dusty basement shelf, gift bags were stashed under the bed, stationery cluttered my desk, and tissue paper was in a random drawer.

We had plenty of great supplies, yet I was still running to Target every time I needed to wrap a gift.

To solve this, I created a dedicated gift closet, organizing everything in one tidy, accessible space. I added a small, affordable piece of furniture, but you could easily adapt these ideas to a closet, drawer, or even a storage box—anything that keeps everything together in one functional spot.

We’ve had this setup for over two years now, and I can say with certainty it has saved me both time and money.

6 Steps to Creating a Gift Closet

 Isn’t she pretty?

Designate a Space

I spent a couple of days scoping out the house and browsing Pinterest for inspiration, trying to find the perfect spot for a gift closet.

People online seem to have so much extra space to work with! I, however, didn’t have many options—every closet and corner in our home is already serving a purpose.

Eventually, I found about three feet of wall space in our bonus room.

This room is truly a flex space: it’s a playroom for Viv, a hangout for the older girls, where we keep crafts and video games, and occasionally, it even serves as a guest room.

Gather 

Then I ran around and gathered everything we had: gift wrap, tissue paper, stationery, bags, ribbon, from all over the house.

Like editing your wardrobe, you want to have everything in one spot before editing down.

When it was all in a pile, I couldn’t believe how much I had. 

Edit

Editing down was easy. You can trash and recycle all the ripped slivers of paper and ribbon.

I was holding on to a good amount of junk I was never going to use.

Getting rid of it feels so great. 

Organize With Purpose 

Now for the fun part. 

I thought about the space and how I wanted it to function. 

What’s nice is there is a large table in the middle of the room, so I have a surface to work on. 

With that in mind, I put everything into categories. And I saved money by using baskets and containers I had lying around.

ALWAYS use what you have first!

The basket on top of the cabinet (from Pottery Barn years ago) holds tissue paper and gift boxes.

I have these acrylic drawers all over my house. I use them for many things, like school supplies,I put them in bathrooms, and my girls’ bedrooms for all their makeup and hair accessories. 

Here I put gift wrap tape and gift tags in them. 

The green things on top are the ELF gift wrap cutters; they’re pretty cool.

Thank you notes, custom stationery, pens, and stamps are in a desk organizer I bought but never used. 

Tip: You can order affordable personalized note cards from ETSY. I had some made for myself and my girls so we can get thank you notes out quickly. They also make lovely gifts! 

For ribbons and bows, I had ordered these bins at Target for my pantry, and they were too big, but they work fabulously here! 

Probably my favorite part of the space. They are from their Brightroom line and only $12 each.

We dressed them up with labels made on a Cricut. 

Then a shelf for gift bags because I’m the crazy lady who saves all the ones that come into the house. 

I repurposed this acrylic file holder for small-sized bags and this $3 trash can from Target for wine gift bags I bought in bulk at Michaels. 

Tip: Look at Target before you step foot in The Container Store. The prices are so much better, and the quality is fantastic.

Another discovery was that I have an abundance of greeting cards. Like, so many cards.

For example, I have not one, not two, but three anniversary cards for my husband that I never gave him. Sorry! 

You’ll see a grey box at the bottom of the cabinet where I keep all those cards and other stationery. 

Stock It! 

After all the categories had a place, I added anything I thought I would need: scissors, packing tape, pens, markers, stamps, etc. 

I cleared a space to hold a handful of go-to gifts.

The Capri Blue Volcano Candle is one of my favorite scents that everyone loves. They make a fabulous thank you or small hostess gift all year long.

And we always bring a bottle of wine. I have some in the photo above, but have since moved them to our beverage fridge. I buy about a dozen bottles of champagne at the end of November so I always have a bottle to bring to a party – another big time saver.

Here’s everything I keep on hand so I can wrap just about anything:

Kraft Gift Wrap Paper: use year round and swap out the ribbon.

Cellophane Roll: I go through so many rolls of this every year!

Silk Ribbon: This silk ribbon is a great find. It’s high quality and affordable. Year round I use navy ribbon, the holidays is red or green depending, and, maybe it’s because my kids go to an all girls highschool, but I go through a lot of ribbon in their school colors – so I have purple and gold on hand too.

Wine Bottle Treat Boxes – These so so cute to add something extra to a bottle of wine.

Small Wooden Gift Baskets – these are great to corral a lot of tiny gifts and gift cards. 

Shirt Box – Gone are the days that you get boxes with your purchase and if you do, they cost like $15 – these are great to buy in bulk.

Bakery Box – I love this tip, these bakery boxes are so helpful to have on hand if you like to make and give treats OR to pack up leftover dessert after a party .

Assorted Boxes – this is an awesome set that has all different shapes and sizes at a great price. 

Crinkle Filler  -Another gift closet staple I blow through every year.

ELF Gift Wrap Cutter – GREAT if you have a lot to wrap.

Double Sided Tape – The secret behind professinal looking wrapping.

Label Maker – I bought this during Amazon Prime and LOVE it, makes any kind of label with your phone.

Wine Bags -I love that these bags are gold with a little window to show off the bottle inside. I’m thinking about trying my hand at decoupaging some champagne bottles as gifts this year, and these bags are the perfect way to present the finished product.

And not pictured but Home Goods has the best seasonal wrap and gift card boxes. Always check them out first.

Leave Room to Grow

Having everything in one place makes putting any kind of gift together easy, and there is plenty of room to add and grow.