Top Tips for Organising Your Christmas Decor Storage

Picture this – it’s the start of the silly season, and you’re preparing to decorate your home. Are you dreading delving into an unorganized stash of Christmas decorations? Do you struggle to find all your boxes? Missing your Christmas tree behind a pile of junk?  

If this sounds familiar, why not make a New Year’s resolution to get organized when you pack it up at the end of the holiday season? Here are tips that will make putting away your decor less painful – future you will thank yourself for being so organized. Proper storage will ensure your decorations are protected in between holidays and make it easy for you to pull everything out each December. 

 

Get motivated 

First of all, get pumped by focusing on all the benefits of organizing your favourite Christmas decor items. There’s nothing worse than getting your decorations out to find they’re dusty or smashed. Carefully storing your decor will protect precious ornaments from damage, make sure your string lights don’t get tangled, and that you can find everything without stress. Holiday decor can be expensive, so it’s worth putting in the effort to make sure they’re packed away carefully.

Get prepped

It can be hard to get decorations back in their original containers, so make your life easier by ditching them at the outset and storing all your decor in boxes or plastic crates. Clear containers are ideal as you can see at a glance what they contain, but you can also use other boxes and add labels or photos listing their contents.

Decide in advance where in your house you’re going to store your decorations and clear enough space so you can stack them without having to play Tetris – and of course, make it easy to pull them out each year. Think about access – you don’t want to use large, unwieldy boxes if you’re lifting them into an attic. Plan to group your decor storage by category to make things straightforward when it’s time to decorate again.

Some other ways to get prepped:

• Make your life easier by purchasing DIY containers with dividers to keep everything organized. You can recycle old boxes, use egg cartons, sock drawer containers, and even plastic cups. 
• Save absorbent silica sachets from purchases throughout the year and tuck them into your decor boxes to protect them from moisture.
• Have a labeling solution handy, so you can see at a glance what each container holds. 
• Take the opportunity to throw away any broken or worn decorations, and declutter anything you don’t love.

Get organized

Ornaments

Wrap precious ornaments in tissue paper and store them in containers with dividers to keep them separate and protect them from damage. If you have a large collection of ornaments and opt for different color schemes each year, try using clear plastic bags to organize shatterproof baubles by color and then place them in a larger container. You can also store baubles in egg containers, cardboard cup holders, and mailing tubes.

Christmas tree 

Forget about trying to stuff your artificial tree back into its box and instead, purchase a Christmas tree storage bag or box to make packing it away easier and protect your tree from dust. Secure branches by wrapping the tree with old hosiery, strips of fabric, or ribbon to make it less bulky. You can also DIY by topping and tailing your tree in garbage bags.

Lights

Wrap festive lights around pieces of cardboard to keep them from getting twisted and avoid damaging the bulbs – cut notches in the cardboard so they don’t slip.

Garlands

Sick of trying to untangle strings of beads? Store them in large plastic water bottles or use paper towel tubes with cling wrap on the ends.

Wreaths

Cover wreaths with dry cleaning bags and hang them on clothes hangers. Depending on how many wreaths you own, you might like to use a freestanding clothes rack to store them on. You can also buy wreath bags if you’d prefer to stack them.

Wrapping supplies

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without gift-giving. If you like to keep ribbon and other wrapping supplies for future years, make your life easier with a handy storage solution like:

• Fabric bins and garment bags are great for storing rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.
• Tiered fishing boxes or tool boxes are an ideal way to collect ribbons, bows, tags, and other assorted wrapping supplies.

 

Other decors

Here are some more storage hacks you’ll love:

• Under-bed storage containers are great for Christmas tablecloths, napkins, and special crockery. Purchase boxes with customizable dividers so you can rearrange them to fit your items.

• Use vacuum bags to store Christmas stockings and soft furnishings, like cushions and throws, so they take up less storage space and stay fresh.

• Wrap candles in old hosiery to protect the wax and make sure they are stored away from heat.

Packing away the Christmas decor in the New Year is never fun and can often feel overwhelming trying to find places to keep things. Getting prepped before the silly season will give you a head start when it’s time to store your decorations away for another year.   Once you have a game plan and the supplies to make it happen, you’ll find that taking down and storing your decor is a breeze – and you’ll thank yourself later.