While your home may sparkle with joy in every holiday wreath, decorated tree, and charming decorations abound, there comes a time when you have to take it all down. And you don’t want to get stuck with broken baubles, missing decor, or the biggest wad of tangled string lights you’ve ever seen! Luckily for you, storing Christmas decorations only requires a little extra planning (and a sprinkle of creativity) to avoid making a hassle for yourself when decorating next year. Plus, planning out your storage makes it easy to find your favorite holiday piece when winter rolls around again. Follow these tips to make storing your Christmas decor effortless.
Tips for Storing Wreaths and Garlands
Clean the Surface
First things first: use a duster or cloth to lightly clean your wreaths and garlands. Target the dust, fallen glitter, or needles so that your storage area stays clean. Cleaning also makes sure your decor has the proper maintenance needed to last for years.
It’s also recommended to take off any of the decor that is not attached to your wreath or garland to instead store those items, like ornaments, beads, and pinecones, aside for their own safekeeping.
Use Wire Hangers
Grab some old or buy some cheap, wire hangers to unravel and wrap around your wreath with the hanger sticking up. Then, you can easily hang the wreaths in any closet or in any hanger bar in the garage or basement. This trick is easy, cheap, and saves space as you can hang multiple things together.
Homemade Storage
With packages arriving for the holiday season, if you have some boxes to spare, those make great, reusable storage options for keeping your garland and wreaths safe in the off-season. Make sure to use a box that won’t crinkle or tear at decor, ornaments on the garlands, or the needles themselves when putting them away. Using boxes is also great for saving space as you can easily stack them.
For thin garlands like beads for draping, a neat trick is to reuse plastic water bottles. The beads will naturally fall in from the top and create a space-saving alternative to tangles and messes when mixed with other decor.
To easily find your decor next year, easily mark the boxes and bottles you use with labels detailing what is inside of them. Your future self will thank you!
Invest in Storage
It might be easiest to invest in storage: if you decide to hang up your wreaths with hooks, consider investing in a clothing rack you can put in the basement or garage to easily locate and store your decor all in one place. There are also plastic or fabric boxes specifically designed to keep your wreaths and garlands safe. However, the cost might add up depending on how many wreaths and garlands you have to store!
Tips for Storing Artificial Trees
Go the Traditional Route
Artificial trees all come with instructions on how to assemble and disassemble for storage. You can always go the traditional route and remove each piece of the tree to put back in the box you bought it in. While time consuming, this option is free!
Wrap it Up
If you’re tired of assembling trees year after year, a good alternative is to push all the branches up or in, and use plastic wrap to cover the tree top to bottom! With this alternative, it’s easy to keep your tree together and store it all in one. You can even wrap it and store it with all the lights on for us lazy folks. The wrap should also help slim down the tree for easy moving wherever you’d like. Just keep it in the stand and push into a corner so it is protected from multiple angles from getting knocked over.
Find a Good Spot
Artificial trees will melt or lose color if stored in a hot or moisture rich space. When choosing where to store your tree, consider the conditions and go for a space that is dry and cool.
Invest in Storage
Again, if your box is torn up and you prefer not to use plastic wrap, you can invest in a storage container, box, or bag made to store trees effortlessly. Made from plastic or fabric and featuring handles, zippers, or extra closure clips, these storage options offer a convenience that, year after year, will satisfy your wallet.
Tips for Storing Lights and Ornaments
Untangle It All and DIY
Before you store away stringed lights, do something kind for your future self and untangle all the ropes that have gotten messy throughout the holiday season. Read our blog "How to Untangle Christmas Lights (And Keep Them From Tangling Again)" to get started! This blog will also detail different ways you can DIY your own stringed light storage solution without getting them tangled. From hose reels to cardboard to leaving them on your tree, there is always a way to save space, time, and money while storing away your lights!
For another fast trick, grab any empty cans with a plastic cover, cut a hole in the middle with a line towards the edge, place the plug-in inside the hole, and wrap the length of the lights around the can. This quick project is easy to do and can be done for all kinds of stringed lights. Label them by writing the color and kind of lights on the can, and store them together in a big box.
Homemade Storage
For storing ornaments, you can also take empty cans or leftover plastic cups to use as little holders for your breakable decor. When using cups or cans, glue them to a piece of cardboard that fits inside any storage bin to maximize storage space and to make sure they don’t fall or knock into one another.
Another easy way to DIY your own storage for ornaments is to use leftover egg cartons. This works especially well for breakable baubles that are on the smaller side.
Make sure you label each can, carton, or storage bin to easily find that exact ornament you’re looking for next year. I promise you, you won’t remember!
Invest in Storage
Investing in ornament storage is easy, with different sized boxes available to properly organize your Christmas baubles all in one place. Typically, boxes designed for ornament storage have little cubed slots stacked on top of each other that you can easily place ornaments inside of, and are usually made with fabric materials to make sure your ornaments stay safe. And, depending on how many you have to store away, ornament storage boxes are typically inexpensive.
For all of your other decor, including bows, stockings, Christmas tree skirts, holiday tablecloths and placemats, and more, use a vacuum-sealed bag to easily save space. Store the bag under the bed, tucked away in the closet, or on top of stacked storage bins. This solution is easy to use, keeps everything clean, and keeps all your holiday stuff neatly tucked away in one place!
While taking down holiday decor can be a lot less fun than putting it all up, taking the time to properly store away decor means longer-lasting materials, better storage organization, and makes it even easier to decorate for next year.
