I know. I know. We have barely finished eating the Turkey Dinner and if you are like me, you just got out the Christmas decorations over the weekend and are just starting to enjoy them. If you’ve had yours out a while longer, and I know some of you have, I won’t judge. LOL! But either way, you aren’t even ready to begin thinking about putting all the decorations away yet, I know. I get it. However, if you know now what you are going to need when the time comes to take down the tree and its plethora of accessories, you’ll be more prepared for the task at hand. So, I wanted to share with you 7 surefire ways to store Holiday Decor so you can keep your eyes peeled for when the After Christmas sales hit the stores.
Use Clear Bins to store Holiday Decor
Invest in good quality clear bins that are all uniform. Having clear bins allows you to see what’s inside with just a glance. You can see which bin contains the ornaments and which bin contains the outdoor blow-up décor without even blinking. When the containers are of good quality, like these I found on Amazon, you won’t be replacing them every year or so, because they cracked from the cold, or because they broke from being stacked with too high with too much weight. So, invest. You’ll be glad you did.
Sturdy Cardboard for lighting
Now, when it comes to storing all those strings of light, you can do one of two things… 1. Wrap the string of lights around your arm and hope it doesn’t get tangled up in the next 11 months, (Yeah, right!) or… 2. You can wrap them up on a lighting cord winder. But, if you are a little more budget conscious because the holidays are taking a bigger bite out of your budget than you hoped, you can always wind your lights around some firm cardboard, like a shoe box lid. It works the same and for a lot less money. I’ll let you choose which you prefer though.
Wreath Bin to store Holiday Decor
If you have a favorite wreath or two, you hang year in and year out, I recommend purchasing a sturdy wreath container, such as this one. There are others out there that are soft sided, but with the softer ones, you risk your wreath getting smooshed by something being placed on top of it and then you defeated the entire purpose.
Garment Bags for ugly sweaters, tree skirts, garland, etc.
For odd shaped or soft storage, consider using a garment bag. You can hang everything from those ugly sweaters to your tree skirt, to your tablecloths, neatly. And then hang the entire garment bag at the back of the closet where they won’t be in the way or take up too much space, and yet, will be kept dry and clean until next year rolls around.
Declutter Every Year
I usually do this as we are pulling out items to decorate. If it isn’t going on the tree, or we no longer want to display it because we’ve updated our theme, it’s time for it to find a new home, usually at one of the local thrift stores. Yes, we have some sentimental ornaments and décor items that we just can’t part with, but those that we know we will never use again, we’d rather move them on and let someone else enjoy them.
Categorize and store your Holiday Decor
Okay. You’ve got your bins and you’ve got your lights all rolled up. You’ve decluttered décor items you no longer need, want, use, or love. Time to categorize your bins. Create one bin that is specifically for your ornaments. Create another that contains your lighting. Another for the outdoor décor and LABEL, LABEL, LABEL them, even if they are clear storage bins. By labeling them on 2 sides, you’ll know what’s inside without a doubt, no matter which way you look.
Toilet paper tube for wrapping paper
Lastly, I wanted to share with you this fun little hack I recently learned for all those half-used tubes of wrapping paper. Take an empty toilet paper tube and cut it length wise. Then wrap it around the wrapping paper. It will hold everything in place and prevent the tube from unrolling and getting crinkled! Pretty genius and so simple!
Again, I know it’s early. But Christmas is coming fast, and I wanted to share these 7 surefire ways to store Holiday decor before it was too late. I hope you can use one or more of the ideas when it’s time for you to put the holidays away for yet another year.
Here’s to storing your Christmas decor and RESETTING your life!
Roberta
Organization isn’t about perfection; it’s about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money, and improving your overall quality of life.” – CHRISTINA SCALISE
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