Brilliant Tips and Hacks for Christmas Decor Storage
December 31, 2024
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Christmas decor storage ideas and hacks that will make next year's decorating easier!
I've figured out some great holiday storage solutions over the years that have helped to keep our Christmas decor better organized.
These methods have made pulling out decor for the next Christmas much more efficient. These little tips save my sanity each November when the holiday decor comes out and when I put them away for the year.
In general I find packing holiday decor away is faster
and easier than setting it up! Am I the only one? I quite like the process, it feels cathartic to clean up the house and simplify everything for the new year.
Here are my Christmas decor organization methods and a few tips I've figured out along the way!
1. Label your decor for next year
My first tip is to label as much as you can -- especially the stuff you put up
in the same spot every year.
I've found over the years that labeling light
strands I use for specific areas helps a TON!:
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You can find my
awesome label maker here! This
smaller version
works great too -- it's just a little more basic. Both are super easy to
use.
I label any spot that uses more than one strand of lights -- both inside and
outside. So when I get them out I know exactly how many bushes or trees are
covered by that group of lights.
I also label them inside, like the strands on
our stair garland. That way I'm not trying to figure out how many I used the
year before.
I use a LOT of
these remote plugs and switches
for our indoor lights. (That one is my favorite because I can use one remote for five items.)
I store them away with the items that need a remote,
like for the garland on our stairs. I just keep them plugged into the light strand.
I also keep any needed extension cords attached and stored away with the lights.
If you have more than one set of these remotes, you know the joy of trying to
figure out which one goes with which remote. ;)
2. Store your trees upright!
Next up is the Christmas tree storage! We have...uhhh, a few artificial trees. ;)
My dream my whole adult
life has been to store all of our Christmas trees upright -- and not take ONE thing
off of them each year.
Well in this house, my dreams were realized, at least for a couple of our trees!
We have a storage room in the basement with enough space to store a couple of our Christmas trees upright.
I found this
stand up Christmas tree storage bag
years ago and it works GREAT!
You just place it over the tree and tuck the
branches in here and there -- it zips up and then cinches as well:
You may have to fluff a little the next year, but otherwise everything stays
put!
Before I put each tree in the bag, I make sure the ornament hooks are wrapped well around the branches.
I loved that cover so much, I went to buy one more, but they were sold
out.
I looked around some more online and ended up with these plastic tree covers and they work almost as well:
They are made for nine foot trees so are plenty big for our seven to eight
foot trees. It's so roomy that it's easy to grab up the extra and tie it at
the bottom.
To carry them around, one of us grabs the top and one the bottom.
You'll be surprised at how much stays put!
I've also seen people "shrink wrap" their artificial Christmas trees by wrapping them in plastic.
We've stored a couple of our trees like this for years and they look almost
perfect when we uncover them the next holiday season. It saves a TON of time
-- you just need to have the space.
And really, they don't take up much more
space than the horizontal bags, you just have to have the vertical storage
space.
3. Wrap up Christmas lights
Storing Christmas lights can be a pain! If you don't keep them stored just right, they are a mess and tangled up when you pull them out the next year.
I've found the best way to store lights is by wrapping them around something -- in the past I've used pieces of cardboard boxes and just wrapped the lights around them.
It's worked OK, but the cardboard was flimsy and didn't hold up as well as I'd like. Then I found these super inexpensive light cord wrappers: 
So far these have worked great! The handle on the side makes it super easy to hold and wrap the lights around.
They are lightweight but hold a TON of lights with ease:
Our outdoor lights have smaller LED bulbs, so if you use standard or larger lights like the C7 bulbs, you'll probably want to use one of these wind up organizers for each light strand.
4. Putting the decor away
I find it easier to organize my holiday decor bins by like items instead of rooms.
So, for example, when I pull all of the garland down, every piece of it goes into one bin. Same for decor pieces, filler, and soft items like stockings, kitchen towels, etc.
To make this even easier, I use the dining table (any central location will do!) and pile ALL of the Christmas decor on top in sections:
The only decor not on here is anything from the tree and the thicker garland.
But otherwise I walk around and gather everything up and sort it out on the table first.
Have you ever found Christmas decor here and there months later? This helps to avoid that!
I find I gather every last thing this way -- no more finding random items throughout January and February! 😂
Then I can just bring in each plastic container and fill it with the like items right from the table. It makes the process of putting the decor away MUCH quicker!
I find it easier to organize my holiday decor bins by like items instead of rooms.
So, for example, when I pull all of the garland down, every piece of it goes into one bin. Same for decor pieces, filler, and soft items like stockings, kitchen towels, etc.
To make this even easier, I use the dining table (any central location will do!) and pile ALL of the Christmas decor on top in sections:
The only decor not on here is anything from the tree and the thicker garland.
But otherwise I walk around and gather everything up and sort it out on the table first.
Have you ever found Christmas decor here and there months later? This helps to avoid that!
I find I gather every last thing this way -- no more finding random items throughout January and February! 😂
Then I can just bring in each plastic container and fill it with the like items right from the table. It makes the process of putting the decor away MUCH quicker!
5. A designated spot for Christmas decor
For years we stored all of the Christmas decor in our basement, but I realized
a few years in that it was a major chore to get it all upstairs (sometimes two
flights).
Since then I've stored almost everything in our garages.
A few years ago I treated myself to new, clear storage containers for our Christmas decor. It made me so happy!
Our old bins were covered with paint or
busted up. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about seeing everything inside -- I was
worried it would feel too messy.
But I LOVE IT:
I can't even tell you how NICE it is to see everything! I was going to
label each bin, but decided against it once I got everything in there. There's
no need really.
I did a serious purge of all our decor before putting everything back. I
haven't really gone through the Christmas decor in years.
Now we use more of the smaller bins instead of larger we had in the past. The smaller ones are so much easier to carry around:
We had similar wood shelves built up to the ceiling in our last garage, and
we loved it so much we had them built again in just the second day in this
house!
Before, this corner was a mix of random stuff, but
I decided to make it all seasonal. It's mostly Christmas, but I
have Halloween and Fourth of July stuff here too.
These are the plastic bins I used -- all of them have latching handles that hold the lids on. Love that!
I used this
small clear bin
for most of the decor:
This 50 gallon storage container
is great for bigger stuff like garlands and our outdoor decor:
Half of this wall is tree storage! Don't you wish you could squish the Christmas trees down as small as they come in the original box?:
Last year we started using these cinching utility straps to tighten up each section of the tree as we store it away. It doesn't make them as small as the first time you open up a tree box, but it does make them much easier to store!
Plus the pieces of the tree are easier to carry around when they are cinched up with the straps.
6. Solutions for the smaller holiday decor
- I hang most of my seasonal wreaths along the side of the wood shelves in the garage. I like being able to access them easily! For my Christmas wreaths, I use a wreath bag to store them on the shelves.
- The majority of our Christmas ornaments are not breakable -- the are inexpensive plastic bulbs. For that reason, I don't buy fancy ornament storage boxes, I just pile them into the bins. The fragile ornaments are the last to be put away and are laid on top. We've never had one break!
If you want more protection, you can use plastic cups to protect your fragile ornaments!
- I keep all of our holiday wrapping paper in the garage as well. The bows, ribbon, tissue paper and gift bags all go into their own storage bin. The wrapping paper rolls are stored in this wrapping paper storage bag. It has room to keep little things like tape and gift tags at the top as well.
When I'm wrapping gifts, I just grab the bin and paper I need.
We had these shelves built to fit the big parts of our giant family room
tree -- if you build something similar, make sure to measure your bins and
then build your shelves so you can stack numerous bins on each one.
Do you do anything specific with your holiday storage that makes the next
year easier for you? These tips help me a ton -- especially the stand up
tree covers!
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I was wondering how you keep your garland from scratching the wood railing?
ReplyDeleteThe garland is soft, but I use cup hooks underneath to hang it. :)
DeleteMy label maker is by favor my most-loved purchase of 2020. SO helpful for seasonal decor and my pantry!
ReplyDeleteThis was very helpful & I enjoyed reading it! To answer your question, yes, I have an itemized list on the box of what is in each box. Now of course that isn't anything new, but it is very helpful when PUTTING AWAY things. The biggest way it helps me is as I pack each box I see my list, and then remember to get the bells from the front doorknob, etc. If I don't do that it seems like every year, everything is all put away (in basement here) and then I spy some Christmas books, a pillow, kitchen towels, or something that got missed. Arg! So this helps keep me from missing an item!
ReplyDeleteI really admire your system, and am always trying to improve mine. Having an organized method helps make it more 'enjoyable'. Thanks and Happy New Year! Christine
Great idea and I'm borrowing it. I also spend all year with some random Christmas item in my closet because I didn't notice it until everything was packed away. Thanks.
DeleteI also use clear plastic storage bins. It's so nice to be able to see what's in each bin simply by looking at it. Your storage area looks so neat and tidy. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LOVE LOVE stand-up tree storage!!! I wanted it for decades and finally have it now!! 😍
ReplyDeleteI also love your blog, Sarah, and quote you all the time! Haha
Thanks for all your share with us!!
Camille
P. S. I bought a small, wheeled dolly and attached my tree base to it with tie wraps. I roll the tree into the back of my large coat closet and then back out. I use a large white sheet as a tree skirt, so it doubles as a tree cover while the tree’s being stored. Love it!!
DeleteSuch a great idea for storing your trees. My dream house would have a tree closet off of the main living area to store two or three fully decorated trees that would sit on wheels and could just be rolled in and out. Ha! That will likely never happen...I can dream.
ReplyDeleteI switched to clear plastic storage bins three years ago and like you, I used smaller bins. It makes it so much easier. I do label mine with a standard form printed on 8.5 x 11 card stock that I just slip down into the bin in the side that will be visible when the bin is stored on the shelf. That way it is easy to see and read exactly what's in there when I take them down and I know which bin they belong in when I put things away again.
Looking forward to lots more of your great projects and tips this year!
I actually have one very wealthy friend who's mother has a corner closet in their great room that, just like you dream of, stores their 12 foot Christmas tree. She opens the doors, wheels it out and the doors close behind it. It's amazing!! haha... I'd have never thought of it...but now that she's older, she admits it's the only reason she continues to have a tree, because if she had to put it all up by herself and then take it down annually, she just wouldn't do it! :)
DeleteSuch great and helpful ideas for organize storage! Thx 😊Happy New Year🎈
ReplyDeleteYour ideas are always so helpful - I did separate and label as you've mentioned. My biggest problem is storing a fake tree and not have it get musty/moldy smelling. I'm in New England and have a concrete basement that is not climate controlled and no garage or attic. The storage in the eaves gets extraodinarily hot in the summer and frigid in the winter. Any suggestions would be really helpful!
ReplyDeleteI prefer to store my Christmas items by room so I can completely decorate one room without making a mess in the entire house. Anything that comes down from that room to accommodate Christmas decor goes into the storage bin until Christmas comes down. If I have a trunk or closet I. That particular room it may store that room’s Christmas decor because, as you said in your post, it’s a pain to drag it out from the basement.
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't have a central storage area (other than the attic which I no longer use), I store decorations by room together, often in the room in which they are displayed. If I am particularly happy with a display, I take a picture of it and save it in my seasonal decoration folder. I also print a hard copy for backup and store it with the appropriate decorations.
ReplyDeleteLove these ideas for Christmas storage. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSeeing your organized Xmas Decor reminded me my goal for ”The Great Purge of 2022" is Xmas Decor containment. I've always been organized. It's the volume that is out of control. I already told the family to come shopping my Xmas Decor this year. Every single container is being removed from the garage. Hopefully they will walk away with more than I keep. (Containers and all) 2022 is going to be the year that I Reign It In.
ReplyDeleteI did that last year. Best decision ever! Good luck.
DeleteI never thought one could store a Christmas tree upright fully decorated; this takes the fun from setting up the tree each year and taking it down each year. It is a lot of work but well rewarded in my opinion; when we view our tree decorated after Thanksgiving, we take great pride in what we've accomplished together; as well as when we've taken it down; although this last time taking it down was most trite and exhausting but still fun as an accomplishment and seeing the apartment clean and newly fresh for this New Year. Happy New Year 2025, to you and yours.
ReplyDelete