The holiday season fills us with a sense of warmth and cheer, but it also fills our homes with seemingly endless decorations and collectibles. When all those Christmas lights, ornaments, and festive keepsakes keep piling up year after year, it may be time to re-examine your holiday décor storage strategy. 

In this article, we’ll give you all the tips and tricks you need to finally get on top of your holiday storage. We’ll show you how to keep your holiday gear organized, protected, and as efficiently packed as possible to optimize your storage space.

Ornament Storage

From one household to the next, Christmas ornaments generally have a few special things in common. They are typically delicate, meaningful, and treasured. With these things in mind, it makes sense to take extra precautions to keep your holiday ornaments safe and sound in self-storage. You can rely on a trusty plastic bin or snap-lid box with individual compartments for all of your ornaments, or you can use your creativity to create or upcycle a DIY ornament personal storage solution.

Wine Boxes and Beer Cases

Use a wine box or empty beer case with six-pack holders to store candles and other similarly sized decorations. Fill the gaps with newspaper or tissue paper for extra padding.

Egg Cartons for Miniature Ornaments

For very tiny ornaments from miniature trees, consider using egg cartons that are clean and in good shape. Place a rubber band around the carton to keep them safe.

Plastic Cups

Create your own clever storage solution ala Martha Stewart with plastic cups hot-glued to a piece of cardboard and layered inside a plastic bin.

DIY Ornament Storage

Make an ornament storage box with a sturdy cardboard box and some spare cardboard, scissors, and tissue paper. Use the tissue for extra filling around those very delicate items.

DIY Christmas Light Storage

Installing and taking down Christmas lights may give you fits, especially if your strands become a tangled mess of wires. Plan to store all of your holiday lights, spare bulbs, electrical cords and components, and timers together in one holiday storage bin, if they will fit. A holiday light storage kit may come in handy, or you can easily optimize the way you store your Christmas lights with a few DIY tips.

• Check that lights are functional before packing them up. Replace spent bulbs and discard any strands that pose electrical hazards.
• Before stowing your lights in a bin, bag, or box, wind them carefully around something like a piece of sturdy cardboard or a clothes hanger. Alternatively, you can use Velcro cord wraps to keep your lights from unwinding. 
• For a low-budget hack, simply place each strand of lights in a plastic zippered bag, one to a bag.

Storing Holiday Decorations

Holiday and Christmas décor storage helps reduce clutter in your home while also keeping your holiday items better protected in the off-season. Whether you prefer DIY or readymade solutions, you can clean up your Christmas clutter quickly and easily with just a little time and effort.

Store Like Items Together

Organize your Christmas décor by packing like items in the same box. Designate a box or two for Christmas decoration storage, one for lights, one for wreaths or window dressings, and so forth. Some Christmas items might already come with their own storage bag, such as the wreath storage bag, which means you can save on storage containers.

Label, Label, Label!

Good Christmas décor storage isn’t just about packing everything away neatly; it’s also about making your job easier when the holidays roll around again. Take the time to clearly label your boxes so you’ll know exactly where to find all your favorite decorations next year. 

A label maker can save time and add convenience, though you can always write your labels by hand.

Christmas Tree Storage

Do you use an artificial Christmas tree? That Tannenbaum will need to go somewhere when the season is over. Determine whether a Christmas tree storage bag may be easier to handle and more efficient than your tree’s original box. The artificial tree is trickier to store because it has to be disassembled first, so it can feel like solving a puzzle.

Wrapping Paper Storage

Have extra wrapping paper left over after the holiday season? Those long tubes of wrapping paper can take up a lot of space — but don’t throw them out. Instead, store them in an extra trash can or vertical laundry bin. 

If a bin or trash can take up too much space in your home, another option is to buy a wrapping paper storage organizer. These kits often come in the form of zip-up cases that can store 10, 20, or even 40 standard rolls of wrapping paper. As a bonus, many also include built-in pockets, perfect for storing gift bags, ribbons, bows, and tags. 

Large Decoration Storage

What are you going to do with large holiday decorations like wreaths, garlands, and yard signs? A nifty idea for big Christmas decoration storage is to use clear garment bags. The bags will help keep off dust and grime throughout the year. To really flex your storage muscles, hang the bags from a portable clothing rack so that you can keep them all together.

Vacuum-Sealed Bags

Your holiday-themed decorative pillows, throws, tablecloths and dish towels turn your home into a winter wonderland. They also take up a lot of space in storage. Vacuum-sealed bags are an excellent solution for all fabric items. They can dramatically reduce storage space while keeping your favorite indoor decorations protected during the rest of the year.

You can also use vacuum-sealed garment bags to store all your ugly sweaters, Christmas pajamas, and other holiday-themed clothes. 

Get Rid of Old Holiday Décor

Packing up your holiday decorations is a great opportunity to prune your décor. Get rid of broken ornaments, hopelessly tangled lights, or that blow-up Rudolph with the hole in it. Carefully assess the rest of your decorations and ornaments and decide whether they still delight you. If not, it might be time to sell or give them away.

Consider Self Storage for Your Décor Storage

Over the years, you may find that your Christmas and other holiday decorations have a way of multiplying. Yes, you might have the best-decorated house on the block, but all those things need to go somewhere in the off-season. If your decorations are clogging up your garage, closets, or attic, it might be time to consider a storage unit.

Storage facilities like Price Self Storage offer units in various sizes, including small, medium, and large. The best part is that, in addition to all your holiday storage bins, you can store all the other things taking up space in your home, like old family memorabilia, sports equipment, books, seasonal clothing, and more. 

Is Self-Storage Right for You?

Price Self Storage offers many storage unit sizes and flexible month-to-month contracts. Our facilities are located throughout California, typically near major highways for easy access.

We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. While it’s sad to take down all your beautiful decorations, don’t worry — you can put them all up next year! In the meantime, a storage unit can help keep your favorite holiday decorations tidy and secure. Find your nearest Price Self Storage facility.