Holiday Home Hacks: Tips For Taking Down and Storing Holiday Decorations

If you’ve just pulled out your holiday decorations and are already fretting about how you’ll put them back--here are 13 seasonal décor storage hacks to make your after-holiday cleanup a snap! There’s nothing like special decorations to add a little holiday cheer to your home, but they can quickly turn into a jumbled mess in your basement or garage. With just a few simple hacks, turn that unruly storage mess into an organized and easy-to-find decoration system. We’ve sorted our hacks by decoration type so you can create your own take-down and storage strategies. Ornaments Store-Bought Boxes We’ll start with the obvious--there are commercially made and specially designed ornament boxes that certainly make life easier. Options range from collapsible plastic to nylon cloth with rigid walls and separators, and prices range from about $20 to over $200. Repurposed Cartons If you’re more interested in upcycling and DIY-ing your ornament storage, we recommend repurposing old cartons. Egg cartons are perfect for miniature ornaments, and cartons originally designed for peaches, pears, or apples are great for larger ornaments and fragile table or mantle decorations. Shredded Paper For a bit faster take-down process, you can use a soft pile of shredded paper in the bottom of a box. Lay ornaments on the paper, then top with more shredded paper and another layer of ornaments. Repeat. Doing this has the added benefit of using the scraps from your end-of-year shredding party. Trees Rolling Tree Keepers Various department stores and holiday supply stores sell specific rolling tree keepers that look like rolling luggage you’d use to travel. Some are stored upright, and some lay flat, but all of them hold the separate pieces of your artificial tree in one convenient and sturdy case. These run about $80 to $200. Repurposed Sheets You can also repurpose your old bedsheets into “tree cases.” Simply use one sheet for each section of your artificial tree and tie the corners into crossing knots - this keeps your tree from collecting dust and may even be color-coordinated to your earlier style sense. Wreaths & Garlands Hangers Use twine or wire to secure your wreaths to a simple clothes hanger. First, loop a garland or two around your arm and then drape it over the top of a clothes hanger. Then, cover each with a garment bag (or trash bag), and hang on the rack in the back of a closet. Boxes/Tubs Wreaths and garlands also nest perfectly in shallow boxes and tubs. Select a container that fits your largest wreath, then wind garlands into a coil and lay them inside the wreath. [caption id="attachment_336218" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Photo By Lost_in_the_Midwest/Shutterstock[/caption] String Lights Store-Bought Spools & Reels Store-bought spools and reels allow you to wrap your string of holiday lights without any fuss or tangles. Just be sure to use a separate spool for each string of lights - otherwise, they tend to burrow into each other and will wreak havoc during your decorating next year. DIY Spools & Clothes Hangers To make your own string light spools, you can cut the top flaps off of a medium-sized cardboard box and use one flap for each string of lights. You can also wind a string of lights around a clothes hanger and store it on the closet rack next to your wreaths. Small Decorations Clear plastic baggies and small repurposed boxes are perfect for those tabletop and windowsill decorations. Pack them with tissue paper, shredded paper, or bubble wrap, and tuck your keepsake village pieces or porcelain candleholders in for safekeeping. Candles Cardboard tubes from your toilet paper and paper towel rolls are excellent storage hacks for decorative candlesticks. Wrap each stick separately in tissue paper or old linens, so they don’t stick together if it gets warm in your storage area, then place two or three in each cardboard tube. General Helpful Hacks These last two apply to most of the above seasonal decorations and storage. Bubble Wrap You might want to take this year to invest in a new roll of bubble wrap. You can use it to pad fragile ornaments and decorations in large container sections or wrap hanging décor or candles. Well cared for bubble wrap can last several seasons before you need to replace it. Labels We can’t say it enough: label, label, label. Whether you use store-bought boxes, repurposed bedsheets and cartons, or garment bags over clothes hangers, label them, so you know what’s inside without needing to open them up! You can sort and label by color, by area of the house, or by decoration type. Use these quick holiday storage hacks and make next year’s decorating easy and enjoyable!