What’s one of the best gifts you can give yourself this holiday season? Organized storage solutions! Avoid the disappointment of opening up a box to see a treasured glass ornament in shards or a discolored tablecloth because your holiday decor wasn’t stored properly. When you use the right holiday storage boxes, bins, racks, and other tools to ensure your decorations stay nice, they will beautifully brighten every season for years to come. With this in mind, our storage professionals have some tips and advice on the best holiday storage, so let’s dive in!

Holiday Organizing Tips to Make This Season Bright and Tidy

Don’t just throw all of your holiday decor into the same box. Take a strategic approach to organizing by grouping like items together and using specialized solutions. Here are some ingenious holiday decor storage ideas to use when it’s time to take down the tinsel and trimmings for another year.

Organize Your Gift-Wrapping Station

A fully stocked gift-wrapping station removes the stress of shopping for paper, bows, and gift tags at the last minute. But holiday gift bags and wrapping paper can take up a lot of space, especially for items you only use once a year. Here are a couple of secrets for optimal wrapping paper storage.

Gift-Wrapping Cart

These carts are ideal not just because they keep everything you need in one place, but they’re also mobile, so you can take your gift-wrapping supplies to any room of your house. Look for a cart with drawers for stashing ribbons, bows, and small accessories, slots for gift boxes, and a section that accommodates tall rolls of wrapping paper. Your essentials will stay free of wrinkles and tangles, and your space will remain tidy. And the best part is you can roll it out of sight and store it in a permanent location when you’re done using it.

Over-the-Door Shoe Caddy

Here’s another popular storage option for minimal wrapping paper mess. Converting a closet into a gift-wrapping station. Adding pull-out shelves maximizes your space for boxes and gift bags while keeping everything within easy reach. And you can use the shoe pockets in over-the-door caddies for gift tags, ribbons, folded tissue paper sheets, and much more.

Organize Ornaments

When it comes to ornaments, not all holiday storage boxes are created equal. Many people have small, fragile, or heirloom ornaments that need to be treated with great care. That’s why you should have sturdy storage containers to prevent breaking or damage. Some storage bins are built specifically to hold ornaments, with small compartments to house each one individually. These boxes should have strong lids in case you need to stack them on top of each other to fit in your space. To save yourself time when trimming your tree next year, label each box, so you know what kind of ornaments are inside. Keep the hooks in the same container as the ornaments, and keep oversized ornaments, like the tree topper, in their own box.

Organize Wreaths and Garland

If you have to cram wreaths and garlands into an ill-fitting box, you can end up with bent, twisted, or damaged greenery. Try these holiday storage tips to keep everything looking fresh and lively when you are ready to display them again.

Wreaths

Before storing wreaths, remove any ribbons or ornaments on them. Make sure to take off any ornament hooks, too. You’ll want wide bins for your wreaths, so the tips don’t stick out when you put the lid on. You can also purchase circular boxes designed specifically for wreaths. Adding a pine-scented stick or scentsicles to the storage box will keep everything smelling evergreen.

Garlands

Like wreaths, garlands should be free of any decorative embellishments before you store them. Long boxes or bags can comfortably fit garlands, but wrap each strand individually in tissue paper if you have to store several in the same box; this will prevent tangling and save you time when unpacking them next season. Once you’ve packed up your wreaths and garlands in the appropriate storage containers, store them in an area that doesn’t have excessive heat or moisture to keep your decor in the best possible condition.

Organize Your Holiday Lights

Has this happened to you? You unpack your holiday lights only to discover many of them don’t work, ugh! And trying to find the one or two bulbs on each string that don’t work is about as frustrating a process as there is, and no way to start your holiday decorating. You can avoid this problem, however, with the right holiday organization solutions.

Cardboard Method

One of the easiest ways to approach Christmas light storage? Wrap a strand of lights around a square or rectangular piece of cardboard, then fasten the ends of the strand to the cardboard with tape, or cut a tiny slit into the top and bottom edges of the cardboard and secure the ends of the cord that way. Only wrap one strand per piece of cardboard to avoid bulkiness or tangles. Then gently place the wrapped cardboard pieces into a storage bin that protects your lights. This method will not only save you the frustration of dealing with broken lights next season, but you’ll also save yourself some money too!

Organize Other Indoor Holiday Decorations

Here are some general holiday organizing tips for linens, tableware, and other decorative items. First, clean each item and thoroughly dry it (to prevent mildew) before storage. If you have an artificial tree, you may want to use an oversized cover or shrink-wrap it to conserve space. Find special bags that keep silverware from tarnishing or fabrics from yellowing. You may want to place other items in clear bags so you can easily see what’s inside. When choosing any storage container, make sure it’s roomy enough for your decor and offers protection from dust or dirt.

Organize Outdoor Holiday Decorations

You can apply the same rules here that you use for indoor storage. Protective, roomy bins are your best bet. Clean items before putting them away, and take care to wrap any electrical cords, so they don’t tangle. If you have inflatable decorations, rolling instead of folding prevents creases in the material and makes them more compact for storage.

Organize Holiday Apparel

Whether it’s a pretty party dress or an “ugly” Christmas sweater, your holiday attire should be stored properly to ensure they look pristine each year you pull it out. Apply these holiday organization strategies when storing clothes: Wash or dry clean clothing and inspect each piece for tears, broken zippers, or missing buttons, making any necessary repairs. Then put each item in a garment bag, or lay it flat in closet drawers or bins with each item wrapped in protective tissue paper. (Don’t leave your clothes in the plastic sheaths from the dry cleaner; that can ruin the fabric over time.)

Additional Holiday Organizing Tips

Need more holiday storage tips? Contact your local ShelfGenie® for ideas, tips, and great solutions to all of your storage problems! We’re the experts in kitchen storage, pantry storage, and we can help you with holiday storage. Our professional designers and installers will help you find a customized solution for your holiday decor and all of your other storage needs too! To learn more about how we work, book a free appointment online today!