The festive season may be over, but the joy of Christmas can linger throughout the year if we take care of our cherished holiday decorations. As the last carols fade away and the twinkling lights are gently packed away, you may be wondering how you can store your Christmas decorations efficiently. Maybe you’re sick of everything being a mess when you’re trying to decorate for the holidays.
Whether you’re a seasoned holiday enthusiast with a huge collection of ornaments and garlands or someone who simply loves a beautifully decorated Christmas tree, finding the best storage solutions is essential to ensure that your decorations remain in good condition.
In this article, we’ve rounded up a variety of creative and practical ideas for storing everything from delicate ornaments and garlands to the centerpiece of it all—the Christmas tree itself.
How To Store Christmas Decorations
With a little thought and organization, you can say goodbye to balls of tangled lights, broken baubles, and the stress of next year’s decoration set up. Let’s jump in!
Label every box with the contents and keep a tracker
If you’re struggling to find what you’re looking for in your Christmas storage boxes, this is a great way to keep it all straight! Take some extra time this year to take inventory of your holiday decorations and create labels for each of your boxes. You’ll thank yourself next year!
At the end of the holiday season, Ashely recommends purging the decor and organizing it by theme before you put it away. Themes could be anything that makes sense for you, but she uses things like lights, ornaments, mantle decorations, etc.
Then when she packs up her plastic bins she attaches her Christmas labels to each box detailing the contents of what is inside. She also keeps a master tracking sheet on the contents and their locations. Read more to download her free printable labels!
Use free printable labels for each box
Looking for some very simple Christmas labels for your boxes? These free ones are perfect if you’re just wanting simple category labels for your holiday bins.
She mentions that you can print them on printable sticker paper and use a 3″ circle craft punch, but if you don’t want to do that you can also print them on copy paper and attach them to your boxes with packing tape.
Keep your boxes organized by room or station
To avoid being overwhelmed, Amy keeps her Christmas decorations organized by room and station. For example, one box holes dining room decorations, another box kitchen decor.
This way, she can simply bring in one tub at a time so she can decorate one space without feeling so overwhelmed by all of the rest of her holiday décor in piles around the living room. This method would work well if you always put your Christmas decorations in the same spot in your home.
She also uses printable labels for the boxes and writes down what is in each of the boxes as it is packed. I love the spot at the bottom of her labels that has a spot for notes of things you may need to buy or add next year. This is genius Christmas decoration storage, don’t you agree?
Organize your bins by room
Laura prefers the organize-by-room method for storing her Christmas decorations. She likes that she can easily decorate one room at a time and then take empty boxes back up to the attic as she decorates.
In the past, she used to keep her decorations organized by category, but she found that things got left out and never made their way back into the right bin and it was a mess.
If you only have a small amount of decorations for a room, like the office or kitchen, you can combine them into one box, of course. She doesn’t use fancy printable labels. Just a piece of paper with the note taped onto the box. Simple is sometimes best, right?
Use free printable labels to organize each box in your garage
These cute printable Christmas decor labels will help you get more organized and get rid of the stress of not knowing where anything is!
Best of all, they are super cute and will stand out in your garage in the sea full of plastic bins. You can print them out on paper and tape them to the bins with packing tape or print them into sticky labels and attach them.
Use a QR code organizing tool for your storage bins
This may just be one of the best tips I’ve ever seen! If you have trouble finding specific items in your Christmas decoration boxes, you’ll love this one.
This blogger has found a QR code storage organizing tool. This app uses QR barcode labels and a free app to keep track of the contents and location of your storage bins. It has an easy-to-use feature that will tell you exactly where each of your holiday decorations is.
You can even take a picture of the items as you put them away, so you don’t have to come up with obscure names for each of your 10 different holiday garlands.
Once everything has been scanned in and stored away, you can simply go to the app and search for an item and find the specific bin that it is in. Amazing!
Use Ziploc bags
Meg uses ornaments throughout her home for Christmas decorations (on the tree, in vases, in basets, etc) so she has a lot of them. She keeps them organized in Ziploc plastic bags, grouping them together by size and color.
She also uses Ziplock bags to organize ribbon, garland, and other small decorations, labeling each as she goes with cute free printable labels with Santa hats.
Those Ziploc bags all get placed into clear storage bins with more Santa hat labels. She also keeps a storage list on her phone for random lists (like all of the things she already has in her Christmas Village collection, so she doesn’t accidentally buy a duplicate).
Separate Winter decor from Christmas decorations
Sarah’s “before” picture of her holiday decorations is a sight that is familiar to most. Bins stacked half hazardly in the corner of the garage. Some with lids opened and nothing labeled.
In her article, she shares seven simple steps that will help get your Christmas decorations stored away efficiently.
One of my favorite tips of hers is to separate the Winter decorations from the Christmas as you pack them up. There are some items in your holiday decor that you can keep up longer into January that is more winter rather than Christmas.
Layer your bins with soft items on the bottom and top
Cami has tons of great ideas for organizing Christmas decorations in this blog post, like how to keep your string lights organized using a piece of cardboard and how to keep everything protected with plastic bags. But I specifically loved her method of packing each Christmas decor bin!
She starts by layering something soft on the bottom of the box (like a pillow case, blanket, or tree skirt) to protect everything. Then she layers in the decorations and fits things together like a puzzle.
At the top of the bin, before putting on the lid, she adds another soft layer. This is a much better way than just throwing everything in the box and hoping it stays protected!
Take advantage of wall space for storage
Marieza has a great storage area in her basement under the stairs, but it was a hot mess. But she took some time and got it organized and it is now full of so many great ideas! She uses shelf brackets to hang Christmas wreaths on the wall, which saves a lot of space. Faux stems and florals are stored in PVC pipes attached to the wall.
Large clear bins with lids hold delicate ornaments, which are organized by color. She has easy access to everything in the storage space, which will definitely come in handy next holiday season.
Create a wreath storage area with a dowel rod
Suzy has some great tips here! Including the one about taking pictures of your decorations before you tear it all down! This will help you remember so you can quickly recreate the same looks or it will be a reminder of what you didn’t love so you can’t try something different next year!
But, by far, my favorite idea of hers is her wreath storage method! She added this dowel rod to her attic and put her seasonal wreaths on wire hangers there.
If you don’t have this kind of space in an attic, you could also use a closet rod. If you’re worried about the wreaths getting dusty, you can also cover them with a plastic bag before hanging them.
Organize your bins by category, instead of room
Sarah brings all of her Christmas decorations to one room when she is packing them up and puts them in storage bins by category (ie: all of the pillows together, all of the stockings together). She uses zipper storage bags for large items that don’t fit in plastic totes. If you’re wondering how to store Christmas garland that tangles easily, she has a great idea!
She wraps it around hangers before putting it into the big bins. This is a great option if you set your decorations up the following year because the storage containers aren’t organized by room, like some of the other methods.
Make a list for next year
Rachel shares so many great organizing ideas for Christmas decorations in the article (including free printable bin labels), but my favorite is “Step 2 – Make a list and check it twice!”.
She recommends creating a list at the end of each season of things you want to do next year: craft or decoration ideas for next year (with inspiration pictures), items that broke and need to be replaced, items that you were on the verge of getting rid of but didn’t (so if you don’t use it again next year, you know what to do).
These are things that are probably rattling through your brain while you pack up your Christmas decorations anyway, but she just takes the time to actually write it down. So smart!
Put a list on the top of each box once it is packed
This organization method is very simple as well. Just write down each item as you put it into the box and then rip the list off the notepad and put it on the top of the bin before you close the lid. You can keep the lists year after year so you remember what goes in each bin together.
If you use clear bins, you can also slide the list out on the edge of the bin so you can read it from the outside without having to open it.
Fill boxes efficiently
For those with limited extra storage space in their attic or basement for tons of boxes of holiday decorations, you’re going to love these ideas. She’s sharing spall space storage ideas for Christmas decorations and is thoughtful about reusing items. The first step is to take down the decorations and wrap everything in newspapers or recycled gift wrap to protect it while in storage.
She also shares a super smart idea of taking a photo of what is in the box and using it as a visual label. I thought that was pretty genius and simple to do.
She puts the heavy items and unbreakable things on the bottom of the boxes then fills in small spaces with nonbreakable ornaments, making sure to fill in every space in the boxes.
Use red bins for Christmas decorations
Shawna invested in new bins for her Christmas decorations and kept them all in the same bin color and style. She uses red to stand out when it is in storage. She only uses red bins for Christmas decorations, so they are easy to find.
Inside the bins, she keeps her ornaments organized in the original packages if she still has them. The rest of them can be wrapped in newsprint. Each bin gets labeled with her label maker before it gets packed away.
Or use clear bins for holiday decorations
Morgan likes to use clear bins for her holiday storage so she can quickly see what is inside. She keeps her decorations organized by category (outdoor lights, the blue tree, wreaths, tabletop decor).
She also has a separate bin for the gift wrap, ribbons, and other wrapping supplies. For her labeling method, she tapes a sheet from a notepad to the bin with the contents listed on the side.
Keep your faux tree in a storage bag
If you’re wondering how to store a Christmas tree, you’ve got to check out this one. She uses a heavy-duty Christmas tree storage bag, but the tough part about those tree storage bags is that they don’t have any “structure”, so she puts a box inside of the Christmas tree storage bag. You can use your original boxes for this or any extra large cardboard boxes you have lying around the house (which always seems to happen after the holiday season).
This essentially adds walls to the inside of the tree storage bag, which is a really good idea! Then she places the manual, gloves, and power cord into a Ziplock bag to keep it rounded up. Now that the tree storage box has a bit more structure, you can either stand it up or lay it down!
Invest in nice ornament storage boxes
If you’re wondering how to store Christmas ornaments, you’ll love this idea. Amber uses this large ornament storage box to keep all of her Christmas ornaments rounded up and in one place.
Before, she was using the original packaging for storing ornaments, but she mentions that the packaging wasn’t meant to be used year after year so it would eventually fall apart.
This nice ornament storage bin with a zipper has removable, stackable trays for the ornaments that keep them from breaking. She also uses matching zipper bags for her wreaths and wrapping paper.
Put ornaments in egg cartons
For smaller ornaments, you can store them in empty egg cartons. These are usually the perfect size for small ornaments and help keep them protected so they don’t break in storage.
What a great way to reuse something that would normally go in the trash or recycle bin! She also mentioned that a plastic apple container is good for holding larger ornaments.
Use cardboard shoe boxes for each person’s ornaments
Abby knows that if you’re more organized when you’re putting away your Christmas decorations this year, it will be quicker and easier to put them out next Christmas, so she takes some extra time to keep it neat and tidy. I love her Christmas ornament storage ideas.
She puts non-breakable ornaments in bins organized by color. The more fragile ornaments go in divided bins. Other sentimental ornaments for her family are kept in cardboard shoe boxes, separated by each person.
Of course, her bins are organized and she’s sharing the free labels on the blog post. After she’s written on the labels, she laminates them so they are a little more sturdy. If you don’t see the need to write out the contents of each box, you can also just put a category label on it instead – like “indoor garland”.
Store ornaments and other decor by color
Suzy swears by the “organize by color” method. She uses clear bins and keeps everything of the same color together in one bin. If you have some breakable ornaments, you can protect them with clear plastic trash bags before storing them away in bins.
She thinks this is the best way to avoid being overwhelmed when it comes time to decorate for Christmas again next year.
So, there you have it – easy ways to keep your Christmas decorations safe and sound until next year. Taking care of your holiday decorations now means less hassle when you want to deck the halls again.
By trying out these simple Christmas decor storage tricks, you’re setting the stage for more festive fun in the future. Just remember, a little work today means a lot of holiday happiness later on!
Do you have any other Christmas storage tips to share with us?
