Not packing your decorations carefully or correctly can lead to problems down the road. For instance, glass and ceramic can easily chip when stored incorrectly. Or, improperly storing Christmas lights, tinsel, and garland can lead to tangles, frustrating knots, broken bulbs, and warped wiring. Organizing items helps mitigate some of the former issues. At Belleair Storage, we advise on how to organize, pack, and store your holiday decorations.
Not taking the time to pack your decorations the right way is a major misstep that can—and often does—result in more work and effort later on.
So what’s the best thing to do? Get an organization strategy so that when the time does come to take down your decorations and store them for the next year, you already know precisely how you’re going to do it. We promise—it’s not as much work as you might be thinking. Any extra effort you put into it will save you a ton of time when you’re ready to set everything up again.
Holiday Decorations 101
Every family has their unique decorations that come out every Christmas, but we’re going to focus on the standard fare that you’ll find at pretty much any house over the holidays. Here are some typical decorations and what considerations you should keep in mind while preparing to pack them.
Artificial Christmas Trees
More than likely, your artificial Christmas tree came in a box. Hopefully, you saved that box since it’s already the correct size for your tree. If you didn’t, you’d need to find a box or container that it fits. To pack an artificial Christmas tree, go backward from the steps you took to unpack it, bundling up each branch and getting the tree as straight as possible.
Wreaths
Wreaths are inherently challenging to pack due to their size and shape. While you won’t need to do anything to your wreath to prepare it for storage, you will need to ensure that you have the correct size box and consider any packaging needs you have to protect delicate features like faux berries or pinecones.
Outdoor Porch and Yard Décor
The key to storing yard décor is to know what you can reasonably box up and what might do better stored on its own without a box. Sometimes large construction garbage bags serve as a suitable protectant for yard décor.
Ornaments
Ornaments are considered the most difficult of all decorations to organize and pack due to their small, odd sizes and delicate nature. The best way to pack ornaments is to wrap each one carefully and individually, with an organizational structure in mind that makes it easy to find what you need. We suggest placing ornaments in gallon bags so you can label them.
Indoor and Outdoor String Lights
To pack holiday lights safely and effectively, you’ll need to mind how you arrange your Christmas light storage. Generally, keep all of your strands of string lights separate from each other to reduce the risk of wrapping around each other. You also need to be conscious of how you box them up (just throwing them in there will cause them to tangle.)
Artificial Garland
Like artificial Christmas trees, adequately arrange your artificial garland for optimal storage. That includes removing any lights that you’ve strung around them and folding up branches to get the garland as straight and uniform as possible.
Tinsel
That beautiful tinsel you’ve got wrapped around your tree or banister tends to tangle and bend in storage. To prevent that from happening, you’ll need to take care to pack it up correctly by laying it flatly in a container. This process also helps maintain the tinsel’s shine.
Ceramic Houses
Festive ceramic houses make a gorgeous display on your mantel but can cause quite an issue when it’s time to pack them up. Like ornaments, they tend to be quite fragile, and many times they also have attached wiring for lights. Packing them upright requires attention to detail so that you can be sure to protect each part.
Glass and Ceramic Figurines
All additional glass, ceramic, or other types of figurines need to be packed and stored in much the same way you would pack any other fragile item. Remember that something doesn’t have to be glass or ceramic to be considered breakable. Many Christmas decorations have tiny, intricate pieces that required special care when organizing and packing. In general, if you’re worried it could get broken in storage, you should go ahead and separate it into a breakables pile.
Gift Wrapping Supplies
You don’t need your Santa wrapping paper out all year round, so you’ll want to store your holiday wrapping supplies in a way that keeps them in good condition for the next year. Rolls of paper, ribbons, and bows can be challenging to maintain in storage, however, which is why it’s essential to pack them carefully and consciously.
Additional Holiday Décor
Holiday dish towels and mugs, fluffy fake snow, your family’s stockings—all of these items need not just to be packed up correctly but also organized in such a way that they don’t get separated from the rest of your holiday items. The organization is especially vital here since you may want to pull out some things earlier than others.
Contact Us
We hope you have a better idea of how to organize, pack, and store your holiday decorations. Need a place to store your them? Give Belleair Storage a call today! It is our pleasure to help you find the best storage option for your holiday items! Call the main office today: 727-584-3575!
