Tips For How to Store Christmas Decorations

The holidays are over and it is time to ring in the New Year.  Are you ready to put all those Christmas decorations back into their bins?  Or are you dreading this process?  Here are some things to consider before you tackle this project:

• If you have so many decorations that you dread getting them out and taking them down, consider reducing your collection down to a more manageable number.  Also keep in mind that it is easier and faster to decorate with large pieces rather than lots of small ones.  
• Since you already have all of your decorations out, this is the perfect time to evaluate what you have.  Rather than put unused and unloved items back into storage for another year to take up space, set up a donate box to toss unwanted decorations into as you are putting things away.
• If you have items that you have not put out in the last few years, consider whether or not they are worth keeping.  Have they lost their sparkle?  Chances are they won’t sparkle next year either. 

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Use these general guidelines to ensure that all of your Christmas Decorations are stored safely and can easily be found next year:

• Check the entire house for decorations, and gather them all together.
• Wrap wreaths in clear plastic bags and put them on a shelf.  
• Lights can be stored in bins made specifically for Christmas lights that come with handy flat plastic inserts to wrap the lights around.  Alternatively, lights can be wrapped around flat cardboard and placed layered in a regular bin with bubble wrap.
• Do not keep all of the boxes that your tree ornaments came in and try to put them back into their boxes.  It takes too much time to match boxes to ornaments and the boxes also take up too much space. Instead, ornaments are best stored in bins made just for ornaments with divided compartments.  Wrap fragile ornaments in tissue paper and place them in the center of the bin with the less fragile ornaments on the outer edges of the box.
• Remember to place like items together, (i.e.:  Garlands, tree ornaments, inside lights etc.) and clearly label your bins.  
• You can also group items together in bins according to location and decorating order to make decorating easier next Christmas ( ie: family room décor, outside lights, fireplace mantel etc.).  Then label the bins so that you know exactly what room to haul it to when you get it out again.  
• Be sure to store all of your Christmas decorations together in one storage area rather than mixed in with other stuff.   Do not store Christmas décor in more than one area in your home.

 
 

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