Yes, I know that you haven’t even gotten through the chaos of Christmas yet, but it’s never too early to think about where you’re going to keep those items safe until next year. You may be able to find a New Year’s special price on the perfect-sized storage unit for your needs. With month-to-month leasing, you won’t have to make a long-term commitment, and your treasures will be safe and protected.

As a matter of fact, we’ve gathered some tips and tricks to help you store your decorations and keep them in perfect condition for years to come. 

Give Your Holiday Decorations a Cozy Home

Before you start packing your decorations into either the very expensive storage containers from Target or Wayfair or the leftover egg cartons and disposable coffee cups from your garbage, you need to think about where you’re going to store these items. If you’re anything like me, you have enough decorations to transform the entire neighborhood into a Christmas wonderland. You need a solution, and you need it before the Christmas ornaments find a cold and dreary home in your garage, and your cars are stuck out in the driveway all year. 

What you need is a self-storage unit, preferably a convenient, secure, climate-controlled storage unit. Here at Trusted Self Storage, these units are available in a variety of sizes that are suitable for large or small Christmas trees and all of your other seasonal items. You can add pegboards to the walls for hanging your wreaths and garlands and shelving for plastic ornament boxes (or leftover egg cartons) and Christmas linens. With climate-controlled storage, you won’t find a pool of hardened wax that used to be a candle or a moldy piece of fabric that was once a treasured heirloom. 

Tips to Prepare Your Decorations for Their Temporary Home

Take Pictures 

Did you ever begin your Christmas decorating, suddenly realizing that you can’t remember which decorations you used on the mantel or which centerpiece you used on the dining room table? As you age, this will happen. Before you remove those decorations for storage, take pictures for future reference. Mobile devices make it so easy to take photos. Add a few selfies before you store them; memories of the bags under your eyes are precious.

Don’t Break the Ornaments

In many families, Christmas ornaments are irreplaceable treasures. They represent life events, travel, and tradition. Many were created with little hands out of construction paper, glue, and glitter. Some are given as special gifts. Fortunately, you can find endless options in boxes and containers made specifically to protect fragile ornaments. They’re available at Wayfair, Home Depot, and At Home, just to name a few. Remember to leave the hangers on the ornaments, so that you don’t have to make a trip to the store in the middle of next year’s decorating.

Keep Your Christmas Tree for a Lifetime

Even though artificial trees are quite durable, storing your tree in its original box is not the best idea. With each passing year, the box will deteriorate, making it prone to insect (and deranged squirrel) infestation, and the tree will not look as nice if it has to be jammed into the box and reshaped every year. There are several different tree storage container options that will protect your tree and keep it in great shape. Climate-controlled storage is perfect for keeping your tree in pristine condition. This is especially important if you have a frosted or flocked tree; they don’t do well in extreme temperatures. Actually, they make a mess at any temperature.

Maintain your Wreaths and Garlands

As with all your other Christmas paraphernalia, there are numerous options for wreath and garland storage. Look for sturdy containers that will preserve the shape of these items and protect any decorative bows and ornaments. They can also be hung from hooks on a pegboard in your storage unit. For extra protection, you can use bags specifically for wreaths and garlands or you can save money by using lightweight dry cleaning bags.

Keep Your Christmas Lights Untangled

Clark Griswold should not be your “go-to” example for Christmas light storage. Think “organization.”  The first thing you need to do is to dispose of any lights that are damaged or not working properly. Then, you need to avoid the tangled mess of previous years by wrapping your lights around storage reels, which can be found at the above-mentioned retail stores. When you’re finished organizing the lights, place them in a large plastic storage bin along with the necessary extension cords. Don’t forget to take pictures as a guide to next year’s light design.

Keep Your Christmas Linens Crisp and New Looking 

Be sure that your Christmas table linens, bed linens, and towels are clean prior to storage.  Stains can oxidize over time and be impossible to remove, so don’t be lazy and store them with wine and gravy stains. Don’t wrap linens in tissue, newsprint, or cardboard as these materials can release gasses that will turn your fabric yellow. Plastic can also damage the fabric, and hangars can cause creases that are hard to iron out. If you have the space, you can store these items on an extra shelf in your linen closet. A better option is a suitcase that you no longer use. Fill it with linens and keep it in a climate-controlled environment to prevent damage.

Don’t Let Your Candles Become Misshapen Globs of Wax

Wrap candles in old socks or cellophane to prevent scratching and color transfer.  Do not use plastic wrap or wax paper as these can stick to your candles. After you finish wrapping, store them in a box or crate, even your ornament storage boxes will work. Be sure that they are in a climate-controlled area self storage unit.  Unless, of course, you like misshapen globs of wax.

Organize 

It goes without saying that you should store your boxes strategically and with labels. Not only should each label show a detailed content list, but they should be numbered and stored in the order in which you want to open them. 

Takeaway

Storing your decorations the right way is tedious and time-consuming; but, when next year rolls around, you’ll be happy to find everything organized and in perfect condition, just as if Martha Steward and Marie Kondo worked together. Then, you can start the process over again. Merry Christmas!