Putting Christmas away… it never ends, right? The holiday rush is over (phew!) and if you haven’t already, it’s time to start thinking about how to store your holiday decorations, and get your home back to “normal.” Don’t let this intimidate you. We shared holiday decorating ideas to make your home festive, stress-relieving DIYs to get you through the month of December, and now, we’re sharing our tried-and-true tips for y storing all of those holiday decorations until next year. Goodbye, Christmas, and hello, New year!
It’s great to have different inspirations year to year for your tree or seasonal décor. What’s not fun is being met with a mash-up of ornaments, garlands, menorahs, and more when December rolls around again. The solution? Let’s start the New Year right by putting it all away conscientiously, calmly, and carefully, thus giving yourself the “gift” of an organized holiday closet. Below, our top five tips for keeping things neat and tidy.
1. BINS, BINS, BINS. Get some, now. Make sure they are clear or easily labeled, and that they snap shut. No one wants to see poor old Frosty in the middle of summer as you go hunting for your 4th of July flags.
2. Whenever possible, keep the original containers for your decorations. This is really the easiest way to ensure that they can be stored safely and snugly every year.
3. Egg crates are a good investment. Whether it’s packing up your grandmother’s vintage, ceramic Christmas tree or making sure your kid’s homemade ornaments live to see another year, egg crates can be used to wrap, hold, and protect your most precious holiday items.
4. For double the protection, nothing works better than tissue paper–especially for items that you may be layering in one of those bins we talked about above. You can easily reuse these wrappings year after year, and it can be fun (and oddly meditative) to repack this way.
5. Last but not least–and this is especially important for those of you who are into themes like I am–storing your items by color or type (think sparkly or crystal) will go a long way to making next year’s theme a huge success.
I’ve written before about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and the core principal of this approach definitely applies here (I’m paraphrasing): If it doesn’t bring you JOY, ditch it! Don’t hold on to ugly old ornaments or decorations just because. If you hate it, toss it or make plans to donate it. If it’s broken, put it in the trash. This process of carefully and thoughtfully storing your holiday decorations is about making it fun to unpack next year.
Lovely photos. I particularly like the Christmas ornament photo.