Are you looking for better ways to store Christmas decor now that the holidays are over?

Listed below are several DIY time and money-saving tricks to make decorating for Christmas simpler next year.

Before you figure out how to store your Christmas decor, you might want to decide if you should declutter any of it first.

Do you have so many decorations that you dread getting them out and taking them down each year?  If so, you might want to consider reducing your collection to a more manageable number. Have they lost their sparkle? Chances are they won’t sparkle next year either.

Don’t store Christmas decor that you don’t love anymore.

Each year we collect more, yet we rarely take time to shed the old to make room for the new. Maybe you still love every single thing you have. But if you have some items that have lost their shine, this is the perfect time to declutter since you already have it all out.  After all, the more stuff you have, the harder it is to keep it all organized.  So, make decorating for Christmas simpler for yourself by reducing your inventory to only the items you use and love.

If you have decor that you haven’t used for the last few years, this is a telltale sign that it’s time to let it go. Set up a box labeled DONATE to toss unwanted decorations into as you are putting things away.  

Now onto storing the Christmas decor you are keeping.

Use these general guidelines to ensure that you store Christmas decor safely and efficiently:

Wreaths

Christmas wreaths can always be stored in containers specifically made for wreaths. But if you want to take a DIY approach to store your wreaths, here are a few ideas:

Wrap wreaths in clear plastic bags and put them on a shelf in a dry space. Or if you have the room, place hooks or large nails on a wall to hang wreaths in your storage area.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Except for very fragile ornaments, it is best not to keep all of the boxes your ornaments came in. It takes too much time to try to match each ornament to its box and the boxes take up too much space.  

Christmas ornaments can be stored in bins made just for ornaments with divided compartments. But you can also create your own DIY Christmas ornament storage container:

This takes a little time to assemble but costs much less than purchasing an ornament storage box. Once, constructed, it can be used year after year. This tote will hold approximately 72 ornaments.

1. Measure and cut three pieces of cardboard to fit inside a large plastic tote as pictured. 
2. Use a hot glue gun to attach multiple small styrofoam or Solo cups to each piece of cardboard. 
3. Layer the cups inside the tote, and place an ornament inside each cup. 

This tote is perfect for all of your small-sized ornaments. You can also store larger ornaments this way using larger cups and two layers of ornaments instead of 3.

Suggestions for storing general Christmas decor:

Use the right storage containers. 

Use caution not to purchase too big of containers to store your Christmas decor in.  This is a common mistake. Super-sized totes are heavy, hard to lug around, and difficult to store since they usually don’t fit inside standard shelving units.  Also, if you store too many things all in one huge tote, you won’t be able to find anything because it will all be jumbled together.

Medium-sized, labeled plastic totes are best. Measure your shelving unit before you buy to make sure you purchase totes that will fit on your shelves.  It’s easy to accidentally purchase ones that are too tall.

Keep all like items together.

Keeping categories together will help you easily find what you are looking for next year. For example, create a tote for all Garlands, or all of the Christmas stockings. Then be sure to clearly label each bin.

You can also group items in bins according to location and display.

For example, you can have a tote that holds everything that goes on your fireplace mantel. Label the bin “Fireplace Mantel” so that you know exactly where to haul that tote when you are ready to decorate again next year. This will make decorating easier and will help you remember how you had your displays last year.

Snap Photos of your Christmas displays before you take them down.

If you want to speed up the process of decorating next year, snap photos of all of your decor before you put it away. You might think that you will remember how you had it all displayed, but you’d be surprised what you can forget in a year’s time. 

If you want to take it one step further, print out the photos and attach them to the outside of each tote. Now decorating next year will be a cinch.

Store Christmas decor all in one place.

Be sure to store all of your Christmas decorations together in one area rather than mixed in with other stuff. It is also best not to store Christmas décor in more than one area in your home. If it is all together, it will be easy to find and grab when the holidays roll around again next year.  This will also ensure that you don’t misplace a tote and forget to put those decorations out. 

Lights

Lights can be stored in bins made specifically for Christmas lights, Alternatively, a DIY solution is to wrap each strand of lights around flat pieces of cardboard. 

Then place them standing up in a plastic tote. Standing them up in accordion style inside the tote rather than laying them flat will prevent the strands of lights on the bottom of the tote from being crushed. You can also use bubble wrap for extra protection.

Christmas Trees

Are you tired of going through all the work of taking your Christmas tree apart and squeezing it back into its box every year? Consider leaving your tree assembled and simply wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap. You can even leave the lights, garland, and ornaments on it for easy setup next year! Although, I recommend you remove any breakable ornaments just to be safe.  

Gift wrap

Rolls of wrapping paper can be stored in plastic under-the-bed, or upright containers made specifically for wrapping paper. Alternatively, you can also stand them up in a plastic container such as a 30-inch trash can, a hamper, or even a taller cardboard box that is roughly the same size.

Store gift bags and tissue paper standing up accordion style in an open container such as a banker’s box or small plastic tote.  This will make everything easy to see and grab when you need it.