How to Store Common Holiday Items

In the rush of the holidays, it’s understandable and common for things like proper storage of holiday items to be forgotten. While it is easy to put off, it can create a lot of difficulty and frustration next winter if not done. 

Saf Keep Storage wants to encourage you to slow down and be deliberate with your organization after this holiday season. To make it easier, we’ve put together some helpful tips and tricks to get you well on your way to storing your holiday décor. 

Basic Holiday Decoration Storage Advice

First thing’s first: before we jump into holiday-specific packing advice, let’s address some of the basics that will help make your organizing and storing process as seamless as possible. 

Categorize and Organize 

Once you know where everything is going to go, make sure you’ve devised a way to split up different categories of items so they don’t all clump together into a tangled mess. Use a marker, label maker, or your preferred color coordination method (such as different colors for bins) to create easy, designated spaces for everything. Some examples might be “Christmas wreath storage,” “holiday ornament storage,” “holiday dish storage,” etc. These will likely each be separated into different boxes, but categorize in a way that best makes sense to you. 

Remember to Declutter

Sometimes getting rid of old things can be like pulling teeth. Whether it’s because we feel wasteful, or because we have sentimental value attached to something, we often don’t want to discard things that we might eventually use. 

However, a lot of people can get carried away and keep holiday decorations long after they’ve outlived their usefulness or seen their last day of sunlight. To create space for new holiday items, pick only the things that are most important to you, or that you use the most and sell or discard the rest. It may be difficult at first, but chances are you’ll be less stressed out in the long run and appreciate all the extra space you now have. 

Tips to Maximize Your Holiday Storage

Let’s detour into some of the more precise tips we’ve collected over the years for taking care of your holiday belongings. 

Christmas Wreath Storage

You may be tempted to use hooks to store your garlands or wreaths, however, this can diminish the longevity of their fibers, and you’ll be buying newer, fresher replacements before long. Instead, place them in containers with other soft items like pillows or blankets, where they won’t be smashed or damaged as easily. 

Holiday Light Storage

Perhaps the most infamous holiday storage item are string lights, and for obvious reasons. It seems like it takes no time or effort for them to end up in a giant knot. You can get around this (and save yourself a lot of time) by wrapping your lights around a tube, cardboard, or other stable item. This way, all you need to do when you bring out the supplies next year is uncoil it. No muss, no fuss! 

Separate Your Wrapping Paper 

Though a bona fide wrapping station can make it very easy to keep your holiday wrapping paper separate from everything else, you can easily make your own. A little effort now could save you a lot of stress later. Tap into your creative intuitiveness—design pockets for various items including scissors, tape, bows, and of course, wrapping paper. It can be as simple as taking a large bag and placing smaller, categorized bags inside of it. 

Holiday Ornament Storage

Easily broken, you want to take great care to protect your ornaments from one year to the next. To preserve their quality, make sure the ornaments aren’t scratching or grinding against one another in storage. Wrap them in paper or buy some storage popcorn to prevent contact. If you purchased your ornaments in a set, chances are there’s a plastic holder that came with the box. The indentations are specifically shaped for your ornaments, so definitely use that if it’s still around. 

Find A Holiday Storage Comrade in Saf Keep 

Sometimes you don’t have the space in your home to store boxes that sit unused for most of the year. When you’re on the lookout for affordable, high-quality self storage, search for places that are versatile, adaptable, and have your best interests in mind. 

Saf Keep Storage provides above-standard security measures, including individually alarmed units, 24/7 video surveillance, electronic gate access only for customers, and more. 

Because we know your Christmas and holiday decorations will be staying with us for a while, we make sure all of our units are well-maintained. A clean storage unit and well-maintained facility are essential to the longevity of your belongings. And that is not something we take lightly. 

If you’re in California and on the hunt for a storage provider to help you clean up after the holiday season, we encourage you to check out our location list and find the facility closest to you!