Christmas Decoration Storage
Happy New Year folks! This Christmas Decoration Storage post may be a little off coming to you well into January. My intentions were good, but I never took into account the amount of time it would actually take to undo 11 Christmas trees (see them all here). Plus I did a little survey on my Facebook page and come to learn that a lot of people wait until January 6 to take down their decorations anyhow, so maybe today is the day. If not it will give you something to chew on for next year.
Before I get too deep into my post I have to share a little Christmas story with you…
As you most know I hosted a live home tour this holiday, but what you may not know is 4 days before guest were set to arrive at Fynesington Palace my basement flooded… not so palace like. I’m not talking a drip or two of dampness, I’m talking water up past my ankle in over 1800 sq feet of space. It. Was. AWFUL. Since I was in the thick of decorating madness I had basically recreated an episode of hoarders in the basement, there were Christmas boxes EVERYWHERE. Boy did I regret that situation when I had to haul 4000 lbs of wet cardboard up a flight of stairs. In my dismay I posted a little tweet that read something along the lines of “I’m so devastated my life is floating around my basement”, and never thought another thing of it. Until later that afternoon I got a message from The Home Depot PR team saying they had heard we had a little misfortune in our basement and wondering how they could help! I was so touched, that a big corporation would want to lend a helping hand, they definitely had the Christmas spirit! Luckily I had most of the decorations upstairs already, and a team of family armed with sub pumps and wet vacuums, the water was being looked after. However, my Christmas storage was down the drain! The Home Depot team generously offered to help me out when the time came to pack up Christmas land and get it back into storage (no strings attached, I might add), I couldn’t be more thankful!
The boxes are long gone, and I couldn’t be happier. I simplified by decorations and they all fit so neatly together. Here is how I put it all away…
First thing, when you remove your decorations from the tree, you’ll need to bend over the end of the ornament hook so it will stay attached to the ornament until next year. Then simply place all bulbs into clear plastic bins to be stored. You might be thinking I’m crazy at this point, but I experimented last year throwing out a few damaged boxes, and I had only 1 broken out of about 300 this year. I’m confidant in saying were wasting too much time wrapping and over packaging everything to store.
Of course you’ll have to use a bit of common sense when it comes to packing the totes. Heaviest items on the bottom, or pushed to one side, plastic bulbs first, then place glass ones on top. I organized each tub by ornament color, then added the coordinating accessories.
I found a 5 pack of storage tubs at The Home Depot that are various sizes, they are perfect for various size decorations.
My Christmas decorations are stored under the stairs in the basement. The various size of boxes let me utilize the space to the max by putting the smallest in first.
The clear bins are ideal because you can see what is in each bin. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed to find something amongst the Christmas decorations in June and had to face that daunting task.
As for the trees (which boxes were ruined too), I purchased a few 55 Gallon Tough Totes which were able to fit 2-5 trees in one box, depending on the size.
I’m really happy how my Christmas storage came together after the flood. Now everything is organized by color and theme, easy to see and access, and protected in plastic should we have another flood. Thank you SO much Home Depot for the help getting my storage under control!
The Home Depot is having a Get Organized Event on right now, the have 100’s of solutions for every area of your home, get into a store or shop online to make the most of your valuable space!
