Once the holidays are over, it’s time to take down the décor and find a place to store everything. We know that storage space may be at a minimum in your apartment. Any storage or closet space you do have is probably already in use and is too precious for you to give up. But fear not! We have tips up our sleeves on how to store holiday décor in a small space.
Get Creative
Even though you may not have a ton of storage in your apartment, there are ways you can get creative with storage you do have. For example, take the wreath off your front door and hang it on a clothes hanger and cover it with a plastic bag. Then hang it in the back of your closet until next year! Use a garment bag to store rolls of wrapping paper or larger, unbreakable decor and hang that in the closet. Don’t have any closet space for your décor? Don’t worry, you can buy plastic bins that easily fit under your bed or your couch and store all your décor there.
If you have a fake tree, you can protect it and minimize how much space it takes up in your apartment with the help of shrink wrap or vacuum sealed plastic bags. To shrink wrap your tree, take apart your tree and bend all of the branches towards the trunk then wrap each piece of the tree with shrink wrap. Make sure the shrink wrap is loose enough to not damage the tree. Once you’re done shrink-wrapping your tree, place it in the back of your closet or under your bed or couch. If you don’t want to shrink wrap your tree, you can take it apart and put it in vacuum sealed plastic bags. Once your tree is all vacuum sealed, then you can place it under your bed or couch.
Reduce and Reuse
During the holidays you’ll probably receive gifts with all kinds of wrapping such as wrapping paper, tissue paper, and even boxes. Go ahead and save everything your gifts come in so you can use the wrapping later to protect your holiday décor. You can use leftover wrapping and tissue paper to wrap around ornaments to keep them safe in storage. If you receive gifts in boxes, save these boxes for your décor and store the boxes under your bed or couch.
Be on the lookout for liquor boxes. If you forgot to save all the wrapping during the holidays, liquor boxes are another great way to store ornaments and keep them safe until next year. If you can’t find any liquor boxes, you can use empty egg cartons or plastic apple holders to store your ornaments. Empty water bottles are another great item you probably have that you can use to store your décor. Just take an empty water bottle and fill it with the string of beads you had on your tree. Not only is this a smart storage hack but it stops your beads from getting tangled with the rest of your décor.
Other great items you can save and reuse are empty coffee ground canisters, tennis ball containers, or even cardboard paper towel rolls. All three of these items can be used to wrap string lights around so they don’t become tangled while they are in storage.
Stay Organized
Once you've found a place to store all your holiday décor, it’s essential that you keep all of your décor neat and organized! Start by placing a piece of masking tape on each box that contains your decorations, then write on the masking tape with permanent marker what’s inside each box. Not only will this help you stay more organized, but when you go to decorate for next year, you’ll know exactly what is inside each box.
Have a lot of leftover wrapping paper? You can store leftover wrapping paper in your closet or under your bed. Plenty of craft stores now sell hanging wrapping paper storage. These hang in your closet like shoe organizers but instead of shoes it organizes all your wrapping supplies instead! Don’t have any room in your closet? Find some back of the door organizers that will keep all of your supplies neat and tidy. You can also store extra wrapping supplies under your bed or couch. I store all my extra wrapping paper behind a chair in my living room. This is the perfect place to store my wrapping paper for the next year.
Make More Storage
If you’re still struggling with finding storage for your holiday décor. It may be time to do some winter cleaning. Take some time to clean out your closet to make room for your holiday décor. Once you have cleaned out your closet, consider adding some floating shelves to your wall to add more storage. You can store your holiday décor on these shelves in baskets. If you still need more storage after adding shelves, consider purchasing a storage ottoman. Not only will this give you and your guests another place to sit or rest their feet, but it will give you more storage for your holiday décor.
Unfortunately, once the holidays are over, you have to put away your cheerful holiday décor. But hopefully with these storage tips you’ll be able to ring in the holidays again next year with all the same (neatly stored) décor.
Published January 4, 2023
