Clever Holiday Decor Storage Hacks From Moms & Organization Experts

Marty Basher, organization expert with Modular Closets, tells Romper, "If you’ve never put much effort into organizing your holiday decorations, it’s probably a good idea to pull everything out — for EVERY holiday — and group them. Easter stuff in an Easter pile, Christmas with Christmas, and so on." Next, Basher says to subdivide each one in to two logical "sub-groups," like indoor decor and outdoor decor. "It’s OK to have two storage locations: indoors for your indoor items and the shed or garage for the outdoor ones. As long as you label everything, you’ll be able to find what you need when you need it."

Basher says by having them grouped appropriately, you can grab what you need and start "jujing" up your home, outside and in. Plus, once you’ve got everything out and organized, you can better judge how many storage containers you’re going to need for the bulk of the items. "Buy all the same size bins so that you can stack them in the basement or garage, out of the way when they’re not needed. This is also a good time to triage any broken or unused decorations or ornaments, which are taking up space needlessly."

This Christmas tree and Christmas wreath storage set is a very inexpensive way to ensure your tree and wreath remain dust-free, dry, and not stale and flattened until next year. These bags are made out of high-quality tear and waterproof polypropylene, per the description. This also protects them from mold and other water damage.

You'll find lots of options for Christmas ornament storage, including this ornament box, and this one, recommended by Michele Vig, owner of Neat Little Nest and author of the new book The Holistic Guide to Decluttering: Organize and Transform Your Space, Time and Mind.

"Using a box designed specifically for ornaments makes it easy to get them out and put them away, as well as makes it much less likely that you will break any fragile ones," she says. "When you use a box designed for ornaments, you also don’t need to use excess tissue paper wrapping each one. You simply put them in their spot until you’ve filled up the bin."

Another great option is the Christmas Ornament Storage Box from JoieDomi. That one has three-layer storage and can hold up to 64 ornaments between the cardboard dividers.

Wrapping paper storage is the bane of my holiday storage existence. I never can seem to find a good solution for keeping them up and out of the way without bending the paper and wrinkling/tearing it — wrapping paper is such an awkward shape and size. Enter these clear gift wrap organizers. The clear design allows you to be able to see what you have quickly and easily, and the zipper closures and PVC make them waterproof.

The other holiday decor storage bane of my existence is storing Christmas lights. Y'all. There are always broken lights and tangled strands that take forever to fix. No matter how neatly I think I lay them in a box, they somehow come to life and move around, making the day after Thanksgiving a rage-inducing Christmas-light-untangling afternoon.

Basher suggests wrapping the lights around a spool of some sort — "whether that’s a random piece of cardboard or an empty paper towel tube. Attach a piece of masking tape on which you can note where the lights are meant to go and include a baggie with the extra bulbs."

Basher also recommends this light spool from Amazon, or using large Ziploc bags to store individual strands so they don't become tangled with one another.

Professional organizer Laura Sandberg from Let Laura suggests using zip ties to keep those lights wrangled and to even label the lights so you remember which strand is at the top and which is at the bottom of the tree.

Vig suggests this handy box from Amazon that has spools inside that hold four strands in one box.

For those of us who don't have a lot of shelf space for storage boxes and we need to get creative, this hanging wrapping paper storage contraption may be helpful. The zipper pockets allow you to also store tape, scissors, ribbons, and other items you always end up having to buy again every year. So you'll save space, time, and money.

"As a professional organizer, our favorite way to organize holiday décor is in plastic totes," says Vig. "If you’re storing them inside, any large size plastic tote can do very well. To spot your holiday totes easily, you could select a holiday color tote or simply get clear, plastic totes and label them on the front."

Mom Sarah Mandeed tells Romper, "I usually take a photo of the contents of the storage box and then mark the box with a number. Then I save the photo in Evernote along with the number and voila — I always know what's in the box."

"If you have linens that you only use seasonally because of their motifs and patterns, garment bags make the perfect way to store them so that they can remain free of moisture and dirt. Vacuum pack bags are also a great option and they can compress quite a lot, taking up less storage space," Basher says.

Mom and blogger Kinzy at Coffee with Kinzy suggests storing a gift-wrapping station flat under your bed. "One of my favorite holiday storage hacks is creating a Christmas wrapping station in an under-the-bed storage container — like this one. Gift bags lay flat inside, wrapping paper on top, and smaller Christmas tins and boxes house gift tags, bows, and ribbons. It's super functional and accessible."