Anyone in the mood to pack up Christmas decor?! I know it’s probably a bit early for some of you, but I always pack everything up the day after Christmas. It’s how my mom always did it when I was young and now I love doing it too. I crave that feeling of a clean and de-cluttered house once Christmas day is over. But as always, I say do what works best for you! If you wanna leave it up until mid January or heck, maybe even Valentine’s Day, I say go for it. Who cares?! All that matters is you are happy. Anyway, just in case some of you are ready to start packing things up too, I thought it would be fun to share my easy Christmas decor storage process. I tried a new strategy this year and it worked really well!
My Easy Christmas Decor Storage Process
- Move everything to one room first. To start the packing process, this year I decided to walk through every room in our home and move all of the holiday decor to our front room. Once I had everything in one room I could start organizing it. This part was super helpful!
- Group decor together by category. Once I had everything in one space, I’m able to easily group things together by category. For example, I put all of the pillows together, all of the mini trees, wreaths, stockings, signs, all of the garland, etc.
- Get rid of what you don’t want anymore. Before I started packing up anything, I looked through each category and get rid of what I don’t love anymore. Don’t hang on to anything you don’t want to use again!
- Put storage bins in a row and fill by category. I lined up all of my storage bins and then filled them by category. Last year I filled bins by room, but this year I decided to put all of the pillows together, all of the stockings together, etc.
- Use storage bags for large bulky items. I absolutely love using these storage bags from Amazon for my larger, bulky decor like wreaths, garlands, and holiday stems. And they even work for my smaller Christmas trees. I was able to fit several of my three foot trees in one bag. They are awesome!! I also use this handy storage box for my ornaments.
This year I bought a variety of garland that tangles super easily, so I wrapped them around hangers for easy storage. I know it looks ridiculous, but there will be no knots or tangles over here!
I gotta be honest with you–I don’t consider myself to be a very organized person. In fact, my husband would probably argue that I’m the exact opposite of organized. But I feel like I’ve finally figured out an easy Christmas decor storage process that works well for me. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s simple and effective. And what more could you want in life?! I mean, besides calorie free ice cream. Obviously.
Thanks so much for dropping by!! Here are a few other similar posts you might want to check out:
How to Transition From Christmas to Winter Decor
Love this Sarah! Thanks for sharing your ideas for storing away and the perfect time to purge.
Plastic tubs are definitely the way to go. I try to use clear ones for as much as possible so I can easily see what’s inside. You don’t keep any of your red pillows/blankets out for Valentine’s Day?
Hi , love your storage ideas ! I usually buy pillow covers and they store really easy ! My favorite although was a pillow you suggested was the reindeer one that looks like sweater material and has a nice soft pillow insert !!! Love it !!!!
Oh yes, pillow covers are so much easier than big, bulky pillows!
I pack my decor up by rooms and label my totes “kitchen”, “family room”, “bathroom”, etc. It makes decorating the next year a breeze.
That’s a great way to do it, Pat!
Great ideas! Not quite ready to take my decorations down, but will definitely use some of these organizational ideas.
Do it when you’re ready Michelle!
Oh my goodness, those are some great tips! Now I just have to run out and get some new storage containers. Thank you so much!
yay!! Happy organizing Donna!
Happy New Year to you and your family Sarah.
Now that is super awesome! Great idea to bring everything into one room. I have so much I would love to get rid of even though I still like them. Only thing is they are so old and time to go.
Thanks so much for this wonderful idea. Where did you buy all this beautiful little trees! Was that Walmart?
Hi Candy, yes! Most of those mini trees were from Walmart this year.
I just want to say thank you for the idea of the storage bags!!! I ordered 5 of them and look forward to using them for my pillows, blankets and greenery. I normally use trash bags and plastic bins. I won’t be putting my Christmas decir away until next weekend but now I’m ready with your great tips!
oh that’s great!! Those bags are SO handy.
Thanks for the tips! I’m leaving up a bit of greenery and other winter things through the long winter, just feels so cozy. I like your organization.
yes, that’s a great idea!
This is exactly what I needed! It’s so silly because this is what I do-ish. But for some reason having a visual and a list of steps seems to make it so much easier! I don’t have to process it in my head! You’ve done that for me! Yay!!!!! Thank you for your help!
ah yay!! Glad it helped Corie.
Love all your tips, most of all the hanger one! Great idea! Hope you have a great new year 😊
haha well I’m glad you like it!! My husband was laughing at me for that one.
Love this idea… I already packed mine. But next year I will absolutely keep this idea in mine. Also good idea for other seasons also.
great, thanks Marie!
I just put all my Christmas stuff away today. I usually never put it away until after the stock show but it was time this year.
That’s great Marissa. It’s funny how some years you’re just ready to see it go a lot sooner than others!
I was looking for good, sturdy Christmas bags and the hanger idea is genius! Thanks for sharing. Love your ig account!
Ah thanks Denise, my husband was teasing me about the hanger but it’s pretty handy!
Hi Sarah,
You have certainly made packing up Christmas look easy with some great tips as usual, I also like you buy a vast array of good from Amazon I wish here in the UK we had Target stores as I understand from many people that they are very popular in the states and sell a vast range of goods at reasonable prices Oh well that’s life .
Love this. About to tackle this job now!
Good luck Jen!
After downsizing from a 2000sqft Victorian to a 950sqft home I’ve gotten rid of a lot of decor.Besides the tree( bottom section tossed to fit on a small table) I’ve only got 2 flat totes to put away.Seems weird after having 3 huge trees to a partial tree.Love your ideas.
Oh wow! I bet it feels good to downsize though. We think about doing the same thing!
I have used a similar process for several years, refining it each year. I use the dining room table as a staging area – works well because it is in the center of the house. I wind the garlands around a piece of cardboard with small notches cut in each side so the string stays in place and doesn’t slide to create new tangles. Putting away the Christmas decor is not my favorite chore by a long shot – but it is now much easier to tackle. In the past I have labeled each box with a sharpie, listing a summary of contents and the year in case things have changed in that box from the previous year. Last year as I did the annual purge of decor, I also down-sized my decades old huge tubs for smaller sizes to make them easier to handle and lug to the attic – so tried using peel off labels on the clean new tubs instead of permanent marker. Think I may have to go back to the sharpie cause the peel off labels come off too easily after spending a hot summer in the attic. I’m in the middle of it now so better get busy! FYI: As I have decluttered and downsized after raising three kids in the same house for 31 years, I have emptied an unbelievable number of storage tubs with lids. They sell like hotcakes at your own garage sale, a fund raising rummage sale, in an online market place – or are great donation items to our local “Clothes Closet” thrift store.
Oh that’s a great idea for the garland!! I’m definitely going to try that next year. Thanks for the tip Karen!
Christmas decor is a welcomed sight after summer and fall…but I think it’s the clutter feeling of the extra stuff that makes it a happy goodbye. I have 8 plastic tubs that stack easy and I too use the DR table to sort and corral it all for putting away. I keep snowmen together, bottle brush trees together, fabric bows, garland, little Putz buildings, stockings, etc in groups, and I use large ziplock bags or small boxes to keep them separated. I have tried to go to zipped pillows to change out covers and make some covers myself for the rest of the year…my hubby is driven crazy with pillows so covers became the compromise…I loved hearing how other people do it…I still have the porch to do, and yards, but today the last wreath will come down. Life does change a lot in the course of a year, and the decor we love becomes a welcomed sight once more. Blessings Sarah!
This is fantastic! It makes so much sense to put everything in one spot so you can group like with like. I usually take the stuff down as I go – a little here, a little there… which is fine and dandy — until NEXT Christmas rolls around and you can’t find anything because some ornaments are in this box and some pillows are in that one… This is brilliant. There is no need to try to remember what I was thinking last year when I packed up the stuff. Thanks for sharing.
YES- I love tubs!!!!!!
Great ideas, love the tote for the Christmas tree! Still have mine in the original box! This would be soooooo much easier!!! Your ideas are brilliant! Thank you!!!