Q: Can you post about how you store all of your Christmas decorations? Since you rotate the ornaments on your tree each year and have a large tree and a smaller tabletop one as well as exterior decor and mantel stuff I wondered how much space it all takes up. I have an attic like you, which I think is where you store yours, but I don’t really have a system so it feels chaotic. Any tips for getting mine under control? Thanks! – Meghan
A: We actually get this question a lot, so you’re not the only one wondering, Meghan! We store it all in a 6 foot by 5 foot area in our attic (our attic is much larger than that, but that’s the footprint that everything in the photo below takes up). We stack things as you see here, and we’ve labeled each bin with what’s inside thanks to photoshop, so hopefully it’s pretty self explanatory.
The concept of storing “like with like” is basically my jam. So I think that’s the theme of this picture. All of the plugs and cords and window candles go in one bin, all of the tabletop stuff goes in two matching green bins, etc. We just try to keep things that go together, together. It really helps us know where things are without feeling like we’re just shoving things in random bins and forgetting what’s what.
For a little more detail, here’s how we pack up the big tree in the dining room. We remove everything on the tree and carefully place it in one of these long, shallow plastic bins. We have another one of these in the attic with all of the out-of-rotation ornaments that we didn’t use this year (like the faux lemons and orange ornaments from this tree back in 2009) although many things get reused nearly every year (like the white/silver ornaments as well as the soft pink ones in this bin, which have been on many former trees as well as this year’s version).
Between those two shallow bins, we contain nearly all of our ornaments (all of them except for the ones on our small tabletop tree, which we’ll get to in a second). And since they’re only about 5″ deep, they’re very easy to stack without taking up much floor space. If we have a beloved breakable ornament we’ll just wrap it in newspaper before packing it away, but most of the time they just get laid in like the ones you see above.
After storing ornaments using this put-them-all-in-plastic-bins method for over five years we’ve actually never broken a single one in storage or in transport. So I’m brave enough to say that it works for us. We just very carefully put the bins away in the attic one time each year (and carefully pull it out the next year) so it’s not like it’s banging around in there and constantly being shaken/moved (in which case we’d definitely wrap them up a lot more to avoid breakage). Oh and here’s here’s how we unpack the tabletop tree:
Same basic premise. All of those special, mixed & matched ornaments go into this smaller tupperware bin. The especially delicate ones get wrapped in newspaper, but most of them just drop right in. Then we break it out each year, add new items to it if we’d like, and remove anything that we no longer love. It helps to use a bin that’s related to the size of the tree to keep us from hoarding too many ornaments that could never fit on that cute little tree of ours (we’ll either donate/pass down/yard sale older ornaments that aren’t as special as the new ones – like the ones Clara makes us – or move them to being stored in the two bigger bins for our full sized tree if we think we might use them there instead).
Here’s how we store tabletop stuff slash mantel stuff. Freestanding items like our wooden reindeer or feather trees don’t get bagged, but the ones that fit into large bins live in there, and we stash smaller items in large ziplock bags first, with a label for where they go before dropping them in. For example, these are all ornaments that we group for tabletop displays like the cake stand in our kitchen, the glass based lamp on the console, etc).
Then the bags just slip into the green bins (where all of our other tabletop/mantel stuff lives, like the wooden reindeer from our Christmas dinner centerpiece, a few smaller feather trees, our faux wrapped gifts for the mantel etc). That way they’re all grouped in a nice intuitive way.
So there you have it. How we store all of our holiday stuff. How do you guys store your ornaments? Do you use plastic bins? Original boxes? Those little cardboard dividers? I bet there are a ton of things that work. Share and share alike.
Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15!
That is totally something I should do…..I find myself dumping everything into a cardboard box and shoving it in the garage, attic or basement…depending on which direction I am traveling at that particular moment. Not a good habit!
Thanks for sharing and safe travels tonight.
We’re slowly growing our ornament collection, and this year had a fake tree for the first time (in silver! http://www.annabelvita.com/2012/12/24/merry-christmas-from-our-home-to-yours), so we just piled everything into one clearly labelled tupperware, and for now we store that kind of seasonal thing at my mum’s house! She lives 10 minutes down the road in the family home and we have a teeny city centre flat, so she’s happy to store that sort of thing for us. What a hero!
That’s so awesome!
xo
s
I would love to start storing Christmas stuff in the attic (we keep it in a closet in the basement), but people (and the internet) said we should worry about the heat in the attic in the summer time ruining/warping/melting/splitting certain decorations/wires/etc. Do you worry about that?
Hmm, well we live in a pretty hot-summers place (VA) and after years of this method (5+) nothing has been melted except for some taper candles that we dumbly stored up in the hot attic, but it hasn’t affected any ornaments. Hope it helps!
xo
s
We store everything in the attic except for the really special ornaments, stockings, and tree skirt. I live in Houston, TX and everything manages to survive the heat and humidity.
My Mom has also been storing everything in the attic for 25+ years. Nothing of hers has deteriorated from heat either.
We have noticed that lighting doesn’t last as long if we store it in our garage (in Texas). We’ve gotten many more seasons out of it by storing it inside. I’m not sure what happens with the heat, but it definitely has some effect on wiring.
same here about the lights…after 8 years of “Hmmmm, why don’t these lights work? didn;t we just get them last Christmas?”…we put two and two together and realized that THEY do not last through the hot summers, the rest however have done fine. We Tape the edges of the bins to keep little critters out…who apparently love making beds in the pretty fabric.
Smart!
xo,
s
Way to be organized! Does all this stuff then go in the attic?
This year we tired to be organized as we packed up, putting like with like. By then end of the afternoon though we were just shoving ornaments and decorations wherever they would fit.
We do label each box with a sharpie and the date so we know what’s in them (mostly).
Yes, everything in that top pic gets stashed in the attic in that configuration, just so it’s not spread out all over the place.
xo
s
Oh.Em.Gee. You’re so organized! I should really try to do better this year… usually I just put our little tree in a trash bag, wrap ornaments in tissue paper and stuff them in a decorative Christmas bag. And then all of the other decorations get stuffed willy-nilly into other random bags and boxes that I have available. BUT – since our decorations are still up, maybe I can make a Target run to pick up some more plastic bins and get myself organized.
And maybe that should have been a New Years resolution. “Be more organized.” Now – if only I could find that list of resolutions… lol
Hahahah!
xo
s
I second the notion of not wrapping the ornaments in paper except for the very special ones. I have been doing this for years and haven’t broken any during storage. This year, I sorted all the ornaments and other decor and got rid of enough to empty one bin which I needed to house my new holiday village that I just started this year (Lego village – I am a Lego geek).
Love that!
xo
s
A Lego village? That is awesome! I wish I could see that!
I just started my Lego Winter Village this year too! Well supplemented with the City Lego advent calendar items. :) I just have to find the right size box to keep it safe. We are thinking of shoe/boot sized boxes might work.
Where did you get the Moravian stars and how much did they cost?
They were from amazon.com a few years ago. So sorry I don’t remember cost… maybe $15 each? $18?
xo
s
Wow good find! Thanks for the reply.
As a University of Wisconsin alumni who has spent quite a bit of time “jumping around” at Badger games, I heartily approve of the title :D
Safe travels!
woot woot!
We just bought a tree bag this year and it was definitely worth it. We had it in the old tree box sticking out before and this is much nicer.
I didn’t even know tree bags existed until I saw this post! We always smush ours back into the box too. Any idea where I can get one (I’m assuming I’ll have to wait until the holiday season rolls back around)?
Oh yes, Target sells them!
xo
s
I store my 6-foot tall skinny fake Christmas tree in a $5 U-Haul Lamp Box (12″ x 12″ x 40″)if you can’t find any tree bags. The lamp box is much wider than the box the tree originally came in and is much easier to pack the tree in.
I think I must have too much stuff. I have 10 big bins!
you’re always getting songs stuck in my head!! :)
I love that I’m the right age (apparently) to get your pop culture references. Jump Around!
Firstly….Love you guys..
But..its making me crazy seeing those containers being called tupperware. lol I don’t know why. Do you maybe mean Rubbermaid containers?? I guess I just always equate Tupperware to kitchen storage and Rubbermaid to other storage. How funny!
Hahah, oh yeah tupperware and rubbermaid are the same in my head! Maybe I’ll just say “plastic bins” – hah!
xo
s
My mother sold Tupperware for years when I was younger, so it is deeply engrained that there is only ONE Tupperware…I can still remember the Tupperware song too…yikes…
Hah!
xo
s
I call those big bins “tupperware tubs” too, and the other day I realized I’ve never actually seen a tupperware container that big. Interesting that I’m not the only one.
We have no fewer than SIX plastic totes full of decorations – 3 for tree ornaments (some wrapped in tissue, some in those cardboard dividers), 2 for miscellaneous, 1 for lights. And then we have 2-3 cardboard boxes full of stuff.
Now that I write this out, I think we may have too many Christmas items…
Don’t feel bad. I think my mom has more than you! I think there is a closet in her basement that has all Christmas stuff in it! Yikes! Personally, I have 5, I believe, plus 2 containers for lights and one for ornaments. I haven’t actually packed all my Christmas stuff away this year, but I have a feeling I’m not going to have enough plastic totes! :-)
I keep my ornaments in the original boxes. I use the same ones every year, although I’ve slowly added since my original haul was rather sparse. All my Christmas stuff except for the tree fits in one tub about the size of your green ones.
I do the same thing, Brenda. I noticed this year when I helped my Mom put up her tree that she does the same thing. Guess I learned from the best! Taking down the tree is like a treasure hunt for our son. “OK. I have the box for the little drummer boy. Can you find it?” He loves doing that!
I actually use the cardboard boxes you get from the liquor store with the dividers- it works pretty well. Did you know that storing glass ornaments in the plastic containers makes the glass brittle? This comes from my mother, the ornament queen, which is why I use the cardboard. Maybe it’s an old wives’ tale, I don’t know, but she isn’t an old wife, (well…) but I am going for age and experience on this one.
No way! Never heard that! So far after five years of doing it this way we haven’t broken one yet! Except if we drop one while decorating (coughJohncough). Haha!
xo
s
I’m going to have to go with “old wives tale” on that one… doesn’t make much sense from a materials standpoint.
I follow a similar system, but I use a big deep bin and keep all my ornaments in boxes within the big bin. I’m too nervous about breaking things, especially since our Christmas things live in our garage and shed. I also have an entire bin dedicated to garland, haha.
Many, many years ago, Rubbermaid sold green storage tubs (like yours, but darker) with red lids. I labeled the contents of each on the outside with a permanent marker and have a 3 x5 card on the inside with more specifics so it’s easy to remember what goes in each at the end of the season.
I love your ziploc idea! I can never remember what I put where from one year to the next so that idea is being implemented this year. I knew there was a reason I didn’t take down the decorations yet. ;)
We just had our first Christmas in our new home – so we got some new bins to pack all of our new decorations away. As each Holiday passes we’re slowly getting thing out of too small cardboard boxes and into new bins for each holiday. And since it’s the first year we got bins a bit bigger than we need so we can add to our collection.
I love that you mentioned you get rid of/donate/yard sales things that aren’t as special anymore. I couldn’t bring myself to do that this year – there is something about throwing away a Santa Clause that feels wrong – but next year I’ll donate before Christmas!
I finally got on the pack like with like bandwagon this year! But, I have to admit, I have enough ornaments to decorate 2 six ft trees if we had the room for them! I pack most of them in original boxes, which is good for storage, but takes a while to take them out/put them back every year!
I try to thin the herd every year, but I think I’m too sentimental!
I’m really bad about getting rid of things, too. Everything has a memory behind it, it is getting ridiculous! We are up to 7 bins now!
Question: I just bought a feather tree for the first time this year (OBSESSED with it!). How do you store that? I was SO paranoid about laying it flat anywhere because I didn’t want the feathers to squish.
The two big green ones just freestand in the attic like you see in the pic, and the smaller ones just go into the large green tupperware bins (I gently place them so the feathers aren’t all squished and cramped).
xo
s
I use all of the original boxes and if we have ornaments we bought on trips that didn’t have a box, we bubble wrap it and they all go in one big bin. I wouldn’t trust myself to put them in a bin without some kind of “cush.”
I am a bit Type A when it comes to Christmas decor and I have kept all of the original boxes my ornaments come in. It is a bit of a game when we take down the tree to find the box the ornament came out of and should go back into. It is a lot easier for the Hallmark ornaments that have a picture of the ornament on them. :)
We also have a ranch with an attic, but I’ve been afraid to store too many things up there because of the heat and humidity (we don’t have an attic fan or the ability to add much air circulation up there). Have you noticed any negatives about storing your decor up in the attic?
Only once when we stupidly stored taper candles up there did they sort of warp/wilt from the heat. But we have had no ornament issues after five years of this method :)
xo
s
Sherry, I’m kind of relieved I’m not the only one who has melted a candle accidentally. I bought one at Anthropologie (of course it was a NICE candle!) and left it in the car…in July…for 8 hours. Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. My car trunk is very fragrant, though!
Oh man!
xo
s
Because this was my first year with my very own tree, everything got taken off by type of ornament and bagged and then rubbermaid boxed that way. It was incredibly ocd but I’m ok with that. Everything else just got put in another big tote and labeled on all sides. The problem now is I’ve picked up things from Target on clearance and I need to find somewhere to store them without having to rearrange my storage closet before next Christmas.
I hit up the Target clearance too – up to 90% off. Thankfully I was super late this year putting my Christmas stuff away (as in I’m still working on it). I would stick the new things in a box that you could access all year, labeled “new stuff”, that way if you find an ornament on vacation or something too, you could add to the box without having to rearrange!
That is what I do too. I label all my bins so each year I know what bin is for what room etc. I also have a bin labeled New Christmas Stuff and I keep it handy until my after Christmas sale stuff is bought and it goes right in the bin and to the attic until next year. I am always excited to get it out the following year and see what I bought. I always forget since I don’t put it out or anything. Hope this helps.
Good tips! I always want to keep things in their original packaging but that is usually a space hog so I’ve got to quit that. I started packing our Christmas stuff into some tubs that I got from Ikea before New Year’s. They had a great one day sale for 12 gallon (med size) tub & lid for $2 a piece. It was a 2 per person limit so after buying four and getting the kids loaded up, I went back in and picked up a couple more!
Have fun at your stop tonight! Can’t wait to see a post on how it all goes!
First off, happy new year and congrats on all the success with the book and blog! I’ve been following you guys for years and you’ve been such a great inspiration:) I just wanted to share that for glass ornaments I use these storage boxes made by real simple (you can get them at bed bath & beyond for $15 – after using a $5 coupon of course!) They come in either a 112 count or 64 count size. They work great and they really protect the ornaments.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=18584190
Love it!
xo
s
Between hallmark ornaments (like the ones the “do” stuff) and glass ornaments (we have 3 kids and a cat, but they do just fine up higher up on the tree) the segmented ornament boxes/totes are a must. I can’t see those totes working for even plastic though-they don’t scratch each other up in transport? I love the randomness of ornaments from events, ornament exchanges, for our hobbies and interests… I will never have a cute color coordinated tree! :) It is where I will always fail the decor game… Though because it is all random, it works I think! :)
Nope, they don’t scratch each other or break, but I bet it’s because we just move them once each year, so they’re not gyrating against each other like they’re in a washing machine the whole year long :)
xo
s
We do something very similar. It’s basically bins full of smaller bins. I recommend using one of the small (I think they’re 2oz?) tupperwares to stash all the ornament hooks in. I also wrap my ceramic christmas tree up inside of the tree skirt. This seems to be working well for us so far!
Smart!
xo
s
This is inspiring!! I have bins and whatnot but everything still feels disorganized. And I have two HUGE ornament storage bags – the kind with soft sides and cardboard dividers, etc. And this year when I went to decorate the tree two of the glass ornaments had broken in there. The whole point I bought those things was so the ornaments wouldn’t break. They take up so much space so maybe I’ll ditch them and go with your method.
I store my ornaments in shoeboxes and small gift bags that are then put in a large Tupperware bin I got from Target. I have another large bin for my yarn wreaths and door hangers, and I keep everything in our garage because a)I’m terrified of the attic, and b)If I can’t see it, I don’t know it’s there and I would be buying all new ornaments every year.
I have quite a collection of little smokers and nutcrackers (some are originally from Germany), they get wrapped up in tissue paper and boxed up. Same for my heirloom ornaments. Newer ornaments go back in the original boxes. Third box is for the misc.things like tree skirt, garlands etc. All boxes are labelled and stacked on a shelf in the basement (no attic). Having moved three times in five years, nothing has been broken this way. The cats on the other hand…whole different story!
Oh, of course we could only expect you to be brilliantly organized! I am mostly organized, and the hubby keeps it well in the same spot in the garage “attic” space; there are always a few randoms that miss the big ‘put-away’ after Christmas (and Halloween) and then I have Valentine’s Day, St. Patty’s and the 4th decor in small quantities stashed everywhere, so as of today I pulled a spare tub and that is going to be Holiday Miscellaneous, and will be put in an easy-access spot, so the stuff that got missed can be put there/grabbed-from-there easily; and the stuff to rotate (including our xoxo apothecary jar twin to your thanks jar) for other holidays throughout the year will be at my fingertips. Ah, I love to be organized. With kid toys constantly underfoot, I feel like I’m drowning already. I clean and organize that stuff once a week as it is! Ethne
great, now I want to unpack all my Christmas decorations and start over! actually, my husband took everything down this year (and he’s notoriously bad at packing/organizing things like this), but I can’t really complain since he did all the work! For the ornaments, we use one of those big ornament bins with the dividers, but it’s such a space hog.
I’ve been married for 15 years, so I have a lot of decorations that are outdated or I’ve grown tired of…I’ve gotten rid of some, but really just need to bite the bullet and get rid of the rest. I also have some things that I do love, but are too fragile to display with my 2 girls running about!
We use large totes and a few of the original boxes. We used newspaper in the past but I’ve switched to plastic grocery sacks to wrap breakables in as we always seem to have a surplus (we remember the reusable grocery sacks 50% of the time) and I think they are easier to work with than newspaper. Its easier for me to get every nook and cranny covered and padded. Now if I could just stop packing the boxes so heavy so my husband doesn’t complain when he has to try to manhandle them into the attic.
definitely my favorite title of a post yet :) (aaaaaaand now I’ll be singing “Jump Around” for the rest of the day!)
This looks awesome! I have several keepsakes ornaments – my mom has been getting at least one per year for the last 11 years or so, and I had to come up with something semi-safe for these little treasures which will surely get moved around in our house before the next time they are used. Plastic cups hot glued to cardboard. Life-altering, I tell you! I just had to blog about it, even if the phone pictures do look terrible!
I’ve done similar… but didn’t bother to hot glue the cups down. Best idea ever. Taking them out this year was a breeze. No messing with boxes etc.
That is great how you label everything.. it’s probably why your marriage is successful. Every year when my parents decorated for Christmas they would have a huge fight about where the decoations were supposed to go… the reason why they’re still married is they started taking pictures to use as a reference. (My parents like consistancy) Although it is weird not to have a family fight over where the snowman goes… :)
I try to be as organized as possible, but there’s always that miscellaneous box from stuff I forgot about. I also put things in different places each year so no labeling necessary.
I’ve also thought about taking pictures of the display because sometimes I’m like “how the heck did I have this last year.”
First of all I will be singing “Jump Around” by House of Pain all day long now. . but besides that, great work with the organizing. I made my hubby bust a hole into the wall under our stairs so I could store Christmas decor. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
You don’t wrap up your ornaments? Mind. Blown. I suppose that sure would save on storage space! I think I might need to repack mine. I tried the glue-plastic-cups-to-a-sheet-of-cardboard thing, and it worked well until a couple hot/cold temp cycles in the garage, after which most of the hot-glued cups popped right off the cardboard. Boo.
Every year since I was 10, my aunt has given me a collectible Christmas ornament for my Christmas gift. I didn’t always appreciate it when I was younger, but I definitely do now since they account for over half of my Christmas ornaments! Because they’re collectible (i.e. Lenox, Waterford, Spode, etc.), I’ve kept them all in their original boxes and packaging because I think they might be worth something someday. They all fit nicely into a Rubbermaid container and there’s still room to grow!
We keep our tree in a large rubbermaid bin instead of a bag, and our ornaments in tupperware ornament cases that have cardboard dividers. I do need to run out and buy some more bins though, because I bought some extra decor this year that doesn’t fit in the bins I already have. Way to keep it organized!
I actually use egg crates and red solo cups glued to cardboard for my storage. Check it out, I posted earlier in the week about it.
http://mylife.luxperdiem.com/2013/01/packing-up-christmas.html
We are just figuring all this out – we’ve only been in our house for two Christmases so far, so it’s been a learning process! This year we bought bunch of big plastic tubs and just tossed stuff in…I’m hoping we can be a bit more organized next year, though, haha!
Speaking of questions for you guys…would you consider doing a post about how you put together your family yearbooks? I’m sure its no easy task to cull all the photos you take every year and get the book to it’s final form!
Oh yes, that would be fun! It’s time to make our 2012 one!
xo
s
With 30+ years of Christmas decor and a long-time ornament collector. I store in the attic but some of my older glass balls have spots from our southern heat or maybe from age. Mostly the cheap ones.
I have a collection of old world glass ornaments I store those in a garage closet and before that in an indoor closet. They are still holding up well. Collected on vacations and received as gifts they were pricey so I’ve taken care of them. I also did this with the 20 years porcelain ornaments I collected for my girls. (gave them to them when they married)
I have two trees (living room and foyer) and my tubs are packed by color. The last several years I’ve used variations of light green, copper, brown, gold, and a touch of teal on my main tree – and white and gold or old world shaped ornaments and gold and red on the other.
Next year I plan to go back to traditional red and green with some fun Pier One ornaments I bought half price this year! My new granddaughter will be 1 next year! Fun!
your ombre tree was great! I love decorating Christmas trees!
Ashamed to say my tree is still up. Probably will be for another week or so. That said, I am now on the hunt for some handy storage bins so that this year’s clean-up goes a little more smoothly :)
I am another one who repacks ornaments in their original boxes or in the tin/decorative boxes that go under our tree each year. I honestly never ever thought about just laying them all gently in one big box w/out tissue paper – I guess I just assumed that they’d all break. But really you make a good point; it’s not like I’m throwing the box around. It goes up to the attic, sits there for 11 months, and then comes back down. I think I’m going to (*gasp*) break away from the OCD packing and try filling one of my boxes with just gently layered ornaments. Wish me luck!! :)
Haha, lots of luck!
xo
s
Hey Sherry!
It was great to meet you and John at Uncommon Objects in Austin. We loved the talk and getting to chat. Just a heads up- you asked for a copy of our group picture so I sent it and a picture of our postcard you signed through a facebook message. Let me know if there is a better place to send it.
Thanks so much! It was awesome to meet you guys too! We had the best time!
xo
s