5 Christmas decoration storage hacks
We all have a festive routine when it comes to putting up the Christmas decorations every year. Maybe someone crooning about chestnuts and open fires in the background as you sip on something Christmassy while artfully arranging the baubles. It becomes a tradition and gets you in the Christmas spirit.
But what about when it’s all over and it’s time to put the decorations away again for another year? Not so fun and festive. It typically involves stressfully shoving decorations precariously into bags at speed and getting tangled up in fairy lights without any sense of occasion at all. As well as scoring zero on the joy front, this is not great for the decorations and results in breakages and having to buy replacements the following year.
Well, we’ve decided to rebrand the Christmas takedown and turn it into a more enjoyable routine that’s a lot more organised. And when you have delicate and handmade decorations and baubles that mean a lot to you, you’ll want to keep them in great condition so that they can be enjoyed year after year.
So here are some handy tips to make packing away your Christmas decorations a far less stressful – and dare we say it more fun - event. Pop on some mood music or a feel-good film, and prepare for a satisfying festive tidy-up and a fresh start to the new year.
‘Taking care of your decorations means less breakages, so you can build a collection of special pieces,
not replace them yearly with new ones that end up in landfill’
– Katherine Bonnick, OB’s Head of Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability
Protect your baubles
Delicate ornaments and baubles need to be packed away carefully to avoid breakages. You could buy a dedicated bauble storage box from a home and garden store, or you could repurpose items from your own home. ‘Egg cartons are great for smaller baubles and tree decorations,' suggests Katherine Bonnick, OB’s Head of Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability.
For extra-special, fragile or handmade-by-the-kids baubles and decorations, Katherine recommends getting creative with your recycling, reusing the boxes your online orders arrived in (our big ones are perfect), lined with paper, or storing decorations individually in leftover bubble wrap or paper towels (helping reduce waste at the same time). Cardboard coffee or wine holders and old takeaway containers also work well.
Store your wrapping paper
After the mammoth task of wrapping all the presents, the wrapping paper tends to get stashed hastily in the corner of the spare room or in a cupboard. But keep your rolls tidy in a storage basket along with your other occasion wrap and you'll have easy and organised access next time you’re gift-wrapping. Alternatively, keep Christmas wrap in a garment bag and hang it up out of the way in the loft or at the back of the wardrobe till next year.
Wind up your lights
Follow this easy hack to avoid the drama of tangled Christmas lights next festive season. Grab a flat piece of cardboard from the recycling and cut small notches along the edges around two to three centimetres apart. Wind your string of lights around it, hooking it into the notches as you go, to keep them organised and tangle-free. Future you will be forever grateful.
Hang your wreath
When you’ve finally found (or hand-created) the perfect wreath to adorn your front door over the Christmas period, you need to store it away with care afterwards, so treat it as you would an embellished evening gown. Hook it over the neck of a coat hanger and cover with a dry-cleaning bag or shopping bag to stop it getting dusty or damaged. Then you can hang it up in your loft next to the garment bag of wrapping paper you’ve already organised, or pop it in a special tissue-lined box if you haven’t got the space.
Bottle your beads
Long strings of beads are guaranteed to get twisted and knotted if they’re thrown haphazardly into a bag after Christmas is over. Prevent this – and save your sanity next year – by storing your beaded garlands in an old water bottle. Not only will you be repurposing a water bottle rather than throwing it away, all you'll have to do is pour out the beads when they’re ready for hanging again.