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Christmas is over, and no doubt, we are all feeling a little bloated. Unfortunately, so are our homes. The Christmas decorations are down, and now the annual struggle of storing them safely away until next year begins.

Christmas decorations used to be fairly simple. All it took was a box in the attic stuffed full of tinsel and baubles, and that was that until Christmas rolled around again.

These days, Christmas decorations are more elaborate. Glass displays, delicate baubles, singing Santas, sleighs that illuminate the night sky, and expensive artificial trees all need to be safely stored.

Many people use self-storage units to store seasonal items such as Christmas decorations. But with any long-term storage, a little care and attention will ensure that next Christmas, your Santa still sings, and your sleigh still impresses the neighbours.

This guide is crammed full of hints and tips to help you prepare your Christmas decorations for self-storage.

Tips for Storing Christmas Decorations

A self-storage unit is a versatile and cost-effective solution to all your seasonal storage needs. They offer clean, dry, and secure storage units that come in a range of sizes to suit all needs. (We have created a handy size guide to help you pick the perfect size).

To make the most out of your unit and to ensure that your decorations are kept in prime condition, it is important to store them properly. Here are a few top tips compiled by our storage experts to help you store your Christmas decorations.

1.    Don’t overstuff your boxes

It is always tempting to maximise your storage by overfilling your packing boxes. This can lead to disaster, to avoid problems with your packing, stick to the following guidelines:

  • Never place heavy items in the same box as delicate items like baubles and glass decorations
  • Use plenty of cushioning
  • When stacking boxes, always place heavier boxes at the bottom and don’t overstack

2.    Dismantle where possible

Many larger decorations are designed to dismantle. Although this might seem like extra work dismantling larger decorations makes for easier storage and allows you to wrap individual components for extra protection.

Additionally, it also ensures that pieces don’t “fuse” if damp, mould, or grime has got into the joints and connections.

3.    Make sure everything is clean and dry

It is important to ensure that everything is clean and dry before placing them into storage. Remember that these are likely to lie undisturbed for the best part of a year. This allows plenty of time for mould, mildew, rust, and even pest infestations to take hold.

4.    Use good-quality packing cases and materials

The importance of using sturdy story boxes and packing materials cannot be overemphasised. This will help to ensure that when the time comes to bring your decorations out of storage, they are still in a neat and tidy stack and not lying in a pile of collapsed boxes.

Quality packing materials aren’t expensive and will save you money in the long run.

5.    Label your boxes

Labelling your boxes with details of the content and important factors like whether the contents are fragile makes life much easier when organising your storage and retrieving decorations.

This also helps if you are adding and removing stuff from your unit throughout the year. It is easy to forget what boxes contain likely fragile decorations. Proper labelling will prevent accidents during storage.

6.    Use cardboard tubes for your Christmas lights

Wires and cables have an almost magical ability to wrap themselves into dense tangles the moment your back is turned. Leaving a tangled-up mass of electrical lights for a year can lead to cracked cabling and damaged bulbs.

Use the inners from kitchen paper rolls (or any similar cylindrical objects) to wrap your Christmas lights around. This will save you time and money, and more importantly – it will make sure your Christmas lights are safe to use year after year.

Wrapping Up

Protecting and storing your decorations from year to year is easy with a self-storage unit. At U Store It, we have locations throughout Ireland and in Belfast, with units available in a wide range of sizes.

Why not contact us today and find out more about how cost-effective, practical, and versatile a self-storage unit is?