How to Organize Your Christmas Decorations

How you organize your Christmas decorations can make a huge difference when it's time to decorate the following year. Follow these tips for easy organizing ideas, and you'll be giving yourself a pat on the back next November!

Last year I think I did the best job I've ever done organizing my Christmas decorations after the season ended. I've always been good at putting them away. But this year I was congratulating my past self as I carried the boxes down from the attic.

This system made it so easy to stay organized while I decorated my house this year. I could decorate one room at a time, then take the empty boxes back up to the attic.

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It took me many years to collect the right storage items and perfect my system, so don't get discouraged if you don't have it all figured out right away. I find that tweaking my system each year, and adding a few items to my storage bin collection, keeps it from feeling overwhelming.

Order these items now and you'll be ready to take everything down by this coming weekend!

I love being organized and helping others get organized too! I've shared about how to organize a pantry and how to tidy a cluttered garage. It's impossible to decorate when your home is disorganized, so I hope some of these ideas help you create a home you love!

How to Store Christmas Decor by Room

The ONE thing I did differently last year that I had never done before is to…

Organize the Bins by ROOM!

It's so helpful to have my storage totes labeled with the room they belong in, so my husband and I can carry the boxes straight to where they need to go.

In the past I had organized everything by TYPE. Not anymore!

All the ornaments went in one bin, all the wall decor in another, and so on. It was really hard to put everything back in its box. Things always got left out and never made their way back to the Christmas stuff. It was a mess.

How many decorations you have and how much storage room you have will shape some of these ideas. Since I have a lot more storage space in this new house, this system is easier to put in place. Before, I was trying to make everything as compact as possible to fit into my tiny attic. So if that's you, I think you'll still find some of these helpful.

Now I'll share how I store everything by room. If I only have a little decor, say for the bedroom or office, I'll put it all in one large tote and label it for that room. Now let's get into the nitty-gritty of the best ways to store all the items in your Christmas decor collection!

How to Store Artificial Christmas Trees

If the tree fits in its original box, I store it in the box it came in.

But I had trouble fitting my living room Christmas tree back in its box, so last year I invested in a Christmas tree storage bag for our large living room tree. The one we bought is really nice and has wheels, which makes it so easy to move! (Last year I was able to carry it up to the attic by myself thanks to the storage bag!)

Be sure to check the height limit on whatever bag you buy. I bought a 7.5 foot tree bag, and my 7.5 foot tree fit with plenty of room to spare!

Organize Christmas Decorations: Ornaments

Now that I have more storage room, I'm going to start separating my ornaments not only by room but also by color and type. For example, I'll have a box for each color, a box for wood ornaments, a box for sentimental ornaments, and so on.

My biggest tip is to invest in hard-sided CLEAR storage boxes for ornaments! I've tried all the soft-case ornament boxes, and they always ended up damaged or falling apart, so I got rid of them all. Buy smaller plastic boxes like these for ornaments.

I've also found that the ornament separators that come with the boxes are more trouble than they're worth. Ha! I throw them away and just pack the ornaments according to my system…

If I have glass or breakable ornaments, I usually keep their original packaging and simply place them in the larger box. That's plenty to keep them protected. Otherwise, I wrap them in bubble wrap or tissue paper and stack them on top of each other. If you have shatter-proof ornaments, they can simply be tossed in. Just be sure to put your heaviest ornaments on the bottom.

Storing and Organizing Christmas Wreaths

Once again, I love the hard plastic wreath storage containers. They're the best for keeping my wreaths protected, and they're easy to stack! Just make sure they're large enough for whatever wreath you need to store.

If you need to slide them under the bed, though, these canvas wreath storage bags might be the best choice!

Storing and Organizing Christmas Wreaths

How to Organize Christmas Ribbon

Since I change up my ribbon each year to match my color scheme, I keep all my Christmas ribbon in its own bin!

Organize Christmas Decor for Outdoors

All my outdoor decor goes into its own large storage bins, divided into these categories:

Wreaths
Garlands & bows
Lights – these light storage boxes are perfect for keeping light strands nice and tidy!

They're all labeled "outdoor decor" too, so I know those boxes go straight to the front door when they come out of the attic.

Tip: Whenever I buy large storage bins, I always choose the kind with handles that clip over the top to hold the lid in place!

Gift Wrap Storage Ideas

One more area you might not group with organizing Christmas decorations is the gift wrap left over at the end of each year. I always overbuy gift wrap and bows and save them for next year!

Last year I bought this hanging gift wrap storage bag to hang in my guest closet, which is my wrapping central station. I love it!

If you need to tuck it under a bed or store it in the attic until next year, something like this under-the-bed gift wrap storage bag would be perfect!