Christmas is almost here! Although you may have just put up your tree now would be a good time to think about how you are going to store your ornaments and lights for next year. One of the biggest complaints that I get from my clients is “how do I store my Christmas lights and ornaments without losing my mind when I go to get them for next year?” There are a lot of ways to store both but I am going to share my favorites and some that you can do yourself. Read on…

Storing Christmas Lights

• The best way to store Christmas lights is to roll them up around your hand and then put them in individual zippered storage bags. This way you can keep all of the lights together and they will not be tangled. You can also write on the bag where those particular lights go. This is especially helpful if you have several trees that you decorate. Additionally, write on the bag whether it goes inside or outside.

• Another way to store your Christmas lights is in a Christmas wreath bag. Wrap it the same way around your hand, but this time put it down in the middle of the Christmas wreath that you put in the bag. This will keep it from moving around and getting tangled.

• If your tree folds or can be covered, you can also keep your lights stored on the tree itself. This is how I store my lights, and then I don’t have to worry about putting lights on my tree for the next year.

Storing Ornaments

• The best way to store ornaments is with those ornament boxes that you see everywhere during the Christmas season. My advice is to get buy them now as they are hard to find at the end of the holiday season.

• I have a box like this from Organize.com. I like that it has separators in them so that you can put each ornament in its own space or two if you would like. The separators keep them from jiggling around and breaking. They are also reasonably priced for how many can fit in a box. The box in the picture is from Organize.com is $16.99 and holds 48 ornaments.

Ornament Storage Box with Dividers from Organize.com

• There are many types of storage boxes for your ornaments and the range from cardboard and plastic on the low end to archival grade and made from wood.

Whatever you decide to use to store your ornaments and lights make sure that you purchase them now so that you will be ready for next season. Don’t wait until the last minute to think about how you are going to store your ornaments and lights. Having a plan in place will make it more likely that you follow through and put things back in order.

I hope this helps you to get organized for the Christmas season and have a Happy New Year!