Storage Solutions for Christmas Decorations

People tend to use the same storage solutions for Christmas decorations year after year. The sight of the same boxes (in our family it was a large coat box from the Hudson Bay Company along with a few easily identifiable blue sweater sized boxes from Eatons)being pulled out of the attic was the first sign that the Christmas season was upon us. In fond retrospect, it is amazing how long those boxes lasted. Our family must have used the same boxes for 10 years, perhaps longer. These days a department store gift box would never maintain it's form for that long. A part of good small closet organization is having durable storage containers.

These days, I mainly use hinged top rubber storage bins for our families Christmas decorations. They are durable, protective and easy to use. Most have pre-formed handles that make them easy to carry. The bins are light weight and therefore easy to stack. The storage of Christmas tree ornaments is a delicate business as families often have an assortment of family heirlooms mixed in with an assortment of school made construction paper ornaments. Both varieties are treasured and priceless.

A number of years ago I stumbled upon a really clever way to store Christmas tree decorations. At that point in my life I was just starting to collect my own Christmas decorations and it was also before I began to store most items in plastic storage bins. Just by luck I came across a Christmas store that was going out of business during the Boxing Days sales. This Christmas store had a huge number of delicate and expensive Christmas decorations that were now being offered at a huge discount. Most of the items in the store were being offered at 80-90% off the original manufacturers suggested retail price. Needless to say, this sale lasted about 36 hours and I was lucky enough to stock up. I immediately owned lovely and expensive Christmas tree ornaments around the same time that Christmas ornaments are to go into storage.

I pondered my various storage options on my walk home. I resigned myself to vast amounts of newspaper wrapping or purchasing some bubble wrap. However, as soon as I walked in my front door I was presented with a wonderful storage solution. I had purchased a case of wine in early December to enjoy during the holiday and to use as gifts. The empty case with it's sturdy bottle dividers was sitting at my front door waiting for recycling day.

An empty liquor box or wine box makes a perfect Christmas decoration storage solution. In fact, the sturdiness of these boxes makes them perfect for a number of different uses. With just a little bit of newspaper between ornaments the box provides secure and organized storage for up to 48 Christmas tree ornaments. It really is a perfect storage solution for Christmas tree ornaments and for Christmas decorations in general.

I use essentially the same system even now that I have moved most of the storage into plastic storage bins. I have simply transferred the sturdy cardboard dividers into the plastic bins. I expect that the "free" dividers will last as long as I need them. I have accumulated a number of different sizes in order to customize my store. Wine bottle dividers are generally 3 inches square while dividers used for bottles of Baily's Irish Cream are 4 inches square.

With the use of plastic storage bins and the inclusion of wine case bottle dividers I think I have an excellent storage solution for Christmas decorations.