How to Store Holiday Decorations: A Complete Guide

Knowing how to store holiday decorations is the difference between opening a box next season and finding a tangled mess of lights and cracked ornaments — or opening it and having the tree up in an hour. Decorations spend about eleven months of the year in a box, which means the way you pack them matters far more than the way you display them. This guide walks through packing each type of decoration, choosing the right storage spot, and setting yourself up so next year's setup is painless.

Sort and Purge Before You Pack Anything

The cheapest storage is the storage you don't need. Before a single box gets taped shut, lay everything out and make three piles: keep, donate, and toss. Burned-out light strands, ornaments with broken hooks, and the garland that's shedding more than it's sparkling aren't worth the space they occupy. Most households find they're storing at least one bin of decorations they haven't put out in years.

Once you've trimmed the collection, group what's left by room or by theme — tree decor, outdoor decor, table and kitchen, mantel and entryway. Packing by category instead of by "whatever fit in the box" is the single biggest time-saver when you unpack.

What You'll Need to Pack Decorations Properly

Cardboard boxes are fine for one season but poor for long-term storage: they absorb moisture, collapse when stacked, and are an open invitation to pests. Clear, lidded plastic bins with snap latches are a better investment, and being able to see what's inside without opening them is worth the extra few dollars.

Beyond bins, keep these on hand: acid-free tissue paper for delicate ornaments, bubble wrap for glass and ceramic, cardboard dividers or egg cartons for small items, heavy-duty labels or a label maker, and a permanent marker. Purely Storage facilities stock boxes, bubble wrap, and packing supplies on site, so you can pick up what you're short on when you drop off your load.

How to Pack Each Type of Decoration

Ornaments

Glass and ceramic ornaments need individual wrapping in acid-free tissue — newspaper ink transfers and stains over time. Use a compartmented ornament box, or make your own by stacking cardboard dividers inside a bin. Heaviest ornaments go on the bottom layer, lightest on top, and never let a bin get so full that the lid presses down on the contents. Keepsake and handmade ornaments deserve their own small, clearly marked box so they're not buried under the bulk decorations.

String Lights

Tangled lights are self-inflicted. Wrap each strand around a piece of stiff cardboard, an empty wrapping-paper tube, or a dedicated light reel, then secure the plug end with a twist tie. Test every strand before you pack it, not after you've hauled it back out in December, and tuck a note in the bin listing which strands go where — roofline, porch rail, tree.

Artificial Trees

If you still have the original box, use it. If not, a tree storage bag with handles is easier to move and far kinder to the branches than a crushed cardboard carton. Disassemble the tree into its sections, compress the branches gently toward the trunk, and store it upright if you have the height — laying a tree on its side for months flattens one whole face of it.

Wreaths and Garlands

Wreaths hold their shape best when they're hung or stored flat in a purpose-made wreath box, never stacked under heavier bins. Garlands should be loosely coiled, not folded, and placed in a bin wide enough that they aren't compressed against the sides.

Inflatables and Outdoor Decor

Outdoor pieces must be completely dry before they go into storage — trapped moisture is how mildew starts. Hose off yard stakes and blow molds, let everything air-dry fully, then deflate inflatables and fold them loosely rather than cramming them down. Store the blower motor and stakes in a labeled bag taped to the inside of the bin lid so the parts never separate from the piece they belong to.

Candles, Linens and Keepsakes

Candles warp and slump in heat, so they need a cool spot or they shouldn't be stored at all. Holiday linens — tablecloths, stockings, tree skirts — should be laundered and fully dry before packing, then stored in breathable cotton bags or acid-free boxes rather than sealed plastic, which traps humidity against the fabric.

Where to Store Holiday Decorations

Attics and garages are the default choice, and they're also the worst one. An uninsulated attic can swing from below freezing to well over 100°F across a year, and that cycling is what cracks ornaments, warps candles, yellows plastic, and makes adhesive labels let go. Garages add their own problems: concrete floors wick moisture into the bottom of a stack, and open rafters are a highway for rodents that treat tissue paper and garland as nesting material.

If you do store at home, get bins off the floor on shelving or pallets, keep them away from exterior walls, and never stack more than three high. For collections with any sentimental or monetary value — heirloom ornaments, a good artificial tree, vintage decor — a storage unit is the more reliable answer, and it clears the garage back out for the car.

Why Climate-Controlled Storage Is Worth It for Decorations

A climate-controlled storage unit holds temperature and humidity in a stable range year-round, which is exactly what fragile, seasonal items need. It's the right call for glass and ceramic ornaments, photographs and paper keepsakes tucked in with the decor, candles, wood and resin pieces, electronics like animated displays and projectors, and anything textile. Purely Storage offers climate-controlled units at locations across California, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Tennessee, inside gated, well-lit properties.

Holiday decorations also rarely travel alone. If you're already storing furniture, seasonal gear, or boxes you haven't unpacked since the last move, our household storage options let you keep it all in one place instead of spread across a garage, an attic, and a spare closet.

What Size Unit Do You Need?

Most households store their holiday decorations in a 5x5 or 5x10 unit — enough for a stack of bins, a boxed tree, and a few oversized outdoor pieces. If the decorations are joining other belongings, step up to a 10x10 or larger. Our storage unit size guide has an interactive walkthrough of each size and what it holds, and if you pick wrong, the team at your facility can transfer you to a different unit.

Label, Inventory, and Thank Yourself Next Year

Label every bin on at least two sides, not just the lid — you'll be looking at a wall of stacked bins, not down at them. Go more specific than "Christmas": "Tree ornaments — glass" and "Outdoor — roofline lights" are what make a box findable. Snap a photo of each bin's contents before you close it and keep the photos in a shared album, or tape a printed contents list inside each lid.

Load your unit with the first-out items nearest the door, leave a walking aisle if you're storing more than a few bins, and keep an eye out for opportunities to consolidate. For more on protecting stored belongings year-round, our storage tips resource covers packing, stacking, and unit organization in depth.

Store Your Holiday Decorations with Purely Storage

Holiday decorations are usually the most sentimental things a household owns and the most carelessly stored. A few hours of careful packing and the right unit will keep the collection intact for decades. Purely Storage has 48 locations offering climate-controlled and drive-up units, month-to-month leases, online rental with same-day move-in, and packing supplies on site. Find a storage unit near you to reserve a space before the post-holiday rush, or check our self storage FAQs if you have questions before you rent.