How to pack away holiday decorations

By the time you read this, you may be sitting in a sea of wrapping paper, admiring your holiday decorations — and the mess.

The last thing you want to think about when admiring your menorah or twinkling tree is storage options. But the time will come — maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe a month from now — when the holiday decor must be repacked and put away.

And that's not something most of us look forward to.

Yet, as we have learned from watching organizational gurus on Netflix, there is some satisfaction in each item having its place. To help provide direction for when the day does arrive to re-store holiday decorations, we asked professional organizer Amy Trager and founder and CEO of Unit Moving & Portable Storage Michael McAlhany to share their tips on how to successfully and sanely organize and store seasonal decor.

Rather than haphazardly gathering all the seasonal decor in one heap (tempting as it may be), Trager and McAlhany recommend going room by room.

"Pack all the tree trimmings together — ornaments, lights, tinsel, tree skirt," Trager said. "Label the containers accordingly to make decorating even easier next year."

Even if you use clear plastic storage bins for decorations, McAlhany agrees that labels will help you identify what's inside those bins.

While many people have holiday decor that's sentimental, sometimes you simply outgrow decorations you purchased or were given in the past. And there is often a gingerbread man missing a leg or snowman missing a corncob pipe that could stand to be let go. But letting go doesn't always mean a one-way trip to the trash.

"First things first, go through your decorations and toss whatever you don't want to keep," McAlhany said. "This way, you'll have time to assess what you need or want to buy new for next year."

For a good rule of thumb: "If you didn't use it last year, you don't need it this year," he said. "Donate unopened or slightly used decorations."

"Store anything covered in glitter in large zip-top baggies, and keep them sealed to prevent glitter spilling everywhere," Trager said. "Wrap strings of lights or thin garland in an empty paper towel roll or wrapping paper tubes so they're not tangled next year."

McAlhany said he's even used clothes hangers and cardboard pieces to help keep lights from becoming a tangled mess.

"Just make sure to keep heavier decorations toward the bottom of bins and boxes," Trager says, and keep the cartons on top, just like when you're bagging at the grocery store.

Trager advises the reuse of any post-holiday wrapping paper and tissue that can't be repurposed for future gifts to wrap delicate decorations and ornaments. Similarly, McAlhany says to keep any original packaging.

"Why waste money and time getting special boxes or containers for ornaments when they already come in one?" he said.

The basement and attic are often usual suspects for storing holiday items. But, these seemingly innocent spaces don't always have climate control, which can lead to melted and warped holiday mishaps, rather than attractive or usable decor.

McAlhany and Trager suggest getting creative with how and where you store seasonal decorations.

And, if you're short on space, don't hide your decorations away.

"Store your ornament hooks, ribbons and decorating knickknacks in Mason jars," said McAlhany. "They look charming on shelves, and they keep fragile items safe."

As a parting tip, McAlhany has a marvelous idea for storing one of the winter holiday season's sentimental but often tossable items: holiday cards.