Maintaining a good order of things when packing is important if you want your items to be safe and organized. When moving, you want your items to neatly placed in boxes before moving companies in North Carolina arrive. Regardless if you’re moving or placing items in a storage unit, you need to create and maintain order. This also applies to storing Christmas decorations, even though you only use them once a year. Imagine opening your box of decorations, only to find out that the lights have become a tangled mess. The hanging ornaments are full of chips or in pieces, and the tinsel is in shreds. And that’s just the box of the things that will go on the Christmas tree, who knows where the other decoration even is. At this point, a day you planned on spending decorating your lovely tree, now turns into a day of frantic searching.
This is, of course, the worst-case scenario, and your decorating experience usually won’t be exactly like this. Needless to say, we’ve all experienced similar situations involving poorly packed decorations. The main reason such situations occur is that Christmas ornaments are, by nature, rather difficult to pack. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be extremely fragile. Pair this with the fact that people don’t pay much attention to packing them since they are used once a year, and you have a problem on your hands. Luckily, storing Christmas decorations can be really simple with a few nifty tricks you’ll be able to learn below.
Before storing Christmas decorations, divide them by type
Most people decorate their homes in stages. By separating and organizing your decorations, they will be easier to locate, and much more convenient to use. In addition, you might have some antique or fragile ornaments, which will require climate controlled storage Greensboro NC. Preparing these items for storage ahead will spare you headaches later. Do this step right and you won’t have to waste time looking for that one specific box with tinsel in it. Start by dividing your decorations by type and packing them as such. Don’t worry about how you’ll pack them at this point, just get them separated and sorted. How you will group these items depends on what you have, but some of the more common labels are as follows:
- Christmas tree
- Indoor decorative lights
- Outdoor decorative lights
- Tinsel
- Hanging ornaments and baubles
- Wreaths
- Other (small figurines, Christmas stockings, etc)
Try to stay within these boundaries as much as you can. If you have more than one tree, try to divide your decorations so each tree has its own dedicated set. Keep these groups separate and do your best not to mix them up. The logistics and planning behind this may take some time, but it is worth it in the long run.
Collect boxes and other storage containers as necessary
Now that everything is neatly separated, you can slowly start packing your Christmas decorations before placing them in storage. Once you take a look at your sorted piles, you’ll have a good idea of how many boxes you’ll need for this step.
If you want to be efficient, while also being environmentally friendly, we suggest using durable plastic bins for this step. They do a great job at protecting your items while being reusable and sturdy. Regular cardboard boxes are a perfectly fine choice, but you have to be mindful of a few things. Cardboard is very prone to moisture damage, so you’ll have to be careful when placing your boxes in storage. In addition, you’ll have to be careful not to overfill the boxes, since they are much weaker compared to plastic bins. To make cardboard boxes as secure as possible, reinforce them with plenty of duct tape beforehand.
Important rules for storing Christmas decorations
Once you carefully pack your ornaments in the boxes of your choice, it is time to place them in a storage unit for the rest of the year. Safe storage is just as important as choosing the perfect methods and materials for packing fragile items. There are a few neat tricks that will help you efficiently store your ornaments, and also prepare them for later use.
The most important factor of storing is the ease of access and visibility. You can achieve this by labeling your boxes with clear markings. Write the contents of each box and make sure the labels face outwards. For good accessibility, it is wise to place the boxes you’ll need first and the very entrance of the unit. This way, you won’t have to dig through your unit to find what you need.
To prevent damage to your boxes while they are resting in storage, be mindful of how you stack them. Heavy boxes should never go on top of the lighter or smaller ones. This is easily overlooked but it a critical aspect when storing items. By placing heavy boxes at the bottom, you spread the load evenly and prevent your boxes from collapsing in on each other. To ensure top security of your items prior to storing, consider hiring our reliable NC packers. Lastly, for added protection, wrap your stored boxes in plastic film or place them on wooden pallets so they don’t sit on the floor. This simple trick makes storing Christmas decorations easy since you don’t have to worry about spills or critters. With all these storing tips, your future holidays will be filled with nothing but decorating delight and joy.
