2015 was the first year we fully decorated our house in Dubai for Christmas. In recent years, we only placed a few Christmas ornaments around the living room. This year, things changed. I got carried away on weekend afternoon and bought plenty of glass ornaments, now displayed in high rise vases. On top of that, there were candles and more candles lid up every night. I love them. They create such a wonderful, peaceful and intimate atmosphere. Now, however, it’s time to remove ornaments, garlands and wraths.
Just how do you store your Christmas decoration? After all, you don’t want to go through heaps of boxes next year, still not finding what you’re looking for.
- Before you pack anything away, check that it’s not broken. Is it still working? Do you still like it? If not, throw it out now.
- If you are saying good-bye to broken ornaments which have a sentimental value for you, take a picture and remember it that way.
- Will you keep Christmas cards? You may want to scan them, allowing you to save physical space.
- For round ornaments, you can simply put each one in a plastic cup and keep them in a stable container.
- Don’t use old newspaper as padding for your ornaments. The ink can smudge the ornaments, potentially ruining them completely. Use white moving paper (as for your china) or coffee filters instead.
- You can wrap your lights around a hanger or cardboards. No more untangling the chain next year!
- Keep your wreath hanging while storing it. This will prevent it from falling flat. Cover it with a dry cleaning bag to keep it dust-free.
- Artificial Christmas trees can be a pain to put up and down. If you now longer want to have this hassle, put it the tree in tubes. If you’re taking it a step further and don’t want to add, then remove the ornaments, wrap the entire tree with mover’s wrap.
- Wrapping paper, gift bags and bows can be put into the Wrap It Organiser, which you can hang up so easily.
- Seasonal dinnerware can be removed from your kitchen space and kept safe and clean in these boxes from stores like Target or The Container Store.
- Label and write the content of the box on the outside. Stay away from plastic containers which can trap moisture when storing older decoration. Just a paper box for them.
When are you removing your Christmas decoration? Where and how are you storing it? In the attic or basement, the garage or just in your spare room? I’d love to find out what storage tricks you’re using. Just leave a comment below.
Until next time,
Agni