The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time to pull out those ornaments and decorations and make your home look festive. The only problem is that the Christmas lights are in an impossible knot, and the ornaments are all floating around loose in a box.
If your holiday decorations feel like a disorganized mess, you are not alone. In this post, we’ll share a few of our top tips for packing and unpacking holiday decorations with less stress this season.
Let’s dive in.
5 Tips to Keep Your Holiday Decorations Organized
The last thing you want to do is break out your holiday decorations and find them shattered, crushed, or lost altogether. Keep your decorations organized with these tips:
1. Use storage boxes
Storage boxes are the best way to keep your decorations organized and make sure you can find everything when the time comes. We recommend purchasing a few storage boxes and designating one (or more, if needed) for each holiday.
For example, place your Thanksgiving decorations in one large box and purchase a segmented, lined box to secure your Christmas ornaments. Besides keeping your decorations safe, this also allows you to see what you have when the time comes to decorate.
If you plan to move, you can keep your items in their storage boxes – just be sure to label them “fragile” and put plenty of padding around breakables.
2. Wrap and hang your string lights
Untangling holiday lights is one of the worst tasks most of us face each season. Fortunately, we’re here to tell you that there’s a better way. We recommend wrapping and hanging your string lights to decrease snags and avoid broken bulbs. Here are a few tips:
Separate each strand of string lights to reduce knotting and tangling.
Wrap each strand of lights around your arm to create a loose loop.
Hang the strands of string lights from hooks in your garage, shed, or other storage space for holiday decorations.
If you’re moving this holiday season, lay each strand of wrapped lights gently into a storage box and hit the road! When you arrive at your new location, you’ll just have to pull them out of the box and hang them up again.
3. Protect everything from mold, mildew, and water damage
While breakage is one significant risk for delicate holiday decorations, mildew, mold, and water damage can also be major problems. To protect your items, here’s what we recommend:
Use waterproof containers to store and move fabric decorations like holiday tablecloths.
If you have original boxes for your decorations, put the decoration back in the box before storing the original package in a larger, weather-proof, protective box.
As you find space for holiday decorations, be sure you’re keeping everything on an elevated surface like a shelf. No matter what, your decorations shouldn’t sit on the floor of your garage or basement since they’ll be more vulnerable to water damage there.
4. Use specialized storage containers for wreaths
Placing a wreath on the front door is an easy way to make your home look and feel festive. And if you purchase a high-quality wreath, you can use it, again and again, year after year. To keep the wreath fresh and help it hold its shape, we recommend using a wreath storage container made of plastic or durable canvas.
Most of these containers can hold wreaths up to 30” in diameter, so they’re plenty big for your favorite holiday wreath. Plus, they’re waterproof and easy to move, so you won’t have to unpack your treasured wreath to take it to your new home.
5. Store paper decor in plastic bags
If you’re like us, you have all sorts of gift wrap, snowflake cutouts, holiday cards, and other paper decorations floating around your home. To keep these paper decorations safe and secure, store them in plastic bags. Use gallon-sized bags for small items like cards and kids’ crafts, and larger garbage bags to protect gift wrap from water and other damage. To make moving easy, use a storage container to hold all paper decorations inside their plastic bags.
Moving Tips for the Holiday Season
Hitting the road this holiday season? These three tips can help you stay merry throughout:
Start planning ahead of time. The holidays are a busy time (112.5 million holiday travelers hit the roadways in 2018) and travel can be difficult during this peak season. With this in mind, give yourself plenty of time to plan your ideal route, rent trucks, and other moving equipment, and book your moving team. If you have some flexibility in your schedule, consider avoiding peak season altogether. Moving on a weekday, for example, or waiting until a few weeks after the holidays is a great way to avoid the rush and simplify your move.
Make a budget. In addition to being busy, the holidays are also expensive. Set a budget to make sure your move’s price tag doesn’t get out of control. Be sure to factor in things like moving supplies and boxes, as well as the cost of storage, hiring movers, and anything else you’ll need to get where you’re going.
Ask for help. Save the stress and get some professional assistance with your holiday move. Gallo’s team specializes in local and long-distance moves and will go above and beyond to help your family get settled into your new home.
Let Our Team Help You Move This Year
Are you looking for a team to help you move this holiday season? Gallo is here for you. Our team specializes in storing decorations, packing decorations, and helping you focus on enjoying your new space. Don’t wait until the holiday season is underway – contact our team to book your move today!
Packing and Unpacking Holiday Decorations: Your Complete Guide
The holidays are just around the corner, and it’s time to pull out those ornaments and decorations and make your home look festive. The only problem is that the Christmas lights are in an impossible knot, and the ornaments are all floating around loose in a box.
If your holiday decorations feel like a disorganized mess, you are not alone. In this post, we’ll share a few of our top tips for packing and unpacking holiday decorations with less stress this season.
Let’s dive in.
5 Tips to Keep Your Holiday Decorations Organized
The last thing you want to do is break out your holiday decorations and find them shattered, crushed, or lost altogether. Keep your decorations organized with these tips:
1. Use storage boxes
Storage boxes are the best way to keep your decorations organized and make sure you can find everything when the time comes. We recommend purchasing a few storage boxes and designating one (or more, if needed) for each holiday.
For example, place your Thanksgiving decorations in one large box and purchase a segmented, lined box to secure your Christmas ornaments. Besides keeping your decorations safe, this also allows you to see what you have when the time comes to decorate.
If you plan to move, you can keep your items in their storage boxes – just be sure to label them “fragile” and put plenty of padding around breakables.
2. Wrap and hang your string lights
Untangling holiday lights is one of the worst tasks most of us face each season. Fortunately, we’re here to tell you that there’s a better way. We recommend wrapping and hanging your string lights to decrease snags and avoid broken bulbs. Here are a few tips:
If you’re moving this holiday season, lay each strand of wrapped lights gently into a storage box and hit the road! When you arrive at your new location, you’ll just have to pull them out of the box and hang them up again.
3. Protect everything from mold, mildew, and water damage
While breakage is one significant risk for delicate holiday decorations, mildew, mold, and water damage can also be major problems. To protect your items, here’s what we recommend:
4. Use specialized storage containers for wreaths
Placing a wreath on the front door is an easy way to make your home look and feel festive. And if you purchase a high-quality wreath, you can use it, again and again, year after year. To keep the wreath fresh and help it hold its shape, we recommend using a wreath storage container made of plastic or durable canvas.
Most of these containers can hold wreaths up to 30” in diameter, so they’re plenty big for your favorite holiday wreath. Plus, they’re waterproof and easy to move, so you won’t have to unpack your treasured wreath to take it to your new home.
5. Store paper decor in plastic bags
If you’re like us, you have all sorts of gift wrap, snowflake cutouts, holiday cards, and other paper decorations floating around your home. To keep these paper decorations safe and secure, store them in plastic bags. Use gallon-sized bags for small items like cards and kids’ crafts, and larger garbage bags to protect gift wrap from water and other damage. To make moving easy, use a storage container to hold all paper decorations inside their plastic bags.
Moving Tips for the Holiday Season
Hitting the road this holiday season? These three tips can help you stay merry throughout:
Let Our Team Help You Move This Year
Are you looking for a team to help you move this holiday season? Gallo is here for you. Our team specializes in storing decorations, packing decorations, and helping you focus on enjoying your new space. Don’t wait until the holiday season is underway – contact our team to book your move today!