Decorating your home in celebration of the holiday season may be something you look forward to each year. However, if you’ve ever spent hours searching through battered cardboard boxes for a favourite holiday ornament, you know what a dreaded chore the annual holiday decoration hunt can be.
Getting your home ready for the holidays is a big enough job. Tracking down strings of lights and other seasonal decorations depletes you before the real even job begins. However, implementing four changes to how you store your holiday decorations will make storing and retrieving seasonal items a snap.
Save Time and Frustration with Specialized Storage Containers
The size, shape and fragility of seasonal items make them challenging to store. Large artificial trees can be unwieldy. Wrapping paper and ornaments can easily be damaged. Strings of holidays lights easily become tangled, damaging bulbs or wiring, which creates a fire hazard. However, just as selecting the right tool makes household repairs quicker and simpler, so does choosing the right storage container for each seasonal item.
Specialized seasonal storage containers are available for the most common seasonal decorations. Storage bags—many with a rolling base—are the perfect way to store a large, artificial tree. Multi-level, compartmented storage totes provide safe storage for fragile tree ornaments. Specialized storage spools keep holiday lights tangle free and complementary storage bags prevent damage to bulbs or wiring. Holiday wrapping paper organizers keep wrapping paper clean and dry while preventing rips.
Relatively inexpensive specialized storage containers make storing and retrieving artificial trees, holiday lights, ornaments and wrapping paper simpler. However, what is the best way to store holiday décor odds and ends for which specialized containers are not available?
Transparent Storage Bins—Clearly a Better Option
Clear storage boxes make seasonal items easier to find. Any big box store has a variety of plastic storage bins in stock. Available in a wide range of sizes and colors, plastic storage bins can accommodate an endless array of seasonal decorations. Solid colors can be festive. However, transparent storage totes are more functional. The contents stored inside can be quickly and easily identified. Still, items in the center of the tote may be difficult to see. One more step makes keeping track of all of your seasonal items a breeze.
Label Holiday Lights and Seasonal Decorations Before Storing
At the end of the holiday season, seasonal decorations are frequently tossed in random cardboard boxes and shoved in a corner. This storage method takes the least amount of time or effort. However, it necessitates far more time and effort when the next holiday arrives and causes needless frustration. A little forethought while storing seasonal items will make life much easier next holiday season.
Labeling each plastic bin and specialized storage container with its contents may seem tedious. However, it must only be done once. At the end of the season, return items to the appropriate storage bins. The time invested in neatly labeling storage bins will save time and prevent frustration for years to come.
Plastic storage totes and specialized storage containers make storing holiday decorations and other seasonal items a breeze. However, large storage bins can take up a lot of space in your home or garage. Creative storage solutions can multiply garage storage space without sacrificing valuable floor space.
Reserve Floor Space with Overhead Garage Storage
Floor space is at a premium in your garage. Only so much can be stored along the garage perimeter before parking your vehicle inside becomes precarious, if not impossible. However, creative storage solutions can significantly increase the storage capacity in your garage.
Overhead shelving converts unused space into usable storage space that won’t interfere with vehicle parking. Standard overhead garage shelving options require a step ladder to access the space, making overhead storage ideal for storing seasonal or seldom used items.
A range of overhead shelving options are available, but always consider safety first. Overhead garage shelving should be installed by a qualified expert or someone knowledgeable about the safe installation of weight-bearing overhead shelves. Strong racks steel shelving, for instance, is made of tough, 11-gauge steel and can safely hold up to 750 pounds when installed properly.
An experienced garage renovation expert can install pre-fabricated shelving or build made-to-measure wood shelving designed specifically for your unique space and individual needs. A garage renovation expert can also install hydraulic lift shelving that can be raised and lowered with the push of a button, eliminating the need to scale a step ladder with bulky items.
Storing and retrieving seasonal decoration doesn’t have to be a dreaded chore. Use specialized storage containers and clear plastic totes to store holiday lights and seasonal decorations. Label containers to make it easy to identify contents. Then request a consultation to discover how overhead garage shelving can expand garage storage and make storing seasonal items a snap.
