With the holidays behind us and the New Year just days away, it’s the perfect time to take down all of your holiday decorations so you can start 2012 with a clean slate. Exerting a little effort now by carefully organizing and packing your decorations will make your next holiday season a joy from the beginning. Once you pack up all your baubles, you can store them safely away in a Lock Up storage facility, leaving you with more room in your closets and under the bed for the rest of the year. Here are some tips on how to store your decorations properly.
Ornaments
There are specially made containers for ornament storage. They are flat boxes, often with tray divider inserts that protect individual ornaments. The containers stack for easy storage. If you don’t have ornament storage trays, you can use plastic storage bins that are meant to go under beds. You want to cushion each ornament with tissue paper (don’t use newspaper – the ink could rub onto your ornaments) and pack them in snugly but not too tight.
Light Strands
You want to make sure to store strands of lights in an orderly manner so that they don’t break or get tangled. The worst thing you could do is just throw them into a box in a big jumble. Not only can that break bulbs, but it could also compromise the integrity of the electrical wire, creating a potential fire hazard. There are special spools available that will hold lights. If you can’t get access to one, you can always simply coil the strand evenly and twist tie it in a couple of spots. Be sure to store in a separate box of only lights so they don’t get crushed by heavier items.
Artificial Tree Storage
Now that you’ve removed and packed away your ornaments and lights, carefully compress all the little branches around each main branch of your tree. Pull the tree apart and place all parts (including the base) inside the bag it came with. If you do not have that bag anymore, a large duffle bag can be used. You want to prevent dust from gathering on the branches. A Lock Up storage unit is the ideal location to store your tree.
Holiday Collectibles
Quickly dust all of the decorations that sit on shelving or tables so they’ll be clean and ready for next year. For bigger, bulkier items like holiday villages, nativity scenes and train sets, try to use the original packaging to store them away. If those aren’t available, just be sure to use plenty of padding around breakable parts. Use large plastic bins to keep boxes of items in order.
Kitchenware/Linens
Wash all holiday themed linens such as table runners, table cloths, napkins and towels. Do not bother ironing or starching them as they’ll need to be ironed once you pull them out next year and starch can damage fabrics that are stored for long periods of time by providing food for insects. Dedicate a box to holiday themed serving platters, cream and sugar containers, dishware and glassware. Use plenty of padding and pack items snugly but not too tightly. Place heavier items on the bottom of the box and more delicate items on top.
Once all of your holiday treasures are securely packed up, The Lock Up will be ready to take it all off your hands until you need it again.
For The Lock Up Self Storage facility nearest you, go to: http://www.thelockup.com/
