The holidays are in full swing. With this time of year comes the many joys and stresses of preparing yourself for holiday decorating and celebrating. Even with the greatest preparation, Christmas can be a bit of a storage nightmare. From taking out unruly decor from the crevasses of your home to the inevitable pile-up of more holiday-related decorations during the season and around Black Friday, the decor of this season alone can be overwhelming. 

Of course, the easiest way to take back control from the immense amount of holiday decor is to safely store the Christmas bins and boxes away from your home in a protected self-storage unit. If you’ve never used self-storage before or just need to get some tips on how to use your better, here’s how we suggest you make the most out of your storage space this winter.

Take Back Some Space in Your Home

Christmas time is a storage hog. Many families complain that the precious space they have is taken up or overrun by holiday decorations. Of course, getting rid of your favorite pieces or family decor heirlooms isn’t always the answer. That’s where self-storage comes in handy. Keep what you love without sacrificing your space. Think about using your storage unit as a rotating seasonal living space. When summer ends, back up your seasonal belongings and place them in storage while taking out what you’ll need for the coming winter season. This way you can get by with a smaller, tidier storage unit.

Hide the Holiday Gifts

Self-Storage is the perfect solution from keeping holiday gifts away from prying eyes. Whether you’re heading stocking stuffers, or bigger items, with a storage unit, you don’t have to worry that the surprise will be spoiled. True, you might have space in your home to wrap gifts and put them immediately under the Christmas tree, but in the case that you can’t, there’s an easy solution. 

• Keep those difficult to hide gifts in your secure storage unit. If you have a climate-controlled unit, you can even keep most gifts within the unit without fear of weather-related damage. 
• Make a workstation. Worried that someone will catch you in the middle of gift wrapping? Make your unit a seasonal Santa’s Workshop. Make room for a small table, and equip your space with a few rolls of wrapping paper, scissors, tape, and any other gift garnishings.
• Don’t forget gifts. If you’re using your storage unit as a place to hold your gifts, make sure to properly label boxes that contain them. It would be unfortunate to forget some purchases left behind in unlabeled boxes. 
• Rotate your self-storage. Bringing decorations to your home, but leaving behind some boxes? Move those boxes to the back to make room for gifts and other important items. Since you won’t be needing those decor boxes till the end of the season, they don’t need to be at the forefront of your storage.

Tips for Tricky Decorations

Before the end of the holiday season, when the festive decor is put back into boxes make sure you’re prepared to keep everything organized! Here’s what we suggest:

• Have issues with tangled lights this year? We get it, but thankfully, there are a few ways to avoid that for next year. Try wrapping larger more delicate bulbs in recycled wrapping or tissue paper, and place them in shoe boxes. Just like delicate ornaments, avoiding contact with other holiday decors can keep them safe for years to come. If you struggle with tangled holiday lights, try the wrapping paper roll trick. Simply wrap your lights around an empty wrapping paper roll, taping any small spare bulbs to the inside of the roll. 
• Have extra wrapping paper and delicate tissues? Don’t risk them getting torn or exposed to the elements. Take a garment or clothing bag and use it as hanging storage for all your leftover wrapping gear. Hang ribbon from the hanger, hang or lay wrapping paper within, and place any extra tape or scissors at the bottom of the garment bag.