How to store Christmas decorations in the garage, planned around the order you unpack

How to store Christmas decorations in the garage, planned around the order you unpack

The short version

• A · open first: low, in front
• B · label two sides
• C · open last: up high

Group decorations by when you open them: open first low, in front; open last up high; label two sides of each bin.

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When holiday decorations go back into whatever boxes are nearby, next season starts with a search through the garage. If you want to know how to store Christmas decorations in the garage, start with the order you take them out, not the size of the boxes.

This page helps you sort the decorations into groups, map one stretch of garage wall and give each group a spot based on how soon you need it.

1. Sort the decorations by the order they come out

   Make one group for what goes up first, such as outdoor lights and the tree stand, and another for what comes out near the end of the season. Give fragile ornaments their own group.

   Some decorations come with storage notes from their maker. Read them now, and keep anything the notes say to store indoors inside the house.

2. Sketch one stretch of wall and write down its size

   Pick a section of wall away from the path of the car and clear of the garage door tracks. Measure its width and the height you can reach comfortably, then sketch it and mark where each group could go.

   Follow the maker's installation instructions, and if you rent, ask your landlord before you attach anything to a wall or ceiling.

3. Put the first-out group low and in front (A)

   The bins you open first go closest to where you walk in, at a height you can reach from the floor. That way the first bins of the season are the first ones you reach.

4. Save the high spots for what you open last (C)

   Bins you open last, or only some years, can go on the upper part of your sketch. Before a bin goes up there, try lifting it down from that spot once with both hands.

   If a bin feels awkward to handle from a step stool, keep it on a lower shelf behind the first-out bins instead, and use the high spots for bins you can lift down with ease.

5. Label each bin on two sides (B)

   Write the group and the room it goes to on the front and on one end of each bin. You can then read the label whether the bin sits on a shelf or in a stack.