So which one are you? The type of person who sweeps down the festive decorations the day after Boxing Day or are you more traditional, waiting until twelfth night…or dare we ask, do you still have your Christmas decs up?
Many people put off packing away seasonal items because of the hassle of clambering into the loft, or clearing a space in the garage or in the understairs cupboard, to store everything safely. It’s not just the tree - it’s all of the decorations that surround it, the stockings, cards and wreath hanging up, fairy lights and nativity scenes. How about the inflatable Father Christmas in the front garden, the ‘Santa stop here!’ sign and other outdoor seasonal decorations? On top of that, there’s extras like the spare chairs to seat everyone for dinner, the sofa bed for visiting friends and family, candles, special plates and tableware, not to mention the rolls of wrapping paper, ribbon and bows that you bought ‘just in case’.
Fear not. Our managing director, Tim Aspey, has five top tips for the post-Christmas clear up and advice on what you can do to store all your seasonal stuff effectively. Not only that, but Tim’s recommendations will help make unpacking the Christmas goods next year a doddle!
Don’t feel you have to magic space in your home to store your seasonal items. We have a wide range of customers who keep their homes clutter-free by storing their Christmas decorations, additional furniture and ‘all the trimmings’ at our secure storage warehouse until they are needed again.
This saves the effort of lugging boxes, as our crews can collect your items directly from your home. It’s perfect for anyone with limited space and it offers excellent value.
Check out your local council’s website as they may have a Christmas tree collection service and/or recycling centres that you can take your tree to. Use the coloured bins for your kerbside collections to recycle Christmas cards and give yourself a feel-good-factor to your clear out.
For artificial trees, it’s a good idea to save the original box it came in, as you know it will be a perfect fit for storage. Failing that, an old belt can be handy to wrap around your tree to help it use less storage space.
The same idea applies to ornaments and baubles - make use of the packaging it came in. If not, gift boxes or shoe boxes can also make great storage solutions for decorations. Egg cartons can provide fantastic storage for tiny knick-knacks.
It’s worth protecting delicate ornaments by wrapping them individually in kitchen roll, tissue paper or bubble wrap before packing them into boxes. We have excellent storage boxes and packing materials available.
It’s helpful to clearly label storage boxes to state exactly what the contents are. Transparent containers are handy as you can actually see what’s inside.
If you are using self-storage to keep your seasonal goods safe until you next year, labelling is a must. Our storage tips offer some practical ideas on how best to organise your items for storage.
Save yourself the horror of detangling fairy lights that are knotted like a ball of wool the cat has spent hours playing with, by wrapping them around a piece of cardboard or a storage reel. You’ll be glad you took the extra time to do this when next Christmas comes around.
For further advice on professionally storing your seasonal items contact us on 0800 389 1222.
Image Credit: Carsten Tolkmit
