How to Pack and Unpack Holiday Decorations

If you’re anything like us, then your family has boxes upon boxes of holiday decorations that you unpack, dust off, and display every year. From Thanksgiving to the New Year, it’s all about having fun and festive things in your home. But year after year, it’s common for things to get chipped or broken when they’re packed away. We don’t know how it happens, but it’s always a sad discovery when it does. 

Hopefully these tips, from our family at Albuquerque Self Storage to yours, help preserve your beloved decorations for years to come. 

Unpack Your Holiday Decorations Very Carefully

The unpacking stage of the process doesn’t begin when you’re opening the boxes. It starts the moment you think about pulling out your holiday decorations. 

First thing is first: before you lift the box or open it, inspect it. Look for any holes, any weak or wet points, or any unsecured bottoms. The last thing you want is to pick up the box and have it break open on you. If it seems secure, carefully pick it up and bring it into the desired location. 

If you’re transporting it in a car, make sure it’s secure! All holiday decorations are fragile — from lights to metal — so be sure that the box won’t be sliding around. This will help avoid dents, rips, tears, cracks, and chips. 

If you’re just moving it out of the basement, attic, or closet, be sure the floor is clear. We don’t want you to trip and hurt yourself! Also watch out for corners — you don’t want to scuff your wall or hit them too hard. 

When opening the box, don’t use anything sharp. Carefully peel off the tape or open it. 

From there, start from the top!

Unwrapping Decorations

If you’re like us, then your most fragile holiday decorations are probably wrapped in old newspaper or bubble wrap. Start from the top and gently lift up the piece. You’re going to want to unwrap them slowly for your own safety. If anything is broken, you’ll be able to notice the sharp pieces before you get hurt. 

Slowly unwrap the holiday decoration with both hands so nothing slips and falls. Once it’s out of its packaging, place it on a table or in its intended location. Try to avoid putting it on the floor, as you never know if it could be knocked over. 

Keep all of the packaging!

How to Pack Holiday Decorations

Packing up holiday decorations is harder than unpacking them. If you had packaging, it should still be in the original boxes. If you didn’t, we recommend you get some, especially for your glass, metal, and porcelain pieces. For holidays baubles, keep the boxes they came in for easy organization and safe storing. 

Here’s how you want to wrap them in paper, bubble wrap sheets, or loose packaging material.

1. Unfold or smooth out the packaging
2. Place the holiday decoration at one corner
3. Carefully roll the holiday decoration and the newspaper toward the center
4. Once at the center, tuck in the perpendicular two corners
5. Roll toward the far corner

If you need to do this more than once, just reverse the way you rolled, so the inner layer doesn’t come undone. We do not recommend taping the newspaper. This will save you a lot of time and will be safer when you unpack it next year. 

Place the holiday decoration in the box and, if you can, add wadded up newspaper around it. 

Packing Holiday Lights

Lights can be a pain to pack, especially since you know you’ll just be untangling and testing them next year. What if we told you that you could skip all of that mess? Instead of wrapping them in a tight loop or throwing them haphazardly into a box, invest in light reels or cord wind ups. They’re affordable ways to save you time and money on new lights come the 2021 holiday season. 

Plus, they save storage space! 

Need a Safe Space to Store Holiday Decorations? 

Self storage is an affordable and safe way to store fragile items. Because it’s out of the way and out of your home, you won’t have to worry about anything falling over or being moved.

Albuquerque Self Storage offers month-to-month contracts, so you can use it when you need it and move out of it when you’re ready to go. To keep it easy, many of them only require a 10 day notice before you leave your unit. And we don’t require a deposit!

You don’t have to worry about security either — our storage units are safe. Albuquerque Self Storage, has a well lit and gated facility for you to store your items and every unit is protected by a padlock. 

If you’re interested in using us for your self storage needs, contact us today.