Should I store decorations in the attic or the basement?

Either works for most things. Attics get hot in summer, so keep candles, anything with wax or glue, and photos in a closet or a dry basement instead. Basements can be damp, so use lidded plastic bins rather than cardboard there.

What is the best way to store Christmas lights?

Wind each strand around a piece of cardboard or an empty spool, label it with the length and where it goes, and test it before it goes away so you know which strands need replacing.

How many bins do I need?

One per room per holiday, plus one first night bin. Most households find that is fewer bins than they expected, because each one is full.

How do I know what is in a bin without opening it?

Write the contents on the end that faces out, or use a QR code label that opens a list on your phone when you scan it. The storage bin labels guide covers both.

Guide

How to store holiday decorations so you can find them next year

By the WhereKept team. Updated October 26, 2026.

Metal shelves in a garage holding plastic storage bins, with a string of holiday lights spilling out of one

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Holiday decorations spend eleven months in a box. By the time they come out again, nobody remembers which bin has the lights, which has the stockings, or whether the tree stand ended up in the attic or the basement. The work of storing them well is almost all done on the day they go away.

Pack by where things go, not by what they are

Put everything for one room in one bin: the mantel, the front door, the dining table. When the bin comes out, it goes straight to that room and empties there. Sorting by type (all the ribbon together, all the candles together) looks tidy in the attic and means opening every bin to decorate one room.

Keep one holiday per bin. A bin that holds Halloween and Christmas gets opened twice a year and packed badly both times.

Pack a first night bin

One bin holds what you need before anything else: the extension cords, the timers, spare bulbs and fuses, hooks, the tree stand bolts, and scissors. Mark it clearly and put it in front. It saves the first hour of every season.

Label with the contents, not just the holiday

“Christmas” on a lid tells you nothing when there are six of them. Write the room and a short list of what is inside: “Living room. Mantel garland, stockings, stocking hooks, 2 candle sets.” Put the label on the end of the bin that faces out when it is on the shelf, not only on the lid, because lids are hidden once bins are stacked.

Clear bins help, but only for the bin on top. A written list is still faster than lifting three bins to look through the sides. For more on written and QR code labels, see how to label storage bins.

Write down where each bin lives

The label says what is in a bin. It does not say where the bin is. Keep a short list somewhere the whole household can see it: “Lights, 3 bins, basement, left shelf, top.” A note on a phone, a page taped inside the attic door, or a shared spreadsheet all work. The point is that the list lives somewhere other than one person’s memory. The same idea works for the rest of the house, which is the subject of how to remember where you put things.

Protect what breaks

Wrap ornaments one by one in tissue or keep them in egg cartons or divided ornament boxes. Wind lights around a piece of cardboard so they come out untangled. Keep anything with a battery out of the bin or take the batteries out, since a leaking battery can ruin a whole box. Attics get hot, so candles and anything with glue or wax do better in a basement or closet.

Doing it with WhereKept

WhereKept is an iPhone app that gives every item in your house an address. You make the places once (Basement, Left shelf, Top) and put each bin in its place. Print a label for each bin from the app and stick it on. Next year, scan the label with the phone and the list of what is inside appears without opening the lid, or search “tree stand” and the answer is the bin and the shelf it is on.

A WhereKept label with a QR code, the name Holiday lights, the address Basement wire shelf, and the code 3HX8TA — A WhereKept label for a bin of lights: the code, the name, and where the bin lives.

Bins and shelves are places, and places do not count toward any limit. Free holds 25 items for one person, enough to try it on a few bins. On WhereKept Plus, everyone in the household sees the same places on their own phone, so whoever puts the bins away in January, the next person can find them. WhereKept is iPhone only and needs a connection to search.

Questions

Should I store decorations in the attic or the basement?: Either works for most things. Attics get hot in summer, so keep candles, anything with wax or glue, and photos in a closet or a dry basement instead. Basements can be damp, so use lidded plastic bins rather than cardboard there.
What is the best way to store Christmas lights?: Wind each strand around a piece of cardboard or an empty spool, label it with the length and where it goes, and test it before it goes away so you know which strands need replacing.
How many bins do I need?: One per room per holiday, plus one first night bin. Most households find that is fewer bins than they expected, because each one is full.
How do I know what is in a bin without opening it?: Write the contents on the end that faces out, or use a QR code label that opens a list on your phone when you scan it. The storage bin labels guide covers both.