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Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Wreath Storage…Using a Coat Rack

Hi everyone! Christmas decorations are down, but I'm still organizing and putting the basement back together. The basement totally turns into a dumping ground when I'm decorating for the holidays. Furniture and regular home decor gets moved to the basement to make room for Christmas. Then the reverse happens when it's time to take everything down and get the house back together again.

While getting the basement and the Christmas storage area back together, I've taken some pictures along the way of some of the ideas I use. Today, I wanted to share some organizing tips for storing artificial wreaths.

We spend valuable money on Christmas evergreen decorations, even when they are on sale, so storing them properly is key to making them last for years.

wreath storage coat rack

Come on in and see a few ideas to store your wreaths and evergreens…

I have lots of artificial garlands and wreaths. I put up decorations right after Thanksgiving and they are up until the weekend after New Year's Day, so they are up for a while. Fresh evergreen just wouldn't last for me.

Some of the types I have are berry wreaths and evergreen.

wreath storage coat rack

Evergreen is easy to store, because you can squish it and then refresh it again when you pull it out the next year. The different kinds of berry wreaths or more delicate decorations have to be stored differently.

wreath storage coat rack

I store most all decorations in plastic tubs.

wreath storage coat rack

The 30 gallon size works great for wreaths. Buying plastic tubs is an investment, but well worth it. Just buy a couple each year to add to your collection.

wreath storage coat rack

I bought larger sizes to store evergreen garland and Christmas trees that no longer fit in those ridiculous tiny boxes they originally come in.

That's another whole post in itself, trying to squeeze the tree, that you just puffed up to three times it's factory size, back into a box the is 10 inches wide.

wreath storage coat rack

The big tubs that I have are 50 gallons.

wreath storage coat rack

The 50 gallon is perfect for miscellaneous garlands and sprays.

wreath storage coat rack

The wreaths go in the 30 gallon though.

wreath storage coat rack

Just line them standing up, one by one. I can fit 8-10 wreaths in one box.

wreath storage coat rack

Berry wreath or some greens that won't do well in a box are hung up so they aren't damaged.

wreath storage coat rack

Where to hang them? On an old coat rack of course!!

I also added one of those bars that hangs down to give you another rod to hang on.

wreath storage coat rack

For the wreath, I added a long zip tie to hang it from the hanger. Most hooks on the backs of wreaths are too short.

wreath storage coat rack

The longer zip tie just gives you some space from the neck of the coat hanger and the rod you are hanging it on.

wreath storage coat rack

Now take a plastic garbage bag and poke a hole in the bottom.

wreath storage coat rack

Slip the hook of the hanger through the hole.

wreath storage coat rack

and then cover the wreath with the bag to protect it from dust and being stored all year.

wreath storage coat rack

Now just hang it on the coat rack for easy storage.

Here's the rack partially done, so you can see some of the wreaths not covered yet.

wreath storage coat rack

Here it is all done. I don't tie the bags at the bottom to keep air flowing in and out. We run a dehumidifier in the summer and the furnace keeps it dry in the winter… that keeps the climate normal in the basement.

wreath storage coat rack

The coat rack is also a great place to store all the over-the-door wreath hooks. Keeps them all in one place so I can find them.

wreath storage coat rack

I hope this idea was helpful. You don't have to go out and buy a coat rack, I just happened to have an old one. You can hang the wreaths in a closet, on a rod hanging from the ceiling in your basement or even a nail from the ceiling, if your basement is unfinished like mine.

Either way, if you store your decorations properly, you will keep them forever.

Thanks for stopping by,
~Karen~

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18 comments:

  1. Great ideas!!!! Thanks for sharing!!

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  2. So jealous of your basement. Love the wreath hanging tutorial.

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  3. Reading this post reminds me of the very creative people who work all year long on the New York City window displays for the Christmas Holidays. YOU would be perfect for this job !! Your organization is top notch and you are always thinking outside of the box for solutions and creativity ;)
    Great post ;)
    Rose

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  4. This is another great idea from you...I hope you dont mind if I share it on my blog
    Hugs
    Phoebe x

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  5. With all of those wreaths, you HAVE to be organized.

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  6. I store mine in the inside of closet doors, then, I just whip them out and hang them on that person's bedroom door. No basements in Texas and stuff that is glued on pops off in our attic heat.

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  7. The first thing that goes through my head is the creepiness of basements.I KNOW I must watch too many horror movies. Thankfully, I live in Oklahoma and no one really has basements (water table). Your basement looks all bright and safe, though. It must be that all those Christmas decorations have enough Christmas magic to keep horror movie-stars at bay.
    Attics, barns, and woods....that is another creepy for another time...

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  8. Lucky you to have a basement we don't have them in Oz but was in Canada at relatives last year and looooved their basement, now what I could do with that!!!

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  9. Like most folks, or at least I think so, I have alot of outside wreaths. I place them into a new trash bin. It's round and is the perfect size.

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  10. Love it! We do something very similar in our attic. (so wish we had a basement) My husband attached a 2x4 to an existing beam and we just slide our outdoor wreaths onto it. With other holiday wreaths, I'll put them into large trash bags and hang them from a nail which is nailed into the many beams in the attic. :)

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  11. Thank you for sooooo many great ideas for storing seasonal items!

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  12. I'm thrilled to see your unique idea for storing wreaths! What a huge help this will be. Thank you!

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  13. I thought about hanging my wreaths but felt I'd need cloth bags to cover them. Then wondered where I'd find the right size. Then here you have solved my problem. Never thought of using trash bags. Don't have basement, but have to use garage so have standing cloths rack that I plan to hang the wreaths. Some I hang on the garage walls, High up so can store things under them.
    Thanks again.

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  14. Hang a rail lengthwise on a wall in your closet and drape your ties over the bars. This storage idea not only allows you to store your ties and coat

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  15. Hi Karen,
    I must say, you are pretty amazing! You have a wonderfully creative mind. Please keep the ideas coming. As you can see from your post comments, we love all of your brilliant thoughts. And we love you as well! :)

    Mary Jo Berger ("") ("")

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  16. Love this! How about taking a pix of each wreath and taping it to the outside of the bag so you can see what's behind the bag at a glance? -Christy Roppel

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  17. I use Ziploc XXL bags so I can see through them and see what is in the bag. This is especially helpful for the wreaths I've made of food (Peeps, candy corn) because they seal all the way and nothing is getting in or out.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!