Holiday storage woes solved

4 Problem: You don’t know how best to store ornaments
Solution: The smartest thing to do, of course, is to reuse the packaging the ornaments came in. However, if your spouse has a penchant for throwing things out as mine does, that container is long gone. Here’s an alternative: Use empty boot boxes by lining the bottom with shredded newspaper, lay in the ornaments, wrapping up the more delicate ones (not heirloom or hand-painted ones; see below) and top with more shredded newspaper. Store flat.

5 Problem: You want to be extra careful when packing away my heirloom and hand-painted ornaments
Solution: Use acid-free white tissue paper, and wrap each ornament carefully. Store in a plastic storage box, which offers more protection than cardboard. If you have one handy, toss in a packet of silica gel desiccant (the kind that comes in shoe boxes) to prevent moisture from building up inside the plastic container over the course of a year, suggests Martha Stewart in Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in Your Home.

6 Problem: You need to label your storage boxes so they’ll be easy to identify next year
Solution: First, organize decorations into boxes in a logical way. All tree ornaments in one box, all banister and mantel décor in another, and all outdoor decorations in yet another box. Then, number them according to how you’ll want to open them next year says about.com’s housekeeping expert, Sarah Aguirre. Do you always decorate the outdoors first? Label that storage box with a number 1.