It’s probably a scene playing out in homes across the country:

It’s spring cleaning season, and families are heading into their basements, closets and garages to de-clutter and organize. Among boxes of clothes, trinkets and other stuff, many are probably coming across piles of Christmas decorations they stashed after the new year. Boxes of stockings stuffed without care, rats’ nests of Christmas lights last strung when Santa was last there. (Sorry, got a little poetic there.)

Anyway, these tips are for all those people out there that could have put away their Christmas lights a little neater than they did.

1. Plastic tubs are always better than cardboard: This might be obvious, but plastic tubs are always going to be better for your Christmas decorations than simple cardboard boxes. Many Christmas decorations, while only appearing seasonally, have heirloom status or are valuable in some other way. Using plastic will not only protect decorations from moisture, basement or attic odor or other physical damage, but plastic tubs last longer and are easier to handle than cardboard boxes. It’s worth the investment.
2. De-tangle those Christmas Lights: Tangled Christmas lights are one of the biggest pains of any cleaning project, and most people forget about the trouble until they’re about to string up the lights for another season. Taking care of them now will save you a lot of stress when the already-stressful holiday season gets going. DIY Life (by way of Curbly)has a cost-free tip for organizing lights - it’s a cardboard panel with notches for wrapping lights around neatly. I’ve tried that strategy, and it does work….for only a small strand of lights. For those of us who are managing a large amount of lights, a good solution would be light wind-ups - they’re cheap, save you the trouble of making your own, and are strong enough to handle a long strand of lights.
3. Oh, Christmas tree: As Sarah at About:Housekeeping suggests, the original box your artificial Christmas tree came in might seem like a natural storage solution, just like I mentioned with the tubs above, cardboard deteriorates. A durable Christmas tree bag is a much more reliable solution, and you don’t have to worry about getting those branches to fit back in the box they came in.

Those are just some tips I’m sure you spring cleaners will come across as you’re clearing out your basement/garage/whatever. If you have any other tips, send them along in the comments!