Christmas decorating ideas for when you have no storage space

Some people really do go all out with beautiful Christmas decorating and have bins and bins of decorations in the garage, basement or attic. But what do you do when you want to bring a little festive cheer into your living space but your storage space is REALLY limited? Where do you put all that Christmassy stuff the rest of the year?

I’ve put together a few simple ideas that might help for those who just don’t have anywhere to keep loads and loads of boxes of Christmas decorations for the other 11 months of the year.

Space Saving Christmas Decorating Ideas

Buy your decorations from Charity Shops or Thrift Stores

You can’t be going out buying lots of brand new decorations every year, that’s not economic or environmentally sustainable. But if you live somewhere with a good network of charity shops or thrift stores you could set a small budget and buy some decorations in October or November and donate them back each January. I know it varies around the world but here in the UK we have a plethora of charity shops, they are everywhere. They always seem to have a good stock of Christmas decorations and for £20 - £25 you could get quite a lot of nice things. Maybe you could think of it as your annual donation to charity and you’ve got a few decorations for free! In January just donate them back and have something different next year.

This would probably work best if you have room for at least one box to keep a few staple favourite decoration from year to year. Then you can add the extras each year from the charity shop and then redonate after the festive season.

Alternative Small Space Christmas Trees

How about making a flat Christmas tree? Not only are they great if you only have a small space to put them up, they also take very little room to store all year. Crafts by Amanda have a tutorial to make this flat tree from branches which could pack up really easily. Amanda had what I can only describe as a “right mare” making this but she is kind enough to explain where she went wrong and to give LOADS of hints and tips so you can make it easily!

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This flat Christmas tree is painted onto plywood. It’s not small but if you had space to slide it under a bed for the rest of the year it might work for you. The tutorial to make it is from Dans le Lakehouse.

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If you have really smooth painted walls you could maybe try a peel and stick decal tree? This one, and many other similar designs like it are available from Etsy and come in a few different sizes to suit your room. I’ve found some similar decals on Amazon too.

If your walls are textured it doesn’t work as well apparently, but if you fell in love with a design maybe you could combine this idea with the one above and create a flat tree on a board which you could store under the bed or slide behind a wardrobe.

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I love this book page wall tree idea from Emma Woods Interiors on Instagram

Have you seen these pop up Christmas trees? They collapse completely flat so are really compact to store. They are not so great for adding your own decorations too though so I guess that’s the compromise.

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Festive Window Decorating Ideas

Lights or a light up decoration in a window look great for people passing by, but sometimes they can be tricky to install. Either there is no electric supply nearby, or your window sill and blinds or curtains just make it impractical.

Window doodling is easy, and if you keep it simple you don’t need any mad artistic skills. Your windows can look super festive and all you need to store from year to year is a pack of pens.

I’ve shared a few different ideas over the years:

Draw on your windows with chalk markers, this is easier than it looks, I promise. I shared a tutorial with much more details here: Christmas Window Decoration and lots of ideas that I’ve done on our windows over the years.

Turns out that drawings on the window are really hard to photograph well but don’t let that put you off! This string of old fashioned lights is really easy to recreate with chalk markers. Find all the details here: Alternative Christmas lights

If you really don’t want to draw your own window decorations then window clings might be a good way to go, you can keep them in an envelope from one year to the next and they take up SO little space.

Paper snowflakes

Remember making paper snowflakes when you were little? I loved them and so did our kids when they were little. All you need is a pile of scrap paper, scissors and an afternoon.

Stick your paper snowflakes to the windows, hang them as garlands, the more the merrier. Use a paper tape to join several pieces of scrap paper together to make giant snowflakes, cut teeny tiny mini snowflakes from the scraps.

When Christmas is over you can put them into your paper recycling guilt free.

I’m sure you know how to make paper snowflakes but just in case you don’t In My Own Style has a handy tutorial

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An Heirloom Decoration

If you really are stuck for any storage space for Christmas decorating then maybe consider having just one really special decoration that you LOVE and leaving it at that.

A really gorgeous table decoration for example that you adore and that means a lot to you might be all you need to bring some festive cheer into your space.

When I was growing up my mum had one of these that she absolutely loved and it packed away into a tiny box when it wasn’t in use.

Multi Purpose Decorations

Consider items that can multitask. Something like the house planter that I decorated last year.

For 11 months of the year the Christmassy side of this planter faces the window so no one can really see it, then come December 1st I swivel it round so the seasonal side is on display. Read all the details of how I decorated it here: Christmas House Planter

Brooke at Re-Fabbed created a cute reversible sign for fall and Christmas.

We also have a table runner that is Christmassy on one side and Spring/Easter on the other. I’ve never written a tutorial for it but it is on my to do list for next year.

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Cushion or Pillow Covers

Christmassy Cushion or Pillow covers can really bring a festive vibe to your sofa or chair and if you choose a cover that is printed fabric and flat with no lumpy embellishments you can simply leave it in place and cover it with another all year round cover from January to November. No one will ever know it’s there.

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Hopefully some of these ideas will help you if you want to bring a little festive cheer but just don’t have masses of storage.

If you have a great idea to add to the list do leave it in a comment.

Julie

You might enjoy some of my other creative Christmas ideas