Well, it's officially the most wonderful time of the year and your wrapping paper is about to come out of that bin that's been tucked away from the light of day for nearly a year! I'm sure there were plenty of moments during birthdays and anniversaries where you thought about digging it up, but decided to simply buy a bag or even avoid wrapping altogether! My hope is that this guide to storing your wrapping paper will not only give you easier access to your items and downgrade your clutter in storage, but also save you money due to convenience and as always create a functional, yet beautiful space for another part of your home.
Create a Space Specifically For Wrapping Items
Preferably a completely vertical space between 2-3 feet or horizontal space between 4-5 feet. Wall storage or adjustable tall shelf/drawer space would be best for this. Why? Because wrapping paper tubes come in so many lengths and are typically pretty tall! It just makes more sense to store them in a space that can accommodate a tube of longer than average paper - should a gift need it. But what is a "good" place to allocate a section like this in?
Here are some ideas:
Basement
Garage
Craft Room
Closet
Office
Laundry Room
Under your Bed
The Back of a Door (yes, really!)
Ultimately, this isn't something you'll need access to every day, so I'd avoid making space in a well-lived-in room where it could become an eyesore year-round!
For The Rolls Unused
When you think wrapping, you think those long tubes that would hypothetically take up an obscene amount of space if displayed where you can see all of them horizontally. For condensing purposes, It makes more sense to stand them up for an easy grab-and-go system so you can wrap gifts anywhere (or even use the wrapping paper for decorating!).
Here are some of my go-to pieces for storing wrapping paper tubes vertically:
Here are some of my go-to bins for storing wrapping paper tubes horizontally:
Could you also hang them up horizontally on the wall if your collection remains less extensive year after year? Absolutely! Some curtain rods or long drawers would be perfect for something like that if you had the wall space and almost always wrapped in this specific place. But for me as a mom, flexibility is SO necessary! The grab-and-go system provides just that and is so much more convenient and can hold however many tubes I've collected that year. So by placing or hanging a bin on a wall or using a plastic bin in a cabinet and loading that thing up, you have just created an ENTIRE system that is easy access, easier to use, and not bad to look at in just a couple minutes!
Bonus Tip: You can also get multiple bins of you want to go the extra mile and organize by event or color for an even simpler system!
For the Scraps and Tissue Paper
Of course you'll have leftovers! But are they trash? It depends... If you think you could wrap the lid of a bracelet or earring box, save it! You never know what small items you'll need to wrap in the years to come. Pro tip - look in there for gifts before going to the rolls.
Cleaning house? If you haven't used these scraps in 2 years, toss 'em in the recycling bin! You'll probably make more scraps with wrapping paper that fits your ever-evolving style more as you get new rolls anyway.
But HOW should you store them?! My answer is a paper tray. Labelled, of course.
Stackable paper tray linked here
For Bows, Ribbons, and More
The key: easy access and appropriately sized. In other words, keep small sections for anything and everything - scissors, thin ribbon, tag holders, tags, anything! Have an obscene amount of twine? Make a twine bin. A TON of silk bows? Make them a bin. quite a bit of leftovers from a specifically-themed holiday season? Make that a bin too.
To be completely honest, what works best for you heavily depends on the space you have available you have to work with. For me, my space is a closet, so I use small, (labelled) shallow baskets so I can easily find and throw things where they belong without thinking twice. Here are some of my favorite bins and baskets for almost any space!
Did I miss anything? Let me know how you organize your wrapping paper and wrapping essentials and follow me on Instagram @AZHouseofOrder to see how I implement these tips and organize other places in my clients and my own homes!