9 Secrets Pro Organizers Always Use to Store Halloween Decor

Halloween is an amazing time of year. You get to come up with the perfect design for your pumpkin, spooky-fy your front door, and watch Hocus Pocus, of course. And Halloween everything, including decorations, is more popular than it’s ever been. In fact, the nonprofit organization Consolidated Credit shared some Halloween spending statistics last year, and found that in 2023 Americans were expected to spend around $12.2 billion on Halloween, which is a huge increase from the $8 billion that they spent in 2020.

So, because you likely have a lot more Halloween decor these days, both for inside and outside, you may be finding that storing everything has become a post-Halloween nightmare. From November to September, how are you supposed to go about stashing your spooky stuff — and prevent it from any damages? 

I asked three professional organizers to spill their secrets to mastering Halloween decoration storage.

Label everything.

When it comes to organizing your Halloween decorations (or, really, any holiday decorations at all), it’s key to label, label, label. As Jane Stoller, keynote speaker, author and founder of Organized Jane, recommends, “Organize and store your Halloween decorations in storage boxes according to their category, and then label the boxes, preferably with a label maker. This will save you so much time in the future.”

Prioritize visibility.

Johnson says that using clear or translucent totes gives you a “visual library” of your stored items, and it’s important to still label those totes as well. “When visibility is coupled with like items categorized and stored together, it’s an organization power punch!” shares Shannon Johnson, owner and professional organizer at Situate Your Space.

Turn to vacuum bags.

“I recommend storing soft decorations in vacuum bags,” says Sarit Weiss, founder of Neat & Orderly. “Vacuum bags mitigate the amount of space occupied by air instead of more of your items.”

Get modular.

Although you often hear the word “modular” as it pertains to modular furniture, it also can apply to your organizational system for your Halloween decorations. Johnson says that large totes not only preserve your decor while keeping similar items together, but they also help create a modular, or piece-by-piece, solution for all those odd and bulky items instead of just trying to shove them into random corners. “That’s space saved while adding visual comfort,” she says.

Maximize wall space.

Because most Halloween decor is stored in garages and basements, Johnson advises going vertical with your storage. She says that this can be accomplished by utilizing all your available walls. “By freeing up a single wall by adding shelves and wall hooks, it creates an instant expansion to your storage capacity,” she says.

Bubble wrap is a must.

Yes, it may seem like a no-brainer to use bubble wrap to protect your delicate Halloween pieces, but if you’re short on time, you may think it’s OK to simply pack them into a tote and hope. Well, this isn’t the best method — especially when you want everything to be in one piece next year. “Small, delicate items should be wrapped in bubble wrap and then placed in sturdy bins with a lid to ensure they are kept safe,” Weiss says.

Mind the cords.

Cords and seasonal decorations go hand-in-hand, and they can be a real pain to tuck away when you’re storing them after Halloween. But remember that storing those cords properly can save your future self from untangling them next year. For this, Weiss suggests wrapping the cords neatly and closing each cord bundle with a cable tie or cord wrap. She says that while there are plenty of these types of options on Amazon or at The Container Store, she says you can also get creative. “Use rubber bands or hair ties!” Weiss says.

Consider micro-organizing solutions.

In her work, Johnson utilizes what she calls “micro-organization solutions.” This means that organizing should be used to address even your teeniest, tiniest seasonal items. Johnson’s easy-peasy micro-organizing fix? Zip-top bags. “Storage bags can separate smaller items and even lights to prevent tangles,” she says. “After creating subcategories with storage bags, then store them in broader categorized totes.”

Know how to store extra-large items.

Extra-large Halloween items (looking at you, giant skeleton!) require a whole other level of organization when compared to your reasonably sized decorations. And all three of our experts have different ways of going about it.

Weiss recommends covering these supersized decorations in contractor bags and labeling each bag using a piece of colored duct tape. If the decoration is extra-delicate, you can add bonus cushioning by wrapping it in a large blanket or two before covering it in the contractor bag.

Stoller says that some oversized decor can be disassembled into its smaller parts. Once you do that, she says that you can store these little pieces in stackable storage boxes, which can be put together so you don’t lose track of any pieces. “If they cannot be disassembled, the best thing would be to store them in your garage or back porch so that you can still easily access them, but we have to make sure that they are covered with waterproof covers so that they can still be preserved and be used,” she says. 

Johnson agrees that storing oversized decorations can be quite tricky, and depends on the space capacity you have. For this, she says that you can dedicate a wall to storing large items securely, utilizing vertical space for tall figures, and using wall hooks to hang up large wreaths and other hanging items.

Further Reading

I Tried the 90/90 Rule and My Closet Is Now Fully Decluttered

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture

See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room