Six simple hacks to stop tangled Christmas lights

Let’s be honest, there are quite a few stressful parts of ‘the most wonderful time of year’, but perhaps the most stressful part is dealing with the tangled Christmas lights. Well, before you ram the lights into a plastic bag and shove them in the back of the cupboard, spare a thought for future you – read these great ideas for storing lights and make next year a dream come true.

Reuse, recycle

You don’t have to spend a fortune finding innovative Christmas light storage ideas. Here are some easy solutions that would otherwise be heading straight to your recycling bin.

Use cardboard

This is probably the easiest way to store Christmas lights. Simply cut one side off a medium-sized box. Cut notches on opposite sides of the piece of cardboard at both ends. Secure the power point through one notch, then start winding the lights around the cardboard. Secure the other end through the notch at the opposite end of your cardboard.

Keep wrapping paper rolls

Chances are you’ve used a bit of wrapping paper this Christmas – instead of throwing out the empty rolls, keep them for storing your Christmas lights. Simply cut a notch in either end. If the tube is wide enough, push the plug down the middle, then take the cord through the notch and start wrapping the lights around the roll. (If the tube isn’t wide enough, just hold the plug on the outside and wrap the lights around it a couple of times to secure.) For smaller strands and more delicate fairy lights, use paper towel rolls.

Try a 4-cup takeaway coffee holder

Buy a few coffees these days and odds are you’ll be offered a takeaway holder. If you have a 4-cup coffee holder lying around, put it to good use with your Christmas lights. The plug end of the lights sits perfectly into a cup holder and you can pierce the prongs through the cardboard to hold it in place. Wrap the cord around the outside of the holder – going between the cup indents keeps the lights coiled neatly.

Upcycle household items

Don’t have any of the above objects around the house? No worries – here are some ideas to upcycling household items into clever light storage ideas.

Grab a coathanger

This one is as easy as it sounds. Wrap the lights around a coat hanger, weaving both ends back through the cord to secure them. Put the coat hanger in a storage tub with your other decorations until next year.

Wind them up

You decorated the exterior of the house and now you have kilometres of lights, right? A garden hose reel cart is an easy way to store them. Just wrap the lights around the drum and wind up. To avoid tangles when you’re unwinding the lights next year, make sure you have a lot of space to lie them out straight.

Pack like the professionals

The key to easy decorating next year is having good storage this year, and buying fit-for-purpose containers makes things super easy. This Christmas light storage box takes the basic cardboard idea from above and steps it up a notch. It has slots for four boards that each hold 500 lights. Shut the hinged lid and you can forget about the lights until next year.

What else do I need?

While you’re fixing your light storage problem, spare a thought for all your other decorations, too. Check out these solutions for the rest of your Christmas decorations that will help you to avoid breakage and keep everything safe until next year.