The short answer
A garage is fine for a fully artificial wreath in a sealed container, ideally hanging rather than shelved. It is the wrong place for anything carrying real pine cones, berries or raffia, because those are food. Dry an exterior wreath indoors for a day before it goes into a sealed container.
What a garage actually does
Garage conditions and what each affects| Condition | Affects | Mitigation |
|---|
| Humidity and condensation | Wire frames, natural elements, cardboard | Sealed container, off the floor |
| Temperature swing | Glued joints, old paint, adhesives | Little; prefer conditioned space for delicate items |
| Pests | Natural materials only | Remove organics, or store indoors |
| Dust and vehicle residue | Everything | Any closed container |
| Things being stacked | Wreaths especially | Hang, do not shelve |
Artificial foliage is genuinely fine out there
Polyester and PVC foliage on a wire frame is unbothered by a cold garage. It does not mind the temperature range, it does not attract anything, and dust is handled by any closed container.
So for the majority of modern wreaths, a garage is not a compromise. The published waterproof shells on the wreath containers in our ranking exist for this situation, and they handle it.
Natural elements are the whole exception
A wreath with real pine cones, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, berries, raffia or seed heads is a different object. Those materials are food and nesting material, and an unconditioned garage is exactly where something will find them.
Two honest options. Remove the organic elements before storage — most are wired on and come off in a few minutes — and store the base wreath in the garage. Or store the whole wreath inside the conditioned part of the house, which is the better answer if the natural elements are the reason you like the wreath.
What does not work is a sealed container in a garage as protection against pests. A determined rodent goes through a fabric container, and it now has a warm dry nest inside it.
Dry it first
A wreath that has hung on an exterior door through a winter carries moisture: in the frame wire, in the foliage, in any absorbent decoration. Sealing that into a waterproof container in January is how you find mildew in November.
Bring it inside, hang it somewhere with air movement for a day, then pack it. Nothing else in the whole process costs so little and prevents so much. The same rule applies to inflatables, and for the same reason — see inflatable and outdoor decoration storage.
Hang it, off the floor
A garage floor is the worst surface in the house for storage: it is where moisture collects, where things get stacked, and where a car drips. A wreath on a hook on the wall avoids all three at once and uses space that had no purpose.
If hooks are not an option, get it onto a shelf and put nothing above it. A rigid container helps here in a way it does not when hanging — the Elf Stor shell with 10 inches of published depth takes a stacking accident that a fabric bag would not. For general garage storage decisions, see attic versus garage versus basement.