I keep mine in a clear front 3 drawer plastic cabinet in the basement.
The top one holds tealights sorted by color and stored in ziplock bags , also tapers. The middle one holds pillars and the bottom one holds the ones that came in little glass jars.
Your melting in the garage fear is warranted. I didn't pay attention a few years ago and made that mistake with some that were in the Christmas decor and lets just say by the time the season came back around , they didn't look much like candles anymore. lol

Candle storage is a problem for me as I have quite a few that I don't burn (decorative only) or the wax hurricane type that lasts forever. I also can never resist when I find good quality tapers on sale and will buy multiples then. Officially I store most in boxes in the cold room altho whenever I want a particular one it's a problem finding exactly what I want so I definitely need a better system. I'm convinced DH has 'hidden' a box from me as there are missing votives. He claims not but it's likely in the back of a closet or on the top shelf of the cold room where I can't reach. I have started putting some tapers in the drawer of the sideboard in our greatroom so they are easily accessible. I don't think they will ever get too warm there altho I may have to move them before summer as the house could get too warm then if we are away.

I keep tealights in an enamel pot and some in another lidded pot which are handy to the kitchen and greatroom. They are what I burn mostly. I like using various containers such as bean pots or ceramic or pottery containers to store things. Hidden but handy.

OA, I use the clear plastic tubs that salad greens come in. I use some for votives, some for tealights and some for tapers. These all go in the drawers of an old dresser in the basement. I also put pillars in the drawers on their sides. If they might touch and get "spots" on lighter coloured ones, I put paper towel around them.

DD

OA,
I keep putting most of mine in my drawers in my utility room. The larger ones are sitting on a shelf in the bottom cupboard. I have added alot since my first tablescape and will try to take some pictures this week end. They are easy to see what colors I have.

I keep the different colors separated by keeping some of the new ones in their see through plastic boxes they come in. I can understand what others are going through who have tablescaped for years. My tea lights are stored in their original boxes they came in.

I never take mine out of the home anymore. I use to haul them to the big shed and they would always melt in the summer.

Punk

I do a couple things...I have 2 of those decorated boxes that you stack & I have them set under the buffet..I put votives & small candles in sandwich bags in the boxes. (sometimes they do get scratched up abit). Tapers I keep in narrow buffet drawer (with my crochet hooks/knitting needles)...pillars, jar candles & glass candle holders/plates, etc. I use 2 shelves in the linen closet which is on hallway side of DR...that works good for me.

I've found if I tuck them away in closets, that I never remember what I've put where...this way I have easy access all in the same room (well, not ALWAYS easy...sometimes must take several out of linen closet to get to the back! LOL!) Jeanne S.

Mine are also in boxes in the basement, except the tapers are in a drawer in my diningroom hutch which is now FULL, so that creates a problem!

Not really organized, have to dig thru & nick them up moving them around.

Basement boxed ones are not very organized either, that is something I've been wanting to remedy for a while!

I learned the hard way years ago that the colors will bleed. :( For storage, I now wrap my tapers individually in tissue paper or newspaper, and store them on their side in the linen pantry.

I also have 'emergency' taper candles hung in my handwoven candle basket, of course. :) And hand-dipped candles that are still attached in pairs by the wick are hung on a small peg shelf.

Currently, mine are mostly in the top drawer of an antique dresser in our guest room. The drawer has some wooden dividers, so the pillar candles and some chunky ones fit in the back area and the votives fit in the three front sections. The pillars have certainly multiplied now that I found this place and am decorating for more holidays! I've been thinking that I may need to find another place for the "chunky" candles. From experience--and not the good kind--the garage or outside storage shed are NOT good places for candle storage here in sunny California. Had some Christmas candles that were left with the centerpiece when stored and to say they were "deformed" by the next Christmas is putting it mildly! LOL

Luvs

I have a huge wooden cabinet in my sewing room...in it's former life it was a card catalog in a library. It has lots of shallow drawers. The top half is full of music, the bottom half is full of candles sorted by color. One of my summer(when it's too hot to be outside) projects is to sort everything, dump the candles I don't use and file some of the music in a regular filing cabinet at the church. That will calm the overcrowding issues :^)