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Is your basement a stockpile of junk? Does it involve what amounts to a treasure hunt just to sift through the clutter to find what you need? Set aside a weekend to take the adventure out of finding items in your basement and to make this area of your home more manageable. Here are the basic steps:
- Make a list of the types of items (categories) you have in storage. Examples: batteries, light bulbs, arts & crafts supplies, pet supplies, or holiday decorations.
- Sort what you have, tossing what you really don’t need to keep. (If you haven’t figured it out by now, getting rid of excess is always the first step to getting organized.)
- Group items by category to see how much storage is needed for each category.
- Buy appropriately sized plastic tubs with lids. At least one for each category in #1. You will get an idea of how many to purchase based on the quantity for each of your categories.
- Place categorized items in the plastic bins. You can have more than one category in a tub, if you label what is in there.
- Label each tub with its contents on the long and short side.
- Optional: Buy and assemble steel shelving for your basement. Or buy resin shelves that are super easy to assemble. My sister loves using the Origami shelves for her storage needs. She has them in her garage and basement. If you put wheels that come with it on, now the entire shelving unit can easily be moved, holds 100-200 pounds per shelf with no wheels/75 pounds per shelf with wheels, and folds up and down within seconds.
- Put the tubs on the shelving or stack them if not using shelving.
Voila!
Why not use boxes? You could, but if you have a damp basement, the contents can get moldy, or the box can deteriorate. Boxes in the attic are probably OK unless that is also a damp space.
Spending the extra money to buy plastic bins will save you in the long run if you truly care about what you are storing.
Photo: Pixabay