I can put up with clutter for only so long and I am now well beyond my tolerance level! Our basement is in complete disarray. I'm lucky we didn't need to use it over winter break because, as you can see, it is pretty much unusable.
Although I have been sorting through all of this stuff, I had no place to put it without getting rid of some of my own items, notably the BOXES and BOXES of Christmas decorations on the shelves in our basement storage area. Way too much real estate was devoted to decorations I do not use. So Bailey and I spent time over break sorting through and donating holiday decorations, freeing up space on the shelves for some of the stuff in the top photo.
I'm very fortunate to have a wall of sturdy shelving in our storage area, built by Spouse shortly after we moved into this house. But as you can see, the shelves aren't being used efficiently, and they are filled with a variety of things we truly do not need. So I have been going through the shelves one by one -- sorting and purging, then reorganizing to incorporate some of the "new" old items I brought home from my parents' house.
What the heck IS all of this stuff?
Although I have been sorting through all of this stuff, I had no place to put it without getting rid of some of my own items, notably the BOXES and BOXES of Christmas decorations on the shelves in our basement storage area. Way too much real estate was devoted to decorations I do not use. So Bailey and I spent time over break sorting through and donating holiday decorations, freeing up space on the shelves for some of the stuff in the top photo.
I'm very fortunate to have a wall of sturdy shelving in our storage area, built by Spouse shortly after we moved into this house. But as you can see, the shelves aren't being used efficiently, and they are filled with a variety of things we truly do not need. So I have been going through the shelves one by one -- sorting and purging, then reorganizing to incorporate some of the "new" old items I brought home from my parents' house.
What the heck IS all of this stuff?
As I go through the shelves, I'm moving things around so they're more convenient and labeling each container and box. It was a bit of a puzzle to fit all of the stuff onto the shelves according to my plan, so I decided I'd better label the shelves, too. This may not seem like a big deal, but in the past I have had to dig for items I could not find because they were never put back in the same place twice. For me, labels are a huge improvement.
In my experience, it's much easier to put stuff back when labels are in place. I started by looking at all the stuff that needed to be organized and grouping it into broad categories: bakeware, party supplies, holiday decorations, silver, etc. I made labels for each shelf which will enable me to find things AND put them back when I'm done.
Looking for the goblets? They're on this shelf.
Need a silver bowl? It's on this shelf.
It may not look great yet, but this is a big step in the right direction! I WILL conquer this clutter sooner than later!
jp
Awesome Janet! I need to do the same; my basement is packed, as my parents are purging a lot of stuff too... so I get most of it. I did dedicate one small room downstairs to JUST holiday decor; now it has everything for the various holidays packed in order of when it comes up during the year from Valentines to New Year's Eve... gone are the days when "Easter" stuff was in one part of the basement, "Halloween" in another and "Christmas" stuff in other parts. But I really need to purge as well...
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