In many homes, basements and attics are simply treated as dumping grounds. I’ve recently worked with a client who had spent the last 35 years (since they moved into their current house in fact) stashing things (old memories inherited from their own parents, dolls houses and other wooden toys their children had used more than 20 years ago, old computer and music equipment…). As a result, seasonal items like Christmas decorations had to be stored in the guest room all year round as my client couldn’t face entering her attic. She told me she didn’t even know what was stacked there…
Attics and basements should be considered as rooms like any other ones in the home. If you’re lucky enough to have these extra rooms in your home, don’t neglect the potential space they offer; you can easily turn them into extra storage space. These rooms are perfect for items you want to keep but you use only infrequently.
Go for open shelving units or racks and try to use the most of available wall space, from floor to ceiling if possible. The best storage containers for attics and basements are basic transparent pull-out storage boxes. Lidded boxes are even better as these rooms often are dusty and temperatures can vary a lot in these areas. Moreover, using lidded boxes will allow you to stack them up. And last but not least, using similar types of containers will give a neat and symmetrical overview. Even these rooms can be pleasant to look at; in a home none of the space should be neglected, even on the decoration side! If the overview is neat and lovely it will encourage you to keep it like this more.
How to organise your things? After having cleared out what you want to keep and what you want to give away or discard, group like with like in a transparent box (sports gear, ski equipment, garden tools, bike accessories…) and clearly label each container using a sharpie.
As a bonus, you can actually see the contents of each container so anyone in the family can actually find what he/she is looking for, when he/she is looking for it!
If you want to see before & after pictures of an attic’s decluttering and organising job, please visit my website //www.ideaforyourspace.com/portfolio/attic-organisation.html
If you need more information drop me an email at [email protected]
