Episode 285 – How to set up storage spaces for success

If you have a garage, shed, loft, attic or basement it can feel like the perfect place to store those things that you don’t want to see in the body of your home. Out of sight out of mind is a very real thing and we need to treat these areas the same as we would the rest of our home. In this podcast we’re going to talk about how to set up your storage spaces for success.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
00:00
If you have a garage, shed loft, attic or basement, it can feel like the perfect place to store those things that you don't want to see in the body of your home. Out of sight out of mind, it's very real thing. And we need to treat these areas the same as we would the rest of our home. In today's podcast, we're going to talk about how to set up your storage spaces for success.

00:35
You're listening to the Declutter Hub podcast, bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts, Ingrid Jansen, and Lesley Spellman.

00:58
Hello, and welcome, listeners. I'm Ingrid. And I'm Lesley. If you're new to the declutter hub podcast, you're so welcome. What you'll find is that we try and find a fun factor in the serious business of decluttering. And if you've been here for a while, you know exactly what we mean. So thank you so much for listening. If

01:18
you'd like to get involved in conversations relating to this podcast, it all takes place in our Facebook group. So come and join our lovely, warm, supportive community. To find the Facebook group go to declutter hub.com, forward slash group to find out more, or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Well,

01:37
Lesley, I think we need to start first, what do people store in all of these storage areas? Because we find a wide range of items don't weigh. Yeah,

01:50
definitely, you know, from your kind of old furniture, you know, it might be stuff waiting for upcycling, or it might be stuff that you've gone a while take that out. You know, a lot of people have got furniture that they don't use in the house, and they actually think that it's going to be useful storage, you know, like a chest of drawers is going to be useful storage and a garish sometimes it is but it rarely is we've got all the seasonal decorations, depending on where you live in the world. You know, depending on the humidity, the damp, the heat, the cold, the dustr, all of those things is going to determine what kinds of things you store. But seasonal decorations are there quite often people store memorabilia, sentimental stuff, we've got suitcases, of course, suitcases sometimes full of stuff, sometimes empty and waiting to go on holiday sometimes never used for 20 years. And there. We've got camping gear, skiing gear, snow gear, hand me downs, baby equipment, anymore. old

02:45
toys, or toys that we think we want to pass on to other people. Oh my gosh, literally paintings, lamps, wallpaper have used tiles for a project that never got finished. You name it, everything is in there. Now

03:02
one thing that definitely is in the appliance boxes. Just try as we might say, on a personal mission, kind of encouraged people to actually not keep appliance boxes any longer than you need to? And really, do you need to keep them at all like, I don't ever keep an appliance box at all. I think there's something like a six week window where you might need an appliance box, but you know what they're gonna do if you say, Well, I actually got rid of the box and it's faulty. So give me my money back. You know me you don't? Well, anyway, let's not go on a kind of tangent about appliance boxes. But basically, these things don't fit in our, in our homes, typically, right? And so we try and put them in these what we like to call book storage areas. And it can be a garage, it can be a shed, and I feel like sheds are not really a thing elsewhere in the world like a British thing, I think right? Shed Yeah, a loft, which for us is an attic, which is above the house. You know, elsewhere in the world. There's a lot more basements than we have. But we have basements here as well, just to me, and then there's outbuildings and from farms and like this loads of places. But basically, if you don't fit in your house you like you know what, I'm just gonna put it there. And then it does become this kind of out of sight out of my mentality. But I think the key to getting these things under control because they are amazing spaces is treating them in the same way you do the rest of your house. I

04:22
know Lesley, you were talking about all of this, and my mind wandered a little bit, because I'm like, yeah, and then what happens if actually people's attics and basements a lot of fall. They hire another storage unit somewhere else to put their stuff in we let's not forget all about those. Yes, there

04:38
are reasons of course, why you might need a storage unit. But it's a temporary thing, right? So it can be there if you've suddenly inherited somebody else's house and you need to sort through it but you need to be in the process of sorting. It might be that you move in house or you renovating your property and you need to take all that stuff out of your house temporarily. But don't ever have a storage unit as an overflow from your house unless it's is a very, very good reason. They're costly. They're a nightmare. They stay there, we've seen so many people have wasted 1000s and 1000s of dollars on these storage units for no good reason, invest the time in sorting out yourself, or even getting a professional organizer to help you is more cost effective than using a storage unit. But then now we're going on a rant about storage units. And that's not what we're talking about Ingrid's so

05:23
I know, I know. But you know, the thing is, we have all these storage areas full of stuff, because we just don't want to make the decision. And we don't want to let it go. And we think it might come in one day at some when the stars align, and the sun shines and rainbows are out. And you know what I mean? And we just think, well, let me just put it there temporarily. And in your head, it is temporarily. And then before you know it, 12 years later, it's still there. And because we just can't go, I'm going to let that go. It's no good for me anymore in my current life, and where I'm currently at, and we just kind of move it, it kind of gets moved from the body of the house to I don't want to make a decision, let me just put it in my storage area. You

06:10
know, in some ways, these areas, when you actually set about decluttering them are a lot easier than the rest of the thing because you've almost made a decision already, you've decided that it wasn't suitable for your body of your home. And so I mean, obviously Christmas decorations and stuff, things like that are different, but a lot of the things, you know, kind of the lamps, the furniture, the you know, all those kinds of things like it is absolutely a delayed decision. And actually, when you go I'm going to declutter, is that up for debate, you look at it and go in there six years, I've decided six years ago that I wasn't going to make a decision who decided not to make a decision. And now I'm going to decide to make a decision. And out it goes. And so actually these things can be quite straightforward. I think the other kind of stuff that we find all the time in lofts and basements England is like, we're kind of holding on to things from the past for nostalgic reasons, sentimental reasons, which is like Fair enough. And we need to make sure that stuff is quality rather than quantity. And then we also hold on to things for the future. So we're clinging on to things, you know, furniture, electrical appliances, you know, sentimental stuff for our kids, we're holding on to it for our children for later in life toys, even for grandchildren, all of those things. We're like, oh, well, I'm not quite ready to let go of those things. So I'm going to keep hold of them. So what we find ourselves is, is that in these laughs, they're from a life in the past, or in the future, and there's nothing that's used utilized here in the present. Right. So that's another thing that holds us back.

07:39
Absolutely. And I think, you know, what, if it is just the thing is literally, if it would just be one or two boxes, it's not a problem, right? But we see things absolutely chock a block. And it gets an absolute nightmare to get to the stuff you actually need. So for me, my seasonal decorations are in my love, but they're handy. They're in boxes, they're labeled, I can reach them. So it then because become an absolute chore, but we come in lofts and basements and garages and you think it's gonna take at least half a day just to reach this stuff. And then you even though you might know you've got a day that you don't want to use it because it's such a chore to even get it

08:24
out. And I think the problem is sometimes with these storage areas, because they're complex, typically, a lot of them are quite big. It allows us to be lazy with it with our decision making, right? And if you think about your lofting grid that you bought it out, like what a couple years ago in lockdown things like that kind of project right? A few years ago, you've got a massive waft you put stuff up there till two days come home quickly, if you wanted to, you haven't, you've got like 1015 boxes up there. And very useful things you got it boarded out, it's a beautiful space. And it's the perfect place for you to put those things that don't belong in the body of your home that you can use on an occasional basis. But the problem is it expands and expands until it becomes completely unmanageable. And as I say, we become kind of, oh, well, it's not really doing any harm. Let's just leave it there. And then it starts to grow, it starts to build and it becomes completely unmanageable. And that's what we need to watch.

09:19
Yeah, definitely. And I think as well we then look at that, at that, at those areas with complete overwhelm. We feel like how we're going to do this, we might have waited too long for us to kind of get to those areas easily ourselves so that we need to get other people involved and then we feel guilty for having stacked up all this stuff for years and years and years. And and so because these are not kind of Oh yeah, let me just go in 10 minutes and get out, get a box down. This normally requires quite a big effort, doesn't it?

09:54
It was absolutely absolutely. It is not it's not easy as it did clutch of that involves a lot logistically, emotionally, you know, practically you need help offer, there's up and down ladders, there's the cold, the dam, the where all those kinds of things come into play, really. So it's not a nice thing, and not a nice place to declutter to be fair, but very satisfying when you've done it. And I think if the words, just in case ever come into your mind, at any point, when you're on a decluttering journey, that's your kind of note to sell to go. Let me really think about this. If ever, you're keeping things just in case, they might come in handy. Those kinds of things. Really evaluate why a make a decision, what is the likelihood of that just in case scenario happening? You've really got to, you know, drill down on realism, and make sure that you're making the right decisions for your life here and now or not for the future.

10:50
Yeah, absolutely. Now, Lesley, another big category of items we find in the storage areas are sentimental items, sometimes from ourselves, sometimes from our children, lots of times from parents or grandparents or aunts, and uncles who have passed away, and we had to empty their house. And it all had to be done quick, quick, quick, and we kind of threw stuff in a box and thought, at some point, we're going to sort this out ourselves and see, hard category to do.

11:24
It's a very hard category to do. But it's an important category to do. If you feel overwhelmed with the sentimental stuff. I mean, you know, comes to truly be sentimental. If it's stuck in a loft or basement, I think it you know, I think you can go you can find these treasures in a loft sometimes and feel nostalgic. But isn't it nicer to actually incorporate those things in your day to day life on pictures, or little box frames or little photograph frames that you've put up or whatever those things might be, you can uncover them and see them and enjoy them on a more regular basis. So sentimental items, of course, those kinds of things are probably going to be in these kinds of storage areas, particularly if we've got a lot of them. But you've really got to take the time, you know, on a regular basis to go through these things. Would we go through sentimental items as part of a loft declutter, or basement or attic or garage or whatever it is? Yes, but towards the end. And so I would sort of siphon these things off into a separate category. And do them at the end of that of that declutter because they are a completely separate category of stuff like with, where the emotions are much more deep seated. So if you come across sentimental items, when you're in the throes of practical decluttering, leave those things to one side and come back to them later. It's so important, otherwise, you just get bogged down. Now once you start going through letters and cards, and medals and kids artwork, and all that kind of stuff, you want to give yourself the time to enjoy that. And when you're full blown into a lot declutter is not the time for that right and grid. Exactly,

12:58
exactly. You almost need to kind of get a books together and write down sentimental items for from a mum or my, my grandmother or my kid or whatever and go, right, I'm going to just when I see something that is sentimental, put it in the box. And I'm going to return to that. And now in the sorting phase of this loft, I need to organize it, I need to short it out, I need to declutter, and then later you can revisit some of these categories. Now talking about things that we find bags full of clothes, Lesley, and it often is clothes that we have been given by another person because for example, that children have outgrown it, they on a random meet up, give us this, this bin bag full of clothes and go, Oh, we thought this might be handy for your kids. You're gonna go Oh, yeah, thanks, thanks. And then it kind of ends up on a loft. Or if you've got multiple children, you might think to yourself, oh, well, this was very good for child number one, this could go to child number two, but there's an age gap normally between gains away, as well as drill unless they're twins. And then you kind of put them somewhere else thinking I'm gonna look at that later. So it's a hand me down category of stuff. Yeah,

14:19
so there's like hand me downs in there. And there's also our own clothes, which were kind of humming down to ourselves, maybe in a few years, just in case you don't I mean, we've got those kinds of things as well. Things in suitcases things. You know, of course, some people have got clothes on rotation, which is fine, as long as you've got a system to back that up. So there's no problem. Keeping things in a loft or a basement that you're going to rotate in a summer or winter season if that's what you have where you live, not a problem, but you need to be doing that you can't just put it up there and then forget about it, which is what we see in cluttered homes, we see that these bags of stuff are there three or four years and you forget that you got them and you went and got new stuff and you prefer that and all that. So these things are up for debate. A close up for debate because it's never, you know, these areas are never great, you know, they're kind of damp, wet, cold, dusty, you know, aren't

15:09
normally lights. They're tricky. So, okay, so we now have identified what kind of stuff is in those storage areas, what kind of emotions are involved, uh, let's take a break. And then after the break, we're going to talk you through, but how we're going to do this. So welcome back to this podcast, where we talking about storage space, and how to set them up for success. So we've identified the kinds of things we find in the storage areas, we've identified why they end up in these areas. So let's not talk about okay, how if you're gonna do this project, how can you do that?

15:48
Well, first things first, there's what we spoke about before the break is about having less. And that's the key to any decluttering. And organizing project is First, identify exactly what you need to keep. And then once you've decided, once you've gone through all some of those decisions, some of those thought processes that we talked about, you can declutter some stuff, hopefully a lot of stuff, as I say, you know, these kinds of areas, because a lot of stuff that can go quite often because it's just been there, it's been out of sight, out of mind. So once you've done that, and you've you, you're left with the stuff that you want to keep, then you need to start organizing it into a system that's going to make it really, really visible and accessible. So, so important. And this is where you need to have the right storage in the right places, it needs to be zoned. It needs to be mapped out. Ingrid, let's talk about boxes and crates and how that all works. Yes.

16:41
So ideally, you want to have crates, with lids or storage containers with lids. And also, ideally, they would stack. And I'm not saying that you need to stack six gigantic boxes on top of each other. But if even just one or two can stack on top of each other, then that would be really helpful. And that's where the lids come in as well, especially since last he said normally these areas where we're working are dusty, are cold or damp. So you want to have proper storage containers. This is not the area where you want to quibble and get really cheap storage solutions, you want to spend a little bit more money, and I'm not talking about 10s and 10s of pounds or dollars, but you want to get a good quality box that really can last you for a while because if you go cheap, it will break it will the lids will not fit properly, it will not close properly, and you're just making stuff worse for yourself. So I think that's the beginning.

17:43
Yeah, and you know, we've talked a lot about a cold and damp and wet, there's also hot as well. And you know, I mean, obviously, depending on where you are in the world, or even in the UK, when it's hot. If it's at the top of a house, it's absolutely roasting. And those kinds of boxes really take a little bit of a battering. So yeah, really think about the box, it's important to invest wisely in something that's going to be around for 2030 years really, really important. Also think about what you need to do with those boxes, are there things that need to be carried in and out seasonal decorations, for example, we're going to need to move those do we want it to be something that has to be to people to actually move those boxes, or do we want to be able to move it ourselves. So don't go too big if you have to kind of maneuver those boxes on your own. Also think about things like this is more UK based loft hatches. And so in the UK, we have, we have like ladders that go up to loft spaces. And we have to be able to get those boxes up and down through those loft spaces, if we want to the last thing we want to do is to start taking the stuff out of the boxes to pass it down the loft ladder. And so really think about the size of those boxes, don't overdo it, make sure that those boxes are fit for purpose. And in a loft where it is typically awkward. Little bit dark, not as easy to see as other places, make sure you use those labels and put those labels everywhere put them on the front of the box, the top of the box side of the box, the other side of the box, the back of the box will never, you know put these labels in multiple places, because the boxes get moved around. And just because that label is on the front. Now if you move, it might not be on the front, it might need to be on the side. And so it gives you that flexibility. So the labels are everything when it comes to boxes, the middle of a label, right? Something a bit bigger in a lot as well. Like often the label maker labels are not quite big enough, you need something quite big and bold. So this is sometimes where other types of even just stickers and Sharpies work quite well don't they?

19:36
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, don't don't get too perfectionistic about this because it can really hold you up in your process. I think the main thing is that you can see it that you can see where everything is and that you can identify what's in a box. So really label accordingly. Maybe if you have, I don't know, eight Christmas decoration boxes, maybe you want to go through It smells and then these are the lights, and this is Christmas. But these are the bubbles. And this is Christmas. And this is the tree, or whatever it is, you know what I mean? So you can kind of go, Ah, it gives you a little bit more than just Oh, eight books for Christmas, but I still don't know anything. And I still need to find one or two bits, or I need to find the advent calendar or whatever. And now I'm not gonna have to rummage through a different boxes to find where it is. So think about that a little bit and spend a little bit more just a little bit more time on that. And that will really help you your future self. Yes,

20:33
exactly. And so once we've decided on our box, and we put the right things in the right boxes, it's all lovely, we need to make sure it's not a jumbled up mess. And so we need to make sure that it makes sense, it's so important for your storage areas to make sense to other people. We don't want to be the only people that are responsible for those, you know, the kind of like, where's there, wherever you go up and along, were in the last, you know, it needs to be clear to everybody who is using that, where these things are. And that's what you're going to do with zoning and mapping. So, so important. So what do we mean by zoning and grid, it's

21:07
basically that you put a different category of items in a different part of the loft. So you put your suitcases together, you put your Christmas decorations together, you put your sports equipment together, but if you are a sporty family, you might go actually, this is camping, and this is skiing, and this is hiking and this is whatever it is, you know, so divide it up a little bit, you can have a category and you can even create some subcategories. I for example have several seasonal decorations. So I've got a box for Halloween and one for Easter and one for Dutch holiday that we celebrate and Christmas. So I'm

21:50
gonna say the name of Ingrid, you're allowed to say the name the Dutch holiday these like this kind of hidden kind of celebration that we're not allowed to live the name of why is English its

22:00
center class of December. And I've also got like a one dressing up box with like funny hats and things you know, because sometimes you need that and when you get like a luau party or something I'm not gonna box with like a luau like an hour wine party. Okay,

22:18
yeah, sorry. Sorry. Yeah. Just to have those parties. I do what you just, you just get you let the cold lays the A's or something. Right. So you didn't get those out and dumps around the living room like, you and yarn and the kids? Not at all,

22:36
but I need a party that's

22:40
labeled. Yes. Blue watch. What did you say was cool. I

22:44
know, it's just like dressing up. Like,

22:47
you know, it's not got its own category, like, you

22:51
know, like What books would like, you know, I don't know, Pirate pirate. Random things. But then I've got like, I've got a section with memory boxes as well, because I've got my loftiest, thank goodness is quite good. And it's there's no damp and everything's good light. It's a bit cold and a bit hot. But I've got some memory boxes there as well. So I've yeah, I've really thought about it. I've not just randomly gone right, okay, my boxes are full. Let's just chuck them all back up there and we'll see what happens I've kind of gone okay, I want to kind of group items like with like, and of course, the things that I use more often are closest to my loft hatch, or if it's in a basement, it will be close to the door. You don't want to go actually this is the stuff that I do use two or three or four times per year. And I have to crawl all the way through to the end of my storage area and try and find it and hope for the best. Yeah,

23:48
exactly. I mean, I've got mine's a bit awkward, right so I've not got any of those kind of areas. So I've got a cupboard in my because I basically used all of those spaces I have a loft space I made that into a laundry room but I do have a cupboard that I use for suitcases so I've got a cupboard that's kind of just off my laundry and for suitcases, I've got a room downstairs that I keep it's more of a kind of utility space where I've got like batteries and bulbs and wrapping paper and all that stuff. But then downstairs in the kind of bulk storage which would be a garage I let I am a little bit tight on space because my husband loves decorating fireworks and what else is he got down there like barbecues that you know like outdoor like living type thing so we kids buy stuff and I'm like we've literally no space to keep it we've got this this kind of ideal space for Christmas decorations but you know Halloween and Christmas are like huge here and so I'm really got to we have to think about it carefully and rotate as we're putting the Christmas decks away and make sure that they go to the back if Halloween is coming first or not. Well, it obviously is first and next and stuff so we have to think about it. So ours is not it's not ideal, but it's okay. Okay, you

24:57
work with the space that you have You just have to be smart about it. You know, if you have hardly any storage spaces, then you can't keep all you know, you can't have all this stuff because it's got nowhere to go. And his suitcase might have to live on top of your wardrobe. Because there's just no other way you have to work with what you have. And I mean, I would have loved to have made my loft into a room, but we couldn't because our room, our loft actually wasn't high enough to be able to grade into a room if you know what I mean. Yeah, roof wasn't high enough. So but we didn't said okay, well, let's make the best loft space that we get boarded out, put good lighting, put a floor in good good boxes, good labels make the most out of space that way.

25:43
Yeah. So zoning is really, really important. If you can, I mean, sometimes you've got limited space, and everything kind of needs to go together, but make it logical, you know, put the, you know, decorations, different types, decorations next to each other and things like that. So and then I think, you know, just following on from this idea that it shouldn't just be you if I mean, if it's just you in the house, then it is you, you when you manage that, but if there's other people in your home in your household, you want them to be able to get involved and put things away. And so make sure that you create a list, if you've got like a decent size space, do a little map, do a little diagram of where things are so that people can look at it. And then you can say, look at the diagram. Because they just other people, particularly kids old find any excuse not to put things away, you know, you rope them into these things. So it's easy for kids to go up and down wallflower, isn't it? It's probably for you. And you know, it's just be nice for them to actually be able to do something and get we need to give them a fighting chance to be able to help us right. Yeah.

26:46
I know. Yes, modeling

26:48
is definitely something that can do that. So good boxes, zoning into the right categories, and your categories will be very, very different to everybody else's. So it needs to be something that's bespoke to you. And then do a little diagram or a map and put it somewhere prominent near the door of the basement or the garage or whatever, you can do it. Yeah.

27:09
Well, I would love to know what kind of storage areas people have around the world. So please, let us know. Send us a comment maybe on our YouTube channel or leave a comment. If you're listening on our declutter help.com website, you can leave a comment as well. We would love to know what kind of storage area have you got. And if you're feeling brave, maybe even want to share your pictures in our Facebook group. I mean, that would be awesome as well to see some pictures there of people storage areas is if you've got it neatly labeled and organized or you think yourself. This podcast has made me think I think I need to put this on my list of things to do.

27:47
Absolutely. Well,

27:50
thank you so much for listening. We hope you've enjoyed this podcast. I look forward to seeing you next week.

28:00
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hop podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode. And we'll see you next week.
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