Spring Clean Up - Ideas for Home Organization & Storage Solutions

Welcome back and thank you for tuning in to the continuing saga of finding a place for everything and putting everything in its place. When last I left you, a discussion on home organization ideas and storage solutions was just beginning to unfold. In Spring Clean Up - Kill the Clutter, we covered ideas for ridding your home of unwanted clutter. Now let’s look at what you have left over (your keep pile) and cover some ideas on how to organize those items you’ve deemed as essential. And instead of just shoving everything to the back of a closet, under the stairs, or beneath the living room carpet, we’ll also look at some creative storage solutions.

Home Organization - Getting It Together

If you’re not organized, no amount of funky storage boxes will solve your home storage dilemmas. These are my 2 major rules for organizing items in and around the home:

1. Store Like With Like

Short and sweet and truly simple. To expand on this rule of home organization, what I mean is store all sports equipment together in one area, store all out of season clothes in one location, keep all garden tools together. See what I mean?

2. Store things as close as possible to where they will be used.

This is pretty self-explanatory too, but for the sake of clarity, I’ll elaborate. Sports equipment is most often used outside, so it’s only logical to store it in a location like a garage, shed or close to the back door where someone who is heading out the door can easily grab what he/she needs. Bed sheets, blankets and other linens are used mostly indoors and should be kept in a linen closet close to the bedrooms where these items are used. Isn’t this home organization thing easy?

Smart (and Safe) Storage Practices

Clear Storage Boxes

If you’d like to be able to quickly identify what items are stored in which storage container, clear or translucent storage bins are an excellent option.

Label Boxes

Out of sight, out of mind isn’t always the best storage route to take. If you choose not to use clear bins, it’s a good idea to label your storage containers. It will make it much easier to find things especially if you’re in a hurry. In the past I’ve tried using adhesive labels, but they don’t always stay stuck on certain types of plastic bins. A sharpie is quite effective, but why not have some fun with it!

Use the Right Container for the Job

Don’t take chances with your prized possessions by keeping them in inappropriate containers or in poor locations. A cardboard box sitting on a damp basement floor is not a good place to storing anything. If you must store items in the basement, choose storage boxes that are water tight and if at all possible, keep them up off the floor.

Clothing Storage - Using products specifically designed for the safe storage of clothes means that when you take your out-of-season clothes out of storage, they’ll still be in the same condition as when you put them in storage.

Cedar is a natural deodorizer and will also help to discourage pests and mildew. Slip some cedar blocks or cedar balls in with the items you’re storing to keep them fresh and fragrant.

Storing Photographs / Memorabilia - Even though we’re smack dab in the middle of the age of digital photography, many of us still keep a collection of printed photographs and memorabilia from special events. Prevent your photographs and keepsakes from deteriorating by storing them in acid-free photo albums, scrapbooks or photo boxes.

If you have odd-shaped or large items to store, take some measurements to ensure that when you shop for storage solutions you buy boxes or bins that are big enough.

Storage Solutions

Now we can talk about some of those funky storage boxes!

Home organization has become a hugely popular topic and the selection of storage products and solutions has grown significantly over the past few years. You’ll find storage products that range from classic apothecary jars perfect for keeping track of a multitude of small items to large industrial-looking garage organization systems. There are products to meet every storage requirement in every price range. I’ll only highlight a few of the options in this post.

Funky Storage Boxes from See Jane Work.

Gladiator Garage Storage & Organization from Hechinger.com.

Medium Storage Locker - Red from Dreamtime Baby.

Off-season clothes storage - 36″ Double Hanging Storage Closet from Linens’n Things.

There’s simply not enough space to show the many different storage options available. Watch for additional posts on products for home organization and storage solutions.

Don’t get too far away - there’s more Spring Clean Up to come.

(Photo titled ‘Funky Storage Boxes’ courtesy of Despacho on Flickr.)