How to Organize Your Basement

“Looking for a fun weekend project? Let’s organize the basement!” Says no one, ever. It can be daunting to organize such a large space with multiple purposes, and it generally becomes a catch-all in most homes. In today’s post, we’ll share a few resources and tips we like to use for basement organizing. We’ve seen A LOT of basements throughout the years, and our first note is that yours is probably not as bad as you think!

Getting Started
If you’ve been reading our blog for a bit now, you know our team uses the Julie Morgenstern S.P.A.C.E. acronym to organize all areas of the house. The same goes for the basement: Sort, Purge, Assign, Contain, and Equalize.

Sorting Tip
When it comes to sorting your belongings, start with broader categories first so you don’t get stuck in the weeds. Maybe it’s separating beach from sports equipment, tools from paint. Once you have your broader categories sorted then you can dive in deeper and store your sports equipment by activity; tools by type; etc. Like with any organizing project, if you start too micro it’s easy to get overwhelmed and burn out.

While sorting, you can start by spreading everything out onto the floor. Once you run out of room we start to use open bags or bins to keep like with like. Depending on how many categories you’re working with, it can be helpful to also label the sections so you’re not constantly asking yourself what was where.

The Purge
While many people struggle with the purging step of the organizing process, it can be much easier in a basement with things you haven’t seen in years. Lean into that! If you need a little help with how to let go of your sentimental items, check out this blog post here. Ask yourself these questions while purging to make the process of letting go easier:
1.     When was the last time I used this? If it’s been years and you haven’t missed it, it’s time to let it go.
2.     Will I use this in the next 6 months? If the answer is no, chuck it.
3.     Can this item be easily replaced? (We love the Minimalists 20/20 rule).
4.     Is this item in working condition? Toss anything that is out of order.

The Haul Out
After you’ve sorted your categories and decided what you do and do not want to keep, you may not know how to dispose of some items like large furniture, air conditioners, or paint. Our go-to haul out resource is Clean Out Your House. They will take everything and sort it for you at their warehouse. They sell items in their consignment shop, donate to places like Household Goods and More Than Words, and dispose of paint and other hazardous materials properly. If their services are in your budget and you have a rather large pile or variety of things to purge, we highly recommend them. If you’re looking to do more yourself, try dropping things off at your town’s hazardous waste day, putting kitty litter in your paint cans to dry them out, and listing furniture or appliances on an “Everything is Free” FB page.  

What to Store Where
When you organize your basement, it’s a great idea to look at your garage and attic too, if applicable. These spaces have a lot of overlap in terms of what is stored there, and we like to define specific zones for each. Is your basement part laundry room? Gym? Workshop? When getting organized, think about the categories you want to assign to each home to determine if you have the space for it. Consider the climates of these areas and potential damage. People tend to store memorabilia and photos in an attic, but heat can damage those photos. Holiday decor and luggage are safe to store in the attic; tools, yard, and auto supplies in the garage; and extra pantry items and memorabilia in the basement.

Storage Solutions
Wherever you choose to store your items, make sure you’re using weathertight totes to protect from dirt, moisture, and pests. Use your vertical space when organizing your basement by adding shelving along the perimeter to store your totes. Un-level floors? No problem! Since the Metro Shelves are adjustable, simply mismatch where you place the clips to make the shelves level, even if its poles are uneven (you can thank our organizer, Kirby, for this hack!). As always, keep categories together and most importantly label your bins so you know where to find everything. 

Now you have an organized basement! See, not so bad. We hope this helps if you plan to tackle basement organizing this spring! Need some reinforcements? Let’s chat, here!