How will you get your storage area organized? Lots of boxes eh? I'm teaching you how to go through those boxes, how to get them organized and how to set up the storage space. I'm going to review 4 spaces within the storage area; seasonal, baby, photos, and random. The First step is always to take one box upstairs into your kitchen and empty the box completely. 

Disperse

Now that you are comfortable in your climate controlled house you can better make decisions.  All of the items you took out of the box need to be identified as yours or someone else's. If they are someone else's you need to start a box for them. You will need all of their things and pictures in the box when you give it all back to them! I mentioned in this episode about keeping items for a child. You may need to store it for them or it may be relocated into their room. If you are keeping some baby clothing you may see it needs washing. Go ahead, wash it, and store it away nicely for when you want to use the clothing again. 

Donate 

All of the things you have decided you no longer want or use, you donate.  Don't worry about the time of year. All you need to know is you do not want the item anymore and let the donation centers worry about it from there. 

Decide

Once you have decided to keep an item you also need to know why or what purpose it will serve you in the future. I just love snowmen. There was a snowman Greg had given me that I wanted to donate but after further consideration I decided to keep it. I decorated my bath space with it and that inspired me to decorate that space seasonally.  Some people may keep baby clothing or shirts of a person to make a quilt. Or maybe in summer it's nice to have a second blender, but have a purpose for keeping the items.  As far as pictures go, keep them all in a clear box and label photos. While watching tv or something you could sift through them and toss blurry/bad pics or scenery if it's not something you'd document in a scrapbook or album. 

Package and Relabel

The last step is always to nicely repackage and then label each box.  The boxes that you will definitely keep should be put into clear bins with color coded lids.  I have red lids for seasonal boxes and each person can have a different color. You get the idea. Once you have done this, purchase shelving to accommodate. I love the shelving from Home Depot because you can reconfigure it for any home you move into, it's easy to move, and it's good in all temperatures.  Then, categorize your storage room starting with the 4 categories plus additional ones you may need. This is just your first pass though. Keep in mind each time you will see roughly a 20% improvement. The boxes you are undecided about stay in brown boxes with color coded duct tape on them. You may be able to make a kitchen box later on down the road when you go through them again. But now your clear bins are stored and you can easily find that second blender then next time fun calls for it!

Your storage room is like a prepaid store. Pro Tip: Get a bookshelf and put all of your home decor on it in the storage room. When you get ready to redecorate, you can now "shop" in your prepaid store for new items with which to decorate.

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• The Sunday Basket®

• How to Go Through a Box Checklist

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