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How to Organize Your Basement (With A Little Help)

When it’s too hot to even think about stepping outdoors, organizing your cool, dark, overly cluttered basement makes for a great project. It can also be a bit overwhelming if you’re not prepared, so here are a few tips for planning out your task and getting the job done.

First of all, you must make a plan of attack. Decide what kind of space you would like your basement to be: will you be using it purely for storage, or would you like to reclaim some of that space? Consider what you’ll need to convert your basement into a workshop or home office. Once you’ve established your goals for your basement, make a list of supplies. To organize storage space, you’ll want to make the most of the space using shelving, boxes, and hangers.

Since undertaking a complete basement overhaul is a big job, you may want to consider getting a little help. A little extra muscle, in the form of a high school or college student, is always helpful. Most college students are looking for a temporary summer job to help pay for tuition or books, and are more than willing to lend a hand for not much cash. If you’re going to be hauling large items up and down steps and to and from the dump, the extra set of hands will be a godsend.

Devise a labeling system before you start, and stick to it. You can organize by who, what or where—it doesn’t matter, so long as you understand it and can easily recognize what goes where. Color coding works really well if you want to be able to know at a glance where you put something.

Once you’ve finished all of your prep work, it’s time to get started. Decide on a few categories for sorting, but always include: throw out, give away/sell, keep. Be tough- when was the last time you used it? Can you see yourself using it again in the near future? Remember, the more space you free up, the more storage room you’ll have. Make the most of vertical space using shelving as much as possible, and store common items in clear plastic storage containers. Use hooks and wall mountings to take advantage of wall space, hanging things like bicycles and garden hoses.

Clean as you go—once you’ve freed up a space, give it a good sweep or vacuum before filling it back up with organized storage. This way, you’re protecting your things from dirt and dust.

Be sure to be mindful of things like the furnace and water heater, and give them plenty of room—it can be a fire hazard to crowd stuff around them. Try to keep things off the floor, in case of flooding. Even if you’re nowhere near a river or stream, heavy rains can cause unexpected flooding in the basement, and you don’t want that to ruin your things.
Remember—if you absolutely must store important papers, like tax documents, in the basement, keep them on the highest shelves away from possible floodwaters. However, basements are almost always moist, and that will have an effect on anything paper or fabric. Consider storing these kinds of items elsewhere.

If organizing everything in one day seems like too much, move in stages. This weekend, sort through and get rid of everything that needs to be thrown away. Next weekend, move on to things that can be donated or sold. This way, you don’t feel like you’re biting off more than you can chew. No matter how long it takes, a little planning and forethought can turn a chaotic basement into a clean, organized storage space.

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