When spring cleaning season comes around, one area of the house many people dread having to deal with is the basement. Since basements are so large and so many things end up being stored there, getting the basement nice and organized can feel like a daunting task. But organizing your basement doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are a few ways to help get your basement in order -- and keep it that way!
Get Rid of Clutter
No matter what room you’re working on cleaning, one of the best ways to get organized is to get rid of as much clutter as possible. Is your basement full of boxes of clothes you don’t wear anymore? Bring them on over to the nearest charity that collects clothing. Have a lot of toys your kids have outgrown and no longer play with? Perhaps you could have a garage sale or give them to a friend who has kids who would enjoy them. Once you get rid of the room for things you no longer need or use, you’ll have more room to store the things you actually do need.
Plastic Storage Bins
In addition to being where you store things like out-of-season holiday decorations and old furniture, basements also often end up being home to some of your family’s most treasured possessions like photographs and other mementos. Unfortunately, basements are often prone to flooding. If your basement were to flood, the last thing you’d want is for those cherished, irreplaceable items to be destroyed.
Rather than storing things in cardboard boxes, go for plastic bins instead. That way, they’ll be much better protected in the event of a flood. Be sure to label your storage bins so you’ll be able to easily figure out what each bin contains. Some people like to even use different colors of storage bins for different things, such as blue bins for holiday decorations and gray ones for photo albums.
Lots of Shelving
Since basements can easily flood, it’s a good idea to store as many things as possible off the basement floor. Even if your basement doesn’t have a history of flooding, it’s still smart to plan ahead. Over 20% of flood insurance claims are made by people who live in places that are considered low-to-moderate flood risk areas. By storing things on shelves, you’ll be protecting your belongings and making it much easier for you to deal with if you ever have to clean up after a flood.
Wire and rivet shelving tend to work very well in basements since they’re strong enough to hold hundreds of pounds worth of weight on each shelf.
Pegboard
In addition to serving as a place for storage or additional livable areas, basements are also often used for things like craft rooms and for storing tools. If you have a craft room or a workbench area in your basement, you know exactly how difficult it can be to keep them organized. Pegboard is perfect for these hard-to-organize areas. The highly versatile nature of pegboard will help you store and organize all those oddly-shaped items that just don’t seem to fit anywhere else. Best of all, pegboard and hooks can easily be found at any hardware store and is very inexpensive. Pegboard can also easily be cut to fit in any sized space and can be painted to match any decor.
