7 Simple Steps to Declutter Your Basement

Does your basement seem to be always cluttered? Do you have a hard time locating items in your storage space?  Have you come to a point where you realize you need help organizing? If this all sounds way to familiar then you have come to the right place.

Here I will go over several steps to help you declutter your basement or storage area.

1. First start with 3 piles (Garbage, Donate, and Keep). This step could take some time, but don’t let that stop you. The more you put it off the worse it will seem.Just make sure you go threw everything thoroughly to declutter your basement. You will thank me in the long run. 
2. Next get rid of all the garbage.Then start to organize the donation items.This helps individuals less fortunate, plus you can claim everything as a write off at income tax time. Places like Goodwill and Am-vets will take donations and sometimes even pick it up at your house if you call. It is a win-win situation for everyone when you  declutter your basement. 
3. Now go threw your items you want to keep. Start to organize the items in see threw bins; you can pick them up very inexpensive at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc. The reason for using clear bins would be to obviously see what you are putting inside them.Be sure to label exactly what is inside of each bin for a quick reminder. 
4. Try to organize in a way that works for you. For example if you have baby clothes place those in one bin, summer clothes another, holiday decorations a third.See where I am going with this? Just do what works best for you and stick with it.
5. Install shelves if necessary. This is entirely up to you obviously. You are able to pick up cost effective shelving units at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc. The wall-mountable or freestanding are fairly easy to put up and install especially when you want to declutter your basement.
6. Now if this is out of your price range then stacking the bins on top of each other would work as well. Organize your bins one on top of the other, keeping them in rows if possible. Try to keep a pathway between the rows so that you can easily maneuver in and out at will while you declutter your basement.Always place the items that you won’t use as often in the harder-to-reach spots.
7. By staying on top of your organization throughout the year you will be able to keep track of what you have. 

This makes it much easier to find and bring out items, as you need them without having to go searching and digging through piles where you “think” it might be. Learn more about how to declutter your basement from Mimi Tanner, who is one of the leading experts in this field.