Storage Dilemma? How to Purge Before You Shelve

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Storage Dilemma? How to Purge Before You Shelve

26 December 2014
 Categories: , Blog


Do you ever feel as if you are being squeezed out of your home? You may feel that you simply have too much stuff and are actively looking for places to store some of it. Before you hire the truck and start planning a mass exodus consider what's really important to you.

Everything Must Have Value

The first and most important rule here is that you need to attach value to everything. This is true whether the item concerned is in daily use or is destined for the storage area. You can come up with a scale of 1 to 10, where if an item scores 1 it means you're really not too bothered whether you keep it or not, but if the item is a 10 it's one of the first things you would grab if your house were on fire.

Next, ensure that in your home everything has its own place. Not only will you be unlikely to lose anything if you designate such a home for each item, but you're far less likely to feel overcrowded and unsettled.

A Functional Kitchen

Have a look at all the items in your kitchen. Remember that this is a place where you prepare food and it shouldn't be just another storage area. A fancy machine may look impressive sitting up there on the counter, but if you don't use it consider giving it to charity.

You might also have a cupboard full of plastic storage items. If you are like the average person you're probably missing quite a number of corresponding plastic lids. Go through everything and recycle those mismatched items.

Going Out of Fashion

Head on into the bedroom. Open the closet that is likely overstuffed with clothes. The items that do not fit you as well as they used to should probably be donated. If you think that something is going to come back into fashion, don't kid yourself—this is another item for charity.

Generally speaking if you haven't worn a certain item in a year, then you should donate it. Once you have removed the items that you are not going to wear again, organise all the rest so that they go together and are more readily accessible.

Don't Feel Guilty

Finally, take a long hard look at items that you have been given, that you may have inherited or that you may consider to be a memento. If anything truly has a sentimental value then by all means keep it in a safe place. You can utilise resources such as Eastlakes Self Storage for items that are valuable but are taking up too much room in your home.

Other than that you are not obligated to keep any hand-me-downs and you should donate them, or even sell them online if they have inherent value.

Once you go through your belongings in this fashion you will have a much clearer idea of what you may need to put into long-term storage and what you may want to keep close by, for everyday use.