We’re kicking off a brand-new year-long emphasis on one of the most overlooked yet emotionally loaded areas of the home: storage rooms. Whether your storage space is a basement, garage, guest room, attic, or an off-site unit, these areas often hold delayed decisions, inherited items, unfinished projects, and emotional weight we don’t even realize we’re carrying.
In today’s episode, Stephanie shares why 2026 is dedicated to storage, how this focus evolved from the popular Fix It or Free It series, and why storage rooms deserve thoughtful attention—grounded in research, psychology, and real-life client experiences. She also shares her personal story of how storage organizing became her professional path, long before she ever knew it could be a career.
This episode sets the foundation for The Storage Year: 52 weeks of clarity, compassion, and needle-moving action steps designed to help you make meaningful progress without overwhelm or guilt.
In This Episode We Talk About
- Why storage rooms are emotionally heavy and often avoided
- What research tells us about the psychological and physical impact of clutter
- Increased cortisol levels (UCLA)
- Reduced cognitive clarity (Princeton)
- The surprising rise in national storage use
- How Fix It or Free It inspired a deeper storage conversation
- Stephanie’s origin story from wedding planner to Certified Professional Organizer®
- Why storage rooms are where delayed decisions live
- How this year will blend practicality, compassion, and storytelling
- What to expect from the weekly action items and momentum-building approach
- The first action step to begin your own Storage Year
Mentioned in This Episode
- Fix It or Free It Series (2025) – Listener-favorite episodes that inspired a deeper look at storage
- UCLA Center on Everyday Lives of Families Study – Linking clutter to elevated cortisol
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute Findings – How clutter impacts focus and cognitive processing
- Self-Storage Industry Data – Trends showing the increasing amount of items Americans store
- Stephanie’s early business: Smiles Forever Events
- The Organized Flamingo – Professional organizing, compassionate decluttering, and resources
- Organize & Cherish Podcast Archives – Past episodes supporting this year’s themes
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hey friends. Welcome back to Organized and Cherish with the Organized Flamingo. I'm Stephanie, your certified professional organizer. Sentimental decision making sidekick and longtime believer that small steps create big relief, and today we are kicking off something really special. Welcome to the storage year, a whole year where we get honest.
Practical and compassionate about the spaces that hold the most, which is your storage rooms. I'm talking about the basements, the garages, the guest rooms, the closets that slowly become temporary, holding spaces in quotes, and never found their way back. The places that quietly absorb things we didn't have time to deal with or emotional energy to face.
Or maybe it's a space that you just put everything in just because it was there. Whether your storage is in your home, your garage, your attic, or offsite in a rented unit, this is your year and I'm right here with you.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherish podcast. With the organized flamingo. I am your host Stephanie, your compassionate and efficient professional organizer. Whether you are part of the sandwich generation helping a loved one declutter, or just trying to simplify life, this is the place for you. Together we will tackle those overwhelming piles of stuff, uncover purpose in what we keep, and let go with dignity and care, because it's not just about throwing everything away, it's about respecting memories.
And simplifying life. Sound like a plan? Let's jump in and get organized. Okay, so why storage? Why now? Okay. If you follow along during my Fix it or free it series in 2025. You already know where today's episode is headed. So that series was one of our most loved and popular conversations because it helped so many of you take action without shame or that perfectionism that many of you feel or pressure.
It was one item per month that we would either make a decision about, like finally fix it or finally let it go. It's, it's those piles that were well intended of. No, you know, it, it's just like a 50 50, like it can still be used. I just need to fix this part of it, or it's ripped, so I can't use it right now, but I love it, but I just need to make it into a skirt.
Okay? It's those items and then you never did anything about it. So we devoted all of 20, 25 to those, and I used myself as the example, like I walked you through what I did, because I also struggle with that. So we did one item per month where we made decisions and when the messages started rolling in the stories about forgotten boxes.
The guilt you carry for things left behind the just in case items, the storage rooms that felt emotionally heavier than physically full came in. And so I knew that this needed to be bigger. Fix it or free is, isn't going anywhere like that series. We're actually continuing it again this year. It was that popular and I personally loved it very much as well.
So we're going to continue it again with even more purpose, and by that is just talking about it a little bit more. Continuing with that momentum. Okay? But combining it with storage, that was really the missing piece that came from that whole series and from our discussion points. Some of you either were really inspired by the series, so much so that you started tackling things that you were not being honest, fully, or open or public about, that the reason you had so much stuff in storage is because you had hoped to tackle it one day to fix it or to start seeing if it, you could multipurpose it or something.
And then, so this series just kind of ignited that in you and you started to make decisions because you trusted yourself. And you have the resources of how to get to the bottom of it. Like, do I, can I fix it? Can I afford it? Like what does it take that built that momentum and for us, it made us that The missing piece was that we weren't talking enough about storage spaces that you are feeling really guilty about.
Storage rooms are where fix it or free actually lives. They're the landing zone for postponed decisions. So it was perfect and I thought I have plenty of content and advice and friends that can help you and guidance on how to alleviate that guilt and feeling and make what your storage room. Of your dreams would look like, like it, it doesn't mean throw everything away.
We actually have entire episodes on this. We talked a little bit about it in in the last year, and it's not about throwing stuff away. It's not about just selling everything, but it is about making those intentional decisions and seeing if it, some of the stuff could live, can have more use in your storage room.
So first let's talk about the psychology behind storage, because yes, there is research and just as a reminder, I'm a professional organizer that has been doing this for over 20 years, but I am not a mental health practitioner. So these are just psychological and psychology research that we have seen found red, uh, we, that is very important to us that.
We see what not just is trending or what people feel, but what does our research tell us? And also some of our own research where we have been in the space and in the field for this many years. But just remember that we love blending compassion with real data. And this is coming from a professional organizer friend, which is us and me and the organized flamingo.
But if you need further clarification or you feel like some of these topics need to be dug a little deeper, a mental practitioner is a perfect place to start. So let's start with two pieces of research that shaped our decision to create this year long series. One of 'em was UCLA, the university, their UCLA center, uh, on everyday lives of families.
They have this, this research that said it's like a well-known home clutter study that found that cluttered storage spaces are directly tied to increased cortisol levels, especially for women, which is a translation of storage rooms. We avoid. Equals elevated stress we don't even notice. And then separately from that, there's this Princeton Neuroscience Institute research that's found that physical clutter competes for our attention, reducing our ability to focus and process information.
And yes, that includes clutter behind closed doors. You're praying still knows it's there. Okay, I'm gonna say that part again. Your brain still knows it's there out of sight is not actually out of mind despite that very famous line. And one more there. The National Self Storage Association reports that an average American now keeps over 300,000 items across home and storage.
That's a lot of stuff. And storage rentals grew over 400% in the last decade. I mean, we have, like I kid you not account, there was seven storage unit facilities just in our area here in Colorado in the last year. That's not a reflect a failure though. I, I really want to dig and, and make sure it highlight like that piece.
It's just a reflection of overwhelm, transitions and a society that hasn't been taught how to manage life leftovers. Storage isn't just about bins, it's about psychology, the transition, the identity, the grief, and the stories that we attach to our stuff. Why storage rooms matter to me personally. Why I am so passionate about it.
So let me take you back Before I, I ever became a professional organizer. I was a wedding and events planner in Southern California. I don't know if you knew this, but that's me. My company was called Smiles Forever. Events so clever and yes, I know it's super cheesy, but listen, it was a ni, it was like 90, well early two thousands, and I collected smiley faces in the nineties.
That era lived for that cute branding. I think it's made a comeback, which is so funny to me. But I had so many friends and people that my parents knew and they just said, you, you know, you reminded, you're always like smiling. And so they, I started getting smiley faces and then that. Went into me putting in my collections into like I had collector, collector items.
Okay. Into the county fairs. I even won best of show at one of the county fairs and got invited to the state fair. It was a whole moment. Okay. So I spent eight years organizing weddings and corporate events and social gatherings across Orange County. One day, a catering and decorating company I was working with mentioned that they were drowning in their warehouse storage.
And they asked if I could help them. It was more like a, Hey, do you have any time? Like we need to get this ready and done. And I fell in love with organizing physical spaces right there and then, and I was kind of already doing it because when you're a planner and organizer and you're, it's your own company as well, like you need to keep track of all the events, like everybody brings their bins and their timelines and you need to keep everything organized, physical, digital, and mental.
So I was already accustomed to it. But this part, I didn't know that you could like, make a whole living off of just the physical piece of it. They were actually the first people to say, you know, you, you should do this like, like professionally. But in that era. Of the early two thousands, professional organizing wasn't super well-defined.
You were either an admin, an assistant, a decorator, uh, an interior designer, a helper, and organizing simply just came with a job like you were just an organized person. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, like in your resume or the application process. One of the job duties or job qualifications was that you were organized and I didn't know you could make a living.
Just, just kind of doing that, like I didn't know how to shape it. Hi, cherish friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between. That's why I created the Organizing Cherish Weekly email that goes out every Wednesday straight to your inbox. To help you keep the momentum inspiration going with tips and reminders of our upcoming events, all you have to do is head on over to organize and cherish.com and sign up for the email newsletter.
It's free and you can up subscribe whenever you'd like. It's my way of helping you simplify your life and respecting memories along the way. Now back to our show. Little by little fast forward to 2008, I moved to Colorado, so I sold the event company, moved to Colorado and became an executive assistant.
Which I was doing somewhat in other roles prior to that as well. Because again, you weren't really an organizer. Like I was hired to do archive, an entire title companies library. You weren't called an organi. Like that's all I did. I, I organized and archived a library. But you were called like admin three or admin two or whatever, you know, the HR levels were.
Um, so you were never really called an organizer, but that was the key part that you did as a job. So anyway, I became an executive assistant. Story for another day, which meant organizing offices, storage rooms, basements, server closets, anything that needed order, right? And by the time I left in 2017, from that whole, that whole era of my life, I went and got my MBA.
And I knew that this was my calling for sure, that this is where I felt the most useful, purposeful, and connected. Like I knew I wanted to organize people's lives and spaces for the rest of my life. My work life especially, but like everything else, you know, we evolve and when you're a small business owner, you have to evolve with your community.
So I thought, okay, look, how am I gonna make this happen? Long story short, you organized Flamingo came to be in 2019. What I see in your emails and your dms and in conversations at conferences and sessions with clients, what I hear over and over, like throughout all this time is Stephanie, I have a storage room that I don't talk about.
I'm scared to open that closet. I don't know what's even in there anymore. I inherited this and I don't know what to do with it. I've been meaning to deal with it for years. That's really why people hire me. They work with me. And you know what? I hear that fatigue in your voice. I could. I could feel it. I could hear it.
That's also though where I hear the hope because you are saying it out loud. And now all of those years, and now with me having the ability to. Put the words into the actions thanks to this podcast, thanks to creating more content, because I was not a content creator prior to 2019, really, I would just work one-on-one with clients.
People would hire me. I would work with, you know, C-level Fortune 500 companies. I've, I've seen things, I've worked with things, but it was always behind the scenes. It was never like out in public content creating. Once I was able to put that together with all of my experience and the content piece, I was like, oh, I know exactly what we're gonna talk about.
We're gonna talk about storage rooms because this is what I've been dealing with for the past 20 years, and that industry's growing, which to me tells me more people are storing things. So we're gonna talk about that. That's our focus for 2026. So not because storage rooms are glamorous, but they can be.
And I want, I'd love to make your storage room work for you. And to be a place that you're excited to go into. And it's cute and it's your personality and to level it up if you want, or just be as simple as you want it to be, but functional, it's not even because I, I do want it to look Pinterest perfect.
But again, we hope that this hopefully will be a place that you feel free to do that, but because storage rooms are where your stories sit, waiting to be seen again. They hold the evidence of your life, your transitions, your dreams, your grief, your someday plans, and they deserve attention. They deserve care, and they deserve clarity.
So what will this year look like? Each episode will end with one simple specific action item, something that moves the needle forward. It's not a journal prompt, it's not a pick a word of the month of the week of the year. We're an action brand. You will walk away with something meaningful that you can do in minutes.
So throughout your year, we will talk about the psychology and the storage emotional weight. Inherited items. Seasonal storage, garage storage, paper and archive storage, safe storage, storage for caregivers, holiday storage, and of course the sentimental stuff as well. All things around and centered those about those topics.
So I'm going to teach by showing you my own stuff as well. I'm making that promise to you now because my storage rooms, my bins, my decisions, my mistakes, like all of it. I want to share with you as well, because I'm actually you as well, and even though I've been doing this for many, many, many, many years, yes, I have the habits and I have the momentum to get myself going because this is what I do for a living.
But I also am a regular old human being that has. Family members that are inheriting things to myself, things that I need to figure out what to to do with, do I want to leave it for my child or not? Things that I'm very sentimental about. Okay? So I'm also living it with you and I hope that my own stories will give you some relief and inspiration because I don't want to sell you just the an idea.
I want you to feel how doable this can be and that you are not alone. Okay? So this is not. About perfection. Like that's not what we're doing this doing this year. It's about momentum and it's about meeting you where you are in life, in caregiving, in transition, in the messy middle, and helping you move forward with compassion and clarity.
So here's your first action item for today, for this year. The first one for 2026. So pick one storage space you want clarity on by the end of the year. When I say one storage space, for some of you, that means that might actually mean one storage category because of the way that some storages are built.
You might actually have it in different levels or spaces. So like your holiday stuff might be in different levels and different closets in different spaces. So if you don't have like a really big storage unit or one big basement, unfinished basement or garage where everything is, and that's your storage.
I want you to pick one category, so like one category of things that you have been storing. So if you're storing all these costumes from previous Halloween and Theater life or whatever, but they're all over the place, that is one category. Um, so it's either one space or one category. Name it out loud and we're gonna write it in a sticky note or wherever, somewhere you can see it every day.
And we're going to start setting the stage for that item. We're not gonna be rushing into a project right now. Uh, although if you want to come on, like, let's, like if you're following the, the week by week with us on the podcast, then let's go ahead and take a look. Like, go around all of your spaces, all of your garage in storage units, and pick like one that it's going to be really your big focus, one space or one category.
I'll give you a couple more examples of categories. It could be baby items, like baby items from your children. Um, it's might be, you know, it's time to figure out what you, we need to make decisions like you've been keeping them in different storage closets. Um, that's one category. Another category I mentioned is wardrobe, costume type of items.
Another one is. Old shirts from all the sports teams you have been in or your children have been in. Another category is old toys. Um, so not just the like baby stuff, but like toys from different ages of life, more adult themed things are items you've been keeping because they were in different, you were a different size back then and now you're trying to figure out what to do with that stuff.
They've been in this holding pattern in your storage closet. That's one category. Another category, same thing with accessories like shoes and, and bags and things like that. Another category is going to be paper items, um, memorabilia type of items. Okay? So those are one categories, and if they are in one space, then you can just say, okay, I today I will be tackling this shed.
That works as well. Another category, a big one for caregivers is the stuff that your parents, um, inherited to you or are inheriting to you right now. Um, either they have a long, you know, passed, moved away, downsized, or they're doing it right now live, and you just kind of keep piling and piling the stuff up in a corner and that has become the storage room.
Same thing with guest bedrooms. It could be a guest bedroom that is being doubled as your storage room. That can be either, we're tackling that whole room. Or we're tackling a category that happens to be in that room. Pick a category. What are we tackling that's been in sitting in storage spaces for far too long.
And then we're gonna start creating some momentum around it if you'd like to create your Pinterest board. Great. Like what is an image? Like what is it that you like it to feel and smell like, and what is the purpose for you to have that storage? 'cause we're not saying goodbye to all storage. We're just going to redefine it and make it useful going forward.
Okay. Well, thanks so much for being here. This for this episode and the introduction of the storage year, I'm honored to walk alongside you. We have lots of activities and, and like plans with this whole storage series. Like I've got some prompts that you will be putting in if you are using AI and artificial intelligence or agents.
If you're not, no worries. We, we've got you covered. You don't have to use any of that, but we are going to be technology friendly. We are going to give you some momentum and fun activities and events that will help you with this year in the storage year. You're doing better than you think. Don't forget that.
I'll see you next week, and until then, happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps others discover our show. For full show notes, resources, and more organizing inspiration, visit www.theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast.
Until next time, happy organizing.