When our storage spaces feel overwhelming, we often blame it on a lack of organization. But what if the real culprit is that it wasn't enough light? In this episode, we explore how improving illumination can revolutionize the functionality and feel of your storage rooms. Discover quick wins and longer-term lighting strategies to help you finally see your way clear to organized bliss.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why poor lighting, not disorganization, is often the real problem
- Three lighting strategies for storage rooms: Unblocking, Plug-and-Play, Rewiring
- How the right light can improve both organizing ease and emotional outlook
Mentioned in This Episode:
- Lights we recommend
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hi there. Cherished listeners, Stephanie here, back to shed some light quite literally on our year of the storage rooms journey. If you've been following along, you know we've been excavating the hidden potential in those overlooked spaces in the storage rooms. But today I want to illuminate a powerful shift in perspective.
So tell me if this sounds familiar. You walk into your storage room, you take one, look at all the stuff that's in there and immediately think, oh, I'm such a disorganized person. What if I told you that it might not just be about the stuff itself? What if sometimes the real problem could simply be that you just can't see what's in there and it's causing accumulation?
Poor lighting, masks, what's working, and spotlights the mess. And psychologically, it's all too easy for our brains to absorb the gloom, like the darkness and turn it into, well, I can't see in here. And then eventually going into, I can't do this territory in mindful thinking, not mindful thinking. So today, let's flip that script with a few bright ideas.
You will be amazed at how quickly your stuff gets with better lighting. It starts to inspire you a little bit more because you can see in there and it's not as scary. It's not as gloomy because a well-lit space really invites action and. It will spotlight your success when it is done. That's another thing.
We don't often acknowledge that if you can't see the progress, then you might be thinking you're not making any progress, or you don't get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So let's talk about. All things lighting today in your storage spaces. So let's dive in.
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. How can you tell if lack of light is limiting your storage room? Love a few clues that I've got for you here. You, you dread going in there. So not in like a, uh, organizing way, but viscerally. It, it just feels heavy. It feels depressing. It's really hard to face.
Your storage room isn't a haven. It's, it's a black hole. And sometimes literally if it's so dark in there and it's so deep. Especially in those spaces, whether it's closets or big storage rooms, where, um, it's very long and very deep, meaning it's not, you can't see it all at one glance, um, horizontally, and it, it just literally looks like a black hole.
Number two, you can't find things even when they're labeled. Proper categories and zones do fall apart if you can't see them. That's the point I made at the beginning where even if you have done all the right things and you just keep going around in circles, you have the labels. It might be because you can't actually see the end result.
It's actually in the black hole again, right? Labels are useless. If they're in the dark, you can't see them. Or the people that are supposed to be using them can't see them. Third, you frequently buy duplicates because you forgot you had something. Again, it's there, but it's invisible. Leading to repurchasing and more clutter.
Number four clue here is you've organized it before, maybe more than once, but it never sticks. 'cause without good visibility, it's all too easy for items to wander and all habits to resurface. It happens, you know? Does it sound kind of painfully familiar? Then let's talk about the solutions 'cause. This probably already highlights what you already know, but I want to remind you that some of the feelings that you, you haven't put a, a finger on it.
You don't know why. You just feel very frustrated about your organizing. Well, it could be because one of, one of these four reasons, uh, that you've identified and you didn't even realize that they were associated with lights or the visibility of your stuff. So what would I recommend as an organizer who's seen all kinds of lighting in storage rooms, any type of space really, uh, for the past two decades, one of the main things I want you to think about is with lighting improvements, I'd like you to think of them as they're in a spectrum from quick to complex.
Okay? So think, brighten, plug, rewire. So brighten, I just wanna brighten it up. I wanna be able to see better. I need that to be the fastest solution. Plug, meaning you do need to be around some kind of wiring plug to, well plug it in. And then rewiring. Rewiring means it's a, a calling the electrician, right?
Knowing what you're doing, connecting wires behind the scene. So we're gonna think about them as, I just wanna brighten something quick, something easy to the most complex and or the most, it's not always the most expensive. As I'm going to talk about in just a second, uh, rewiring doesn't always mean that is the, um, biggest cost because buying individual lighting will sometimes add up.
So I'm gonna talk about it in just a minute. Let's start, we're gonna start with the, the brighten solution, meaning I just wanna brighten something up right now. Again, we're not talking about cost. This is just probably the easiest to access. So the key is knowing what's possible at each level. The easiest Sliding upgrades are often right under, you know, not just like your, no, not literally your nose, but they're very quickly.
You can quickly access them and you probably already have them in there. When I walk into a client's dim storage space, the first thing I look for is one of the first things is what's blocking the light that's already there. So if you have a storage room, whether it's a rented offsite inside or in your basement, your attic.
Some Com common clutter, culprits are those piles or stacks blocking the windows, overstuffed shelves, shadowing the lower levels or dark or opaque storage container that are right next or right under the light, whatever that light source is. So it could be natural lighting, it could be a light bulb, you know, a or a lamp or something.
Bulky items shoved against light fixtures. Simply clearing those blockages and letting available light flow freely is a great start. That's why I was saying it's like the most obvious, the quickest. Let's go ahead and let that area breathe. I want you to have some natural lighting and or whatever NI mean, natural in this case, uh, as natural of, um, nature outside the sun.
I also mean the natural light that's already there. So light fixture, fixture or something that's already there. Try to remove any of those boxes that are covering that I was at at a client's the other day, and they have the shelving units, like the husky shelving units that you get very industrial like, and the very top of that shelf.
They have stuff in it or on it. So the light happens to be right above one of those shelving units, so it's blocking, not to mention a fire, fire hazard, um, but it's blocking the light coming through for the rest of the shelving unit. And if you're thinking, well, I don't wanna waste space, then put something that is translucent.
So, you know, at, at the end of the day, bulky items, shoved against light fixtures, simply clearing out will help. So a quick win that illuminates the way forward. And yes, I am using all the puns for light today. Okay. I couldn't help myself. Um, but another beginner friendly boost would be to line shelves and drawers with the light, bright or translucent materials that I mentioned.
Um, and what that means is think white shelf paper, clear drawer organizers, anything pale or see through. It's a, it's a visual trick that amplifies available light, the storage room equivalent of snow reflecting the sun, if you think about it. Okay, so fleeing open curtains, swap those dark bins for clear ones and bask in the glow of, I can do this.
Once you start seeing what's actually in there, it will really, really help a couple of other ways that you can illuminate that space without. You know, buying anything else or anything like that is Yes. Clearing the space or wherever the, the light is. And then I'll, I'll give you an example. I don't even know how to describe this.
I wish we could, these are the days, there were moments that I wish we could be on video, but, and I could show you. So we had a, uh, translucent white bucket in a client's space the other day. So what we ended up doing is we put that bucket at the top shelf, not a fire hazard or anything. It almost created this funnel of light, almost like a lampshade.
Uh, so think of anything that will kind of act like a, like a lampshade right next to the light source so that it can then carry forward to your other spaces. Okay? If you need a visual representation, please let me know. Send me a message. I will get on the phone with you on FaceTime, or I will send you a picture of what it means because I know sometimes, um, that doesn't really give you a great visual, but I'm doing the best I can describing what I mean by that.
Okay, so let's keep going. Hi, cherish friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between. That's why I created the Organized and 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, as it gets brighter from there. And, and it's still not really working for you. We're going to talk about the plug and play, which is the next level.
Again, it's not, it has nothing to do with cost. It's not the most cost friendly or the most expensive. These are just what can you quickly do with what you have. So if you don't have lighting, a natural lighting or, and, or you have plugs around you. So you know, once you've banished the obvious blockers and maximized what you've got.
Now you're thinking you need a little extra elimination, or that wasn't enough, or you didn't have that natural lighting. How, how can we go ahead and bring some of that lighting in? Well, that's where the plug and play options come in. Um, these are the lighting solutions that don't require the hardcore electrical work, though doesn't mean it's the most, uh, the cheapest.
It just means that you don't need to hire someone to do it. You might be living in a place that you're renting. You might just not want to do the whole electrical work. So think battery options. These are lighting solutions that don't require that you know the electrical work, but you can just plug and play.
So they're the perfect bridge between making due in a major renovation. And quite frankly, some of these are great for long term, especially in areas where it's much smaller like a shelving unit. Or a section where it's just such a small space that you wouldn't want to rewire and make some fancy, some fancy renovation there.
It's just so much easier to plug and play. So some of my favorite applications would be the LED strips, along the shelf edges, like the runway lights guiding you to the right spot, right? Like so it's, they're just, they're, it's a tape. And at adhesive tap lights under the individual shelf. So you kind of put 'em underneath and you can see each level very clearly.
They're plug, there are plugin options. You can find them at ikea, you can find them at your favorite hardware store, and then they just have the adhesive on the on the other end, so you can just tape them. Plugin pendants or scones for the, that dramatical directional light without the wiring are wonderful.
They beautify the space as well. If, so, if you're working with a space that's kind of doubling as maybe, um, a room, uh, uh, a finished room and you don't want it to be so industrial looking, this is a great way to soft soften that space. Um, the beauty of the solution is that, that they're easy to install, they're easy to move.
If your storage layout changes. It's easy to focus precisely where you need them. I actually have some of those, uh, lights that are rechargeable. They're little scones, they're little, uh, desk lamps, and I take them to my storage room all the time. They're very, it's almost like a flashlight. Nicer and cuter.
And also they have different lighting settings. So if you need a warmer light versus, uh, more translucent light, you know, et cetera, you have those options. So great options. LED, so think LED, rechargeable, battery operated, that you can plug and play literally. Uh, you also have the actual plug it into an outlet if you have one.
So if you have one, then go ahead and get something that you can install inside that storage area. And you can just turn on with a switch that it comes with, and you just have to plug it into the outlet. Um, so Mo no more relying on rewiring your entire space. You know, you, you do have those options. So now let's talk about rewiring.
So this is the most time consuming, probably if you are not, um, knowledgeable in rewiring electrical. Please, please, please use your common sense, your judgment of can you do this on your own. I know many of you that listen to the podcast are very handy people when it comes to electrical work. I just want you to be very careful and get the professionals in there to do it for you.
Um, so let's say you're ready for that full on lighting makeover. You've maxed out what's in there. You've added strategic portable fixtures, but your storage room just still lacks that. Come on in and stay a while, and you still can't see in that area. It might be time to call the pros and get it rewired.
So built-in lighting, tailored to your space is an absolute game changer. It's a difference between kind of the storage room that you tolerate and you truly adore. Because it takes some thinking out loud, like how do you use that space? But it is a little bit more of a permanent decision. So not always the, um, the one that I would recommend, even if you had all the money in the world, because if you're going to be redoing that space, or it's, or it's a space, especially if you're renting, um, a storage facility.
Well, you can't do it, first of all. Um, but even if you could and you will be moving around the shelving units and it will be something else, eventually, then, you know, what's the point of bringing and, and rewiring unless you know they do something that's something universal. But that's, that's a topic for another day.
Okay. I would recommend motion sensor lights so you can actually get these in the. Plug and play options too. There's not as many, um, but motion sensor lights, they get triggered by motion. I'm, I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about, but if you don't, it basically it's whenever you walk by it, it turns on.
So you don't have to fumble for a switch or waste energy because it can detect when you're in and out. Um, many of my clients have them in their closets when they open the closet, it turns on. When you close, it turns off great. Also, the. Lighted rods so ideal for hanging storage. The illuminated rods, they kind of spotlight your options.
They make stuff really easy to, to see. Just that one section. So it's almost like a, a spotlight on a certain section of your closet or organizing spaces. So it's not the entire area, but just that section. Back lit shelving. This, you know, I dunno if you've seen them at your favorite boutique or store, um, but back light.
Most of the time they're glass shelves. Not always, but basically have the light in the background for a gorgeous glow. So it kinda like illuminates your stuff and it makes everyday items look display worthy, even in your storage spaces. Um, there are great options if, if that direct light is too harsh and you like aesthetically pleasing areas.
So backlighting great option. Those can also be motion sensored. Great option too. So not only is it efficient, but it also a beautiful lighted space. I would also recommend working with a lighting designer if you're able to, who specializes in storage. So bring on the professionals there. They will know exactly how to a, assess your space.
Strategize your layout and specify the perfect fixtures to make organization effortless and almost inevitable. I know of a couple people. Let me know if you need recommendations. Um, but basically you are looking for an electrician who does general connecting of your lighting systems. But the step up from that or not step up just.
If you're looking for someone who has more of the vision, then you will light. You will get a lighting specialist, lighting designer, the power of intentional lighting for a harmonious storage, no matter how much stuff you have, because it might just be that you can't see in there and the, and when it's a black hole.
Everything's just gonna start shoving in. I mean, you've, you've seen it with drawers that are too deep. I've talked about this before. When they're too deep, just stuff gets hidden and lost at the bottom of the pile. And when you're able to see it, you acknowledge it and you want to do something about it, and you're more proactive every time you walk in into that room to do something about it, versus waiting until that one time, every five years to declutter or to clear out those spaces.
So I want you to be a little bit more proactive action oriented. If I were to give you one tip for this week is for you to walk around your storage space that is giving you a headache, see if, if you already have natural lighting in there, can you quickly kind of clear that out and see if that makes a difference?
Let it sit for about a week and see if that has, or not a week, but just up to a week I should say, and see if that makes a difference. What I mean by natural lighting is, I don't mean just look out for the window, like natural lighting, but is there already a lighting fixture that you can remove stuff around so that you could see all your stuff a little better?
Can you organize or move stuff around so that you can optimize the natural lighting? So that's gonna be my quick action tip for you this week. Kind of step it up from there. If you don't have natural lighting, it's a very dark space. Nothing you can do. Uh, it's just a dark hole. The only way that you can get light is through your door, maybe one lamp.
Is there something within your budget and ability? That you can bring in to lighten up that space. So, um, track lighting that you can just plug and play. You can just stick on rechargeable lights. Um, something like that you, that you can bring in and, um, start taping or a, you know, adhering it to the shelving unit or where, you know, however you have your space organized.
So those are my actual full tips for the week. Talk to you next week. Bye-bye. 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.