Storage can be a useful tool—or a way to postpone decisions. In this episode, the conversation kicks off a brand-new Storage Series, exploring the real costs, emotional weight, and decision-making process behind keeping things in storage. Whether it's inherited items, sentimental belongings, or everyday clutter, this series will dive into the pros and cons of storage and how to use it effectively.
This episode provides an overview of the topics that will be covered, from financial and emotional considerations to smart storage strategies. Plus, hear about upcoming events and resources designed to support caregivers and those navigating the overwhelming task of downsizing and decluttering.
In This Episode, We Talk About:
- The common reasons people put things in storage
- The upcoming Storage Series topics, including storage costs, emotional attachment, and inherited storage units.
- How storage fits into the bigger picture of decluttering, downsizing, and organizing with intention.
- Updates on our upcoming events!
Mentioned in This Episode:
- The Organize & Cherish Expo on May 28th in Colorado and the upcoming virtual summit.
- The Fix or Free It series, featuring monthly updates on items that were either repaired or released.
- The free Organize & Cherish Chat happening on April 16th, a supportive space to discuss storage, downsizing, and organizing challenges.
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hey friends, welcome back to this week's podcast. I'm really excited to be kicking off a new series with you today as the title suggests. The series is all about storage because storage is one of those topics that comes up over and over again when we talk about organizing, downsizing, and decluttering.
So we're dedicating a few episodes to really dive in into this topic. You know, this is something that is both a blessing and a burden. So, if you have the ability to store things, if you have the room, that's wonderful, it's such a blessing that you can put it away, out of sight, out of mind, and you can go about your day.
But It's still there, and that's where the burden comes in. It's out of sight, out of mind, but it didn't just go away or disappear. And there's a lot of guilt associated with what can be in the boxes in storage. So sometimes we just kind of pay the price of that storage, whether it's literal, because it's an outside storage facility, or it's in your home.
You're still paying for it in some way. It's occupying some of your space that you could be using for something else. And then there's the emotional space that it's occupying in your heart and in your mind. So we are going to talk about that. So whether you're helping a loved one figure out what to keep, manage inherited items, or simply trying to avoid paying for a storage unit for the next decade.
This series is going to be perfect for you.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherished 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 to clutter 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. But before we do get started officially, I want to talk about some things that are coming up here in our community.
Some events and other news that I just want you to know about, I think that are of value to you. And also, just know that this episode is an overview of what's to come. So I will talk about storage today, but in a very light fashion about all the topics we will be covering in the next couple of months.
The series is not back to back. So every week we will still continue to talk about other topics. And then every, maybe every third episode. We'll come back and talk about storage and then finishing in and around June of 2025. We are going to have a really fun, awesome educational event for all of you completely free to attend the initial event.
And I'm so excited to share the details, but I can't tell you right now and it's going to be virtual. So unlike many of our events that are here in Colorado. This one will be virtual. So hang on tight. Okay, so either follow us on our social media or better yet, subscribe to our email newsletter, because that's where I will announce about this event, which for all of you who do have a storage that you are paying for emotionally, mentally, and or actually paying with your dollars for an outside storage room.
And this event is going to be perfect for you. Okay, so hang on tight to that. All right, let's talk about some of our quick events that are coming up. April 16th, we have our next free Organize and Cherish chat. If you're listening to this after that, don't you worry. We have these Organize and Cherish chats every couple of months.
They're completely free. It's a casual and supportive space to talk about the challenges you're facing with storage, downsizing, inherited items, decluttering. organizing, it's overwhelming, or you just need to brainstorm what the next steps should or could be, or you have questions about what tools are out there that you could be using, then the Organize and Cherish chats are for you.
They're completely free, and our next one is April 16th. Then after that, we've got our Organize and Cherish Expo happening in Colorado. It's May 28th, and It is a one day couple of like nine to one type of expo where you get to meet local resources, actually local and nationwide resources that can be helping you with your decluttering and downsizing journey for your loved ones.
So that event is specifically for the Sandwich Generation caregivers, people that are helping their loved ones trying to figure out what to do with their stuff in this next phase of life. And if you've been following along, you also know that we have our, a couple of our series that we talk about. And so those are more blog style.
And if you are needing some inspiration to read through, those are great to check out our blog right now, we've got our fix it or free it series. So that's the one where every month I either fix something or finally let it go. And then I'll do a recap in the following month here on the podcast. So if you're more of a blog reader and you enjoy and get inspiration from reading.
And then the blog is going to be perfect for you. And then we do do a recap here on the podcast every month about what I fixed the previous month. And then another event here in Colorado is that we have our annual local flea market and garage sale weekend. It's June 6th, 7th, and 8th of 2025. This year, we have it every year.
And that is even if you're not here locally to Colorado, we actually have a series that leads up to that. Which is all about selling your stuff. So it's like a selling your stuff series. So if that's the avenue you're trying to take, then you'll want to listen to those. We have some podcast episodes from previous years that I will put in the show notes.
Or you can go to our website, theorganizedfemingo. com slash blog, and you can search grout sales, reselling, any of those keywords, and then all our content will come up on that. So there's lots of great conversations happening. Alright, but today let's talk about storage, because it's something that affects all of us.
Especially caregivers and those managing their loved ones belongings, I mean, you know, you're just trying to survive, you're trying to deal with the right now, the immediate needs of your loved ones. Whether it be older loved ones, such as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles that you're trying to deal with and or younger ones, maybe your children, maybe your nieces, nephews, siblings, whatnot.
And so you are really just focused on the right now and everything that is not an immediate need, it goes in storage, literally, right? You like, you either get yourself a storage you're going to start paying for every month. Just shove everything in there, or your garage, or your attic, or your basement, or an extra room, and everything just kind of gets shut down.
This is a great topic, but the topic is very large, because, no pun intended, of the storage, but the storage
So I've broken it down to about, give or take, anywhere between 7 and 10 main topics around storage rooms and what to do with it and how to deal with it. Um, we are going to have an event all about this, okay, in June, like I mentioned. So if you are following along and then at the end you just really need like to be with other people that are dealing with this and you have questions in the moment, then that event is going to be for you.
Hang on tight for details on that. So wait for me for, for that and for just a minute. For now, 10 topics, but if you have any other Angles, questions that you want me to cover more specific, then let me know because everyone's scenarios are so specific that these are the type of topics that not a lot of people are talking about because I think pro organizers or anyone in our industry will sometimes feel like if we get so niche or we talk about one specific problem in storage rooms.
Then people will immediately shut it down or say well that doesn't apply to me and they'll just shut down the whole conversation. So I'm trying to merge the two and kind of meet you all in the middle where I talk about some practical tips that can apply to most instances. And then if you have anything specific you want me to answer, I will do a Q& A episode and address your questions there.
You can always come to any of our Organize Cherish chats. Those are free. You can always stop by there and it asks me questions there. Hi cherished friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter, and everything in between. That's why I created the Organize 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. Alright, so this series is all about storage, the good, the bad, and the expensive. Because storage can be a lifesaver or it can be a way to avoid making a decision. So in this series, we're just going to break it all down into the different parts. So let me actually just start listing them here so that you know what's coming.
So one of them is the true cost of storage. So we'll talk about the financial cost versus the emotional weight. So we'll really talk about what's the going rate, what does it mean when you spend that much, what does it come with, the pros and cons of storage rooms. and what you should be looking at when you're storing different things.
So if you have heirlooms or older antiques and vintage stuff that you might need a specific type of storage facility. Some storage facilities are specific like for cars, for instance, like there are those that are very unique to having it be climate controlled. Some of them are outside and they're just free for all.
You can put whatever you want, but it's not climate controlled. It's not, it doesn't have security, et cetera. So we'll go through all of the different types of storage. facilities and then, um, when storage is an investment versus when it's just kind of delaying decisions. Okay, so we'll talk about that.
We'll talk about the storage versus stalling and are you keeping it or postponing a decision? Um, I'll give you some tips on how to determine that and the emotional side of storage and how to recognize when maybe you're stuck and then strategies to move from someday to action. We'll talk about what stays and what goes.
How to decide what's worth storing. We'll talk about storing for a loved one. So helping without hoarding. When a parent or loved one asks you to store things, how to set the boundaries. Because what happens a lot is We will have scenarios where a loved one will ask you to store it for them while they're making this transition.
And then you feel obligated to do so and because you never came to an understanding of what would happen if something were to happen to them or they no longer could make those decisions. And then you feel paralyzed and don't do anything about it because now there's the guilt. Okay, so we'll talk about that.
What happens when you're already in that situation and also how to avoid it if you are not there yet, but you know it's coming. We'll talk about the emotional weight of storage and why it's so hard to let go. And we'll talk about the storage, the cost of forgetting about storage. So you know the show Storage Wars?
I think it was like on A& E or something. So we'll talk about the real, like I've dealt with so many clients that they kind of just forgot that their storage was there and then their children inherited the storage facility now and they had no idea that that even existed. A lot of secrets are kept like that, a lot of over spenders or when there is an addiction to spending that really comes into play for many reasons, not just addictions for spending, but many, many times there's just these storage facilities or storage rooms that you had no idea existed or even in your own house, like sometimes you're not even paying for it.
You had no idea there was a room full of stuff and now you have to deal with it. So We'll talk about like the storage wars of real life and the cost of forgetting about storage. We'll talk about when storage makes sense versus, you know, when, when they're, it's smart to use a temporary storage versus how to determine if you need like the long term versus short term and how to keep it organized and setting a plan for the future.
So we'll kind of get that in order and talk about that. We'll talk about the climate, the corridors and the cost. Now, actually we have a podcast episode about. So every Halloween I do this episode about creepy things, creepy crawlers, creepy horror stories of, stories about organizing and decluttering and all this.
So you can actually go back to all of our Halloween episodes. I think right now there's two, so I shouldn't say all, like there's a hundred. There's only two. But we do talk about critters and the hidden dangers of long term storage when you don't, you know, when things kind of get forgotten and there's critters or mold or all those things in there.
So we'll talk about that. We'll talk about family storage nightmares, what happens when you inherit a storage unit, like I mentioned, but more specifically, what happens when other families are involved and how to mitigate that. Yeah. So those are just some of the topics. As you can see, we are covering all the different angles of storage.
And this series is not meant to overwhelm you. It's meant to help you. So what I've done is I've broken it down to all these different topics so that you can grab the one that applies to you or the one that you feel is coming or the one that feels like you can take action on. So that you can start breaking down this big project into smaller, actionable steps.
And all of the episodes will have actionable steps at the end. That I am giving you, like, okay, if you want to take action right now, this is short term action taking, versus long term, versus if you're trying to maybe hire a company to do this, I'll kind of give you what might come with this project, so this, this part of storing.
So I will break it down to what makes sense, actionable, small steps, but effective steps. Okay, so don't worry, I won't make this overwhelming. And then again, the event and the first week of June, I think is going to be a game changer for many of you because you will actually be able to take action, listen to speakers.
That can help you and or have will give you inspiration and ideas to move forward so you don't delay clearing out your storage anymore and declutter those areas of your life. And one other reminder is that like the goal of the series isn't to tell you that all storage is bad because it's not okay at all.
It's actually, I think it's a, it's a wonderful place, like a holding area, which is a wonderful place for many people. That can't commit to just making a decision right now. And sometimes it's very hard to make decisions emotionally because of what, how you ended up with all this stuff. But it's about making sure that things you're storing actually serve a purpose.
And that you are being thoughtful about paying the price of storing all of this stuff. Because you know, we, sometimes we just keep things just in case, or because we haven't had a time to deal with them, and that's when storage becomes a burden instead of a helpful tool and service. So that's what we're dealing with, and that's what we're going to try to help you with.
Okay, so I'm so excited for the beginning of this series, and remember that at the end of the day. All of this comes back to one thing, which is to support you, the caregiver and those navigating the overwhelming task of managing belongings. So whether it's downsizing, decluttering, or making peace with what's left behind.
So take what speaks to you as this series unfolds, follow the paths that resonate. And as always, we are here to help you make those decisions with compassion. And with understanding. So until next time, happy organizing, I'll see you next week. Thank you for listening to the Organize and Cherish podcast with The Organized Flamingo.
If you enjoyed 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.
