Intro of Blog Post & Me (if we have never met)
Hi there! If you made it to this blog post, it's because you are interested in organizing your shed, garage or basement (or a similar space). Well, I am glad you are here and hope that I can offer some good tips for you.
If we have never met or you are new to our community, I am Stephanie, the founder of The Organized Flamingo, a Certified Professional Organizer, CPO® with NAPO (National Association of Productivity and Professional Organizers).
We help people get and stay more organized and while I do this for a living for other people there are times when I have to do a big organizing and decluttering project for myself. So I thought I would bring you along on my own journey to clear out this very cluttered space and convert these three spaces into usable and peaceful areas.
Why don't we hire someone to organize the basement, garage, and shed?
If you are wondering why I don't just outsource this project and have one of my team members do it or hire another organizing company, the way people hire us, it's because I want to do it myself so I can see what comes up and offer solutions for others along the way. We have two tracks at The Organized Flamingo: one is the do-it-for-you route, which is how we started where we organize, declutter, and tidy up for you, and the second is the do-it-yourself route where we offer practical and easy-to-follow tips through our podcast, online shop, workshops and social media and you organize yourself. So this post is all about how we are doing it ourselves and offers tips along the way.
What you will find in this blog:
So back to why you came. You are here to read all about our progress and see what tips are helpful to you. I'm going to keep adding to this blog post as we move along and offer before and after pictures, so keep coming back for updates. I am also including the products we are using. I am using our framework which is the 7 Steps to Organizing *almost* Anything. It's a framework to get and stay organized long-term and I have used it for the majority of my 20+ year career in organizing people's lives and spaces. You can read or listen to what this is all about in the podcast page here.
So let's get to it:
Step-by-Step
Step 1: Assess
We sat down and determined what our end goal was (and is): to finish the unfinished basement area. As part of the assessment, we determined that to do that, we had to build a shed or something like it because 75% of the stuff that was in the basement was seasonal items and tools. Backstory: we didn't have additional storage in our house outside of the garage and that space is limited, which is how the seasonal items and tools ended up in the basement.
So now we had an end goal and that's how the plan started. We knew we had to build a small storage solution for the seasonal boxes and tools that were in the basement. Out of all of our options, we went with a small shed on the side of the house. This then created a domino effect to get us through the next steps.
Step 2: Sort
The end goal is to make the basement part of the house/finished but we weren't looking for perfection, so it was a priority to sort and declutter before we incorporated any fancy or cute systems.
(if you are not familiar with our 7-Steps of Organizing *Almost* Anything head over to the podcast here to hear what it is. Basically, it's 7 steps you can follow to organize almost anything in a way that's not overwhelming. The order for Steps 2-5 can change depending on your end goal)
I started the sorting process to see what we had and that took a few weeks. I chose categories that made sense to use (I'll share what those were when I do an update) and sorted things into those categories. Once this was finished, I started with the decluttering step.
**Please note that this is a living, breathing blog post that I am updating on a daily or weekly basis. I will be adding pictures and updates as I remember things. Pictures to come as well**
Step 3: Declutter
This process took a few weeks as well and I chose to donate most of our stuff that we didn't need but was usable and throw away everything else. We have sold 3 things but that's its own process and I didn't want to introduce that to this project (more on that later).
- PROBLEM: towards the end of this step, we hit a problem. One of our pipes burst. This pipe is of course, in the basement…under the concrete floor. This is beyond our scope of a DIYer, so we called a plumber and two different companies came out to first temporarily fix the problem and the other to put a new pipe in. We have not filled the hope back up but will soon.
Step 4: Designate a Home
This is where we are at right now. Figuring out what will be the semi-permanent or permanent homes for the items we have moved around after sorting and decluttering. I usually like to do this step first before picking a fancy or cute system or buying the bins. I have found that if you don't have a plan and purpose for storage solutions, they will just get filled with clutter and hide your stuff versus store it (there IS a difference!)
- BREAK: Taking a break for the holidays and travel. This step is taking the longest because of the holidays, and travel and it's cold here in Colorado. I find myself in the basement when I can but with the weather being cold, I don't feel like going to the garage or shed.
Step 5: Containers
I am trying to use what we have and limit the amount of stuff we buy until we are ready to pretty it all up. So far we have gotten the following organizing solutions (please note that I may earn commissions from some of the links, but rest assured that I only share what I know works or is highly recommended).
- Bike Rack Pully System (Bike Hoists) to hang all of the bikes from the ceiling. (Remember to look at your vertical spaces for organizing solutions, too!)
- Critter (Rodent) Ultrasonic Repellent to deter critters from coming into the garage, basement, and shed. I have used these with clients, as well. I got these in September of 2023 and there has been a limited number of critters coming in, if at all.
Step 6: Evaluate
TBD
Step 7: Maintain
Not even close to this part. Our goal is by Spring of 2024 so stay tuned!
Kindly, Stephanie
updated: December 13, 2023
