Let’s talk about STORAGE
Do you need a bigger house or do you really need less stuff?
Before I begin, let me remind you that I really want to help people face their clutter and sometimes that involves spreading some tough love when changing the way you view your stuff. Today’s message is a bit of a truth bomb.
Storage is most certainly a HUGE topic and it can be a blessing or a curse.
Accessible daily use storage=GOOD. Packing things away never to be seen again=very, very bad.
GOOD STORAGE
This week I’m helping a mom with storage. Her family moved into their home last fall and she recently called me and said, “I just don’t know where to put everything.” She has two little boys who love books, Legos, stuffed animals and video gaming. They may have a slight overabundance of clothing and we’re going to pare down a bit in that area, but they really don’t have an overabundance of clutter. They honestly just don’t have anywhere to put any of the toys, Legos, books, and stuffies. They need a little storage.
Your kitchen cabinets holding the dishes you use every day is useful, accessible storage. Your closet and bureau holding the clothes you wear regularly is useful, accessible storage. Having an easily identifiable place for your kids’ regularly used toys is good storage. You get bonus points if you teach them help maintain it and they get to learn some responsibility. Your Christmas decorations living in your attic is also useful storage! Packing up your favorite kid clothes and saving them a couple years while the next kid grows into them is smart and money-saving.
BAD STORAGE
Buying a bunch of Rubbermaid totes, filling them with miscellaneous crap that you don’t know how to handle, shoving them in a basement, garage, shed, or attic- and not opening them for twenty years - that is a “no” every time. Clutter is made up of delayed decisions and a stack of mystery containers will always come back to haunt you.
Renting an off-site unit and paying for it monthly for YEARS is just downright crazy. By the time you empty it, the value of whatever stuff lived in there has likely been paid for EXPONENTIALLY in rental fees! Storage units were meant to be TEMPORARY. They are designed for people who have to downsize their homes quickly and need a little more time to get their unwanted to stuff to the places it needs to go. Alternatively, storage units are great for military families who need to deploy or people who otherwise need pack up while they are in between homes for whatever reason. The key is here is a set, definite time limit to having the stuff in storage.
Check in with yourself the next time you head out to buy more storage totes or other containers. Is this going to be a good/useful storage situation or are you delaying decisions about a bunch of stuff you really don’t need to keep at all?
