New Year Brings Organization

Perhaps we are victims of marketing. Retailers always push the tools for organization at this time of year, and there's no shortage of ads for bins and shelves. Or perhaps we are victims of the weather warnings:  "arctic blast sends temps to deadly depths!" Whether marketing or temperatures were to blame, we spent a big chunk of the first weekend of 2014 in the basement.

We've been trying to figure out how to best utilize each section of the basement. We know that eventually we will finish a section of the 2012 basement as a rec room. For now, it will continue to be Scott's main shop and tool area. The 1920 basement has been designated as storage, and the 1972 basement as a craft area. I'm very excited about this not because I'm a crafter but because I'm secretly making it into my own personal lair. More on that later. 

We made a good dent this weekend but still have a lot to do; check out the progress:

The first area to organize was the easiest. This ledge in the 1920 basement has most recently been our go-to spot for piling our paint brushes, trowels, buckets, sponges, and all the other little things necessary to finish the house. Not much has happened here for the last six months except for a build-up of spider webs.

The ledge is now the designated spot for Christmas decorations. (And I mean only Christmas decorations. If I see any sort of hardware-related item sneaking into this area, it's going in the trashcan.)

The 1972 basement presented the biggest challenge. This has been the dumping ground for all the boxes that needed to be unpacked as rooms were finished. There's a couch in the middle of this pile, and lots of empty moving boxes.

About 10 cartons of old checks, old receipts, old magazines, and old housewares were stacked behind the couch.

By the end of Saturday's work day, quite a pile of empty cardboard boxes was ready to be broken down for the recycler. Many of our childhood and college items were consolidated into more-permanent plastic bins for long term storage. (I found all my sorority scrapbooks, a box full of letters and photos regarding a certain cute boy, and countless stuffed animals.)

The ledge on the back wall of the 1920 basement became "permanent" storage. Since we don't expect to need to get to these things often, they are stacked high and deep. The cartons at the left are all old magazines. We know we don't need them but feel guilty tossing them - so, for example, if you need to find an article from a 1989 issue of Architectural Record or want to review 30 years of National Geographic, come on over.

By the end of Sunday's work day, the 1972 room was taking shape. I've got some pretty good plans that haven't met much resistance, yet. I hope to continue working on this in the weeks to come. 

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!