Seasonal Storage Solutions at Home
The smart way can get more space is to organise your house more effectively by storing seasonal items out of the way when they’re not needed. Roof cavities, basements, garages, sheds, backs of closets, in the roof and hundreds of little areas in your home are not being used effectively - but they can be. They are the ideal places to store your snorkelling gear in winter, and your snow equipment in summer.
Seasonal items don’t stop with your snorkelling and snow gear. You have seasonal furnishings such as winter curtains, furniture such as outdoor chairs for summer, your warm and woolly winter clothes, and different blankets and bedspreads for each season.
When you take a moment to consider all the seasonal items you have - it adds up fast, making it even more important to store them away until the next year and free up room in your home.
Group Items by Season
By keeping all your winter or summer items together, you can easily find what you need when you need it. It makes sense for your surfboard to be next to your beach towel, right? It also makes sense because you will have more stuff together so you can store them in a larger container, making it more efficient.
Plan with the ABC Tool
The ABC of storage is Assess, Box, and Control. To build a seasonal storage plan you need to know what you have and where you’re putting it. So first, you’ll need to make an assessment of your household’s storage availability and what you should store seasonally
Grab a notepad or open a spreadsheet and build those two lists. Walk around your home and note every possible storage area - no matter how large or small. Include the hard to reach shelves and skinny space under your bed. Once you’ve identified the nooks and crannies you can use, write down a list of every seasonal item you can store, including clothing, luggage, sporting equipment, tools and sentimental keepsakes. Now you can merge those two lists - assigning locations for each of your seasonal items to be stored.
Now it’s time to box them. Packing items carefully and tightly allows you to get the most out of your space. It will also be quickest to have a range of boxes in front of you and sort your seasonal gear accordingly - you can put the boxes away later.
Finally, control your seasonal storage. You’ve done the hard work of categorising and packing it now you want to make sure it stays neat, tidy and accessible. Go over your storage spaces and identify and fix any areas that aren’t working; maybe a shelf is smaller than you thought or you have too many clothes in one storage box. Check your lists, and make sure it matches up to where your boxes are stored in your house, and put name tags on each box so you know exactly what they are.
Garage
The garage is ideal for your more rugged items that can handle some cold or dampness - your outdoor chairs, sports gear and bikes for example. Tuck them away in the garage and save space in your house for other items that you want to be more accessible.
Congratulations. You’re fully in control of your house and have successfully stored your seasonal items. To build a new home with optimal storage space, start by talking to the building and design consultants at McDonald Jones Homes. We make seasonal storage easier than saying your ABCs.
