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step
two: sort. If the mess
is really overwhelming, you may want to take one room at a time or start
with broad categories, then sort these into smaller groups.
Once you see how much you have, you’ll be better able to figure
out where to put it. This is the
time to perform the dreaded purge.
As you sort, you might be surprised by how much of your stuff you
don’t remember owning – and how much of it you can part with without
a qualm. Purge till it
hurts – and then stop immediately.
Don’t worry; you’ll find a place to put the rest. step
three: put it all away. When
planning storage, always think vertical – most homes have much more
free space overhead than on the floor.
If you just use your closet for clothes, you’re only using a
fraction of the space. You
can place a shelf above the closet rod, or sort your clothes by length
and store things in the space beneath the shorter items.
Bookcases or wall-mounted shelves can be placed on any blank wall
and used to store anything you can think of.
On the floor, drawer units allow you to stack your stuff
sky-high. And don’t
forget the nooks and crannies. Under the bed, on top of the refrigerator, behind the sofa
– look around, and you’ll find tons of potential storage. Your storage
spaces can be filled to the brim as long as you make sure that the items
you use most often are accessible.
You shouldn’t have to move boxes of memorabilia to get at the
vacuum cleaner (unless you reminisce more often than you clean, of
course!). Put rarely-used
kitchen appliances in the back of that long, narrow cabinet, and pots
and pans toward the front. Those
cunning little tables with lids that lift off to reveal storage within
look good, but in my house, the table top would be covered in a matter
of minutes, and I’d never see its contents again.
I stick to tables with drawers, so I can cover the surface and
still use the storage. As you stow
your stuff, think about function. Items
should be stored where they are used most often. This will not only make them more accessible, but also easier
to put away – and maintenance is a big part of being a happy packrat. ---------------------------> lounge . nourish . host . laze . home.
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