Tag Archive 'storage'

Jun 24 2010

Organizing Your Basement

Published by under Garage & Storage

A lot of people use their basement as a “catch all” room. Anything that doesn’t have a place anywhere else gets dumped in the basement.


Cleaning supplies, sports equipment, storage boxes, memorabilia, photo albums, holiday decorations and lots of other things…..


When storing things in the basement you need to consider the moisture that a lot of basements have. Also be sure to keep everything off of the floor (at least a few inches). You never know when you might have some flooding after a heavy storm. The one year that I decided to “hide” my Christmas presents in the basement we had a really bad rainstorm and the basement got a few inches of water. Of course I had all of the presents on the floor, lined up in a perfect line, wrapped perfectly, in perfect bags, all ready to go. I lost just about everything and learned a very valuable lesson (no, not the one about being too organized).


I learned that basements flood! (and no, I’m not telling you where I hide my Christmas presents now…).


If you put any type of shelving units in your basement be sure that the bottom shelf is at least three (3) inches above the floor to be safe.


Keep in mind that mold, mildew, water and little critters might play a role in how you organize your basement and what types of storage bins you use.


It’s best to keep things in plastic boxes with tight fitting lids. Be sure to label the boxes so that you know what’s in them…but do not put the label on top of the lid, put it on the sides.


If you stack the boxes make sure that the heaviest boxes are on the bottom.


You need to decide how the basement is going to be used. Storage, workshop, office, playroom….. If the basement is going to be used for more than one purpose break the area into “zones” and section off each zone. For example, if the basement is going to be used for both storage and a playroom use some type of divider to keep the kids out of the storage area.


A dehumidifier might be a good idea to help remove the moisture in your basement and to help get rid of the musty smell.


Be sure to keep things away from the heater.


Remember, organizing any room that is cluttered is going to take time. Give yourself a break by setting a time limit (one or two hours) so that you don’t exhaust yourself and get frustrated and give up.


I’m sure that it didn’t get disorganized and cluttered overnight and it’s going to take some time to get organized.


Once the room is organized the maintenance to keep it that way will be minimal.

http://www.organizationalconsultingservices.com
http://www.professionalorganizer4u.blogspot.com


Member: National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO)
Member: National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD)
Certificate of Study in Chronic Disorganization
NAPO, Quantum Leap Trainer

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Mar 17 2010

Finding a Self Storage Facility That Suits Your Storing Needs

Published by under Garage & Storage

Merriam is a small locality in Kansas City, close to the interstate-35 highway. Being located so close to a highway has its own advantages and one of them is that this is one of those few localities in Kansas City that has a self storage facility. Like the other storage facilities in Overland Park, the Merriam self storage facility is regarded as one of the safest and best storage facilities in the state. It’s proximity to a railroad junction gives it a strategic location for people who transport their goods via rail.


Deciding Your Storage Needs


Due to the strategic location of self storage facility, it is easy to reach by road. However, it is important for you to decide what kind of storing facility you need before actually visiting and booking a storage unit. This is because the Merriam self storage facility provides storage units in various sizes, from a small unit suitable for storing small household articles to large cabins which are perfect for storing household furniture and other objects of daily as well as rare use in a house. You might be moving in or out of the city hence want to place some of your most precious items with the storage unit. It is therefore important for you to take care of the following points before booking a storage unit:


*How secure is the building? If the building has little or no security checks then it is better to avoid.


*Proximity to the highway. The convenience offered by the Merriam self storage is best suited to people who travel out of the city using the highway.


*The building should ideally be only one-storied since this helps in cutting down the time and cost of moving heavy items on higher floors of the building.


*A building with climate control features is best suited for perishable goods although such facilities are more expensive.


*The structure of the building should be such that it can safeguard your personal belongings.


How To Find A Storage Facility


The Merriam self storage is easy to find just off the 67th street in Kansas City. It has become a preferred storage unit location for people who move in and out of the state. It doesn’t take much of an effort to locate the storage unit in Kansas City, and address and location details of the facility are listed in local phone books, yellow pages, which can be found online as well.


Packaging Tips


The Merriam self storage facility also provides packaging items such as durable boxes, duct tapes, permanent markers, bubble wraps, and locks to secure your belongings. Additionally, some storage units also provide transportation facilities to help you transport your belongings in and out of the unit. This may come with an additional cost though.


It is important to begin packing early as it not only helps you save time and energy in packing all your belongings, but also helps to properly identify and segregate items of personal use from those which can be stored for longer duration of time.


To get a better understanding of how the storage facility is of use, it is recommended to visit a storage facility and talk to them personally.

Are you looking for a storage facility in Merriam, Kansas? Look no further! Visit Merriam Self Storage for all your storing needs.

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Jan 14 2010

Three Simple Steps For Cleaning the Storage Room

Published by under Garage & Storage

Life simply works best when we have our physical environment really work. When we’re organized, we can think more clearly, we’re more efficient, and we can take on projects that have lain dormant for months or even years.

Whether your storage room is at home or at work, the following advice applies. The key is always keeping the appropriate things in the storage room instead of allowing this room to be a place where things get put because there’s no other place to put them.

Remember, good, lasting organization doesn’t happen overnight. It is crucial to start smart because decluttering takes a lot of effort at the beginning. I strongly recommend getting expert advice in order to see results quickly and avoid getting bogged down in too much “stuff”. You’ll save yourself hours and hours of work if you listen to the right people.

If you’re cleaning the storage room, following these simple steps will at least get you started:

Step #1 in Cleaning the Storage Room – Sort Everything in the Storage Room. Always ask yourself, “Does this really belong here?” If it does, make a place for it. If it does not, find another place. For years, I had many things in our storage room that I never actually used. Therefore, the storage room became a place filled mostly with things I didn’t need plus several things that I used a lot, like wrapping paper, and office supplies.

Finally, I decided that I wanted the storage room to be a room that we used, like an extra room of the house where we put things that we’d need.

So, I sorted everything in the storage room into three categories: 1) keep, but never use, 2) stay in storage room, and 3) go somewhere else in the house

Step #2 in Cleaning the Storage Room – Clear Everything Out. All of the things that I wanted to keep but didn’t need to have readily available, like old pictures, family history, financial records, etc., I put up in the attic. I even put holiday decorations in the attic. I knew that I would need them once a year and since my attic is very organized, I figured that I could climb up there every few months to get holiday decorations.

Step #3 in Cleaning the Storage Room – Store Things Efficiently. Make the best use of your space. Instead of having a two-foot high CD storage unit that would carry 100 CDs, we converted a tall book shelf into a CD tower by getting extra boards cut for shelves and spacing them only far enough apart to place CDs on them.

Then, we set up bookshelves for all of the books that we wanted to keep but weren’t reading at the time. We also stored all of the children play toys that didn’t need to be out all of the time, but did need to be accessible. The wrapping paper supplies we put on shelves so that we could pull out paper, or bags, or bows without having to re-arrange a lot of boxes.

Now, our storage room stays organized and we use it daily. Having that extra usable space lets us keep our house clear of things that we don’t need available all of the time.

Dr. Isabella Santorini used to be a messy packrat until she and her husband began their family. Since then, she’s mastered the fine art of organizing her house for success. If you’d like to easily make your house a wonderful place to live, don’t waste valuable time and energy. Visit her at: http://www.Inner-Genius.com

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