We have a few issues around here. Storage. We aren’t really lacking it either because I’m always trying to create it. But I am always looking for pieces of furniture that will make good storage pieces. Why? Well because I thought having TONS of storage would be a good thing. But too much storage I have found out causes 2 frustrated adults searching for things they don’t remember where they put them.
For instance, our dresser in the foyer is filled with random crap stuff.
That’s an old pic too. But we have all kinds of stuff in there. I can only tell you specifically what is in 2 of those drawers because they are Emma’s coloring books and such.
In the laundry room I have an Expedit and I can’t even begin to tell you what’s in those baskets and bins right now.
Now in the office, I have the hutch FULL of more stuff, mostly craft supplies and old birdhouses, and then this old blackish console table that used to be in our entryway, is now in here. Oh yes, for more storage that I don’t know what’s stored in them.
It is handy to have my printer off of the floor though.
Then that coat closet that was turned into a storage closet….
Um, yea, it doesn’t quite look like that right now and I forgot to snap a current pic. Be thankful.
Then upstairs I have another storage closet full of decor accessories.
It’s funny because I even wrote a post 2 1/2 years ago about “where does all that stuff go.” And back then I thought it was kind of awesome to have all these secret storage places. Now, not so much.
The last thing I’ll show you is our latest acquisition, or switcheroo if you will.
Can you tell what that is? That would be our old dresser now in our closet, because you guessed it, we need more storage! (we have a different dresser in our bedroom now)
I have to say though having a dresser in the closet is kind of nice.
Me and my husband have an ongoing little joke. Whenever we can’t find anything, we say “you must have put it in safe place.” It’s just too bad those safe places are never rememberable.
So these are the 3 options I came up with so we can find these precious belongings:
- Start writing every single thing down and where we put it;
- Make labels on every basket and bin and put them on our furniture drawers too. Not pretty, but hey.
- Throw everything out and become minimalists. That option sounds pretty good actually.
Maybe I should add to that option that we should find an essential oil that helps with memory so we can remember things too. Guess we are aging.
Any of you have these issues and always put your stuff in a “safe place” then don’t remember it? Because lets face it, having extra storage is really just concealing the stuff and having a place to shove the toys into when someone rings the doorbell. Yes? I know it looks nicer too of course, but do you think it’s all necessary?
I feel a major purge brewing.
xxoo,
Decorchick!
I hate to say but I agree…sometimes you can have TOO much storage. I keep wondering where I am going to put everything and then I get a new chest, bookshelf, etc. and it is immediately full. I think to myself, do I really need all this stuff? I am trying to concentrate this year on getting rid of so much clutter and start realizing my dream of an organized home! Thanks!
I totally agree. I have large basement and have a lot of storage but one day I woke up and said, Why do I need all this stuff?” So I have spent some time each week working on getting rid of stuff that is stored and my style has changed and why am I storing this???
I am feeling good about EMPTY space, it feel light and airy, even if it is a basement…I will keep going until the stuff is gone!
I’ve been feeling this way forever. But every time I mention it to someone, they tell me I’m crazy. Some areas of my house have so much excess storage I’ve found myself move things into that become inconvenient (ie. moving some of my sewing stuff from the craft room out to the dinning room to put in an empty dresser drawer) just to fill the empty spaces.
I do, however, get how wanting storage can happen. We have two *very* small bedrooms that make up our daughter’s room and the craft room. The closets started as nothing but a single self and a long hanging bar. and the rooms don’t leave a lot of space for dressers. I’ve dreamed of adding fancy closet organizing systems to those rooms, for more storage.
Lucky girl… all that storage! :-) I wish I had that problem…we have practically none in our home. I am always wishing for more. We have all kinds of junk and no where to put it! :-)
You’re a lot younger than me and I’m actually glad to hear that you have the same problem. Perhaps it’s not my age, but too much stuff! Actually, I recently moved. The new house is larger and I’m still having trouble finding a place to put everything. And in packing and unpacking I found so many things I had forgotten about. It’s actually depressing sometimes. I secretly wish I could start all over with nothing. However, I have a problem with being too sentimental. I have things from when I cleared out my parents’ house. Awards and plaques that my Dad received. His name is on the stuff so I didn’t want to leave it for the estate sale and yet I can’t bear to see it go to a landfill and yet I have no room to hang it all. I definitely have trouble letting things go, but I’m tired of jamming stuff in closets too. I’ve got plenty of closets, but it’s like the more room I have the more stuff I save. And I have three sons and they’re not going to want this stuff some day.
Oh I can relate to all the above. Our house is full of our grown children’s things they aren’t willing to get rid of but don’t want to take to their house. We have my parents and hubby’s parents things as well as his aunt and grandparents. Now I have some of my sister’s things and her granddaughter who used to stay with us when she was a toddler. And now we have our own grandchildren. When does it end? So I have been acquiring extra pieces of furniture for storage also. Now there is no room for us. Last week I did do some purging of things and some furniture but it is not enough. Been thinking about taking pictures of those sentimental things I don’t want on the display and getting rid of them. If I put the pictures in an album at least I can still appreciate them. UGH, what to do.
My dad alwasy had a box ready for my brother and I that he put in the trunk once we were beyond little apartments. Half of our attic is their keeper stuff. Since 2 have a new house, they go shopping in our attic when they come.
Hi Emily:
Too much storage??? Oh I wish….
Here in Texas we do not have basements, and my attic storage is very limited. I live in an older home, therefore the laundry room and closets are not large. There is no way I could put a dresser or cabinet in either. I do have full linen closets, but blankets, and sheets and general bathroom stuff takes up a lot of room. My husband built in a storage unit [wall to wall] many years ago in what “was” our formal dining room, just for storing Christmas decorations. Our formal living room became our formal dining room. Didn’t need that formal living room anyway LOL
Emily I can’t believe that you overlooked a valuable storage area, that is under your stairs. Of course you would have to get someone who could build a storage unit there. I can see a closet, drawers, shelves etc. I cannot even do that because I have a one story house.
I have purged, but you just cannot get rid of it all. Oh, I too have those special safe spots. When you put something there, you may never find it again.
I wanted to build storage down my long hallway, in between the studs, but it was too expensive. And I am not comfortable tearing down walls to the studs.
So unless you are accumulating too many dressers, [I’d gladly take one off your hands] Keep them and use them, just designate each one for specific stuff.
You know I love your home and blog, Can’t wait to see your next project.
Mrs. Advice here. When living small apartments overseas, we came to love IKEA storage. It is designed for smaller spaces and efficiency. They have all sizes of width and heights, colors and styles to choose from plus they are affordable. If you haven’t considered this option it just mght be a good solution.
Our home is 1961 square feet, but with older homes, we do not have storage space. Those Ikea storage pieces will not fit in our laundry room.
I guess the master closet could use a make over as well as the linen closets. We do not have a big entry in fact there is one small table there and it looks crowded.
I wish I could find someone to put shelves or a small chest between the studs for storage.
Thanks for your advise, maybe I need to go back to ikea soon.
Ditto! Organize similar things in one place. If you need to get rid of any storage dressers or bookshelves, send them this way… I’m on the hunt. New place, new space, old stuff is either in use, or was sold. Can’t wait for spring in hopes that Craigslist will have some good stuff.
When I was a girl my mom read Side-tracked home executives That title fit us to the T :). They suggested numbering each box or storage area and then having a notecard corresponding to it. Every time we added something to that storage item, we wrote it on the card. Then when we were searching for an item, we just flipped through the cards and went right to the spot It works really well, when I take the time to write the item on the card :)
Just yesterday I was wondering outloud why after purge and purge and declutter we still seem awash in stuff. In our earlier years it just wasn’t so. Maybe, having 5 (3 adults and 2 teens) children, added parents’s things that are keepers for the kids when they have room is part of the problem. Honestly, there are also things I am just not ready to get rid of yet. We don’t have a lots of storage that is easy to use. Our over 200 year old farmhouse has poorly designed and built built ins are black holes! Lousy closets and lack of cabinets in the kitchen make it a struggle to organize and to know where is it??
I am guilty of having lots of stuff and lots of storage BUT I have devised a system that works for me. I make sure that like items are together. ie. batteries, power cords, chargers all go in one bin, important papers all go together etc. Hubby tells me I am a hoarder but when he needs something he always asks me for whatever it is and I usually have it and can put my hands on it within seconds.
I try to keep common things stocked up so that we never run out. We have flashlights, flashlight bulbs, batteries, shoelaces, extra power cords for laptops and electronics in case they get lost.
Hubby built our new house and we moved in last July. When we moved, anything that had not been used in 6 months was left in boxes in the basement. I have been going through them and sorted out what we do not need/use and we are going to the flea market this coming summer to unload it all. Whatever does not go at the flea market will be dropped off at the Salvation Army on our way home at the end of the weekend. It is amazing how much stuff we are getting rid of and we don’t feel the need to run out and get more stuff yet! LOL
I am known as the organizing Queen in our neighborhood because EVERYTHING is organized because clutter drives me crazy!!! Good luck with your storage quest~~~ ! :-)
We live on a 200m2 block (600 square feet?) in a terrace style house so I envey your storage! My only suggestion would be to keep all your stored stuff in one place if possible, I.e. the attic, basement, office or garage. Have a major clean up and be ruthless with the things you no longer need, if you have not used it for over 2 years then throw it up on EBay to get some extra cash for your trouble.
I am laughing right now; I have the same problem! The sad thing is that they are so full of (stuff) that I am now piling things outside of them!
Purging. I love purging. It’s happening over here right now. We took about 5 bags of clothes to Goodwill on Saturday and I’m still creating piles of stuff to be donated. It feels so good! I’ll probably be going through my decor stuff soon because I’ve bought new things – three silver lanterns (oh, how I love them).
Where did you find the dresser in the top photo? I have a 100+ year old bedroom set that was handed down from my great-great-grandparents and that dresser is a perfect match. I’ve seen others around pinterest that look the same but I would LOVE to get one to add to my set!
Our home is small so I can attest that I don’t have nearly enough storage, Buy what storage I do have is poorly organized and there is no system. The other day I was looking for a micro SD Card converted so I could upload some pictures, I looked everywhere for it. I finally found it under a ton of pens, and I’d looked there twice before.
I will keep trying though :)
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