Basement Organization
- Leah Hallahan
- Jun 21, 2016
- 3 min read
I recently finished organizing a basement belonging to a wonderful mother and her two children. This sweet family moved from a large house to this smaller home in Haddon Heights, NJ after an unfortunate tragedy in their family. They were therefore left with way too many things and not enough space for all of it. This is something so many people struggle with when downsizing. What do I do now with all my stuff??
Working full time and taking care of her two children (did I mention they are twins??) left this mother with little time to unpack and sort through all of the things that were brought into this new home. Needless to say, this family's story touched my heart and I wanted nothing more than to give them a functional, organized space for them to play, create, do homework, and relax.
When I first walked into this basement, it was clear that it was not able to be used to its full potential, if at all. However, that did not stop me from being a wee bit jealous of the concept and layout. Not all of us have the blessing of a basement in our home, let alone a completely FINISHED basement complete with carpet, dry wall, trim, recessed lighting, and Luxury Vinyl Plank flooring in the craft room. Oh yeah, the basement also had FOUR designated areas- a family room with couch and tv, a playroom for the kids, a craft room, AND a laundry room.
Now for MY mission- to sort through and clear out ALL of the boxes and transform this could-be awesome basement, into an amazing and useful basement. Take a look at these before and afters and you tell me if my mission was completed :)
Area #1- The Playroom/Family Room
The family room was actually in great shape. The playroom needed to be sorted through and toys needed to be thrown out. There was also an entire wall of boxes that needed to be unpacked and sorted through.
BEFORE
AFTER
Area #2- The Craft Room
This room was packed to the brim with boxes and belongings. There was a small pathway that led to the laundry room but this space took a lot of time and energy to get up and running.
BEFORE
AFTER
Area #3- The Laundry Room
The final area of this basement, once a narrow pathway to the washer and dryer, and now an actual room where tools and holiday decorations are stored.
BEFORE
I can only hope that this family loves their basement now and can use it to its full potential. For those of you looking to organize your basement or a crazy cluttered area of your home, here's a few of my tips:
1. Only designate 2 - 4 hours at a time for organizing. It takes a lot of energy and overdoing it might lead to you getting turned-off of the project. At the same time, not pushing through for at least 2 hours will probably not get you to the desired outcome you are looking for.
2. Pick one area or space at a time to focus on. Trying to attack the whole house at once is totally overwhelming and you will most likely end the day with a bigger mess than you started out with.
3. Play some tunes. This absolutely makes time go by faster and if they are upbeat songs, you will probably move faster and have more fun organizing!
4. Enlist the help of a friend or family member. While I enjoy doing things like this by myself, my client's mother was always at her house when I was there and I loved when she would come downstairs and chat with me while I cleaned. It gave my brain a break and we had a lot of laughs throughout the day.
Good luck to those of you looking to get organized this summer and thank you so much to this family for letting me go through all of your things! I'm so happy with the way it turned out and I hope you enjoy your space!
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