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What do you do when you currently live in a small house with not a lot of storage space, you will eventually move to a larger house, you have a lot of things that you want to keep but dont have space to put out all your decor, and you dont want to sell them or rent a storage locker. Do you just give up and box up some stuff put it in a closet and then only put out a few decor items? Or do you cram everything out there where you can see it?
Keep the essentials out and store the rest, unless you don't mind living in a cluttered environment. You can organize your storage so you can change decor out fairly easily.
Keep the essentials out and store the rest, unless you don't mind living in a cluttered environment. You can organize your storage so you can change decor out fairly easily.
This. I was so much happier when I went from having about 25 things on my mantel to about 5.
I moved from a 1400sf rental to a 650sf condo in 2003. The purging process took me about 4 years. The first 2 years, I kept everything in boxes crammed into closets and in my tiny storage bin in the basement. Slowly I got sick of spending 2 hours shuffling stuff around whenever I needed something from the back of my closet, so I started to get rid of items. When I got it down to the stuff that I REALLY wanted to hang onto, I tripped over it for another couple of years, then I eventually opted to rent a storage locker. I wish in retrospect that I had just rented the locker to begin with. In the end, I found the whole experience of minimizing clutter to be positive. You know what? I'm sitting here now trying to remember even just one thing I sold or gave away. I can remember a single thing. But at the time, it was like parting with my own flesh. Its amazing how much our stuff weighs us down.
Honestly, there is no answer that you will like. You can store it in your space, but you'll be tripping over your boxes. If you are like me, that is exactly what you will choose to do. After a while, you will probably change your mind about it. I live outside of Chicago and was able to rent a 5x9 climate controlled locker for $30/month. The cost was not that bad when I calculated the amount I was saving by owning a smaller space. Personally, if I had to do it again, I'd chose the storage locker over a number of other budget items, such as a cell phone data plan or cable TV.
If you are determined to keep everything in your space with you, the bedrizer will be your friend. http://www.bedrizer.com/
Its funny, in some countries, 20 people live in a 650sf space (or smaller), but it was way to small for me after 7 years. I moved out and into a 1100 sf town home that I'm happy with.
Last edited by TheWayISeeThings; 03-13-2012 at 08:15 PM..
When I moved the first time I was told. Pretend that everything you pick up to pack costs $5 to take with you. You quickly learn what you do and don't value.
I also thought about switching out the decor. Keeping some boxed and then switching them out. I have things I really like, but I don't feel I have the space for putting them all out at once. It isn't a ton of stuff if you pack it, but out it feels like a lot.
You don't really appreciate something to its potential if it's competing with a dozen other things for attention. Rotate once or twice a year. I have spring-summer/autumn/Christmas rotations for my accessories. When one set is out, the other two are in plastic tubs in the garage. When I change, I only have to take season's tubs into the house and I place the removed stuff in those tubs. I have a lot of original art and I switch that out rather than see it all, all the time. I also change my bedding to the new look. It's like getting new things if you haven't seen them for months.
Once something is packed away in a box, it rarely comes back out of that box.
I'm still coming across boxes that I stored away when I moved into this house 20 years ago.
I don't even like the stuff now. My taste has changed.
Keep what you like most and will acutally use. Sell the rest.
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