What do you actually need storage for?

[BalthazarsAThirstyBitch]

After having to deal with a couple of bereavements and associated house clearances in the past couple of years I’m determined to cut down on the amount of shit we have in our new house.
We’ve got a garage for garden toys furniture tools.
We’ve got the Christmas stuff in the loft but I want to keep it free of crap....so, we’re starting to think about inbuilt storage and buying furniture this year but I’m questioning what storage I actually need vs all the lovely things I want to buy but can’t afford and aren’t necessary.
Or am I just kidding myself and this house will look like The Junk Lady’s from Labyrinth eventually?

Neatly, that should say

It ruins receiving Christmas gifts though. I am just left thinking I don't want to store things.

We either have things that are in use/we like on display or they go (we do have spare bedding for all beds in case of illness) - as we decorate each room we only put into it what we want in there and everything has a place to live

In 'storage' are once /twice a year things so camping/suitcases, Christmas decorations/guest bedding /cat carrier

What's this konmari method ladies? My house is slowly turning into a hoarders dream lol

konmari.com/

I'd start by reading one of her books.

When I visit houses with lots of "stuff " I find it suffocating these days, usually prompts me to come home and have a tidy through my stuff!

We had a big declutter a few months ago when we moved, and another go over ds' toys before Christmas.

We have one small bedroom given over to storage, floor-to-ceiling cupboards, which are wonderful. It stores:
Camping shit
Christmas shit
Baking shit
Special crockery
60s coffee pot + 6 cups
Fancy dress (carnival is huge here)
Tablecloths
Craft stuff (mine, mostly giant sheets of felt, foam and associated gubbins)
Big round hatbox full of door wreaths (Christmas, Easter, spring, summer, autumn, Hallowe'en)
Tools
Tons of paint
Mop, bucket, broom, dustpan, all cleaning products
Big hanging shoe tidy
Suitcases of summer clothing (we do a big switch at the end of March/end of October)
Bags for life
Recycling bins (paper, plastic, glass).

It's an amazing room and I love it. I have a Christmas Cupboard 😍

We have a small house and there is definitely a limit of comfortable storage. We have one wall of book shelves in our living room and that is pushing it for example!

However, I think it's been quite good for us, as about twice a year we have a big sort out and get rid of things.

DH really likes the konmari method as it helps him part with things that he worries might be useful. (but doesn't want or need)

What we do store in our attic is different kinds of storage! It's ended up being useful with the kids, to be able to swap around a bookshelf for a kallax unit or a desk depending on what they need at different ages.

I refuse to store unnecessary crap. The things I do store are;

• Paper work (car documents, contracts, passports, certificates etc)
•one box for DD keepsakes and one for mine .
• Tools and DIY stuff.
• Spare bedding for guests.
• DD has all her toys in her bedroom. They are never stored anywhere else and We have a clear out if her toys no longer fit in the boxes.
• Christmas tree and two boxes of decorations.

Clutter grows to fit the storage available.

We buy more storage which is great until we need more storage!

As long as I can shove everything into cupboard I'm happy. DH on the other hand, likes the clutter organised in the storage. I don't have a storage problem. I have a DH problem.

What OneStepMoreFun said.

I also agree it seems a bit topsy turvy to say "We're not going to use the loft" but then go out and buy extra shelving / cupboards / boxes / crates / etc to store things in.

We did a massive declutter as we had to empty our garage to turn it into a new kitchen! Emptying the garage took almost a year, and was only finished when we acquired a shed.

I find storage for dc stuff is the biggest challenge- bedrooms are small and they have mountains of stuff (teenagers!!). Coats for every occasion, trainers!! (Looking at you, ds).

But we had to declutter the garage, then declutter the stuff we decided to keep to get it in the shed, then declutter the shed! Them empty the galley kitchen (decluttering as we went) and we went through stuff again when we put everything back. Dh has the bright idea of getting the rest of downstairs decorated at the same time as the kitchen, so we had to move the bookshelves!! More decluttering. Downside of doing the lounge was him realising quite how much yarn I have . So that's the next on the list.

We've kept our books, our silly ornaments, our photos, most of my yarn (so far), most of the cds. The bookshelf in our lounge is massive but it holds our lives, interests, memories. Yes, it needs dusting already but we like it. I'd say declutter, but don't hurt yourself. And I'm a fool for a new Kallax unit!!!

Don’t use the loft. Once it goes up there, that’s it. I helped my aged mother empty out her loft when she was downsizing and it was hellish - we both agreed she wouldn’t store anything in the loft in her new house, firstly because I didn’t like the idea of the old dear teetering on a ladder and secondly because after her days I don’t really want to have to go up into the loft and spend ages sorting stuff out and wondering what the hell to do with my late father’s snooker cue (last used in 1982) etc. Plus, mice and rats love lofts. It’s far easier to keep the buggers out if they haven’t got loads of crap to hide in or nibble on.

The only built in storage I have in my house is about 10ft by 3ft of eaves storage. That does the Christmas decs, the baby memory boxes, the photo albums, and a few bags of things belonging to older DC that will hover there for a few years before being passed to the younger. We have one eight cube kallax that we use as a TV unit, in which we store paper work, a throw for the sofa, dvds and the devices. A blanket box in the hall for winter coats and hiking gear. That's it really.

All the things we might use once in a decade but will regret getting rid of. When we've tried to "declutter", we have indeed regretted getting rid of X, it's caused arguments too.

But we need all our cafetieres. We had a big one until yesterday when it exploded. Luckily we had a slightly smaller one, bought when it wa sonly DH and I drinking coffee before DTeen started. And then a small one DTeen uses as he spices his coffee and we don't. They don't gather dust but they do take up space.

It’s something of a balancing act. Some households are really maximalist in their stuff . Just have to have the right tool/ gadget/ equipment for the job and can’t imagine living without it. They do/make/bake things and need lots of kit. They might have a whole cupboard of different coffee makers and coffees. Other people have a jar of Kenco and a spoon. some people have a garage of camping/walking/hiking stuff, others just have a pair of wellies they occasionally use.

Also a lot of houses have very little practical storage. We moved in here last year and its not bad but we have floored part of the loft, put up shelves and wardrobes and hooks etc so we can store what we have.

We downsized from a 4 bedroom to a 3 bedroom house and got rid of a lot of surplus stuff we had accumulated, once I was on a roll it got easier.

Yes I have a jar of kenco!

I'm now covering my tablet,'s camera! Lol.

You have to decide your priorities don't you.

It does get easier with practice.

My DH and I used to be similar but I have noticed recently that he still can't get rid of broken, useless stuff. Whereas I'm a ruthless decluttering machine!

This has been on my mind. I am like ragwort with a large house and garage stuffed with stuff including mountains of photo albums.

DC are now grown up but not completely moved out. One is at uni and one has a flat but hasn't taken everything. I don't like to get rid of their things without permission and they claim to want to keep everything. Though actually I've binned the bulk of the school books and I doubt they will ever notice.

I've got rid of hundreds of books. That made a good bit of space. As a family we like board games but they take up a whole sideboard on their own.
I have no loft but the garage roof space is boarded out with proper stairs so is just a store room.

In there is;
Out of season duvets for four beds.
Christmas stuff.
The baby photos (pre digital)
A box of baby memorabilia.
A few good toys like wooded Brio and lego for potential GC.
The computer graveyard. Old hard drives, disc, monitors, wires. So many wires.
DC old sports stuff cricket, skiing, etc.
Speakers and old electrical stuff no longer in use.

So most of this is unused and belongs to DH or DC.
I'm pretty ruthless with clothes that don't get worn but not so good with anything else, though DH would disagree.
Where should I start?

It's difficult with other people's things isn't it.

I only keep things that we love or are of use in our actual life rather than an imaginary one or even worse keeping stuff just in case.
Get rid of the crap and put the money saved on storage towards paying off the mortgage/pension fund/holiday.

There is nothing in our loft. We no longer have a garage as knocked it down to build an extension. We have one of those plastic garden stores instead - it holds garden tools, garden toys, and outdoor toys. I've been pleasantly surprised not to have missed the garage at all! Kondo was fab to de clutter about 4 years ago. I do find I have to periodically refresh due to what creeps in / when DC have outgrown particular toys/clothes, but generally it's pretty easy to maintain.

On the flip side...my DParents downsized when I was in my mid 20s and I only saved a very few precious toys. Now I am rebuying some of them (Spirograph being the most recent) and resent it. None of my books were chucked and they are all now out again for DC and being used. I suspect it depends what annoys you more. We have 5 big bookshelves and could use another. It was always a priority to have space for those.

Shoes in one
Home workout items in another
Toiletries in another
Gadgets electronics in another
That’s it really