Where do you keep your...

[thefatladyissinging]

STUFF?! We have a normal-sized house with a normal amount of cupboards I think... But there are so many things I am constantly struggling to find the right home for. So where do you keep:

Winter weight duvets (in summer)
Spare pillows / blankets
Air beds
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?)
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming
The bloody laundry basket
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies
Bags of various sizes
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency...

Christmas decorations
cameras
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP

What is the mysterious trick I am missing? I know other people have this stuff - where are they keeping it, without ending up with wardrobes doubling as spaces full of crap which falls out every time you open the door???

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - top shelf of wardrobe

Spare pillows / blankets - we don't have spare pillows. Blankets are in the drawer of the divan.

Air beds - don't have one, but if we did it'd go in the loft

Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - top shelf of spare room wardrobe

Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - box in IKEA kallax

Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - hidden at back of wardrobe

The bloody laundry basket - we don't have a tumbledrier so it goes in the space the previous owner had one

Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - bookcase

Bags of various sizes - handbags on floor of wardrobe. Shopping bags in car boot.

The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... - treated as normal shopping, so in kitchen cupboards

Christmas decorations - loft

cameras - shelf of wardrobe

Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - mostly don't have any. Otherwise lift.

I would look at loft space storage solutions

Have a search there might be a carpenter solution out there to basically build bespoke shelving with doors

Or a new, damp proof garden shed/box

We have a porch with very high hooks (as well as normal height, seasonal coats are shifted around the hooks - so high hooks might help

We have two small in the eves attic cupboards - extra bedding/Christmas decorations/airbeds/summer clothes, photos/memory boxes all fit in them but we don’t keep a lot. So a space of about 4 bath tubs - reckon I can get it down to 2 in new year

But think high

high shelves
high hooks

I was going to start a thread like this yesterday OP!

The more space you have the more stuff you accumulate to some extent. When we were squeezed into a little cottage we got by but every inch was taken up with storage of some kind or another.

No we've got a bigger house i'm still moaning about space. We now have a spare bedroom and a hobby room/playroom, but i don't like to see them cluttered and i like a bit of empty space to move about in as well for yoga ect! I hate seeing stuff on top of wardrobes and strive for the effortless look (even tho when you actually open a cupboard it's liable to all fall out on top of you packed full).

My tip is to think carefully about clever storage solutions. Use under the beds ect .

We do this and put a cover on it that’s washed when the duvet comes out and swapped with whatever is going under.

It’s just me & the cat here, which makes life far easier, but I keep whichever duvet I’m not using on top of the mattress & then just go a size up for my mattress protector & fitted sheet.

Spare duvets & pillows are stored in KS ottoman storage bed in the spare room. All spare bedding (fitted sheets, duvet covers, pillow cases, spare mattress toppers etc) are kept in a dedicated linen cupboard which also holds all the spare towels, flannels, foot mats etc.

Wrapping paper & tags, cards etc are kept under our bed in a long wrapping paper boxes while scissors & tape are kept in the craft room.

The sewing machine and all the craft materials (of which we have too much!😳) are kept in the craft room, we do however keep a goto sewing kit downstairs for easy access (missing buttons etc).

Presents are generally kept in the bottom of our wardrobes however presents for wider family, friends etc are stored in the spare room (unless we have guests in which case they go into the craft room).

A laundry basket is kept in each bathroom.

Photos albums, boxes of photos (again, too many), sentimental items etc are all kept boxed in the store room.

Bags are kept under the stairs.

Emergency stuff is just kept around the house. Having Ddogs we tend to have torches everywhere with a box of spare batteries in the cupboard. Battery powered radios in a cupboard, portable cooker & gas in the garage.

Christmas & Halloween decorations are kept in the store room, neatly stacked & labelled.

When we moved a few years ago, we made a point of sorting out our storage arrangements and it has paid dividends.
The KS ottoman bed is a godsend as are the linen cupboards (better than our old airing cupboard).
Moving decorations into matching storage boxes means they can be properly stacked thereby taking up less room (the tree is still a pain though🎄).
A dedicated craft room is great for keeping stuff out of the family room or off the dining table but as with anything, the more space you have the more you want! I am thinking of evicting my OH from his end of the room (he uses it as his study) and taking over the whole space for craft (he has his garage/workshop so doesn't need space in the house as well😆).

If you are a messy person, like me, try to have a clean freak in your life to keep you in line. Needn't be a partner, a friend who comes out with things like, "Actually, I find cleaning therapeutic" will do.

The kind of person who can say, "Stacker box" or "labels" without feeling sick. The kind of person who irons socks.

On the other hand, you can adopt my mum's coping system by developing a disorder called, "Hoarding by proxy."

I came up the name for this syndrome myself but I'm amazed that it hasn't been properly recognised before.

What hoarders by proxy like my mother do is they keep their own homes pin neat to Swedish Death Cleaning levels but still buy huge amounts of useless items, then offload them onto their adult children and, of course, want to see these precious things in their houses when they come to visit.

This is where the clean freak partner/friend comes in, again. You blame them for the disappearance of the job lot of bamboo picnic cutlery or American cup measures for baking, or twenty pairs of knickers in the wrong size or whatever caught her fancy at the time.

"Oh dear! I think Jim/Alice has put it somewhere!"

The beauty of this approach is that your Hoarder By Proxy (HBP) will not mind this because they think they are a Jim or an Alice.

Meanwhile Jim or Alice has taken great delight in chucking out/taking to charity shop/flogging on eBay the crap that you are too emotionally baggaged with to sort out and have left in a corner, trying to ignore.

It's not a one way street with your tidy person either. The messy are there to help them too. You are there to make sure they let their hair down occasionally and enjoy a little chaos or extravagance. A full fridge, a cupboard with lots of condiments and foreign biscuits. A make up box with exciting and unwearable eye shadows to play with. An abandoned half knitted teddy bear project for a baby who is now 17 years old. A few more cushions, pictures, toys, books around the place.

A dog or cat.

They enjoy these things when they come over to your place but they couldn't stick it in their own house. This is another syndrome called, "Relaxing by Proxy"

Our airbeds are in a plastic storage unit outside (part of camping equipment and keep well out where, so guess garage/shed would work).

We live in a loft conversion, so don't have loft. However, we have a couple of storage areas built into the eves. Most of what you mentioned are kept in there (as well as extra coats on top of duvets/pillows), and aren't damp.

Winter duvet- don’t have one
spare pillows- airing cupboard
airbed - airing cupboard
wrapping paper- dp has just built a cabinet to put that sort of thing
sewing box - in lounge. Other stuff in aforementioned new cabinet or spare room
presents- in spare room or stashed on wardrobe of for dp
laundry basket - our bedroom
bags of various sizes- in the utility room
emergency box- doesn’t exist yet
Christmas decorations- attic
halloween decs - utility room I think

Spare duvets/pillows/blankets - under the beds in the relevant bedroom. DH and I have a ottoman bed, DDs have drawers under theirs.

Air beds - in the boxes we bought them in, stored in the garage.

Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - specific wrapping paper box in the cupboard under the stairs.

Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - One of the cupboards in the living room.

Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - Ottoman bed again

The bloody laundry basket - one in each bedroom, taken downstairs when it's full and then back upstairs when it's been emptied into the washing machine. In a previous smaller house we each had a large drawstring laundry bag that hung on the back of our doors.

Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - Photo albums are on a bookcase in our living room. Memory boxes are stored on top of each DD's wardrobe.

Bags of various sizes - hanging on hooks under the stairs. Reusable shopping style bags we keep in the boots of each car.

The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... - Garage

Christmas decorations - Loft

cameras - Don't have any that aren't also our phones

Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - Don't have loads of that so easily fits in a bag in the cupboard under the stairs.

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - On top of the wardrobe
Spare pillows / blankets On top of the wardrobe
Air beds On top of the wardrobe
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use Bottom of the wardrobe
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) n/a
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - On top of the wardrobe
The bloody laundry basket in the corner of the bloody bedroom - annoys the F out of me
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies On top of the wardrobe
Bags of various sizes Bottom of the wardrobe
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency...
wait! what? this is a thing??

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - Loft
Spare pillows / blankets - Loft
Air beds - Loft
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use – Wardrobe in spare bedroom
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) – Sewing kit in a cupboard. Don’t do crafts
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - Wardrobe in spare bedroom
The bloody laundry basket – Our bedroom
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - Loft
Bags of various sizes – Shopping bags in cupboard under the stairs, handbags in my wardrobe
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... what kind of stuff? Tins in kitchen cupboards, candles and marches in hall cupboard
Christmas decorations - Loft
Cameras – Bedside cabinet
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - Loft

•Winter weight duvets (in summer)
We use the same duvets all year round

•Spare pillows / blankets they are all on the beds

•Air beds - one - in hall cupboard

•Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - in drawer in hall cupboard

•Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - sewing box in cupboard in lounge and spare wool and knitting needles in an ottoman in our bedroom

•Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - I don’t buy stuff like that in advance

•The bloody laundry basket - one in each bedroom

•Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - in a box under our bed

•Bags of various sizes - utility room

•The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... - don’t have one of those

• Christmas decorations - in the loft

•Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - don’t do any of that crap

I think the trick you are missing is that you are buying into all the commercialisation of days like Halloween, which is a day, not a season that needs to be decorated for.

All duvets, bedding, pillows etc not in use live in the airing cupboard.

Air beds in spare room cupboard.

Craft and sewing stuff is split between cupboards in spare room and dining room.

Wrapping paper, tags etc stored in an IKEA wrapping paper storage bag in the study cupboard.

Presents at the bottom of wardrobe.

Laundry and ironing baskets in under stair cupboard.

Photo albums top of wardrobe.

Shopping bags-some in car, some in understair cupboard. Suitcases in loft, handbags in drawer under bed frame.

Christmas and other decorations in loft.

Cameras in study cupboard.

Don't have an emergency box but if I did it would be in the understairs cupboard.

Winter weight duvets (in summer)
Spare pillows / blankets
Air beds
memory boxes from babies
Bags of various sizes
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming

We have storage beds in every room. They lift up and fit enormous amounts.

Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use

Behind the tv cabinet, its hidden from view, wrapping paper doesn't end up getting crumpled.

Sewing stuff, crafting bits

Ikea kallax boxes.

The bloody laundry basket
One in each bedroom.

Photo albums
Top shelf of wardrobe

The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency...
Ummmm, we have some bottles of water in the cupboard under the stairs, but havebt massivly prepped.

Christmas decorations
Garage

Cameras
We just use our phones

Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP
Ikea kallax box

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - Ottoman box in my bedroom.
Spare pillows / blankets - 'Spare' pillow in the ottoman box. Blanket in one of the bed drawers.
Air beds - N/A.
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - In dedicated wrapping paper roll boxes that live in a spare room.
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - In a dedicated box in a spare room. I only really make anything at Christmas.
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - In a wardrobe in a spare room.
The bloody laundry basket -* *Utility room.
Photo albums - Some on a bookcase, some in the loft and about 20,000 on my phone. 🙄
Bags of various sizes - Handbags are in a spare room. I lovingly gaze at them often! 😂 Same for shoes and boots! Suitcases are in the loft.
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency - Utility room/Garage.
Christmas decorations - Loft/Garage. Everything is in plastic storage boxes and labelled. I have learnt my lesson previously! 😁
Cameras - I used to enjoy taking photographs but just fell out of love for it. My photography equipment is now out of date and lives in the loft. I should really do something with it.
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - No Halloween decorations. I do have a 'Party box' in the garage though that has assorted items in it.

Assuming no loft or cellar, no 'spare' room, and no office or study, that means storage has to be found in bedrooms, living room, or kitchen. Consider the stair well (above the stairs), understairs, and hallway also.

You need shelves and drawers. Lots of them. Look around: high up, low down, in corners, to find places you can have them fitted in.
Then you need labels.

(Shelves can be used to put boxes on, to avoid dust and clutter on open shelves)

Love the idea of photographing what is in the boxes under the bed!

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - airing cupboard
Spare pillows / blankets - airing cupboard
Air beds - under bed
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - chest of drawers in kitchen/diner
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - don’t have much, but also in drawer in kitchen/diner
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - same drawers as above again!
The bloody laundry basket - in wardrobe
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - bookcase in living room
Bags of various sizes - bottom of wardrobe
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... - er, don’t have one! Dh did stockpile random stuff under the sofa during the pandemic, though…
Christmas decorations - top of wardrobe
cameras - just use phone
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - don’t really have these

We don’t have a loft or a cellar, but we do have big built-in wardrobes and we are (well, I am, at least!) fairly good at not hoarding stuff.

Winter duvets - have same one all year round on the bed
Spare pillows/blankets - on the spare bed
Air beds - garage
Wrapping paper - bedroom cupboard, don’t have loads
sewing kit - small tin in kitchen cuoboard
presents - bedroom cupboard if needed, currently non there
laundry basket - bedroom behind en-suite door
photo albums - under the bed, put loads on disc already, need to do more and bin the photos
bags - plastic bags in kitchen cuoboard
Box of stuff - don’t have one!
Christmas decs - garage
Cameras - don’t have one, use phone
Halloween decs/ bunting - don’t have these either

Photos in albums on a bookcase shelf. Don’t own most of that stuff on the list as it’s not my thing. - nothing Christmas or presents or Halloween etc in the house. Bedding - on the bed. Craft stuff on shelving in craft room. Laundry is either in the washing machine or on the line drying or put away. A few bags kept in the back of my he car and a couple of fold ups in my bag.
Emergency stuff? That’s just normal everyday stuff why have it separate to everything else?

Storage unit. I have a three bed terrace and it has a small under stairs cupboard (the highest section has the fridge in it) and the loft has been converted to bedroom and en suite. I put built in wardrobes but there’s no place for Christmas decs, suitcases, paintings, all the crap you accumulate over the years! I used to live in a house twice this size with a 8ft by 15ft storage room off the kitchen. I miss it so much!

Winter weight duvets (in summer)-don’t have any different ways duvets
Spare pillows / blankets- don’t have any spare pillows/spare blankets on top of the wardrobe
Air beds- don’t have any
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use- in a wrapping paper and gift bag storage bag that I bought on Amazon and this lives in the office.
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?)- sewing kit is kept in the sideboard in the dining room. I don’t have craft material.
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming-in a box in the office
The bloody laundry basket- every bedroom has its own “dirty laundry” basket. And then I have two plastic laundry baskets that I fold clothing into and they live in the utility,
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies- in a baby box that lives in the top of the dcs wardrobes
Bags of various sizes-I don’t know what you mean by do you mean like suitcases and carryalls? If so, they live on the top of my wardrobe.
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency...- in the shed.
Christmas decorations- the attic
cameras- my DP has one in his den
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP- Halloween decs are with the Christmas decs in the attic, birthday bunting is with the birthday cards in a box in the office.I don’t have bits of crap.

im ridiculously organised…i literally started an AMA thread on it before 🤣

Aside from the laundry basket (which lives in the bathroom) and the bags of various sizes (which live in the boot of the car), I keep most of the things on your list in my boiler cupboard. Mine is enormous, with a small boiler in the corner.

Winter weight duvets (in summer) - in sealed bags in loft
Spare pillows / blankets - airing cupboard
Air beds - don’t have any
Wrapping paper and gift bags that I am keeping to re-use - cupboard in kitchen
Sewing kit / craft material (do you just chuck everything out once you've done a single project?) - cupboard in kitchen
Presents you are keeping ready for Christmas / birthdays which are upcoming - fitted bedroom cupboard
The bloody laundry basket - this used to be a massive issue but I have now solved it! Each person has their own in their rooms and mine is in a large storage pouffe that doubles as a vanity stool.
Photo albums / memory boxes from babies - bedroom cupboard
Bags of various sizes - shelf at top of wardrobe
The box of stuff we are supposed to be keeping ready for an emergency... - utility room
Christmas decorations - plastic boxes in loft
cameras - bedroom cupboard
Halloween decs / birthday bunting - that sort of thing - i.e. BITS OF CRAP - Halloween decs in loft, other bits in kitchen cupboards
To be fair we do have a decent amount of storage in this house but if you don’t storage furniture that doubles up as other things can be useful. For example I have a large tv stand in the family room which has loads of space inside and we keep all our board games and electrical cables etc in there. I also have a couple of those low boxes for underbed storage where I keep extra bedding that I don’t have room for in the airing cupboard but don’t want to put in the loft.

It’s a nightmare. Just have to find storage anywhere you can. All beds to have storage under, loft? Boxes on top of wardrobes etc