Can you help me sort out my entire house? I haven’t a clue where stuff is supposed to go!

[thelegohooverer]

If you were starting from scratch, or moving to a new house, where would you put stuff?

I’m mid way through a house extension and have had to empty or move around most of my belongings for one reason or another. Since everything is moving so slowly with lockdowns, I have time to massively declutter and rethink storage. Up to now I’ve been working off the “where would I look for this first” system but now I’m thinking more about “where should this be kept” ... and I’m stumped

I have lots of storage areas : utility room (soon), under stairs, top of wardrobe, kitchen top cabinets, attic, hot press, bathroom drawers. The problem is that I don’t have a sense of there being different zones or categories, so there can be multiples of the same sort of thing in different places, or things in odd places just because that’s where they’ve always been.

The hallway under the stairs has always been a massively overstuffed coat cupboard, with sports equipment, hobby bags, carpet off cuts, spare tiles, umbrellas, hats, gloves, high viz, shopping bags.... and our hallway is always a mess with coats on the end of the stairs and school bags dumped.

I’m thinking of packing away anything out of season but where should it go? My first thought was the attic but apparently clothes and fabrics shouldn’t be stored there. Maybe the hot press?

What do you keep in your attic? I’m scratching my head over the state of ours. Theoretically anything that ends up in the attic doesn’t really need to be there (but I’m not quite in that head space yet).

Christmas decorations will stay there for the moment. And other seasonal stuff for Halloween, Easter etc. I have some sentimental stuff but again I’m not sure it should be stored in an attic (papers and photos can deteriorate in hot/cold conditions)

I was thinking of moving sentimental stuff - wedding dress, heirloom christening gown and kids art to the top of my wardrobe but that already has my “going out” shoes, bags and accessories. My wardrobe already has to store out of season clothes and current clothes.

I keep our wetsuits under the bed because I can lay them out without folding or hanging so there’s not a lot of extra space there.

There’s all sorts of other things I’m perplexed about - where should batteries live? Shoe polish? Medicines? Stamps?

I know some people are really sensible about these things, but my brain melts a bit trying to figure it out.

Please help me sort out my house! Do you keep certain items together for particular reasons? If you’ve sorted out storage areas or moved house and started from scratch I would love to hear any tips.

We keep our Christmas decorations in the attic, also I would probably wrap the carpet offcuts and tiles up and put them up there. I have also (sadly) put the suitcases up there but hopefully they can come back down soon.

Batteries we keep in a drawer but DH uses them a lot, anything we don't use much gets put upstairs.

Probably use understairs as a coat and shoes cupboard with some baskets for gloves and hats etc. put the umbrellas together either in stand or hang from peg. Move the sports equipment elsewhere if there is not room for it.

Loft - think it depends how dry it is. Ours is very dry so clothes can be stored up there in plastic crates. Also photos and my wedding dress.

I got plastic crates a few years ago and put all the xmas decorations in them according to type and wrote on the front of each with permanent marker. That has made them much easier to handle. They live in the loft.

Do you have a dry garage? We have found a lot of bulky but regularly used sports kit is better stored in there or there is too much in the hallway. Same for wetsuits.

In the utility room we put a high level shelf along one wall but above the door, you do need to stand on an Ikea step stool to get to it. But is has meant PE bags, swimming bags etc all get kept together and out of the way.

We keep batteries, shoe polish and medicines all in the utility room. It has quite a few small cupboards that suits these things.

We have a cupboard in the kitchen with spare cards, envelopes and stamps.

Carpet cut offs we have started getting rid off as we never seemed to end up using them - so far we haven't regretted it.

Sorting stuff is never ending especially with kids. We keep moving where things are stored. At the moment the under stair cupboard isn't working and falls out to meet you when the door is opened.

Do you have too much stuff or just nowhere to put it?
Similar things living in different places is not ideal.

One hint I read is "store things where they are easy to put away, rather than easy to get out" that encourages tidiness .
However I can't quite work out an example!
But if the coat cupboard is jammed, people will just chuck their coats
over end of stairs because it's too much faff to put them away.

There are some things that need to stored closest to likely place of use. I always used to store all first aid in bathroom mainly because we had space there. But you are more likely to cut yourself in the kitchen than in the bathroom, so now Elastoplast lives in kitchen drawer

I had to look up 'hot press' which I now know is an airing cupboard! That's not for storage, it is for airing/final dry of things. Also means you will wash bath towels less often as they go in there after use.

you will drown in kids art. Photograph, then chuck.
carpet offcuts and tiles need to go.
wedding dress - really? That's an awful lot of storage time for something that got worn for a few hours.

one drawer and cupboard in the kitchen/utility for a few tools, matches, shoe polish, batteries, scissors. One shelf somewhere for medicines, out of reach if kids are young. (Not the bathroom cabinet, too steamy)
one drawer for stamps, envelopes, paper, pens

sounds like you have way too many clothes. Think about what you will do when times are better, and what you really need.

attic for decorations and suitcases. If something never gets used what is it doing in your house?

off for a clearout here now...

DH hangs his wetsuit in the garage when it is dry and keeps all sports stuff in there, I don't think I could cope if it was under the stairs. We bought a coloured Bisley multi drawer and it is handy for most things like paperwork, stamps, batteries, etc, you can also label the drawers, Bisley, Amazon and Ryman sell them.

I started Marie Kondo and managed to stick to a few life-improving habits.

Pens should live in set places (one on each floor, plus a place for kids craft items). All batteries and bulbs should be in a set place (drawers in the hall, for us).

I have a 'useful stationery' drawer in my room with pens, post-its, envelopes, stamps, ruler, etc.

Any clothes not worn for 2 years (make that 3 atm!), that could be easily replaced (t-shirts, jeans, spare woolly hats), get rid.
Any kids' masterpieces, appreciate for 2 months on the fridge or a wall, then chuck. Maybe keep one a.year.

All shoes are on a bookshelf in the hall (some in wardrobes), so we know where they are.

I can't say we don't still have way too much stuff, but it's pretty liveable now.

This is all really helpful- I can feel my brain almost beginning to work.

We don’t have a garage, just a small shed for garden tools. So I have to keep sports stuff in the house.

I like the pens on each floor idea.

My hot press/airing cupboard isn’t particularly warm as the cylinder is well insulated. We tend to put towels on a radiator rail so the cupboard works well as a storage space for us. Sheets, towels and toilet rolls I’m happy with. I’m not sure if it’s the right place for camping clothes, swimwear and out of season hats and gloves.

I need to think about the “easy to put away advice”. I know that’s exactly why my hallway is a perpetual mess.

So far our systems have been determined by either
• that’s where my mum always kept that in her house
• that’s where it was put when we moved in and rushed to unpack without thinking it through
• that’s where it’s lived since we moved things out of toddlers’ reach.

Definitely time to re-evaluate

Ooh I need to declutter. I have boxes of stuff shoved into the understairs cupboard from when I moved in here - so just over 10 years ago. I have no idea what’s there. That’ll be a task for a weekend I think!

The "let's put it there for the time being" is very common.
When we re did our kitchen in 2019 I put a lot of thought into what would be stored in which cupboard but I have since moved a couple of things around. I originally put everyday glasses and tumblers in wall unit above dishwasher as "close is good" but then found if someone was emptying dishwasher it was awkward to reach. So now that cupboard that I thought was "prime real estate" actually has rarely used items like champagne glasses.

I have 'the swimming drawer' in the hall (huge chest of drawers...), so when dd and I next get a swimming pool slot I can grab the bag, chuck in a few towels that need a wash, and go.

Hooks on the backs of doors for many things - would that work for some of your sports kit, perhaps in a holdall?

We have high ceilings and some wardrobes built in up to them, so suitcases go at the very top, bedding and such below where DP can reach easily.

Currently thinking that our beautiful wrought-iron coat stand may have to go - you can't see it under all the coats and hats, and can't reach the ones at the back, and it falls over every couple months. A rack on the wall might work much better - we had one for the kids but as their coats got longer they hit the ground and then pulled the whole thing off the wall.

Generally I try to avoid buying more 'storage items' as its just new places to lose shit. We got some taller bookcases though so in the middle of replacing 6 foot bookcases (x6) with 8-foot ones, which means it's boxes of books everywhere...

Loft - Christmas decorations, suitcases, some sentimental stuff (photographs, glassware)

I keep medicines in a bathroom drawer.

I have a tall boy in the lounge which has 6 drawers. It has all sorts of stuff like batteries, crafts, wires (?!), gift bags, stationery.

I have a drawer in a kitchen sideboard for 'crap' although I know everything that's in there. Torch, matches, marker, pencil etc.

Shoes/coats and 'entrance hall' stuff tends to go in the utility room, although we do tend to keep most of our shoes and coats in wardrobes.

It totally depends on the layout of your house and how you use it. There aren't any rules. Just because it might be chaotic doesn't mean it's not organised or you don't know what's in each area. Adapt it to suit how you live.

So far our systems have been determined by either
• that’s where my mum always kept that in her house
• that’s where it was put when we moved in and rushed to unpack without thinking it through
• that’s where it’s lived since we moved things out of toddlers’ reach.

Familiar! We also have “that’s where we kept it when we lived in a flat/tiny house not a house with more storage” so there’s stuff like tools in the house that could go in the garage and or what have you.

And I have a massive mental block around the paperwork/kids art/sentimental stuff.

And craft materials. Yeesh.

And the shoe storage situation which is never solved no matter what we try...

This seems like just the kind of thread I need 😄

In other words: I have no idea, sorry.

I think that a part of my problem is that my hallway doesn’t have the right kind of storage. I’m not sure that I can make the tiny space under the stairs work.

We have a shoe basket inside the front door which my family scatter their shoes around but at least they all end up in the same general area.

@NoSquirrels I have that problem too - too long living in one room as a student.

I was fantasising last night about renovating the attic and turning the smallest bedroom into a purpose built storage area and never having to wrestle with a Christmas tree on a ladder again but it turns out our roof is the wrong height or pitch or something. Gah!

Decorations - Easter, Halloween, Christmas - all in the attic. They come out once a year so I put them the furthest away

Shoe polishing stuff - utility room

First aid and medicines - utility room

Sports kits, swimming kits, wellies - utility room

All shoes in almost daily use - hall cupboard

All other shoes - bedroom cupboards

All coats in almost daily use (swap over seasonally) - hall cupboard

All other coats - on hooks in bedrooms or in bedroom cupboards

Used Batteries - kitchen pantry (with all other recycling),unused batteries in a kitchen cupboard with the sewing box

Stamps (with stash of cards and address book and pens) - kitchen

Torch - cupboard under stairs (only because that’s where the fuse box is) with candles and matches

Recycling - kitchen pantry in stacks label lidded boxes with open out lids from IKEA

Craft stuff - open bookcase of this in the dining room (as that’s where the biggest table is, not because I really want it there)

Kids art and school projects etc - I buy an a2 plastic envelope type file for each child each school year. In it goes the best things they do, I Chuck the rest. The folders go in the study in a gap between the bookcases and the wall. DS1 has a large plastic lidded box full of things he has made at ‘art club’ which are his keepsakes and that is in his bedroom

I keep wrapping paper (I only buy 10 metre Kraft tubes from John Lewis in a colour that suits everything - turquoise) in a very long lidded box (really useful storage company, I think) and I keep raged, ribbons, sellotape and a his sofa in there too

I am nowhere near as organised as I need to be though. I don’t want to give a false impression of myself! The kitchen cupboards themselves are very badly organised as I simply have too many (badly laid out kitchen, not an enormous space though). Everything is too spread out and I need to throw the things I don’t use out.

tags not raged!

Slightly off topic, but for any of you who have white christening gowns or wedding dresses that you are storing, the advice I've had from my aunt who loaned me her childrens' christening gown for my dc's births, you should not store WHITE fabric in plastic - it should be stored in something fabric (like cotton) - otherwise it will yellow over time. I can vouch that said christening gown, despite being 30 years old, was as white as a sheet. I think a drycleaner/seamstress may have given her that tip.

Will read the thread fully and see if I've anything ON topic to contribute in a minute.

Ok - I would divide your things into those needed predominantly downstairs, those needed upstairs periodically, seasonal things and things that are being kept for sentimental reasons. The last two are best stored in the least accessible place, packaging is your friend here so they can be stored in the loft.

For the boring household sundries eg batteries, matches, shoe polish etc I suggest either boxes with dividers or a back of the door hanging organiser I have the cupboard in the kitchen with the joist in (so it's shallow) with lots a small boxes each with useful stuff!.

Reducing the overall amount of stuff is the best solution I'm afraid eg get serious here - do you really want to keep your wedding dress? I can assure you any daughters you have won't want to wear it (perhaps just keep a veil or tiara for posterity?)

Rarely-used things - attic. Other than that, put things away in places that are nearest to where you want to use them - medicines in the bathroom, hats and gloves in the hall so you get them on your way out and put them away as you're coming back in etc.

If you have plenty of storage space, don't cram too much stuff in each place - it makes it difficult to get at and keep tidy.

Christmas, Easter decorations go in loft, as do spare clothes that don’t fit or out of season. Suitcases, sleeping bags etc also in loft.

We have big trunks in the loft with keepsakes in.

Shoe polish goes under sink with cleaning cloths and equipment. Under stairs is gym bags, swimming bags, toilet roll, lightbulbs, picnic sets.

Batteries go in drawer in living room underneath stationery drawer along with screwdrivers for opening battery compartments.

Coats go in big under stairs cupboard, shoes worn regularly go in shoe rack unit by front door. Torches and masks are also kept here.

Some brilliant tips here. I especially love the advice to keep torch near the fuse box - just so obvious once someone points it out

I’m definitely keeping the wedding dress, sorry. I may need it to torment a future dil by insisting she wear it, and then wear it myself to her wedding when she won’t.

Store you wedding dress inside a duvet cover. Then put the poppers or buttons neat the hanger.

I keep wrapping paper (I only buy 10 metre Kraft tubes from John Lewis in a colour that suits everything - turquoise) in a very long lidded box (really useful storage company, I think) and I keep raged, ribbons, sellotape and a his sofa in there too

Err, WellTidy, what size is your Really Useful wrapping paper box?

My grandmother had an absolutely immaculately tidy house and garage. She also always seemed to have whatever was required, so plenty of ‘stuff’. I’m not sure how, it feels somewhat impossible! I dream of custom built storage...

NoSquirrels that’s should have been a scissors! (I’m actually sitting on the sofa right now)

Agree that carpet offcuts should go. You will never ever use them.

Tiles however are a different matter. I always keep a few of each style in case of breakages.