Basement Storage Staged

For the most part I have completed the work on our basement storage area! It feels good to have it nearly complete. Before I started, earlier this month, it just felt like we had things lining all the walls of the room. It's a big room, so it didn't feel too cramped, but it felt smaller than it should for being such a large room. So would you like a tour of the changes?

This area is to the right of the door and entrance to our storage room. The first picture is before. The area was filled with lamps, shipping boxes, an extra table chair, art, Goodwill donations and empty storage bins.

Now the area contains the same file cabinet and dresser, two empty file boxes, a small number of donations (starting on next week's 15 items!), and two bins. The top bin has art we will likely get rid of, and the bottom has some miscellaneous items from our storage shelves. Look at all that floor space!

This is what the wall on the left looked like earlier this month. More chairs, items from my husband's office he brought home, a Christmas tree in its box, wrapping paper storage and my carpet cleaner. Those items all have new homes. The chairs are now hidden under our basement stairs! Available but not seen too often. I'm very happy with that change.

The after shot in this area, is now a blank wall! No clutter of random items to look at. I think it is much more pleasing to the eye to have some blank space. Do you like the change on this wall?

The back wall and the one you really notice when you first walk in the room has our storage shelves with all sorts of various items. Items are neatly stored before and after, but I think the second photo is more easy on the eyes. Not as many items to catch your attention when you should be noticing the entire room....since we are selling soon, that is my goal.

I used bins that were opaque  to put various items in. The ironic part is now I'm not exactly sure what items are in what bin!! I could make a label like I have for some of the bins, but I think the label might just make it look more cluttered. I'm leaving it for now, unless I get frustrated trying to find things.

Next is what I think of as the game section of our basement, only because that is where we store board games and some toys we aren't letting go of yet. I think this area likely saw the biggest improvement. It was cluttered with many, many items, so many I had to take two before pictures to get it all in.

Wow! Another blank wall and more visible floor space. It all makes such a difference. I did rearrange items on the game shelf, too. Again to make it a bit more pleasing to the eyes. I  think it made a big difference.

Now I'm going to show another before pictures, but the after is still a bit of a work in progress, or really probably worse! I will update you when the army items have left.

The army gear was neatly stacked. It is not any more. I moved several things into the pile, too. My husband will likely be taking them with him, so once it is gone I will have nearly another clear wall! I am happy about moving the fan and carpet cleaner to this wall. They are invisible behind the furnace until you walk further into the room. I will likely move the folding tables, folding chairs, and paint all to that same wall.

And for full disclosure I do have a pile in the middle of the room yet to deal with. Most of the items are decor items. Once I have the house fully staged, I will likely part with any items remaining that I don't need or want. If there is anything I want to keep in the pile, I will tuck it into one of the empty bins that exist around the room.

The two cardboard boxes on the right are currently empty. I will likely use them for mailing or toting the decluttered items to Goodwill! Specifically, those lamps could go. One reason I can say this confidently is I don't have any tables without lamps to put them on!! That seems like a valid reason to let go.

At one point I had more items on the floor than I did on the shelves. I kept looking at the shelves and seeing things I wanted to move, but then because they were full, I didn't know where to put them. I finally realized I knew what could stay, so I pulled everything else off. That helped me in this case, since I could then combine somewhat like items in bins and then put them back on the shelves. I know I spent at least an hour (maybe slightly more), moving things around to get them into these final positions. Some things had already been done, such as the moving of the chairs, the cedar chest, the fan and carpet cleaner, so more time had been put in before.

It feels good to have made progress on this house staging stuff. The next big rooms to tackle are my daughter's. I still need to write my ideas down for them first. I might be able to get them to do the work in their own rooms with a little guidance!

What do you think? Would you make any more changes?