Hi All,

I have a household problem I hope you can help me with.

My 3 kids are becoming teeneagers and the 2 youngest (girls) wanted there own rooms, so this resulted in the oldest (boy) being moved out of his room (we did it while he was away at camp last summer) and the plan is that he will occupy my outdoor equipment room in the basement.

The problem is; "Where do I store all my great stuff, that it has taken me years to collect and I access daily"? I am not talking about the PSK's, FAK's, BOB's, emergency food, etc; I mean all the normal stuff that prepared people who also enjoy outdoor recreation accumulate.

At present I have most of it stored in solid colour Rubbermaid containers (I think they are about 60 L capacity). Because we moved around a lot throughout the 90's we now have about 75 of these containers. See-thru containers would help show what the contents are.

Even if you label the containers it is hard to know what all is in them (especially small stuff) and the item you want always seems to be on the bottom. Stacking them is a problem to get to the bottom bin so I have built 2x4 shelving to put these bins on (2 on bottom floor, 1 on middle row, 1 on top row).

My DW and I are also packrats and have a problem parting with functional items, even if we use them infrequently (this is surely the root cause of our lack of storage space). Big yard sale next spring already planned (I promise).

Before I start a major basement renovation project this winter I was hoping that someone on the forum had faced a similar problem before and found the "perfect outdoor equipment storage technique".

Please feel free to share you ideas,

Mike

What about a workshop w/ upstairs storage? Our local big box hardware store has a model w/ about 6m X 6m downstairs with about half that upstairs.

Hi UTAlumnus,

Thanks for the reply but I do not understand what you mean by upstairs - downstairs storage? Could you provide more details?

Do you mean a stand alone building seperate from the house for storage?

Mike

Short term:

R-organize the bins putting items that you have not used for at least a year and ensure that these bins are on the bottom....do not allow maybe, might, should, probably etc, cloud your judgment.

Now put a number on the front, side or lid then keep a list of their contents on a clipboard.

The best long term path is to scale down your pack rat lifestyle!

I like the numbering idea Sherpadog (I cannot see me being organized enough to do the clipboard, maybe).

You are truly correct about the "too much stuff lifestyle", I have to face reality and really get rid of unused junk.

Mike

You got it. Similar in shape to this except a wider footprint and a 2nd floor.

I would agree with UTALumnus but depending on where you live and your neighbors you could go with a less expensive metal storage shed. Which ever you decide to go with build shelves before start packing the stuff in.

WOW, you guys think BIG.

If I built a storage shed like that I could set it up with air conditioning, heat, electricity, running water, maybe a couch, fridge, TV/DVD and computer; that would be fabulous!

Wait, reality check; unfortunately my financial resources will not allow be to build another structure at this time (DW would flip if I even suggested it). For now I am going to have to store my stuff within the buildings I have (basement, attached garage, detached shed).

Thanks for letting me dream though,

Mike

P.S. Looking at the link you provided the cost of building material must be less in the US?

Put all that stuff on eBay.

I had started a big reply but its too late at night to finish it. In short build up. tops of closets are often wasted space. Measure the top shelf of each closet and build a duplicate of it about a foot higher and move all those hats and gloves and stuff up. then put your most important gear there and you have now emptied some space. Same with the garage, build shelves up. In the bottoms of closets get those shoe organizers and little pull out drawers. I've managed to consolidate each person's personal gear to their closet so then the garage and shed are all the shared stuff.