How to Organize Your Basement in a Weekend

Published: January 14, 2022

If you go to your basement right now, can you easily find what you need? Better yet, can you enjoy your basement in the way you envisioned when you moved in?

Oftentimes, we don’t give our basement as much attention as the other rooms in our house which makes it easy for it to become a catch-all for old, unorganized boxes and dare we say it…junk.    

This may be especially true if you have a small home or limited storage space. 

Fortunately, decluttering your basement doesn’t have to be a years-long project. We’re sharing tips on how to organize your ground floor in one weekend.

Friday Evening

Organize everything into 4 piles

Start with a clean slate. Clear a space in your basement to create the four piles: “keep,” “donate,” “throw away,” and “put in storage.” Now tackle every item in the basement section by section. 

As you look through your items, you’ll probably notice that you own several things that you rarely, if ever use. If they are in good condition and you know someone else will appreciate them, put them in your “donate” pile, but if they are damaged and unusable, place them in your “throw away” pile. 

Take special note of the items that you want but rarely use or that take up too much space in the basement. You can put them in the “put in storage” section for now. 

There’s no need to put your “keep” items away at this stage. Keep it simple tonight by just assigning each item to a pile.

Saturday

Take inventory

You’ve sorted through all your basement possessions, and now it’s time to clean house. Get rid of everything in the “throw away” pile and decide where you’ll donate the items in your “donate” pile.

With those items out the way, take a closer look at your “keep pile.” Looking through all your “keep” items will give you a better idea of what (and how much) you actually have. We usually underestimate the amount of stuff we’ve accumulated over the years.

Design a new layout, if necessary

Decide where all your “keep” items will live. You might already know exactly where you want them to go but take a few minutes to make sure you’re utilizing your basement in a way that maximizes space and allows you to fully enjoy your basement. 

Have you always wanted to turn a section of your basement into a gym, but never got around to it? Now is the perfect time to reimagine your setup to make that happen. 

Even if you don’t have all the items you need for your gym, you can get the process started with what you have. The options are endless with a basement. You can turn it into a guest suite, kids’ playroom, gym, office, bar, and more.

Sunday

Create a storage system

Storage areas are often the first sections of the basement to get cluttered, so make sure you dedicate some time to figuring out a solid storage system. For the items you intend to store in your basement, put them in clearly labeled plastic bins organized by category or season. That way it will be easier to track them down when you need them.

If you find that you don’t have enough room for storage or you have several bulky pieces that overwhelm your storage area, consider renting a local storage unit. UNITS of Baltimore even sends a portable, weather-resistant container right to your door to simplify the process of transferring your possessions to a unit. 

Place items in new designated areas

It’s time for the fun part! Put items in their proper place based on the new layout and storage system you’ve created. 

Now, enjoy your new decluttered basement!