September 4, 2020
Find out what you really need! Today’s storage products serve you in ways that far exceed their initial cost. Come and see how!
Today we have only one category. Storage.
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STORAGE!
It’s a huge challenge. Here’s why: You get ready to clean. But first you have to tidy up. When you reach to put something away, there are two problems:
- It doesn’t have a place
- There isn’t room to make the place.
😠 Drives you crazy, right? I know!
And now do you have to spend money just to put your stuff up?
That’s just not cool.
So it’s a big problem for all of us. More than we can solve today. BUT– We will make great headway.
(Some more comprehensive organization posts are in development at GFP which will be complete soon, but I got kind of excited about showing you a few items now. I just can’t wait.)
These are some of the solutions that have had a lasting success in taming the clutter. Things you can do right now!
Today we will look at plastic shelving. Also rolling metal storage racks, heavy duty furniture lifters, and don’t forget storage boxes.
STORAGE SHELVING
Everything online shows beautiful built-ins, impressive color schemes, and people using tools and equipment with carpentry skills that are way beyond your abilities.
No worries.
We’re not them, right? We’re us, and we need to put our stuff away right now.
My problem is twofold: Space and Budget. That’s right. Struggling to find room, and not wanting to invest a lot in the solutions. You, too?
Let’s focus today on that hidden storage. Those shelves tucked away in a closet or behind a door, or even in the garage.
You’re about to see how you can use some efficient affordable shelf units that rock.
Why shelves are the answer
If you’re not sure if shelves are the solution for you, consider this: Your home or apartment is a set amount of square feet, like 1000, or 1800, or 2500 square feet.
That’s your floor space. It’s used for beds, sofas, kitchen tables, etc. Also walking around. And playing with Barbies, spilling cereal, and rolling around like wild animals.
The stuff, the furniture and items, they get put somewhere. That space gets used once and that’s it.
But shelves, they multiply that space. If you have a 2-foot by 3-foot space for a few boxes, that’s 6 square feet of floor space. Now, imagine re-using that space five more times by using vertical shelves! You can actually utilize 30 square feet of space (5 shelves of 6 square feet). But you only give up 6 square feet of floor space.
Sorry. I know that was like math.
PLASTIC SHELVING
These shelves are the easiest, sturdiest, biggest, cheapest and most efficient shelves you can buy. I’ve lost count of how many we now have. These are in our weight room (/craft room /storage room /everything room). They are in our storage barn. The shelves hold everything, and are rated for hundreds of pounds.
These things! They come in a medium-sized box. All the parts are plastic, and they fit together just like giant tinkertoys. Take it out of the box, top the first (bottom) shelf with 4 legs and then add another shelf. Keep going till it’s fully assembled.
It stays put, it holds heavy stuff, and you can trust it.
Look at these!
Not pretty pictures, I know. But storage just isn’t always pretty here.
I’m just showing you how much we were able to store here. I should be embarrassed, right, letting you look at my junk!
But there’s another situation that calls for a different solution. When you might need to move the shelves. Because you’re not gonna be able to move those I just showed you.
ROLLING METAL RACK
This has been the solution for the deep closet.
You got one of these closets? Having to move everything in the center or front to reach the things in the back?
Not any more! Now it’s all on a rolling rack. Just roll it out once, and you have access to everything else.
It’s tall, and one of the keys to making it work is trying to utilize all the space on each shelf. Like a game of Tetris.
Today I’m showing you a quick picture. This is still a work in progress. There’s a post I have in my head called The Big Crazy Closet And How Hard It Is To Organize.
Until I can really tackle the whole closet, this rack has increased our storage exponentially.
In talking with folks about this, I have found others have done the same thing, sometimes even using multiple racks! Maybe that’s my next step.
Here it is, outside the closet, and then rolled in. You can see stationary shelves around it inside the closet.
And there’s more.
Storage Boxes
I will never get this right. All I can do is keep trying. I just don’t want to spend $2000 for storage boxes. So I use a combination of solutions.
When I find sturdy bins at my favorite stores, if they’re a good price I buy them. And I try to stick to a small color group — black, gray, khaki.
But I also save those perfect-size shipping boxes and cover them quickly with contact paper. Those $5 rolls go a long way, people! 😆 So your closets can look as good as the Container Store ads, with a little contact paper, right?
Hmmm. Not quite. But as they say, perfection is the enemy of good, right?
For now, these have been affordable solutions. One day, maybe I’ll have something really impressive to show you.
Anyway, we tend to rotate through tons of different bins and boxes, repurposing multiple times. But isn’t that economical?
A couple of easy ways to DIY some quick and affordable storage boxes:
- Contact paper (or fabric) covered shipping boxes.
- Dress up plain photo boxes with washi tape and printed labels, or purchase pretty printed ones. Make yourself some labels and stack those things up.
(More about those DIY storage boxes here.)
SO MUCH STUFF
I know that decluttering starts with getting rid of things, and that’s a subject covered so well (and so extensively) online. Each time I read about it, I find a new motivation to take another load to Goodwill.
For the things I need to keep (for whatever reason), gathering them into containers seems to be my best solution.
Sorting, gathering, boxing, storing. Sigh.
And I still have one more.
END TABLE IDEA
You’ve seen my rolling bin storage solution here.
If you didn’t see it, it’s a rolling bin under an Ikea LACK table. Now we’re using one for blanket storage. It’s kind of a LACK hack, and those are pretty popular! With this one, you don’t have to actually hack anything.
Even the most basic end table will often cost close to $100. This combination is much less expensive. I can’t begin to tell you how many different uses we have found.
The LACK table is one of the most affordable things at Ikea. The rolling woven bin is also very affordable at the At Home superstore.
OTHER SOLUTIONS
By now, you know I am serious about the issue of household storage, and how addressing it makes our lives a lot less stressful.
If you haven’t, check out some of my other clutter solutions: bookshelves for toy storage, art supplies storage, and the toy storage armoire.
And I have quite a few fabric covered diaper boxes that have been serving me for over 12 years now.
THE HELPER
One more thing to show you today. It doesn’t actually store anything, but it has been such a handy household item. If someone hadn’t recommended it to me, I wouldn’t have known!
It’s a furniture lifter.
How many times have we reached for this?! The rollers are okay. We use them, but not a lot.
But the lever. That’s the helper. It helps lift something heavy so you can get your hands or furniture dolly underneath. It’s probably because of this that we still have our fingers.
There are a variety of kits like this, in a pretty big price range. We are happy with this basic model, since the lifter is what we were after. The box is small and easy to store under the bed. Oops. Sorry. Not impressive to say we use the space under the bed to store random things. But I’m being real with you. We do.
STORAGE THAT ISN’T UGLY
I’m not gonna tell you all my storage looks like a model home. It doesn’t. But I have found ways to make it work even if it doesn’t match exactly. Things don’t have to be the same color or perfectly symmetrical.
But I do insist on this: Things do have to be put away. And half the battle is a place to belong. Addressing storage gives you that beginning.
What we’ve achieved is neat. And that works for me.
So what storage issues are you facing, and what do you need to resolve them?
And did any of this help?
When you click on any of these links, you should see exactly what I described. I try to keep all my product links updated, but sometimes the seller changes the choices. If an item I use and recommend gets discontinued, I try to find the absolute best alternative, the one I would buy. Every recommendation I make is intended to help you, not to frustrate you. If you need to let me know something’s not working with my suggestions, I’m as close as my contact page.😉
I hope you’re finding these brief household essentials product reviews helpful! I’ve got some more detailed product reviews coming up soon.
I wouldn’t have known about these if someone hadn’t purchased them or pointed them out!
Check out the other topics in the series:
Household Essentials for July (KID STUFF)
Household Essentials that Rock (STORAGE STUFF) what you’re reading now
Household Essentials For Fall (UPKEEP & UTILITY)
Household Essentials for August (HOME OFFICE EDITION)
Thank you for visiting! At GFP company is always welcome!
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Are you on Pinterest? That is a crazy fun place! You can find so many helpful things. Take a look at what I’ve saved for you! A lot of things that never make it to the blog. Here are my Pinterest pins, and I have lots of categories/boards if you’re looking for something specific.
-Grammye
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