I'm spending the weekend tackling the basement of a low level hoarder. I really need to get everything out and it looking like a real place by Sunday evening. I'm partial to large bins to sort things and store them (if I have to), but there has to be other practical (and slightly appealing) ways. Ideas? Help? Please?
The basement consists of half broken electronics that ‘might' be usable in the future for spare parts, way too many holiday decorations, and lots and lots of random tools. Thus far I've managed to convince the hoarder to part with a majority of the non-electronic type trash which has made a huge impact, but not enough.
By Jane
A good start is to sift through the items you really want to keep and donate the rest to the Salvation Army. They will pick it all up for you as long as you have most of it boxed or bagged up for them. Just be kind to them and throw out what is truly trash instead of them having to trash those items.
With hoarders one doesn't want to add more shelving, boxes, containers, etc. as they will quickly fill them as well. One needs to cut back or there will more stuff of little or no value.
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My son is moving back in and I need ideas to get the basement straightened up to put his stuff in it. It's a mess and I have all kinds of things in there from Christmas items to gardening stuff (decorations). There is lots of junk for a rummage sale and whatever, also. I have shelves and such already down there already. Any quick easy ideas for me will help.
By Mariewl from Waupaca, WI
I've used inexpensive garbage bins from the Dollar General to organise things like Christmas and Halloween decorations, fabric stash (I sew), even emergency supplies when I lived in Hurricane Central (SouthEast AL).
The bins are wheeled, which made rearranging them easier. I used duct tape and a Sharpie pen to label each one.
I have found the most important thing to do is eliminate extra "stuff"
Donate it or have a sale. This gives empty space in which to organize the items you actually need/use so they can be put away properly. Also, I like the clear plastic bins so I can see what types of items are inside, but I still label them too.
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I need help cleaning out my basement. Any tips on how to get started and motivated?
