Creating Extra Storage vs. Getting Rid of Stuff

It seems life around the house is a constant balancing act between deciding to limit how much comes into the house (in addition to thinning out what's here) and deciding on a piece of furniture that can do double duty and help store the things we have and love:

In the past we went back and forth as though one of those extremes was right or wrong. We thought we needed to get rid of so many things that we wouldn't even need storage. Then we gave up and started collecting loads of stuff from flea markets and thrift stores. When we downsized living spaces, we put the apartment on a diet and got things back to equilibrium. But now that we're living with the bf, for exemple, we certainly need somewhere to put all the dvd's he owns (they are currently in stacks on the floor) because there's no getting rid of them. He watches them a lot and we host movie nights so they're still valuable and useful.

Life now is about achieving balance between hanging on to the stuff we really love and find useful, being willing to let go of the stuff that's taking up space for one day and being smart about how we're storing things.

Here's some help:

Inspiration and Tips for Getting Rid of Stuff
How Having Less is Having More
Kana and Sam's Less is More
Genevieve and Maxwell's Mid Century Perch
Tips for Having a Garage Sale
Putting the Apartment on a Diet
Hoarder Horror Stories
Posessed: When Things Start Posessing You

Great Storage Solutions
Before and After Bathroom Storage
6 Book Storage Ideas
Best Bookcase storage
Kitchen Storage Ideas
8 Creative Storage Solutions
Creatve Bathroom Storage
8 Small Space Storage Solutions

Comments (17)

One of my fave topics (btw, love "apartment on a diet" concept!). I've blogged about "moving in together" and how to do that harmoniously. It's really about honoring the other person and the relationship.
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

I think the key is balance. Anyone normal (not a millionaire with 5 homes) needs storage. Of course there is a long way between practicality and hoarding/excessive clutter.

I agree with balance. You have to do both. So many times I see people do one or the other.

hey - did i sell you that lamp? the turquoise one...

I sold the same one to someone in LA - but never knew where it ended up. I always thought it was such a great lamp.

It depends on whether I'm willing to put in the extra money for additional storage. If I'm not, then the 'stuff' is excess and should be gotten rid of.

moepong-

I'd love to know where you found that lamp

storage is bad. sure, your off-season clothes, christmas decoration and extra towels need a place to live, but everything else can live at goodwill. Once you start buying more stuff to put your stuff in, you're in trouble, friend.

not to sound like a hippie, but purging that stuff is a truly cleansing process. you will feel better.

i just helped some friends do a "clean sweep" style purge and they worked on it for a week. in the end, they were glad to have it all gone and said it brought them closer together. win-win!

seems like on a lot of these storage posts people are promoting the minimal lifestyles, but those kinds of people might not be artists (not saying you aren't just a generalization). I say this because as an artist you end up with so much stuff to work with. I have boxes (and boxes!) of paper stored behind clothes in the closet, 1 tub of screenprint stuff, 1 tub of drawing stuff, 1 tub of block print stuff, markers, pencils, it goes on and on. No, i'm not going to throw that stuff out because I will need it at some point in my artistic life, and actually am using most of it actively. Plus, staying at home working on art isn't what i do, i am a graphic designer and just work on art in the free time.

I just always see those kinds of comments and it made me think, and that is what i kind of came up with.

I found it in Palm Springs at a garage sale. Its vintage and super awesome. I was a little sad to sell it...but I just couldn't find a place for it in my house after three months.

I'm a purger.

Wow, I'd like to know where the coffee table is from -- incredible.

I agree with nikki moore - almost everyone has to have some storage. It's very normal. But there is lots of furniture for sale that can pull double duty and you can hide some storage - like under the bed boxes, etc. Don't let anyone guilt you into getting rid of something just because you have to store it.

That left-hand image is lovely. Is it from the apartment with the band of upper-wall shelving? I wish I could find that house tour.

There's storage and then there's STORAGE. When I hear about things like in-the-stair storage... Unless you have some serious constraints [houseboat, your apartment/house is ridiculously tiny for the number of people living there, etc], why would you need that?

But I think part of that is just the inaccessibility of it. If you have to store it in odd places, you can't get to it easily, so you don't use it often, so what's the point of having it?

But on the other hand, storage such as a closet for clothes, or a bookcase, or some cd & dvd racks - that's something useful.

This is very timely for us as we are just wrapping up a massive clearing out and reorganizing effort. We concentrated on clearing out first and managed to get rid of about two dozen bags of clothes and household stuff as well as numerous bags of garbage - and many old textbooks from college - and also three pieces of furniture that I had always hated. Then we acquired a new shelving unit and boxes in different sizes, both from the Container Store, and reorganized the stuff we wanted to keep. It felt divine!