Tackle Storage Concerns With Room Tour

Taking a careful inventory of your home is the first step toward meeting your storage needs in an efficient, easy-to-manage fashion. Here are some simple steps:

To get started, take a walking tour of your home, room by room, with note pad and pen in hand.

In each room of your house, jot down the situations that make you uncomfortable. Run through an imaginary day, envisioning all activities typically pursued in each room.

Be honest with yourself. Nobody can tell you how to use your home. Nor can anyone tell you what’s important to have stored close at hand.

After mentally playing out a day, go back and imagine how, if you were granted a wish list, you might utilize your rooms in new ways. Planning dream rooms is a sure way to start realizing them more quickly.

Give yourself time to get organized. Go back over your list of storage problems and highlight those that bother you the most.

After setting priorities, pick the room that offers the greatest storage challenge and concentrate your energies there.

Break down the problem areas into manageable units. Get specific. Maybe nothing in the living room is handy, for example. Break that down to determine what isn’t handy.

Instead of trying to find storage solutions, don’t be afraid to clear up clutter by discarding items.