How many times have you ventured into your disorganized basement and then turned around to head back upstairs, scared at the time it would take to turn it into something that you could use and be proud of?
Several years ago, I decided to have some beautiful shelving, cabinets and a desk built into my basement, since my ultimate goal was to create an office space. However, after this was done, I continued to pile extraneous things into it, creating clutter and disorganization. It was rapidly becoming a space that was not conducive to thinking and working.
Fast forward to retiring from my primary career, and entering into part-time work, as well as creating my own entrepreneurial, consulting business. I realized that my goal of creating my basement office space was becoming extremely important. Participating in ZOOM meetings and in videos required an area that was removed from the constant upstairs noise, and the basement provided an excellent area for this. And so, the reinvention and reorganization of my basement office was now slated to become a reality and a priority.
The following are the questions I asked and steps that I took to recreate my basement office:
The following were the steps I took to reorganize and reinvent my basement:
I had also collected many stuffed animals which I was storing downstairs, taking up space and collecting dust. Almost all of the stuffed animals were discarded, too. This opened up the entry into the basement.
The textbooks that I used for my teaching were also very disorganized. Many of them were thrown over desks and the tops of credenzas, not making use of the built-in shelves that I had made. I had a large collection of unused picture frames in all sizes.
This took the greatest amount of time. I took a long, portable table, placed it in the middle of the basement, and put all of my stationery items on it. I did the same with the media and photographs. This enabled me to see exactly what I had, what I could toss, and then reorganize all of it so that ‘like’ items were neatly arranged next to each other.
The stationery items were placed on my built-in shelves and put in plastic bags. Occasion cards were also placed in plastic bags. Everything was labeled. Now I can buy some decorative storage boxes for them.
TIP: If you like to use decorative storage boxes, arrange the items you want in them before you buy the boxes. After you see how the arranging looks, you can then buy the boxes.
All media was organized and put on shelves as well. LP’s and CD’s were arranged in their respective groups. The combo LP, CD, and cassette player was moved next to the sound media. Photo albums were put together and photographs were placed in bins on shelves. Old, broken, picture frames were discarded, and the remaining ones stored in a large bin.
to create a 3-dimensional rendering of what my new space could look like. The rendering showed how my new space would look, by dividing the room into a workout area and a work space. Dafna also assisted me with selection of an area rug, additional furniture and placement of paintings. When completed, the basement was truly transformed and is now an area where I can enjoy exercising, as well as working on my businesses.
Let me use the benefit of my organizational experience to help you unclutter and reorganize your basement. We can do this virtually, or you can email me photographs of what your basement currently looks like, and we can chat. Contact me at ruthleahfrankel@gmail.com, or my website, pivotandretire.com, and let’s work together to transform your basement from MESSY to MARVELOUS!
(Thank you to Congerdesign by Pixaby for the photo.)