Don’t Debase the Basement. Organize!
The basement is often a neglected space during any organizing campaign. True, the basement is normally uncomplicated and easy, but still deserving of some intelligent assessment and functional storage solutions.
Assess the quality of the basement environment before you decide what to store in that space. A lot can be done to improve adverse environments.
Humidity Levels Debase the Basement
Checking the humidity level is the most important starting point. Above 60% humidity, mold can grow. Below 50% it lies dormant. In my central Jersey basement, the humidity level starts climbing as Spring approaches and can easily exceed 80% during the heat of summer. Those levels will quickly debase the basement. Just as surely the humidity drops as the outside temperature drops during the Fall and is almost always below 50% over the Winter.
A humidifier with a built-in pump is the only way to go. Those units that require a bucket to be emptied once or twice a day are just not acceptable. You will get tired of the whole thing; you will wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of plaintive beeping. Those built-in pumps raise the price considerably, but every time you don’t have to walk up and down those basement stairs, you’ll be grateful. Snake the plastic tubing that is sold with the humidifier out a nearby window or down a basement drain. Your basement will thank you. The mold will hate you. And that’s okay.
Water Seepage Debases the Basement
Does water seep through the cinder-block walls or pour in the windowsills during severe storms? You’d better plan on high shelving and leave the bottom rack empty. Even then, your humidifier will be working overtime and you’ll treasure that built-in pump. You’ll also want to buy one of those automated pumps that are activated by rising water levels. Don’t store anything valuable in a waterlogged space.
You can improve the dust and mold levels in your basement and throughout your home by investing in MERV or HEPA filters instead of plain vanilla filters. These can be found at any hardware or building supply store.
Abundant Shelves
Once you’ve nailed down any environmental issues it is time to get to work with shelves and bins. I prefer bins to cardboard boxes. Boxes are way cheaper, but don’t seem so cheap once the bottom falls out and your grandmother’s heritage crystal goblets crash onto the floor.
At a minimum, use plastic bins with a lid for archival material like tapes of high school graduations and photos from your childhood. In fact, let’s move those tapes and photos into dead storage or even to that precious active storage on the top shelf of your bedroom closet. I wouldn’t suggest dead storage in the garage or attic because those areas are usually not climate controlled. That can wreak havoc on photos and papers. Better safe than sorry.
You’re better off getting shelves rather than just stacking bins or cardboard boxes. Bins and boxes seem sturdy when they’re first stacked up, but after a few years as the piles get higher, the sides of both start caving in and you’ll end up with what’s left of grandma’s crystal once again smashed onto the cement floor.
Prune Your Treasures
Beyond that, start filling the shelves and do the best you can to toss or donate any basement treasures that are still there because you forgot they existed ten years ago. A basement, outside of a laundry room or tool room, is primarily machinery and dead storage. Just because its dead storage doesn’t mean you can’t exhume some remains every once in a while.
I personally wouldn’t worry about the aesthetics of a basement unless it is a finished space. Once you’ve installed the right number of shelves and populated them neatly with the containers of your choice, you’re done.
Overflow Storage
The advantage of completing the basement early in the whole process is that now you have storage space for the overflow from other rooms. Make sure you buy two or three shelves you don’t need when you organize the basement. We’re going to put those to good use in a future article to make a big change.
You’ve successfully avoided debasing the basement. You’ve organized quickly and safely. Let’s hit the garage.
