Attic and Basement Storage

I was thinking about storage solutions for your Crown Point, Dyer, or Munster home.  I’m not talking about color coded, stackable bins, or any of that.  What I had on my mind was how to make effective use of underutilized space.  After the garage the two most likely candidates for family storage are the basement and the attic.  Here are a couple pros and cons for storage both above your head and below your feet, and a thought or two on how to do it right.

As a rule basements are cooler than the rest of the house, and by comparison with the attic, much more accessible.  Generally if a large item like a couch or an exercise machine can fit through the front door and into the house it can also fit down the stairwell and into the basement.  But accessibility can have its drawbacks as well.  Anything you store in the basement will be seen every time you venture down there, and if there’s enough stuff down there it can easily get cluttered.  Not such a great strategy if you also use the basement as a family common area.  Take into account children and pets, particularly cats.  Nosy fingers and paws can accidentally overturn Great Granny’s antique china, or disturb Great Grandpa’s military medals and ribbons.  So anything you store in the basement should be clearly labeled in secure boxes.  Plastic containers are good, especially if there’s even the most remote threat of flooding.  Another drawback of storage in the basement is the simple convenience, and by that I mean anytime you have extra space life generally expands to fill it, which can inadvertently steal away usable living space.  It’s often easier to “take it downstairs” and deal with clutter later than to properly dispose of expendable items right away.  Basement storage in itself is a great argument for a garage sale.  So if you’re going to use the basement consider one or more of those standing, folding screens to store (hide) you stuff behind and out of site.  And don’t forget the space under the stairs.  It’s great for hiding more than childhood monsters.

Attics are difficult to access, and their entry points are significantly narrower than the hallway downstairs.  However, attics are great out of the way, forgotten spaces in the house, and anything you are able to haul up a ladder can be easily put out of site and out of mind.  That means no nosy children or pets accidentally breaking priceless family keepsakes.  A word of caution though.  Attics are warm, and can get downright miserable during the summer.  Be careful not to store Grandpa’s old letterman jacket up there.  Painted leather, like the sleeves on many of those coats can sweat natural oils in the heat and ruin the finish.  So it’s safer to keep delicate materials and fabrics elsewhere if possible.  This includes old family reel to reel movies, video tapes, and music cassettes.  All of these can suffer in the heat.  Here’s the hot tip for using your attic for storage: install a folding ladder and some flooring for safety, and easier accessibility.