Organizing 101/ March-The Basement

[BernardandMissBianca]

DUN DUN DUN!!! Gasp the horror!!!

The basement is your challenge this month but since mine is in such poor condition I am willing to give you 2 months. April is the living room, yes as opposed to the family room(JAN), so take your time.

Goal
Create a safe, dry, manageable storage system

Declutter
- inventory contents of shelves and boxes. Create piles for trash, donation, repair, and keepers.
- Get as many things as possible up off the floor.
- Check for water damage, bug or rodent infestation, and drain backup problems. yeah, ok, now they tell me

Clean
- vacuum and clean shelves, floor, and walls
- clean drains, dehumidifier, extra fridge or freezer, dryer area.
- change filters on furnace. Schedule furnace maintenance appointment for the summer.
- check/replace batteries on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

maintain
- keep items such as wrapping paper, scissors, and tape in one area.
- organize any items you're storing in the basement by category. Store on pallets or on sturdy off-the-floor shelving units.
- Label and keep an inventory list of any boxed items. Keep extra copy of the inventory list in a safe place.


notes by me
please if you do not have a smoke detector in the basement get one!!! There was a house fire in the next town over 2 weeks ago. The dryer lint caught on fire and luckily they had smoke detectors in their basement. This was a 1730's house! Minimal damaged was caused because they heard the alarms and the fire dept was there fast.

Have fun everyone!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

LOL!!!
You are kidding right...
Goal
Create a safe, dry, manageable storage system NO problem.. 2 of the rooms down there are bedrooms, need cleaned though.. than the laundry room is down there..and everything else is open!

Declutter
- inventory contents of shelves and boxes. Create piles for trash, donation, repair, and keepers.
- Get as many things as possible up off the floor. Did that this past weekend just in case after our repairs we had water come in the walls again... no issues so far!
- Check for water damage, bug or rodent infestation, and drain backup problems. yeah, ok, now they tell me No rodents but will check again..

Clean
- vacuum and clean shelves, floor, and walls
- clean drains, dehumidifier, extra fridge or freezer, dryer area.
- change filters on furnace. Schedule furnace maintenance appointment for the summer. no furnace baseboard heat
- check/replace batteries on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

maintain
- keep items such as wrapping paper, scissors, and tape in one area.
- organize any items you're storing in the basement by category. Store on pallets or on sturdy off-the-floor shelving units.
- Label and keep an inventory list of any boxed items. Keep extra copy of the inventory list in a safe place.


notes by me
please if you do not have a smoke detector in the basement get one!!! There was a house fire in the next town over 2 weeks ago. The dryer lint caught on fire and luckily they had smoke detectors in their basement. This was a 1730's house! Minimal damaged was caused because they heard the alarms and the fire dept was there fast.
Good to know.. I actually have 3 in our basement one in each bedroom and one in the open area closest to the laundry room. I'm glad there was minimal damage in a home that old. I'm sure it has a lot of character!!

 

[ddavis860]

OK, I'm done

 

[hopemax]

I don't have one of these.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

OK, I'm done

I don't have one of these.

oh be quiet!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Okay, DDavis & Hopemax.. I expect you both at my house bright and early tomorrow... I need help! You can entertain the kids while I work on the basement..

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Okay, DDavis & Hopemax.. I expect you both at my house bright and early tomorrow... I need help! You can entertain the kids while I work on the basement..

oh no!! one can come to your house but the other one is coming here!!

 

[AlexWyattMommy]

I can do this one. Our basement is our TV/play area now. We just had it finished at the end of January so it is still relatively organized. And as we don't have a living room, I guess I get April off.

I won't be starting any of this until after I come back.

 

[Faerie]

No basement here, I'd be in water

 

[PrincessNancy96]

No basement here, I'd be in water

But you have a beach within driving distance.. I wish we did.. Our beaches are man-made and small.. I'm just glad for my basement in tornadic weather.. which by the way.. we are under a tornado watch now... urgh! Better go set up that weather radio we got...

 

[rlovew]

No basement for me also. Buffy is their a month for the garage. I might attempt to tackle the garage instead if their isn't a month for it.

Rebecca

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Wait! Wait! I don't have a garage so that should be an easy month for me!!! LOL
Yep, I'm one of those homeowners that has a driveway and no garage... no carport either!
Although w/ the wind picking up today.. it's a good thing I don't have a carport because it would be moving EAST!

 

[jennyL]

No basement for me either so since I didn't finish Feb I'm going to work on that room. April will be easy for me too since I have a total of one coach and a coffee table in my living room. LOL and those will probably be going away in April so the room will be empty.

 

[New England Eeyore]

Oh, you've got to be kidding me! My basement is the full length of the house! What are you doing to me!?!?!

I'll definitely take the two months on this one. Which will work because technically I already did the living room in January with the family room task. Plus finishing up the last of my February office tasks.

The basement is really my DH's domain - I call him my "cellar dweller" since he spends so much time down there - he has a TV and a chair and everything. And no, it's not a finished basement! So a good 1/3 of the area is all his tools and such and he keeps that pretty neat and organized. Aside from the major appliances and heating equipment, the rest of the basement is storage - some of which I haven't touched since we moved in 3 & 1/2 years ago. It was always a "someday" thing. I guess it's a March, 2007 thing!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

here is the list:
Jan - Family Room
Feb- Home Office
March - Basement
April - Living Room
May - Attic
June - Dining Room
July - Bathrooms
Aug - Bedrooms
Sept - Garage
Oct - Closets
Nov - Kitchen
Dec - Laundry Center

I don't have a living room so I'm taking 2 months for the basement too. Plus I miss a full week of March. I also don't have an attic but I do have a loft over the garage. 1 bathroom, and a separate linen closet, and only 2 bedrooms, easy enough for me.

I do how ever have a huge building too so I have to lump that in somewhere, probably with the garage. If you need a specific room let me know and I can PM you the list.

 

[kaddjr]

The basement is really my DH's domain

It's my DH's too. I call it the dungeon! Seriously, I won't go down there unless I absolutely have to (tornado warning). Thank goodness my laundry room is on the first floor, 'cause it would never get done if it were in the basement.

 

[New England Eeyore]

Thanks, Buffy! It's good to be able to plan ahead.

I don't have an attic so I may move the kitchen up to May. I can't wait until November to get my cabinets organized!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Jan - Family Room DONE
Feb- Home Office Done but need to clean the dest again..
March - Basement
April - Living Roomdon't have one so I will do the family room again and 1 kids' bedroom!
May - Attic have one but don't have anything but labeled storage in it and NO one goes up there.. so I'll do 2 more kids' bedrooms.
June - Dining Room
July - Bathrooms only one so that will be a breeze.. I'll add stepsons' room to this month
Aug - Bedrooms it'll be time to do the master and a sweep through the previous ones!
Sept - Garage FREE MONTH
Oct - Closets I'll do that with each room and just monitor this month!
Nov - Kitchen
Dec - Laundry Center

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Of course the one thing they neglected was the yard. Go figure!!!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Hey! I pass that one too.. that is DH's domain!! I don't do anything but mow it when I'm absolutely fed up with it.. Now, with his DX I may be doing it more often..just because we don't know how that will affect him... So far no other issues since Oct.. YEAH!!!!