Storage at War
It is time to make resolutions
It is time to make resolutions, set up schedules and get fierce with how we budget everything from our finances to our downtime.
The national chatter of “falling off fiscal cliffs” has this writer’s thoughts turning to personal fiscal reorganization. For me, that means facing the fact that after three years of renovating a house, it is time to open our rented storage spaces. This is the year to remove rather than continue hoarding several lifetimes and generations of treasures and—let’s be honest—trash.
Thus my biggest resolution this year? To clear out two storage bins.
The truth is, even though I constantly give tips on organizing, purging and pruning closets and pantries, I have no idea where to begin. I am, in a word, “overwhelmed.”
Rented Storage: A Slippery Slope
I love storage spaces. Being able to hire a truck or mover to pick up furniture, boxes of cookware, art—what have you—and cart it off to a secure storage space when painting a room, redoing a kitchen, or stashing stuff is a blessing.
Storing things away is a bit like making a pact with the devil. Because it’s so easy, one can:
1) Forget about it.
2) Get on with the project and decorate with a fresh new eye.
3) Become terrified of the idea of editing the contents that linger in storage bins.
Presently, I fall into the “terrified” group. How did I get into this jam? Easy.
I justified the first and second bins easily. One is for staging rental and home-sale properties. The second was necessary for the contents of our home during a three-year renovation that unfolded room by room. As the contents and clutter got packed up from each room, away they went to storage. The third space was the simple solution to stashing inherited and acquired furniture out of our newly de-cluttered home.
The Inevitable Price Tag
At year’s end, I began to look for some ways to impose a cut or two on my own personal budget. And that, Good Readers, is when I added up all those monthly storage space bills. It seems we are spending what could be a nice vacation on keeping things tucked away for someday, someplace and someone to love.
The homes of children, nieces and nephews could be a landing spot for treasures but tastes change and the younger adults tend not to feel warm and fuzzy about what they perceive to be castoffs. Empire and Victorian may not be their cup of tea, nor do they have any more room than we do.
Feeling at this point like the star of a cheap paperback on thrift and efficiency, I am lost! This saga may continue for some time so I will keep you posted. Perhaps this subject may be perennial under my pen. Your thoughts, observations and recommendations will all be most welcome – [email protected].
Oh, and thanks for your help.