A dirty and cluttered basement doesn’t serve the same purpose as a clean and finished basement. Many homeowners don’t realize that by finishing the basement, they actually add value to their home. This is one of the easiest ways to add square footage to your home without spending a large amount of money. It can also become a great room for entertaining.
Steps for Cleaning your Basements
1. Eliminate
You probably have items in your basement you’ve been meaning to get rid of. Whether you sell these items or you just decide to store them elsewhere, get them out of your basement first.
2. Storage
Sometimes you need to clean your basement because you need to move. Imagine if you were moving from Denver to Chicago and already know you won’t have as much space when you arrive. You may need to use one of the Denver storage units until you can figure out what to do with some of the things in your basement.
3. Organization
Since the basement often becomes the place for things, you simply don’t use, it’s necessary to start organizing it. The easiest way to do this is to get two boxes, label one “things to keep” and the other “things to get rid of”. You can donate the items you need to eliminate, sell them in a garage sale or throw them away. That part is up to you.
Organization will also play a part after you’ve cleaned the basement. With a set of shelves and some plastic storage containers, you can reorganize the things you plan to keep. This can help utilize the space in the basement, protect your items and make it much easier to find the things you need. Imagine if you could walk down to your basement and pull the item, you need fast and easy. For example, what if you could just look at the label on the container and know where your holiday decorations are located? That would make it much easier than digging through piles of things to find what you’re looking for.
4. Move Bulky Items
If your basement has some awkward and large items, arrange these out of the way. This will make it easier to get to all the other things and allow you to move around throughout the process.
5. Decide on Redecoration
If you plan to use your basement for storage only, you won’t really need to redecorate. However, if you want to finish the space, you will need to consider how to decorate the area. Basements make great game rooms, man caves and other types of entertainment rooms. Just make sure you address all the issues with finishing your basements including what will happen if it floods.
