Have you ever noticed that the most cluttered areas of your home can be the ones that are hidden? It’s this concealed clutter that pushes many people to turn to professional organizer Amber Collins for help tackling their basement organization tasks in Michigan.

“As people clean out other rooms in their home, they collect things in their basement with the idea that they’ll sort it later, and that never happens,”; said Collins of The Place With Space.

If you want to make better use of your underground space and easily find what you need, keep reading to learn some of the best basement organization and storage strategies from professional organizers. Their tips will help you care for what you love and get rid of all the things you no longer use!

Create a Plan to Declutter Your Basement

The amount of stuff and time you have should help you form your plan of attack for organizing this space. Schedule daily or weekly sessions to tackle your basement project, and when you commit to a time and day to start organizing, set a reminder on your phone or wall calendar to stick to it!

“Work at your own pace,”; said Collins. “Put on a podcast, some music, or a TV show that you can listen to make it go by faster.”;

Basement Organization: How to Sort Your Stuff

Once you’ve made time to organize, start sorting. First, make piles of similar stuff, so you know how much holiday décor, spare linens, sports equipment, etc. you have. This will help you decide how much you should keep, said Collins.

“Start going through the easier items, like old clothes, old towels, linens, and bulky items, like sports equipment and kids’ toys that won’t be used in the future,”; she said.

Buy or find some large cardboard boxes for sorting, suggests Pam Reagan of Lighten Up! Organizing.

“Always have boxes ready, and label them: donate, recycle, trash,”; she said. “The process will go a lot faster when you have a place to easily put things.”;

Once you’ve filled a donation box, put it in your car so it doesn’t continue to sit in your basement, Collins added.

Add Basement Storage Shelves and Boxes

Once you know how much stuff you want to keep in your basement, buy storage shelving and boxes (if you don’t already have some) to keep everything organized for years to come.

“Shop around to find sturdy storage shelves on sale,”; said Reagan. “Adjust the height of the shelves to accommodate your totes.”;

Once you’ve sorted, figure out how many boxes you’ll need to store what’s left. Consider purchasing clear, plastic boxes, so you can see what is inside.

“I always use totes with (locking lids), because you know the cover will stay on,”; Reagan added. “The boxes with covers that wrap around the rim will start to warp and eventually won’t cover the box correctly.”;

Even if you’re using clear totes to store your basement treasures, make sure to label your boxes and group like items together, such as holiday decorations, tools or memorabilia. This will make it easier to find exactly what you’re looking for throughout the year.

And keep your basement clutter-free by putting stuff away immediately.

“When you bring something into a space, put it in a place,”; Collins added. “It’s good to develop the habit to stay organized.”;