What do you need so much storage for?

[Deleted]

I was just reading a home owner talking about all the storage they need and I couldn't help wondering what for. In the interest of full disclosure I am going through my house right now and purging stuff I didn't have the heart to get rid of before but know in my heart I don't use. When I think about what I need to store it's off season clothes, mostly heavy coats and boots for winter, Christmas decorations, some tools, lawn mower and yard stuff. A couple of big closets and a shed and I'm good. For those of you that have lots of storage, and it's full, what on earth are you storing?

[Deleted]

Kids stuff is a lot of it.  I kept all the toys/clothes for first son for second and they are 8 years apart, so a lot there.  Plus I hate having toys all over, so we store most of them and rotate up a tote a time.  I have boxes and boxes of books.  Older son is now starting to go through and read some of them.  That's the bulk of it for the house.

The garage has the camper, bikes, outdoor kids toys and yard furniture as well as the snowblower and tools.

The barn is the worst.  Besides the animals and a lot of hay it is the dumping ground for crap.  Leftover building materials, broken appliances and old computers waiting for recycling, lots of stuff left over from my first ex that he has slowly picked up over the years...really just lots of junk.  This year I'm going to see if a couple people want to go in on a dumpster with me and I'm going to just trash it all. 

[Pants]

We have an entire room in our basement devoted to baby crap we saved from DD because we knew we wanted a second kid. Once this one is done, I really look forward to getting that space back!

Other things that take up a lot of space in our basement: off-season or off-size clothes, luggage, tools and crap for the house (so many types of filters!,) rarely-used kitchen stuff (kitchenaid stand mixer, cuisinart, roasting pan), books, books, more books. In the garage are our bikes, the strollers, more tools. The shed has the riding mower and patio furniture.

[Deleted]

Outdoor sports equipment.  My friends have one car in a two car garage.  The other half of the garage is packed with bikes (2 road and 2 mountain),  kayaks (two individual, one tandem), 2 SUP boards, skis (downhill and cross country).  Plus all of the life jackets, wet suits, ski poles, paddles, etc that go with it.  Also, they have an awesome sport stroller for their kid.  The thing can be a jogging stroller, ski stroller, or bike stroller; so there are a lot of parts for that.

[Lizard Queen]

40+ bowling balls....just sayin' 

My stuff is "stuff"; other people's stuff is "junk".  <--or something like that (George Carlin)

[Deleted]

We are going from having a full basement to no basement, so the lack of storage is a major issue. 


In the basement we had:

-Christmas Decorations and artificial tree
-Tons of tools
-Touch up paint
-Extra leaf and chairs for the dining table
-Long folding table and folding chairs
-books
-Travel dog crate

In the garage:
-Motor cycles
-bicycles
-mower
-shovel, weed wacker, rake, ect.
-more tools

[Lizard Queen]

Among a ton of other stuff, we keep our excess kitchen stuff in the basement due to the fact our kitchen sucks because it's so tiny (and we tore out a wall of cabinets in order to get a regular sized refrigerator to fit).  Think china, blender, crockpots, mixer that we never use... 

[Deleted]

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

[Bonny]

Jan 7, 2015 10:52:25 GMT -5 @aj said:

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

It's certainly a problem I see a lot of in my middle class neighborhood. Most CA homes do not have basements so folks use their garage. My parents were prime examples. During their entire 33 year ownership of the family house they were never able to park a car in the garage.

I put my foot down when we bought a new car. I told DH we were not going to let a $20k car rot in the sea air (less than a mile from the beach) in order to storge $100 of his college furniture and crap!

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2015 10:52:25 GMT -5 @aj said:

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

because most 2 car garages can't really fit 2 cars.  there's no way my Pilot and another car would fit in my garage even if there weren't cabinets all along the walls.

[Deleted]

I built an oversized garage because there was no way I was going to park outside in the frozen tundra I live in.  I required it be attached and very well insulated too.   Mine is 3 car with a 12x12 shop in front of one of the bays and it has a walk door on the garage door facing side which adds another 3 or 4 feet to the width.  I easily fit the camper, a 3/4 truck and a car and still had lots of room for things like bikes and tools and such.

[ohmomto2boys]

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

I never understood this either.  However, we know people who have a 2 car garage that they have never parked their vehicles in because of all the kids toys.  They have a basement and a storage shed, but still have so many kids toys (bikes, battery powered vehicles, scooters, etc.) - they have 2 kids. With the amount of toys it looks like they have 6 kids.
That would be the day when my vehicle sat outside (in the snow, rain, cold, etc) because of my kids toys. 

[Deleted]

Jan 7, 2015 10:52:25 GMT -5 @aj said:

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

At my last house we had one bay full of outside stuff.  3 bicycles, lawn mower, snow blower, plow.  The new subdivision seems a little snippy about cars outside, but I also noticed most of the garages won't fit a full size truck. 

[resolution]

My car lives in the garage except when it gets evicted for a carpentry project.

Our biggest basement offender is my old refrigerator from before marriage. I need to get rid of it, but I know as soon as I do that our other refrigerator will break. We also have an assortment of luggage, Christmas decorations, assorted bins of computer parts and tubs of old video games. The previous homeowner had a big cabinet full of canning jars which we are slowly giving away.

[Bonny]

And while we park our two cars in our garage it's an oversized garage. We are chock full of crap that we need to get rid of. One of our near projects is to re-pour the driveway and garage floor. Besides coming up with the $$$ do that one big hurdle is getting rid of all of that extra crap we've been lugging around for 20+ years. Company paid moves didn't encourage us to shed enough!

[siralynn]

Jan 7, 2015 11:55:39 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Jan 7, 2015 10:52:25 GMT -5 @aj said:

I never understood why anyone with a garage would have their cars parked outside, but most I've seen like that have a lot of crap in the garage, guessing they are out of space?

It's certainly a problem I see a lot of in my middle class neighborhood. Most CA homes do not have basements so folks use their garage. My parents were prime examples. During their entire 33 year ownership of the family house they were never able to park a car in the garage.

I put my foot down when we bought a new car. I told DH we were not going to let a $20k car rot in the sea air (less than a mile from the beach) in order to storge $100 of his college furniture and crap!

For the first couple of years that we owned our CA house, we parked both cars in our garage - the only ones on our block to do so.

Then we had a kid. And bought road bikes (already had mountain bikes). So between saving the kid stuff for second kid, and having four bikes for two adults, I had to sacrifice my side of the garage. Then I bought an Outback that doesn't fit (length-wise) in the garage anyway, once I had a bike rack installed on the back.

We're still doing pretty well having one car parked in the garage. Many in our neighborhood park both cars outside! It doesn't really take much "stuff" to claim garage space in tiny CA ranch houses.

[swamp]

Jan 7, 2015 12:01:31 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I built an oversized garage because there was no way I was going to park outside in the frozen tundra I live in.  I required it be attached and very well insulated too.   Mine is 3 car with a 12x12 shop in front of one of the bays and it has a walk door on the garage door facing side which adds another 3 or 4 feet to the width.  I easily fit the camper, a 3/4 truck and a car and still had lots of room for things like bikes and tools and such.

You have my garage.

I also refuse to park outside in the winter. 

[gooddecisions]

I have a large 3 story house, but no basement, no attic and park 2 cars in the 2 car garage- no other cars allowed because they would block the garage door and I don't want to play musical chairs with the cars. I refuse to turn a room into storage and refuse to have a bunch of seasonal stuff hanging around. If it doesn't have an appropriate space year round, it goes or doesn't get purchased to begin with. I hate clutter.

I only want to store clothes and shoes in the closets and they must go in the closet of the room you occupy. I have two kids and no overages are allowed- either for parents or for kids. If we don't wear the clothes or outgrow the clothes, they go, with the exception of the oldest kid's clothes get moved to the youngest kid's closet until they are outgrown by her. I redid all the bedroom closets to maximize space.

We did build a really nice tool shed to store the lawn equipment and tools since the cars are in the garage. The shelves in the garage are reserved for sporting equipment. My Christmas decorations are limited to lights, ribbon and ornaments that must fit into one medium size container. The tree and reef must be real so I don't have to store them.  I'm a real hardass when it comes to stuff.

[wvugurl26]

My stuff in storage is off season clothes and shoes and holiday stuff. And the big furniture. I downsized from a 2 bedroom apt to a little suite. I'm slowly getting rid of stuff. I will never have so few clothes that summer/winter fit in the same closet.

[busymom]

Kid stuff. DH's tools & stuff "that he might need someday".   Holiday decorations.  Books.  Stuff from my parent's house.  Lawn mower (that we need to replace next Spring) & our snow blower.

[Abby Normal]

I am a purger.  I don't like extra stuff around that we don't use. 
DH is a "hoarder" or sentimental as he calls it.  He hates to get rid of stuff. He keeps getting grumpy because the attic is full (so therefor we can't get more christmas decorations) but the garage is full. Giant sled, giant coffin- giant toy box. Tool tools and more tools. 

[Sam_2.0]

We have one storage room that's about the size of a small bedroom, plus walk-in closets in each bedroom. I refuse to store things in the garage that are not meant to be used outside anyway (lawn equipment, bikes).

I have a couple boxes of grandma's china, a box of my "special treasures" from growing up, and then 6 large tubs of fall/Christmas decor (3 of each), plus the tree. Those things fit on one wall in the storage room and stack up nicely.

As for the kids, I have tubs of clothes from NB on up to 5T for each gender. Some are waiting on the kids to grow into, some are ones they've outgrown and are being held back for a 3rd kid. But honestly I am thinking of getting rid of the clothes they've both outgrown. We won't have another for a few years (hopefully) and I can pick clothes up pretty cheaply at consignment sales around here or just put the word out and accept hand-me-downs that come flowing in. As J outgrows carseats they are getting tossed/donated since they will be expired before anyone else in our house can use them. I am keeping the big baby gear but that will get donated as soon as the last baby has outgrown it.

[Sam_2.0]

Jan 7, 2015 12:31:15 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

I am a purger.  I don't like extra stuff around that we don't use. 
DH is a "hoarder" or sentimental as he calls it.  He hates to get rid of stuff. He keeps getting grumpy because the attic is full (so therefor we can't get more christmas decorations) but the garage is full. Giant sled, giant coffin- giant toy box. Tool tools and more tools. 

He has a coffin??

[lexxy703]

I purged heavily when I moved 8 years ago but I do have the closet in the extra bedroom full of boxes I moved & never opened.  I should probably just toss them.

[Deleted]

I'm in super purge mode this year.  2015 is the year of getting rid of "stuff".  I need to get out of my head the "I might use this someday", or "this would be nice to have if X happens".  I mean, I have things like a huge bouncy house and tons of little kids ride on toys just for when I have company with little kids...which is like 3X a year.

[Abby Normal]

Jan 7, 2015 12:36:52 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Jan 7, 2015 12:31:15 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

I am a purger.  I don't like extra stuff around that we don't use. 
DH is a "hoarder" or sentimental as he calls it.  He hates to get rid of stuff. He keeps getting grumpy because the attic is full (so therefor we can't get more christmas decorations) but the garage is full. Giant sled, giant coffin- giant toy box. Tool tools and more tools. 

He has a coffin??

Halloween Decoration.  We do a Dead and Breakfast.

[CarolinaKat]

Jan 7, 2015 12:31:15 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

I am a purger.  I don't like extra stuff around that we don't use. 
DH is a "hoarder" or sentimental as he calls it.  He hates to get rid of stuff. He keeps getting grumpy because the attic is full (so therefor we can't get more christmas decorations) but the garage is full. Giant sled, giant coffin- giant toy box. Tool tools and more tools. 

[Sam_2.0]

Jan 7, 2015 12:57:22 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Jan 7, 2015 12:36:52 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

He has a coffin??

Halloween Decoration.  We do a Dead and Breakfast.

I thought maybe he was like my dad and found one at Costco so that he's prepared when the time comes. Hahaha!

[raeoflyte]

Kid stuff...way, way too much kid stuff that is being held for sil.  So hopefully will start moving over to her house this year if her plans work out.  

Camping, backpacking, and snowshoeing gear.  

A bunch of dh's crap.  

2 sets of my grandmothers china.  

I think once the baby stuff is gone we'll easily fit everything in the storage room and walk in basement closet which would thrill me.  

[giramomma]

Lots of kids stuff.

DS has a single closet in his room, but it's useless for storage beyond clothes because the stairs go underneath it. So some toys get rotated there.

DD2 gets DD1's clothing. We have several boxes/tubs.  And toys and books.

I'm waiting to see if a friend wants our baby stuff. If not, it's going out this year.

My crafting sh*t. It multiples faster than I did. (However, I am grateful for my stash. I'm on pretty much down to spending nothing on hobbies these days. And I've had great fun shopping in my basement.)

Seasonal decorations.

Things I need for teaching that don't fit in the closet in the room.

Our "good" things that we were afraid the kids would break. I didn't register for china, but I did register for crystal. 2/3rds of the kids are now at an age when we can use it again. Infact, DD1 did drink out of crystal at Christmas. So I think that will be used again more regularly.

We also don't have a large garage. There's not much floor space with the van and subaru.

ETA: Camping stuff. A lot of it. Again it went unused for a while, but I'm suspecting we'll be using it again soon.

Lots of our stuff wasn't used for 8 or so years, mostly because of being new-ish parents. It doesn't make sense, for example, to get rid of all our camping stuff and then re-buy it again a decade later, when we have less money. I'm sure we'd easily be looking at spending 1K to replace what we have.