Perhaps you have a smaller home, or maybe your family is growing, increasing your need for additional storage. Whatever the case, most homeowners have some storage they use at their home, whether it’s bins in the basement or a measly designed closet system. No matter what kind of storage solutions you’re using, there are some key mistakes you may want to avoid. Here are some of the most common ones:

Over-Complicating

Maybe you’ve gotten excited about the idea of redesigning your storage system or were overwhelmed by the number of storage options when you visited a store for some supplies. Many homeowners wind up creating storage systems that are over engineered, and this can often make them a bit useless. When you get so specific in your storage systems, they can become too difficult to use. You have everything divided up into separate containers and a system that only you fully understand. Not only does this make it more difficult to get the entire family on board, but it also means accessing things in storage will be less convenient. It’s important to try to strike that balance where your storage is well organized, but still easy to use and navigate.

Not Labeling

Part of finding that balance is labeling things. It might seem unnecessary at first, but as things start to pile up, those labels can save you a lot of trouble hunting down the thing you need. Again, they can also make it easier for everyone in the house to find what they need as well. Whether you use a piece of tape and a sharpie or a fancy label maker, all you need to do is make it clear what’s inside the container and ensure it’s readable from wherever you decide to store it.

Hiding Things Away

We usually want our storage out of sight, and it makes sense. We store the things we don’t need at the moment, so we’d rather not have those things taking up valuable space in our homes. The real idea here is making sure that things don’t get buried in storage. It’s so easy to tuck things away “in storage” and let them sit for years and years without being used. It’s also not uncommon to be frustrated searching through a closet of stored clothing, unable to find the one thing you need. Even though your storage itself may be tucked away, you want to try to keep things as visible as possible. The labels really help here. As does using clear bins to store certain items and stacking things in such a way that nothing is lost behind other boxes.

Defaulting to Storage

Things tend to wind up hidden in storage when we default to storing. Rather than taking the time to assess if we truly need the item or are ready to donate or sell it, it’s often easier to simply tuck it in storage. When you get in this habit, you’ll be losing valuable storage space to items you probably don’t need. The best thing to do here is to create a new habit. Before anything goes into storage, do a quick check-in. Is this something you need? Is it worth taking up some storage space? Having this quick pause can help you stay on top of your storage system.

What are your thoughts? Have you made any storage mistakes in your experience as a homeowner? What solutions have you found? I’ll love to hear what you think!