Fall is a great time to declutter, maximize storage

Autumn is a fantastic time of year to enjoy the outdoors without worrying about constant yard maintenance and upkeep. Instead, bundle up on your front patio with a great book and a cup of warm cider, go for a fun weekend getaway, or gather around the fire pit with family and friends.

My last article touched on a few maintenance tips to ensure your home will be ready for the coming change in weather. As you make your way down the to-do list for winter home preparation, be cognizant of your home storage space and how to most effectively utilize it. As people start pulling out their winter coats and cleaning out closets and garages, one of the No. 1 complaints is the lack of storage space, no matter how large or small their home is.

Before you start stuffing more items into those already cramped closets and drawers, pull everything out and begin auditing whether it is worth the space that it is taking up. Depending on how often you go through closets and drawers, you may find that a lot of items can be thrown away or donated. If there are clothes that you haven’t worn in 12 months, donate them.

Paperwork can build up quickly as the year progresses and can take up an unnecessarily large amount of counter space. Take some time and purge through the paper mounds and eliminate what you do not absolutely need. Digital copies of important paperwork can often be found on company websites once you log into your personal account. However, if you do not trust this system of recordkeeping, invest in a cloud-based Internet storage solution or purchase a document scanner and keep digital files on a backup hard drive.

Over time, your furniture may wear out and need replacing. There are countless trends and designs in today’s market that will not only enhance the aesthetics of your home, but also increase your home’s functionality. For something that takes up a lot of square footage in your home, you may want to consider furniture pieces that double as additional storage. Consider a coffee table that has drawers, or an ottoman that can open and double as a place to store blankets and pillows.

Perhaps the most underused and disorganized spaces in most homes are closets and kitchens. Do a general sweep of your closets, cabinets, kitchen drawers and pantries for items that are expired, damaged, unusable or simply ready to be retired from your accumulation of stuff. Even if there is nothing that can be removed from your storage spaces, perhaps there are more strategic ways of organizing your stuff so that you can increase the continued on