Simple and Effective Attic Organization Tips from a Pro
Attics are one of the most heavily procrastinated spaces when it comes to organizing. I think it’s in part because it’s out of sight out of mind, but also because the items stored in an attic tend to be sentimental in nature. Feng Shui principles suggest the attic is the space of your hopes and dreams, so it’s definitely not something to leave cluttered! I’m going to share some simple steps and the approach we use when we help our clients organize their attics. I hope it helps you build the motivation to tackle your own attic space.
Define Your Vision & the Zones
This is the first step with any space because it gives you a road map to turn to when you feel stuck. Defining your vision is essentially establishing why you want to organize your attic and how you’d like it to feel at the end of the project. Organizing is a means to an end. A few examples of an attic vision could be: “A streamlined space to store holiday decor so it’s fun to pull out each year rather than stressful.” or “Decluttered and clean so it’s not a big task weighing on my mind anymore.” or “Go through keepsakes so I can display the pieces I love and pass on others I don’t need/want.” or even “Prepare for an upcoming move or renovation.” Having your motivation for the organizing process written down is an important piece of the puzzle.
It can be tempting to walk up to your attic with determination to complete the entire project in one afternoon. While this may be possible for some, it’s definitely not for others. Establishing the zones of storage in your attic can help you break the project into smaller, more manageable parts. Examples of zones for an attic could be: holiday/seasonal decor, keepsakes, off-size/off-season clothing, camping/recreation gear, or oversized home parts. Tackle one zone at a time if you don’t have large chunks of time available to do everything at once.
Sort into Zones & Minimize
Once you have your vision and zones established, the next step is to sort through one zone at a time and decide what to keep and what to minimize. For a great minimizing guide, check out our other post: “Beyond Sparking Joy: How to Decide What to Keep or Discard”. If you’re in Richmond, we also created this posts with a list of local donation sites, “Donations for a Good Cause” as well as this list of other organizing resources, “Minima’s Comprehensive List of Organizing Resources”. Our go to donation drop off site for most items is Goodwill. We love their mission—they recycle so much (textiles, broken electronics) and they hire those with learning disabilities or coming out of incarceration. They also accept medical equipment and donate the items for free to those in need. They have many convenient locations and drop-off hours and they accept the widest variety of donation categories of any other charity we’ve found. Once you’ve decided to donate something, put it into a donation box or bag and load it into your car. The organizing process isn’t complete until those donations are dropped off. (Donation drop-offs are complimentary for our clients.)
For items Goodwill or other charities will not accept (such as baby gear), we recommend Facebook Marketplace free listings or neighborhood groups like Buy Nothing (as long as there are no safety recalls). If you have something of high value, it may be worth selling. I also recommend Facebook Marketplace for selling and wrote a post awhile back called: “5 Steps to a Successful Craigslist Sale” (simply replace Craigslist with Facebook). 9 times out of 10 it is best to simply donate the item and free up your time. Selling only makes sense if you have the free time and will get a substantial (to you) amount of money for the sale.
One thing we see often with client attics, especially empty nesters, is the attic or other spaces of their home have become a storage unit for their grown children or other family members. In some cases, this is a conversation around boundaries if the clutter is causing stress. Similarly, we often see clients holding on to items in hopes their children or other family might want them someday. Our suggestion is to ask your family candidly whether or not they want the items and accept their answer as the truth. You can also establish a deadline for the items to be picked up before being donated. If the family doesn’t want the items, it is better to release them back into the world to be used and loved by someone else (even if a stranger), rather than let them collect dust for years or even decades.
Store the Items You Keep Safely
There are some things that shouldn’t be stored in an attic unless it’s conditioned—essentially anything sensitive to heat such as wax candles. We also advise against keeping old photos or artwork in the attic unless you have no other option. Our favorite containers for attic storage are The Container Store’s Weathertight totes. They are clear for easy visibility as well as airtight to protect your belongings from pests and moisture. We also recommend using a Brother P-Touch label maker to clearly label all bins in a consistent location so it’s easy to find things. We like to use a 3/4” label tape and all caps so the label stands out. Attics aren’t always the best lit spaces, so the easier to read the better. Adding shelving is optional, and sometimes not possible due to sloped ceiling lines. We recommend simply stacking bins in a row two, max three, bins high as shown in the main image above.
If you’d like in-person support decluttering and organizing your attic, simply fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!
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