7 Tips for Thoroughly Cleaning and Organizing Your Basement

Take a deep breath. Yes, you can completely clean and organize your basement – and yes, you should.

If there’s any room in the average household that goes uncleaned and ends up massively disorganized, it’s the basement. It’s the room we throw all the items we have no space for in any other room, so how could it possibly be organized?

With some time, planning, and preparation (and a good deal of bravery!), you can do it. Read our following guide to take control of that messy basement.

1. Make an Inventory of your Belongings

Research shows that clutter is bad for our health – and in more ways than one. Clutter can trigger coping and avoidance strategies, it can negatively impact our emotions, cognition, and relationships with others, reduce our ability to focus, contribute to cognitive overload, and increase anxiety and depression.

That should be enough motivation to get anyone started, even on a task as intimidating as cleaning and organizing your basement. The best way to ease into a task as large and unruly as cleaning an entire house floor is to start by not cleaning.

Instead, when you walk down those steps, don’t view every object as something that needs to be cleaned and put in its proper place. That will all come later – trust us. For now, merely see each object as something to pick up, consider, and categorize. Remain curious! Then, create an inventory of every object down there so you know what to keep and what to toss.

2. Define a Purpose for the Space

Once you have a sense of what’s down in the basement, you’ll better understand what you can do with the space. Defining a purpose for a room really helps the process of deciding what stays, what goes, and how each area of the space will be organized and utilized.

Whether you’re going to create a recreation room, a storage room, or an in-home theater helps narrow your focus and speed along your decluttering process.

3. Donate, Repurpose, and Upcycle what you don’t need

Recycling, repurposing, and donating have many benefits – and not just altruistic ones. Recycling can save you money, it helps mitigate the crisis of landfill overflow, which contributes to the steep rise in greenhouse gas emissions, and it helps cut back on harmful toxins leeching into the groundwater supply.

There is no downside to donating and recycling the things you don’t need in your basement inventory. Go down the list and mark what stays and what goes. Then, determine how the “no’s” will be dealt with: sent to the donation center, kept and renovated, thrown into the recycling bin, etc.

4. Clean everything

Once you have the bulk of needless junk out of your way, cleaning will be much easier. Our tip: work from the top down. Start by dusting and cleaning the walls. Then, all the dust and sediment that falls will collect on your shelves, furniture, and objects. Dust and clean those, and all you’ll have left is the floor.

Once you sweep and mop the floor, you’ll have a clean basement that feels like brand new. Ensure you have the right cleaning product for various surfaces, like wood, glass, stainless steel, and marble, so you don’t damage them.

5. Create clear usage zones

Now that everything is clean and inventoried, it’s time to organize. First, conceptualize the space. Refer back to your intention for the space. What zones does a storage space have? What vital components should an in-home entertainment center have?

Think about the day-to-day functionality of the space and draw up a schematic. It will help you know where to put the things that you’ve kept, and how to organize them.

6. Designate storage spaces

It can be easy once you get rid of so much useless junk to look around, take in all the new space that you’ve created, and think the sky’s the limit. Many who previously used their basements as storage spaces reverse course and redesign the space as a place for everything but storage once it’s clean and organized. Don’t fall prey to this trap.

Make sure to design intentional storage spaces. You’ll thank yourself once stuff starts piling up again after a few years.

7. Redecorate

Now comes the fun part. Once you’ve fully decluttered, cleaned, and organized your basement, it’s time to redecorate. Go from a utilitarian closet to a cozy den of relaxation. Why not create a zen chamber of peace or the man cave of the century? The possibilities are endless when it comes to decor and design.

You’ve done all the hard work to reclaim this space, so now enjoy the fruits of your labor by remaking it entirely according to your sensibility and style.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Fastest Way to Declutter a Basement?

The fastest way to declutter a basement is to first create an inventory. Once you have a running list of everything that’s down there, it’s easier to eliminate duplicates and useless items. You can’t see everything when scanning the room with your eyes, but you can see everything on an itemized list.

How Do I Clean My Basement Full of Stuff?

Before you get to cleaning, you have to declutter. Don’t worry about organizing just yet. Get rid of everything you don’t need, and then gather your cleaning supplies. Remember to start high and go low, and start by dusting and then bring in the cleaning solutions.

Need Help Disposing of Junk? We Can Help!

Even if you follow our seven-step plan, cleaning the basement can be a daunting task. But it doesn’t have to be.

Check out Nixxit’s Basement Cleanout Service if you’re looking for professional help. We can remove junk from anywhere, even tiny crawl spaces, and expedite the decluttering step of the process so you can focus on cleaning and redecorating. Call to get in touch today!