Time to Clean and Organize Your Attic Space

We have written about basement remodeling and garage de-cluttering  in the past months. The attic is the last place in the home that people think about re-organizing or de-cluttering. Seasonal items, clothes, furniture and emotional keepsakes all end up being stored in the attic. Family pictures are thrown in cardboard boxes in the attic, children’s toys are gathering dust and clothes are being eaten by moths! Not every home is lucky enough to have attic storage spaces, but there are many older homes with a lot of extra room to store items in the attic. Some attics are smaller crawl spaces that can hold just a few boxes, where other attics are large enough to be converted to actual additional living spaces.

The same process that you follow for organizing the rest of the home also applies to the attic. Set goals for your cleaning project. If you decide to remodel the space into an actual living area, then you will need to consult with professional contractors and architects. The remodeling, while usually easier because of the proximity of the roof, has to be carefully planned for insulation, wiring and other considerations. If you plan on remodeling the attic, then you will need to move the items that are currently being stored there into another place in the home or into a self storage unit until the remodeling project is completed. If you are just trying to de-clutter the attic, then you can use the same strategy of sorting the items in to boxes or piles for keeping, selling, donating or throwing away. After you sort the items, then categorize the items that you are keeping. These categories could be children’s keepsakes, items that you will use, special occasion items or seasonal decorations. Store the like items together so you can easily access the items in the future. Store these belongings in a clear plastic box and remember to label the boxes. If you are storing furniture in an attic, cover it with a furniture cloth to protect from dirt and dust.

There are certain items that should not be kept in an attic due to extreme temperature fluctuations. Attics can be 20-30 degrees warmer in the summer or colder in the winter than the rest of the house. During the hot summer months, this can damage certain items such as photos (if not stored properly), compact discs, clothing, comic books, collectible toys and even furniture. Moisture can develop in the attic from high humidity, which also damages items. Plus, if the roof is damaged and leaks, it can ruin your stored belongings. To protect these items for future use, the best option would be to place them in a climate controlled self storage unit. Dymon has six locations in the Ottawa area  with climate controlled units to keep your items ready for future use or protect the keepsakes such as photos to pass down to younger generations.

Don’t just leave cleaning and organizing your attic to when you move in or out of your home, keep the attic organized throughout the year. This will allow you to easily find the item that you are looking for.  It can be a daunting and emotional task to go through family items, but you will feel much better once you have organized it and stored the items properly.