Do you *really* think you’ll be able to wrangle that blender back into the Styrofoam inserts / folded cardboard cushioning? When you move, you or your movers will wrap that sucker in blank newsprint, put it in a standard moving box, and be done with it.

Only exception: computer/printer/stereo boxes. When these things break (and they do), you’ll need to ship them in for repair, using the original boxes. Usually, the cushioning inserts are cleanly fashioned and easy to reposition on the equipment to get it in the box. So, you get a hall pass to keep these.

In the last ten years I have moved at least once every year which has made it very easy to deploy a ‘one-in-one-out’ rule – and I can’t imagine having a basement full of stuff. I was actually quite relieved that all my childhood dolls and dolls clothes had been stored in cardboard boxes because when clearing my mum’s attic a few years ago, it was very easy to toss all the things that had been chewed on by rodents. So the benefit of cardboard boxes (and floods) must be that they make it very easy to decide on which things to hold on to and which to toss!

1. Reserve thy plentiful basement space for messy projects (like re-finishing furniture).

2. Thou shalt store only hardware (hammers, drills, that kind of stuff), yard tools and implements of snow removal in thy basement.

3. That which serveth thou in thy house-proper shalt remain in thy house-proper. Maketh thou cozy, climate controlled homes for paperwork, christmas decorations etc in the main floors.

For verily shalt thou deprive creepy crawlies of hiding spaces when thou limiteth thy basement clutter.

1. Thou shalt pack items into smaller bins which can be thus easily moved and stored in smaller spaces under stairs and on closet shelves.

(Instead of one monster bin, why not use two smaller ones and save your back and search time? They take up the same space as a larger one, so no clutter from “extra” bins.)

2. Thou shalt paste a label on both the lid AND the side of yon rubber bin. Curse the evildoer who opens two bins and switches the lids with the labels on them.

3. Thou shalt not store items sensitive to moisture in the same room as ye olde washer and dryer, even when in a trusty rubber bin, sealed from the cursed humidity. No solution is impervious!

4. Thou shalt realize that well-organized storage bins can be pleasing to the eye when stacked neatly in an open area of yon basement, if no other place can be found. Pick a colour and style which shall complement your decor.

5. Though shalt not use wicker, cardboard, nor cloth storage baskets or file boxes to store important papers for the IRS. Furthermore, thou shalt find a storage place which is not in yon basement for any important doucmentation.

6. Thou shalt not use storage bins as coffee tables unless you are a college student, and then much rejoicing can be had, for you are exempt from furniture/storage bin laws. *wink*

My rule would be ‘thou shalt not carpet the basement.’ Cleanup would have been so much faster, easier and more thorough if we didn’t have carpet down here.

But the experience also turned me into a more aggressive unclutterer. Now when I’m tempted to hang onto something, I think, if a flood destroyed this object, would I be distraught? If so, it probably shouldn’t be in the basement; if not, it shouldn’t be in my home at all!

For example, I’d been holding onto my first musical instrument, which I hadn’t played in 7 years; I knew I should donate it but couldn’t seem to let it go. It was in the basement during the flood, and as I threw out the heavily mildewed instrument and case, I realized that I wasn’t going to miss it–but I did feel bad that it couldn’t have a second life with someone who really wanted to play it.

Rule #2: Some basements will never flood because the developers are on crack and build on land totally unsuitable for human habitation. (Our property is on a 36 degree angle and our soil is 90% shale. We can’t even get the ground to hold enough water to grow grass. Let me tell you about xeriscaping in the northeast.)