The concept of treating your storage areas like a “store” was first introduced to me years ago by Lisa Woodruff on her podcast Organize365.
The idea is to go to your storage room to “shop” for things you don’t need in your everyday life. Things like holiday decorations, dinner party bowls and platters, extra paint for touch up to a scuff on the wall, and more.
My Story – Expanding Beyond the Storage Room
The last several years, I’ve begun expanding this concept beyond the storage room and started to find other areas of my life that are enhanced by organizing like a store. Below are three examples:
BOOKS– I have A LOT of books from over the years and I struggle to part with any of them. The organization has gone from none to aligned by color because I liked how it looked.
About two years ago, I shifted and organized the books by categories.
There are now sections including marketing, brand development, CRM, leadership, personal development, coaching, green living, and sustainability. This allows me to quickly shop for the information I’m looking for.
OFFICE SUPPLIES – Historically, our office supplies and linens stored in almost every room in the house including the office, the kitchen, bedrooms, and even the dining room.
This situation was causing me to frequently overbuy because I was assuming we didn’t have something, or I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So, I created a single “store” in one location in the house.
Now, everyone can easily go to that storage area and shop for what they need. In addition, I always know when things are running low and need to be restocked.
DIGITAL– This is an area I have just begun to experiment with. However, I’m intrigued by where the process may take me.
Most of us have hard drives filled with content. The files don’t take up physical space like the last two examples so it’s even easier to keep more than you need. This digital content overload can cause us to feel overwhelmed.
My first step was to create three folders – Active, Archive and Store.
- Active – Contains all the files I use regularly sorted in folders that make sense to me.
- Archive – This folder contains everything I don’t think I will use again. Keeping those files gives me peace of mind that I’ve kept everything “just in case”.
- Store – The files organized into folders that I believe I will “shop” and use from time to time.
The book and office supply categories are established and working well. I’m still making my way through the digital space and figuring out how that store will work. However, I’m optimistic about the approach.
Your Turn
Does shifting the concept of storage to a store that you shop for things resonate with you?
How might you think about your storage areas differently?
Is there one storage area you want to quickly convert into a store? If you have something in mind, get started and try it today!