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Is your house home to a room that was once a bedroom, perhaps an office or even a kids play area, but now finds itself full of items that seem to double in quantity each and every month?

No matter if it’s shoes, seasonal clothes or the items you needed to have for that family day at the beach, which now seems a long time in the past, you’re certainly not alone in having a place in your home that is monopolised by clutter.

Spare rooms have a terrible tendency to quickly fill with items we don’t need today but may well (in our minds) use tomorrow! But what happens this Christmas when friends and families come to stay? It’s a common conundrum for us all; do we risk getting rid, do we tidy or do we store?

Here’s our advice on getting to the right decision:

1. Establish what is there and what you don’t need

The first thing to say is that some of the items we’re going to need and others we will not! We’ve all held on to clothes with the thought that we may one day need them again in the future, only to find that they stay very firmly at the bottom of the pile, never to be seen again! If there are items that simply won’t see the light of day then it’s time to get rid of them; charity shops are often glad of clothes, while there are others that will make sure they go to a good home in foreign lands.

2. Identify what needs to stay

While there are many items that we can do without, there are also some that are either hard to give up (for sentimental reasons) and others that we will really need in the future.  Not every home (because of size, layout, or built-in storage) is capable of holding all of our property.  We all buy new clothes, we have children, or families grow; the items we generally need and want to keep also grow with those stages.

If they won’t fit into your house, then the simplest answer is to buy storage – it’s certainly easier and better than moving every year or two!

3. The advantage of storage

We’ve established that you don’t need to keep everything, but on the other hand, you probably can’t fit it all in your house; something simply has to give.  Storage gives you the flexibility to keep hold of the items you genuinely need, while allowing them to be stored in a central location that is secure and perfect for you to get access to whenever you need.

Someone visiting for Christmas? No problem – they can now go in the spare room!