Storage is a ticklish problem. Storage units are expensive and often in short supply. If you are renting your house to travel, you might capitalize on one of these two basement storage solutions.
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The Stuemer Family’s Long-Term Storage Solution
Ottawa-based sailor and circumnavigator Herbert Stuemer also stored his belongings in his house. He put up drywall to enclose his belongings in his basement. He needed a sledgehammer to retrieve his things.
Our Long-Term Basement Storage Solution
We are also going sailing but didn’t want to commit to drywalling an area in our basement.
Like the Stuemer family, we have downsized our house, and we still have some furniture and sentimental items that we want to keep. To preserve our bank account, and relationships with family, we needed to be inventive.
Our tenants have agreed to let us store our belongings in a 5′ x 13′ room in the basement of our house. We will use this space for storage while we are on our catamaran.
Building Our DIY Basement Storage System
We started the day with a bare room, as shown in the photo below.
My husband is very handy. He got to work to build shelves to store our furniture.
The bottom shelf is high enough that we can store plastic storage bins below the shelf. He added a support beam for strength. And, we put some beams along the floor, to elevate the boxes to keep our things dry in case of flood.
He added further support to the top shelf. And, we lifted our loveseat above our heads to put on the shelf that he had built.
Our chair came next. So, he built a support for it that looked like two skis, jutting out from the wall. He supported the ‘skis’ using two large pieces of plywood.
Next, we needed an elegant solution to store two tables. These were exceptionally heavy. After some discussion about technique – lifting with the knees, and using the legs – I declared that we needed to get help from a neighbour. I will spare you further details. Suffice it to say, my husband thought it would be better to involve my stepmother. She is about 5’2″, and as it turns out, very strong. With the three of us lifting, we managed to secure the table to the wall.
Making Every Inch of Storage Space Count
Tonight we will continue to store boxes, and chairs. We are considering suspending our bicycles from the ceiling.
My stepmother is staying overnight with us. She helped with our children today, and will be helping us again tomorrow.
Today was one of our better days in terms of getting ready for our move. I will be up late tonight, storing boxes.
Update: Upsides and Downsides
The Stuemers’ solution required a lot of work upfront but it was secure. Our solution, using a locked room was easier but also required a degree of trust with our tenants. We gave our tenants a key in case they needed access during an emergency.
During their travels, the Stuemers shipped intricately carved furniture back to their home in Ottawa. Their coffee table was a visual delight and a constant reminder of their travels at sea.
Our lock-and-key solution was simpler. However, it was not nearly as secure. Years later, it was alarming to return to our house and find empty liquor bottles in our storage area. We suspect it was a teenager hiding their bottles. Fortunately, nothing was stolen from our storage area.
Our relationship with storage continues. We are now renting a unit with a storage company. And, like I said at the beginning of this post, rent and insurance on a storage unit is very expensive.
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