My guest today is Moreen Torpy, owner of De-Clutter Coach in North Bay, Ontario. Moreen and I go way back to the time when I was an active member of Professional Organizers in Canada, and I’m pleased that she has offered to tell us about her favorite tools for working in basements and crawl spaces.

Organizing in a crawl space can be a tad dangerous. Either we’re bending over and slamming our heads on the upper floor beams or crawling around wearing out the knees of our clothing.

How to avoid these? Here are my favorite tools:

1. Garden cart: one with wheels that I can sit on and “walk” around by pulling with my feet. If the beams are lower than my head, I still need to remember to duck when moving around.
2. Child’s wagon: Not only can I move heavy loads around the crawl space easily, I can sit on my garden cart and pull the wagon behind me. It is also useful when organizing a basement or moving my recycle bin to the curb.

Then when it comes to organizing down there, I like:

1. Repurposed pallets or skids: A crawl space does not usually have finished walls and floor, so it’s important to lift storage off the floor. The pallets or skids can be either wood or plastic, as long as they provide an air space under the storage stacked on them.
2. Airtight plastic bins: They will not allow moisture, rodents, insects or anything else undesirable in. As organizers, of course we know to label everything, and use color coded bins for the seasons.
3. Wine racks: The crawl space is ideal to store wine. Cardboard boxes aren’t ideal for a variety of reasons.
4. Resin shelving: To lift paint cans off the floor and away from the furnace and water heater so their contents neither freeze nor become combustible. Resin shelving can be assembled easily by twisting the upright support into the shelf. The unit can be built to fit the space and also keep storage off the cement floor.

So, as I work in crawl spaces and basements I continue to learn what tools are appropriate and useful therein. And I’m sure as new ones become available, my list of favorites will change.

Photo © Donna Beeler / Bigstock.com