36 THE QUEENS COURIER • AT HOME • JANUARY 21, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com AT HOME STORAGE ABOVE BY TRESA ERICKSON We all have things we need to store. Many of us turn to our closets and drawers for storage, then to our garages and basements, and fi nally to our attics when all else is full. If you have an attic bursting at the seams, here are some tips for dealing with it. Unlike drawers, closets, garages and basements, attics are not as easily accessible, and once something goes into them, it really is out of sight, out of mind. Chances are there are a lot of forgotten items hiding in your attic, things you haven’t seen in a really long time, things you may not even need. To be sure, you will have to clear out the attic, drag everything downstairs and go through it. Choose a good day to clear out the attic and grab some buddies to help. Don’t go it alone. It could take you many hours going up and down the stairs to get everything out, and if you are fl ying solo, you may just give up and call it quits. Remove everything from the attic and take the time to sort through it. Have a keep pile, a donate pile and a trash pile and be ruthless in the sorting, retaining only what you need and use. If you haven’t seen or used an item in a year, you probably F R E E WINTER 2016 E-waste Collection Events Avoid a $100 fine: it’s now illegal to discard electronics in the regular trash! Saturday JANUARY 30 10AM–4PM Rain or Shine East Elmhurst Waldbaum’s Shopping Center 77th Street between 30th & 31st Avenues Ridgewood Rosemary’s Playground Fairview Avenue between Woodbine & Madison Streets W E AC C E P T : Working and non-working computers, monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, phones, audio/visual equipment, video games, tablets, cell phones and PDAs For more information, contact the Lower East Side Ecology Center at lesecologycenter.org or 212.477.4022 We would like to thank our sponsor: don’t need it. Donate it. If something is broken, toss it. Don’t set it back with the intentions that you will fi x it when you have time. Chances are you will never fi nd the time. The same goes for a sell pile. Don’t start one unless you know for certain that you will make the time to list the items or take them to a consignment shop. When you are fi nished sorting, deal with the piles. Bag up the trash and drop it in the garbage bin or haul it away. Box up the donate items and take them to the nearest donation center. Box up the sell items and take them to the nearest consignment shop or list them for sale. Plan a day to deal with the keep pile and follow through. Pull out items that should not be stored in the attic due to extreme temperatures, candles, for example, and store them elsewhere. Then place like items together in plastic bins. Don’t use cardboard boxes, which can easily be penetrated by rodents, insects and dust. Label all bins for easier access. Depending upon what and how much you are storing in your attic, you may want to make an inventory. That way, you will know for certain what is and is not up there and won’t spend countless hours searching for something. Once you have everything boxed and inventoried, you can start putting it back in the attic. Don’t pile bins wherever. Place bins with items you use often near the door with plenty of room to get to them. Place bins with items you use less often, like Christmas decorations, farther back. If your attic does not have a fl oor, take extra care with storage. Put down some plywood for bins. Attic storage is essential for many, especially those with few closets, no basement and a small garage. Maximize your attic’s storage potential by taking the time to clear it out and reorganizing everything in a more effi cient way. YOUR PROMOTIONS SUPERMARKET SINCE 1995 CORPORATE & TEAM OUTFITTING H Staff Shirts H Giveaways H Family Reunions H School/Camps H Organizations/Events CUSTOM APPAREL H T-SHIRTS POPULAR BRAND WHITE TEE SCREEN PRINTED (1 COLOR) MIN. 144* ONLY $295 EACH *SAME DEAL: SWEATSHIRTS $495 EACH of the 2013 THE QUEENS (Screen Printed or Embroidered) QueensCourier.com CALL FOR FREE H CAPS/HATS H UNIFORMS H JACKETS H BACK PACKS H BAGS H TROPHIES CATALOG 866.701.3263 H 718.969.3144 YOU NAME IT, WE GOT IT!!! (We can customize your art, logo, messages on anything!) Pens (All Types) Bags (Plastic/Paper) Calendars Water Bottles Awareness Bracelets Food Gifts Corporate Gifts Badges & Buttons Electronics Calculators Computer Accessories Eco Friendly Products Full Color Magnetic Business Cards 10 ¢ each Minimum 1,000 Your Business Card Their Refrigerator 866.701.3263 H 718.969.3144 www.PROMOTIONALEMPIRE.com
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