Making the best of your storage inside your home is an important skill, but sometimes it gets too much attention. What if I told you that the best way to maximize the storage space inside your home was the store a lot of your stuff outside? It’s true. My personal philosophy has changed about this a lot in recent years. I have come to see my home as a place where I keep only things that I find beautiful or useful. Everything else, I sell or store somewhere else. Now, I’m lucky enough to have a basement where I can keep many things that I don’t need floating around my daily life. But I’ve recently invested in steel buildings, one in my garden and one farther away in my backyard. Here is how I’ve used it to maximize my enjoyment and utility within my house.

1. Remove Things From Your House That You Want to Keep But Don’t Want to Use Right Now. This includes dishes, clothing, items of sentimental value, collectables. Many of us find that our homes are cluttered with things that we need…just not right this second. These are perfect candidates for storage outside of your home, leaving the things that you actively possess to have a meaningful role in your life right now. This also holds for things that you are storing seasonally, like winter coats or swimming gear.

2. Put Projects and Hobbies in the Storage Space. Of course, this is only applicable if your storage space is large and secure enough to house projects. I’m talking here of things like woodworking, but many other projects apply. This habit is meaningful in several ways. One, you won’t have these things cluttering your main living space. It’s terrible to have projects invading rooms that should be free of that kind of clutter. Two, it helps you work. When you have a special place reserved for work, you don’t become as distracted by other things when you are in it. But if you try to work in your bedroom, or another “normal” room of your house, you risk being drawn away by other pursuits, minimizing your productivity.

3. Make Sure that Your Outdoor Storage is Secure. I had to make sure that my outdoor storage was weatherproof, because I store electronics in there. If you’re doing the same, make sure that your outdoor storage is outfitted to safely house the stuff you’re keeping in it. Remember how much of a benefit temperature control is in your home, how it keeps you and your stuff warm or cool, depending on the season.

If you do these things, your outdoor storage should increase the usefulness and enjoyment you get from the inside of your house. No more will you have stuff cluttering every area, things that would better be kept somewhere else. Invest in one or several spaces like this, build additional storage into the living portion of your house, or make better use of your basement. My advice? Keep the stuff outside. It’s the best solution I’ve found and one I plan to implement for the rest of my life.