My Dirty Little Secret

...isn't as bad as you might think. My dirty little secret is a bit mundane, but it's still annoying to me. It's our main floor guest bedroom.

After our basement began getting wet in May, we brought some things upstairs and moved others to dry spots in the basement. As the summer went along, I kept stuffing things in the room. It got to the point where I couldn't walk into the room, so I spent a couple hours over the weekend cleaning it up. 

But it'll be getting worse soon because we're getting ready to put the basement back together. Rather than moving things back and forth, we're going to move the small things upstairs. I'll do my best to stack things and maintain a walkway, but it's not going to be pretty.

After dealing with a wet basement the last two years, I have a little advice to share:

1. After the flood, go through everything. Toss, donate or sell everything that isn't a keeper. 
2. Move the leftovers to a dry room. If you don't have a dry spot, I recommend renting a storage unit, but keep in mind your time line and the cost. Also, if you can live without it for more than six months, do you really need it?
3. As the work in your basement is underway, consider where you'll put everything when it's finished. Now is a good time to change the layout or use of the space. Research the furniture and organizing supplies you'll need. If you have room, purchase small items, particularly decorative storage boxes and start reorganizing. It'll make transitioning back to the damaged rooms much easier!

Have you had to deal with damage to a part of your home? Any advice on how to handle it?