|  Regardless
of whether you make your basement a DIY remodeling project, or
hire a professional, one of the first things you'll need to do
is clean out the junk.
The best solution would be to move everything out- ruthlessly
throwing away what you don't need and moving everything else into
the garage or other storage space.
Make sure you block a significant amount of time for this process.
The longer you've lived in the house, and the more of a packrat
you've become, the longer this process will take!
Chances are you won't be able to move everything out at once.
One suggestion is to wall off and finish the storage area first.
That way you have a place to keep at least some of your stuff
while you finish the main part of the basement.
Remember remodeling is a dusty, messy process! No matter where
you put things, or how covered you think they are, chances are
they'll be covered with dust when you're done.
If you look at the project
plan (.pdf), you'll notice the first several weekends were
devoted to cleaning the junk out of our basement! Having a 'blank
canvas' (i.e. empty basement) will make your life easier when
you start construction.
It's amazing the stuff you'll realize you don't need when you
know getting rid of it will make your life easier later! We hauled
out several piles of stuff!
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