Entries Tagged 'Garage Organizing' ↓



Here we go, we’ll just jump right into part 2 with awesome places to store your stuff that make sense!

Laundry Room

1)  Keep a supply caddy filled with cleaning supplies up high, away from kids and pets.  This also makes your cleaning supplies mobile.

2) This is a great place to store extra clothing hangers.

3) Use turntables for sprays and cleaning sticks, just spin and grab what you need so nothing falls over.

4) Store your iron and ironing board on the wall or door to save space

5) A drying rack on the wall that pulls out will be out of your way when you don’t need it

Keepsakes

1)  Use an archival-safe box in a closet or on a shelf.  Avoid the garage due to humidity, heat, cold.

Backpacks/Coats

1) Hooks or cubbies by door you leave from.  Make it easy for kids to succeed by placing them at their level.

Dining Room

1) Stash place mats, napkins, napkin rings, candles close to the table so it’s easy to set for your family or for company.

Family room

1) Items for activities you do in this room: books, music, dvds, board games & throw blankets

Garage

1)  Place paint & paint supplies all in one area

2)  Store tools together so it’s easy to work on projects & repairs

3) Store camping gear and supplies in one section

4) Keep holiday decor safely stored in labeled bins

5) Keep sports equipment together so you can grab them and go when it’s time to have some fun

Make sure that you store items that you use the most in a way that is more easily accessible and items that don’t aren’t needed as often can be stored higher or lower so you have to work a little harder.  For tips on what you can toss before you begin looking for storage solutions, please read more right here.

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Don’t be alarmed!  But do expect a certain amount of messiness  (do I dare say clutter?) while you are going through the decluttering process.  When I work with clients they are usually overwhelmed by their piles and don’t know where to begin to unearth everything.

cluttered garage

cluttered garage

As we start pulling items out to sort and make decisions on what to keep and what to part with, oftentimes the space looks even worse for a while! When I am working with clients, I am always reassure them that this is part of the process.  We will have labeled boxes or bags around us for garbage & donations and we will probably need to spread out.  .  The biggest domino effect is when we find items that need to be moved to another area of the home.  This may make other rooms look cluttered.  I always tell clients that we have to start with one area and preserve our goal of getting that area in shape.   This may mean other areas of the home will have to be addressed later, but we can only focus on one are at a time.

part of the decluttering process

part of the decluttering process

Someone may even drive by your house and think there is a garage sale going on.  Hey, that could be a great way to unload a few things and make some money on the spot!

To make sure you don’t get overwhelmed by the process, follow these six organizing tips:

Organizing Tip #1:  Take one small area at a time.  Don’t pull too much out at once, by the time you pull it all out, you may be too tired to deal with it!

Organizing Tip #2:  Keep all of your supplies right in the area you are working so you don’t have to run around.  This would include labeled bags for garbage, donations and recycle.

Organizing Tip #3: Keep a box or bin labeled, “Another Room” for all the items that you are keeping that need to be moved to another area of your home.  Don’t run around dropping these things off while you are supposed to be decluttering and organizing.  Leave it to the end and then go put them in their correct locations.

Organizing Tip #4:  Remember that there will be some chaos before the calm.  This is normal and it is part of the process.  Do not be alarmed! :)

Organizing Tip #5:  Get some help so you don’t get too worn out if you have a big project.

Organizing Tip #6:  Allow yourself to work in chunks of time that feels manageable to you.  This isn’t TV and it’s not going to be done in 30 minutes like it looks like on TV.  You can make progress in as little as 15 minutes;  I usually work in 3 hour blocks with my clients so we can get a lot done without wearing everyone out.  You don’t want to get burned out on your first go around!

Look at how lovely in just 3 hours and we found $500 cash that day in a box!!

organized garage

organized garage

For more tips on how to declutter your home, please stay with me and read more here! :)

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Let me share 10 reasons with you why going from this:

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To this rocks!

Organized Garage!

Organized Garage!

When you are organized:

1)  You greatly reduce your stress level!  Every time you can’t find what you need it causes stress.  Every time you walk past an area that you know you should be organizing,  it causes stress.

2)  You can find what you need!  Imagine that!  You can get your hands right on the items you are loooking for: sweet!

3)  You save money.  When you can’t find what you need, you go out and buy another one.  Now you’ve spent money on something you already have ‘somewhere.’

4)  You reduce duplicates.  When you know what you have and how to find it, you will reduce the need to run out and buy another one which creates even more cluttter-nooooo!

5) You can use your space.  It’s awesome that this garage can now be used for the family to play ping pong and they can even pack up their camping gear easily for a family trip!

6)  You can invite people into your home.  You won’t have to run around closing door and shoving stuff in closets before company comes.  You can invite people into your home without being embarrassed!

7)  You can protect your belonging that have meaning to you.  You don’t want your special treasures buried beneath a pile of stuff that doesn’t have meaning to you-no way!

8)  Your home can be your haven.  Wouldn’t it be nice to come home and feel good there?  I think so.

9)  You can showcase belongings that show what your interests are.  When your home is cluttered, nothing stands out.  But when you declutter and get organized, you can easily see the items that reflect your personality.

10)  You don’t have to feel guilty that you haven’t gotten organized and you will no longer have to feel overwhelmed by your stuff!

These are all awesome reasons to get organized and you may have few of your own-I’d love to hear what they are!  If you need help getting organized, please consider my decluttering video that will show you have to get organized on your own easily, step-by-step!

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When it comes to home organization, it takes two things to make it happen:  1)  Decrease the amount of stuff that you have.  2)  Increase your storage space.  Sometimes you have to be a little bit creative when it comes to stretching your space, look up, look down, look all around!  If you need a little bit of help, here are 10 ways to stretch your space:

1)  Look up and use the ceiling such as with this great overhead storage unit for the garage.  Stuff over, car under.

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2)  Use hooks on the wall to maximize storage.  Great for garden tools like shovels & rakes in the garage!

3)  Use available space under your bed.  A storage container with wheels and tight fitting lid is ideal.

4)  Use wall space, walls are a blank canvas waiting for shelves & hooks!

5)  Use organizing products. The options abound!

6)  Use wall racks to increase storage-especially great in garages!

7)  Look for overlooked areas that you can use for storage:  washing-machine-wire-shelf-amazon1

8)  Use doors-another blank canvas waiting for hooks.  You can even purchase hooks that just slide over the top of the door.  No nails, no holes but a place for your towels or robes!

9) Take advantage of height or stacking.

stackable-shoe-shelf110) Part with some of your stuff-send it off to another room or even off to another person or charity!

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Make decisions on what to keep, let go of the excess and then use any or all of these tips to stretch the space that you do have!

Your Home Organization Expert-Monika

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Garage Organization Project

Garage Organization Project

Don’t lift a bag, don’t lift a label, don’t lift a box, just lift a pencil as your first step to starting your home organization project.  Your first priority should be to write down your goals for how you want to use your space.   If you just start grabbing things and decluttering willy nilly (yes I said it), then it won’t be as clear or easy for you to know what to keep and what to get rid of.

Take this garage organizing project for example,  I always ask clients, “What’s your goal for your garage?”  “Do you want to park in your garage?”  “Do you want to use your garage for storage?”  Clients will vary in how they want to use their garage.  Some want to park inside.  Some want to park outside and use the garage for storage and activities inside such as ping pong.  The only right answer is what works for you!

In this particular garage, we were focusing more on organizing for storage.

Organized Garage Storage Unit

Organized Garage Storage Unit

When you know how you want to use your space, it will make it much easier when you’re making decisions about your stuff.  Does this item fit in with your goals for the garage?  If not, let it go or move it to the room that it should live in.

Having goals also makes it easier to know where to store things.  If you know your goal is to have all of your camping gear accessible, then you know you should make a camping gear section storing all camping gear together.

Make it easier to meet your home organization goals, but starting with, well, a goal!

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Are  you are feeling overwhelmed by your home organization projects?  Do you have lots of piles in lots of rooms and don’t know where to get started?   Sometimes people don’t even get started because they feel so overwhelmed and don’t know how they will ever get through it all.  Well, there is light at the end of the tunnel!  You CAN get through it and see progress, see empty spaces and clear your counters!

Here is the serious dent that was made in this garage in only about 2.5 hours:

Garage in Need of Organization

Garage in Need of Organization

Garage Partially Decluttered

Garage Partially Decluttered

There’s still work to do in the second photo, but we were able to finish the rest of the garage during the next round in about 3 hours.

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Organized Garage Shelving Unit

Organized Garage Shelving Unit

Here are 5 organizing tips to help you see the light if you are feeling overwhelmed by your clutter:

1)  Remember this is not TV and your project doesn’t have to be finished in one day.

2)  Choose one room to start with, then choose one area to start with within the room.

3)  Work in one area until it is done and then move onto the next area in the room.

4)  You may have to move items that will no longer stay in the room you are working in.  This could mean moving them into another room which will make that room look worse for a while.  Remember, you can only work in one area at a time, so preserve your goals in one room before you worry about the next one.

5) Make it more fun with music, snacks and a helper.

You CAN see light at the end of the tunnel!  It starts with decluttering one small area at a time, staying consistent and keeping at it.  Be sure to reward yourself along the way too!

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Organized Garage

Organized Garage

A great way to stay on top of garage organization projects is to commit to sweeping on a regular basis.  If the floor is packed-you just really can’t sweep.  Plus, it just really feels great to walk into a freshly swept, neat garage!  And it keeps you from dragging stuff into the house on your shoes or feet.  Commit to sweeping at least once a month which will actually mean committing to keeping the floor clear of extra “stuff!”

For more tips, check out my other garage organization posts for more help!

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Even professional organizers have to declutter and reorganize our own homes from time-to-time.  And, yes, I do admit it-I LOVE it!!  Recently I’ve been working away at my own home organization project out in the garage.  My garage already has shelving and overhead storage units and hooks on the walls, so it wasn’t like I was in bad shape or anything.  But some items have been leaving the garage, giving me a good opportunity to move things around and do some fine tuning.  

I store a lot of my organzing supplies and products out in the garage but I also had some of these types of items in my home office as well.  Since I have some extra room in the garage now, I decided this was a good time to look at what I have been storing in my office that might be better suited for the garage so I can grab and go as I leave the house.  I want to make packing up to leave the house for clients and classes as efficient as possible. 

While I was out there, I decided that part of fine tuning would be to capture some items that were sitting on the shelf and give them suitable homes.  As you see in the photo above, my ziplock bags were sitting on a shelf next to some file boxes.  Now, this really didn’t look that bad, but they did seem a little bit random just sitting there.  I decided to use a shoebox size bin to round them up and of course afix a handy dandy label to the outside!  I couldn’t get all three boxes in the bin, so I just placed the actual bags from one half-used box next to the other two boxes. 

When you give belongings a home:

  • You place a cap on how much you can keep
  • You make it clear to others where things go
  • You have a clear home to return items to when you are done with them

Give your belongings a home to make your life easier and make your home look neater too!

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It doesn’t take much for our cars to get cluttered, especially when we have kids.  I don’t know what it is about every little available crevice that makes kids feel like they need to stuff  wrappers, chewed up gum or pieces of paper in them.  But they do.  So today I was sitting at the drive through line at the bank.  I realized I had some garbage and there was a handy garbage can right next to the car.  So I took a minute to start grabbing wrappers to toss while I had to sit and wait anyway.  One less thing to do later and I took advantage of wait time.  This is something you can do when you are filling your car with gas as well.

So you can declutter your car and lighten the load at least a little bit at your next stop!

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June 10th, 2009 Garage Organizing

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It looks like I am about done with my garage organizing project for now.  I really did get a lot done just working a little at a time.  You can reach your garage organizing goals too!

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