Did you know January is Get Organized Month- recognized by the National Association of Professional Organizers? One of my new Year’s resolution is to get organized! And boy do I need help. I’m one of those people that do a little here and little there and it never seems like I accomplish much.
I’d like to introduce Lea Schneider author of Growing Up Organized. She is my guest today with some help on my garage. She’d also like to give one copy of her new book Growing Up Organized to one lucky reader.
That dang garage! It is so useful yet such a chore.
Mommy Has to Work shared with me that her trouble spot is her garage. I guess it wouldn’t help much if I replied and said “Yeah, who doesn’t have that issue?” At least she’d know she’s in good company!
As a professional organizer who wrote a book on teaching children to be organized, (Growing-Up Organized, Amazon.com, $14) I’ll confess that I don’t get asked about garages very often. Yet, garages are a big space and a big issue. I often joke that you know you are cluttered when you keep a car worth thousands out in the driveway in the weather because you have a bunch of worthless junk staying nice and dry and filling up the garage!
Mommy Has to Work wants some tips for the garage and I am willing to oblige. Here goes a buffet line of ideas. Just pick and choose what might suit your family and space.
1) Make the kids responsible. That is one of my big mottos. Now that doesn’t mean they have to clean the whole garage! However, if your garage is filled with sports equipment, toys and bikes that belong to the kids, they can and should help get those areas organized.
2) Garages serve many purposes. Divide your garage into zones. Put like items together. For example, put tools in one area, gardening supplies in another, toys in yet another and storage items in another.
3) Label the areas. Part of the problem is that once you organize it, other family members just stick stuff any old place. Label everything. Stick signs on the wall for your zones. (Gardening Gear Here!). Label tubs. Label shelves. Even use masking tape to mark off the floor for riding toys or mowers. Everyone, even the kids, should be able to park their gear in the spot chosen.
4) Be aware of the Just for Now Syndrome. This is where you set something down, just for now, and it becomes tomorrows clutter that you hate to deal with. Catch yourself setting things down, just for now, and stop. Take the extra minute to just put them away.
5) Most of us have a routine for cleaning house – or at least we want to have one! Just think, your garage is probably a third of your house yet where does it fit in the routine? Just as you tidy the house, make sure to tidy the garage. When you do a major house cleaning, make the garage another room to tend to. Just walk thru and put things back in their place and sweep the floor. If you go in and out of the garage, that is where a lot of sand, soil and gunk gets tracked in to the house. If you do tidy regularly, it will stay pretty organized. The problem is we let it pile up and up and up until a major overhaul is needed.
6) When sorting your garage, ask this about each item: “Do I love it, use it or need it?” If you don’t love it, use it or need it, why is it in your home taking up your time and space?
7) Think vertical. Add shelves. Add hooks to the wall. Use the ceiling.
8) The garage wall can be a great launching pad for kids and their gear. Add a coat hook for each child and a tall trash can under the hook. The use can change seasonally. In the summer, the hook can hold beach towels and bathing suits. The tall trash can will hold flippers and swim noodles. You can put baseball mitts on the hooks and bats in the cans. In the winter, you can hang sleds or snow suits.
9) Be sure that items you use frequently are in the easy to use and reach location. Store seldom used things, like holiday decorations, in out-of-the way spots.
10) Make sure to look at your garage from a safety view. Are shelves attached to the wall so they won’t tip over? Are chemicals stored safely and away from children’s reach? Likewise for dangerous and sharp tools!
You’ll find more organizing tips at my blog, http://www.organizerightnow.wordpress.com/ and my website, http://www.organizerightnow.com/.
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