ELAINE’S* STORY:
From Useful Items to Clutter
Bats & Balls. Cleats & Shin Guards. Scooters, Coolers & Who-Even-Knows-What.
When you have kids in the home your garage quickly becomes a catch-all spot that rarely gets loving attention. Suddenly, those kids are grown and all that old gear turns into clutter.
One day Elaine drove into her garage after work and said, Enough! Her oldest was in college and her youngest not far behind; she had recently finalized a divorce. She told me, “Every time I come home and pull into the garage, I feel my blood pressure rise and my irritation level go through the roof. I want to reclaim this space as mine! But there is so much in this garage I never use anymore that I don’t even know where to start.”
Can you feel the heaviness and the sense of overwhelm Elaine faced? That’s why she called for my professional garage organization help.
Garage Organization 101: Begin with the Clean Out
One beautiful spring day the garage doors went up, vehicles moved to the street, and Elaine and I got to work:
- Armed with lots of trash bags and a recycling bin, we started right outside the door from the house and worked our way clockwise around the space.
- Spots were designated on the driveway for give-away items according to charitable organization ~ Blessings Abound, Habitat ReStore, etc.
- The space in the middle of the garage was used to separate items (according to funtion) Elaine wanted to keep ~ Automotive, Gardening, etc.
- We evaluated literally every single thing! I helped Elaine think through activities she’d be interested in pursuing as an empty nester. Her answers guided her decisions about which items would fit her new lifestyle.
- When all the “keep-or-go” decisions were made, we swept the garage floor and determined where/how to organize the items Elaine kept.
Garage Organization Step 2: Contain It
Elaine got rid of so much that the containers she had on hand worked great for organizing the space. But if you need to purchase some tools to maintain your garage organization, here are links to some of my favorites:
- STURDY SHELVING
- LARGE STORAGE BINS ~ Be sure to label them so you know what’s hiding inside.
- BINS FOR EVERYDAY ITEMS ~ No lid makes access easy. These come in a variety of sizes so get the right size for what you need to store.
- USE THE WALLS!
Hard Work, But SO Worth It
Elaine’s give-away items filled a mini-van and mid-sized SUV. A special large-item pick-up was scheduled with her trash service for a couple of big and broken things. I won’t lie ~ the work was hard and dirty, and we were sore at the end of the day.
But just look at how that garage shines now!
“As soon as I push the button on my garage door opener in my car, I begin to feel a sense of calm wash over my body. I know exactly what I own and my garage organization makes it so easy to find what I need quickly. My home is my sanctuary from the crazy world and now the garage is my first “step” into that peaceful space.” ~ Elaine, Leawood KS.