A garage can easily become the dumping ground for things that just won’t fit in the house. Often you have great intentions when moving clutter to the garage, thinking you’re only setting this here temporarily until you can find space. Two years later, that kind of thinking leads to a big ole’ pile of clutter, and also to you doing a little steppity-step turn-and-slide type of move just to get in and out of your car.
And it’s not like the garage is a space you spend a lot of time in, right? You don’t cook in there. You don’t bathe in there (hopefully). You don’t hang out with the family and watch TV in your garage.
But consider this: the garage is the first space you see every time you come home. How do you think it would change the way you feel about coming home when your garage door opens to a clean and organized space?
I had the privilege of working on this garage project with one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met. She loves her family so much, and really wants her home to be a welcoming and restful place for all of them. She wanted to organize the garage as a gift to her family…and maybe a little bit as a gift to herself! I loved sharing stories with her and talking about our love of cooking and travel. Sometimes I think the best part of my job is developing new relationships with people, and organizing just happens to be the thing we do while we learn about each other.
There were boxes in there that hadn’t been dealt with since their move… a year earlier. Honestly, that’s very typical! When you’re in the throes of moving, the garage is often very low on the organizing priority list.
Shameless Plug: Hire an organizer when moving to a new house! Unpacking doesn’t have to take months… or years. Get everything unpacked and organized the first time with a little help. You’ll be so glad you did!
This project took 10 hours to complete over the course of 2 days. Not bad when you consider all the things that end up in your garage: lawn equipment, paint, tools, outdoor toys, car accessories, etc!
How cute is this “drop zone”? What a perfect way to utilize the wall space by the back door.
This garage already had some great built in cabinets. With a little purging and sorting, everything fit in quite nicely!
We played “musical lawn tools” to get everything up off the ground. Ultimately, that is my goal in every garage project. Get everything off the ground. Because the ground is where bugs live and spiders crawl.
I don’t like spiders. And I don’t like them in my stuff.
Tip: Organize your garage in the spring or fall! If you wait until summer, the bugs are alive and well, and the heat will zap your energy, making it more likely that your project will go unfinished.
It is so important for me to be able to see and utilize the floor of my garage. I’m able to sweep it out periodically, which usually only takes about 10 minutes. Bugs and critters don’t get a comfy place to make a nest. Unloading groceries on a rainy day? No big deal. Every time a storm rolls through or the temperature drops below 40 degrees, I am so grateful that we have the space to park both cars in the garage. Think about the money you put into your cars! Don’t you think you should protect them the best you can?
Happy organizing!
Stephanie
Simply Home Aid 
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