Project Garage

Across America there is a common phenomena...Garage Overload! Maybe you can relate to that overwhelming feeling you get when you open the door to your garage. "How can I ever fix this??" you ask. So, what happens? You close the door and go on with life leaving 'project garage' for another time. The weight of knowing something needs to be done is heavy on your brain now causing emotional clutter as well as physical clutter!

Here are some pictures from the real life garage of the Russell family. They are an active family that enjoy camping, hunting, fishing, BBQing and boating plus they have all the supplies to go with their hobbies. They also have grown children and are storing some of their transitional things temporarily. After 30 years in the same house the garage had become...full, to say the least.

Here are the before, middle and after pictures of their 'project garage'. Along with one other hard-working, family friend with lots of muscles, Maggie Russell and I tackled the project!! Her brother Jim helped whenever he could, too. We worked almost six hours one day and only two and a half hours the next and after 30 years Maggie can now open the garage door with pride AND park there, too!!!

Three before pictures:

This was in the middle of the project. We had taken everything out of the garage. As we did we sorted it all into categories. Can you tell?

Can you believe this is the same garage? They remembered it looking like this 30 years ago when they moved in.

These are the finished photos! There is still one group of transitional tubs and a few pieces of furniture that they need to go through and move to a permanent location. All the gardening, automotive and paint supplies are on these shelves, in tubs and labeled: All camping, fishing, boating and hunting supplies are on these shelves:Be inspired!

Parking in the Garage

The cold weather is coming!! One thing I am thankful for and love is going straight from my warm house to my car without stepping outside and without scraping the frost off the windshield!! But, for those of you whose garages serve as storage areas for excess stuff instead of a place to park your car, you may not have this luxury.

This was the case for a recent client. BUT, she decided to change that! She decided to have a party instead. She invited two of her wonderful, servant friends to help her and I clear out her garage. The weekend prior she and her husband did some preliminary work. They got rid of 15 bags of trash and had a general idea of what to keep and what to get rid of.

As you can see she hadn't parked in her garage for some time!!

The party started at 1:00!! Her and I started clearing things out of the garage and hauling things to the curb for a scheduled big trash pick up the next day. The first friend showed up at 1:30 and joined in. By 2:15 we had the garage cleared out, swept clean and ready to do the real organizing.

Remember, the first step is to plan. We talked through our zones and planned out the best locations for each. The second friend showed up just in time for the second step - sorting!! We sorted, went through each pile, contained, labeled, wrote a list of extra supplies she needed to purchase and hand-drew a picture for the tool zone and storage wall which will be finished at a later time.

Now, catch this...by 3:30 we were done!! Here is the picture I took at 3:30!

And here is the curb!

Aahhhhh, the freedom and "weight" that is gone when you simplify the stuff you own.

Some people may be groaning or getting hives just thinking about their own garages (or other problem areas) but DO NOT FEAR! Those of us, like me, who love to organize get a contagious, exhilarating feeling knowing what possibilities and amazing results can be achieved!! We can even have FUN! And we can help you have fun! Have a party with your friends! Give it a try!