Garage

From Lawn Mower to Snow Blower: Time to Clean Out your Garage for Winter!

1 November 2021 / Garage

It’s about to get cold out and I just know you’re dreading it. Before the snow it’s important to get into your garage and clean it out! It’s time to swap the lawn mower for a snow blower and prepare for the holidays!

The winter time requires more time in our garages than we’d like to admit. We have to pull the holiday decorations from there, the snow tools and a lot of times it’s where we undress from the snowy weather to prevent it from getting in our homes.

Before we start breaking down the winter categories, it’s time to come up with a purge plan.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with a garage that contains years of keepsakes, old items, donations, and trash. However, it doesn’t have to be. Sort it out and begin thinking of ways to make the garage work for YOU.

Holidays

If you keep up with the blog then you already know I love clear bins for storage! It’s time to put back the Halloween costumes and decor and pull out the Thanksgiving bin. If you haven’t switched to clear bins with labels, this is your sign! If you have designated shelves for your clear bins with labels it makes seasonal transition go over very smoothly. This is a great time to donate old decor you no longer have a use for.

Snow Station

It’s important to have a designated area, especially for the kids where boots and any other snowy pieces of clothing can go to prevent your house from getting messy!

Weather Tools

Winter requires more tools like snow scrapers, something to melt snow, the correct insulation and so much more. This is a great time to take inventory of what you have, purge anything you don’t need and replace anything you do!

This may seem incredibly overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be! It’s a great time to get the family together. A lot of what is in your garage can usually be thrown away or donated, but make sure you run these past their owners. 10 years later and a family member of mine still won’t let go of the snowboard his father threw away.

Have questions on how you can organize your things? Feel free to reach out. And if you use any of these tips and want to show off your new garage on Instagram, tag us at @organizedetroit.

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Resetting Our Spaces for Back to School… How to Stay Organized All Year

7 September 2021 / Garage, Home, Home Office

It’s that time of year where our lives get hectic again, the weather starts to cool off and our spaces become somewhere that is almost impossible to keep neat… ALMOST.

With summer coming to an end, it’s extremely important to live in a clean organized space as we try to get back to our regular, scheduled lives. For the past year many of us spent all of our time in our homes, working, studying and just relaxing. Now, with the vaccine rolling out we’re finding that our lives are returning to somewhat of our old normal. There’s school, work, doctor’s appointments, sports, clubs, birthday parties and all the things that if you did not have a calendar you may miss.

The most important back to school step is finding, creating, and managing a system that works for you and your family. Children need structure and now is the time to set systems and routines in place to restore some order to your home.

Around this time of year you can find us doing just that in many homes across the area. Once we leave, it is up to you and your family to be dedicated to keep the system in tact. We find that this is not too difficult because many get excited when they have a neat system that works perfectly for them!

The number one area we like to start off creating systems in the exit area (the front door, or garage door). This area is incredibly important to keep a system. If you are running late this area needs to be able to help you, not make you later.

Do you know that a certain part of your home is holding you back from successfully getting out the door?

I would love to take on this important time with you! Just give me a call today.

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Preparing for the Worst, But Hoping For the Best!

1 August 2021 / Garage, Home

As much as I love talking about the exciting and positive ways organizing can change your life, I have to bring up the more serious topics like protecting your precious memories safely.

Have you ever thought about where your most valuable papers, items and photos should be kept?

Unfortunately we’ve been dealing with basement flooding and even some devastating fires across the country. We cannot be in control of Mother Nature’s plan, but what we can be in control of is creating places for our memories to be safe in those moments of the unthinkable. I know I learned this first hand years ago when so many basements in Huntington Woods were flooded with over 4 feet of water. My friends lost all of their memories from childhood as well as their precious photos.

Let me start by saying, when it comes to organization of your memories… you need to have the correct systems in place.

Because of this, when I go into people’s spaces to create a more organized place, I like to keep everything off the ground, labeled and in clear boxes, well sealed bins. This makes it easy to grab in case of emergency, but also sealed and away from any potential water damage.

The clear, labeled bins make it so that everyone in the family can know the importance of these boxes in case of a disaster. After we come in and organize things like your keepsake items, family photos, the first family portrait and so much more it is important to keep these bins stored together and not scattered around. They are not often touched and should be put in an area that you know where they are and can add items and bins to as the years go on.

To keep all items protected from water damage we create a system in clear, labeled boxes off of the ground.

I would love to take on this important time with you! Just give me a call today.

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Introducing Your New COVID Gathering Space

1 October 2020 / Garage

Anyone else worried about what their social lives once the cool months start rolling in? I know we are. We’ve been giving this a lot of thought, trying our hardest to come up with potential COVID friendly solutions, and we are happy to announce that we have the perfect suggestion.

It’s time to turn the garage into an Adult and/or Kid friendly gathering space!

Since fresh air and proper distancing is needed in order to gather, why not utilize your garage? You can open the door, day or night, and spread out chairs, bean bags, even a carpet with some pillows for others to gather around. For your kids, this might look like a movie night, a play date, or a tie dye fest. For adults, a wine night, a quick little gossip, or a meal.

Whatever your space entails, it’s entirely up to you and that provides so much beauty and opportunity, we just simply can’t contain our excitement.

However, this means the inevitable…it’s’ time to really, truly, clean out our garages. In order to best help you with this process, we provided a list of suggestions: (but we are also here to help along the way if you need us!)

Sorting Time!

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with a garage that contains years of keepsakes, old items, donations, and trash. However, it doesn’t have to be. The key? Take it step by step, sort it out. We suggest making piles of things you want to get rid of, want to keep, and potential items that can be used to spruce up your garage gathering space.

I mean, who isn’t guilty of keeping an extra chair, side table, rug, or even bed stored somewhere in our homes? We love to hold on to things that we “might need” one day. Luckily, today might be that day. But, if we don’t really need it, it’s time to get rid of it.

Donate these items by taking them to local drop-off areas that are still running during COVID. With Google, these are pretty easy to find. In terms of the trash, chuck it. And for our beloved keepsakes, it’s time to think of better ways to store them.

Organizing Our Keepables

Now that we have decided what to throw away, what to donate, and what to use in our space, it is time to consider how we are going to store our additional keepsakes, items, etc. We highly suggest investing in a full length wall shelving unit, or get crafty and build your own. Once you have this set up, grab a few clear plastic bins that you can put your items in and place them on the shelves. Of course everything won’t fit, but it helps organize your items all the while maximizing your floor space.

If you want a little bit more privacy, or a pop of color, grab colorful plastic bins that can be labelled for easy sorting, but still keep some of our items more personal.

Decorate

Once everything is properly stored and additional items have been removed, it’s time to decorate. Use items you already own, or sanitize some from the house we don’t really need and relocate them here. But, don’t forget the heaters! We recommend ordering heaters, blankets, or really any cold friendly items now before they sell out. We can only imagine the need for them this winter.

As always, stay warm, stay safe, and most importantly, stay organized.

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Tips to Tidy Up Your Garage

25 May 2020 / Garage

Spring has sprung and it’s that time of year – your neighbor’s windows are open and garage doors are up, and yard work is in full swing. But if you’re embarrassed for your neighbors to see the collection of stuff your garage has accumulated over the winter, this article is for you! Today I am laying out my top organization tips for keeping your garage tidy all summer long, so pull those cars out of the garage and roll up your sleeves because we’re getting down and dirty.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your garage space!

Things get worse before they get better

Start with pulling just about everything you own out of the garage! This will give you the space you need for a good sweeping and spider web wack down.

Have the family on hand

A lot of what is in your garage can usually be thrown away or donated, but make sure you run these past their owners. 10 years later and a family member of mine still won’t let go of the snowboard his father threw away.

Have a designated spot for everything!

There is no reason for a wrench to be found in the kids’ toy box. Make sure your garage is sectioned to make finding what you’re looking for easy and fast. Here are some examples of areas you may want to have:

Workspace (tools, tape, nuts and bolts, garden supplies).
Kids toys and sports equipment
Restock items (dog food, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, food, beer/soda)
Big items (lawnmower, snow blower, weed wacker)
Tall items (brooms, shovels, rakes)

Switch out your snowblower for your lawnmower

Make sure to move your snow blower to the back and your lawnmower to the front for easy access.

Clear Bins: Easy to see what is in there and always use large labels

Try using metal adjustable shelving units.

These are super helpful to put clear plastic bins on. You can adjust shelves for larger objects and bins as well as keeping shelves smaller for other items that you don’t want to waste space with.

Adjustable Metal Shelving from Home Depot

Tool Peg Board

To avoid shuffling through a toolbox every time you need a wrench consider a pegboard.

Utilize Your Wall Space with a Tool Rack

Avoiding rummaging through a closet while your broom falls into the shovel, knocking your weedwacker onto your toes. A tool rack for your yard tools is an amazing alternative. Check these ones out!

Bike Hooks

Although you may keep your bikes on the ground during the summer, hanging them from the ceiling in the winter can be a great way to create space! Our favorite is the bike lift.

Make a Ball Corral

There is no reason to trip over a soccer ball while taking out the trash. Follow this blog to learn how to make a ball corral.

Can Holders

If you haven’t figured it out yet, using your garage wall (and ceiling) space is necessary for organizational success. These can holders will give you easy access to your spray paints, WD-40, Raid, and whatever other cans you have sitting around. Check out this one!

When it comes to organizing your garage there is no limit to how creative you can get, but one thing is for sure, you want to get as much of your stuff off the ground as possible! Have questions on how you can organize your things? Feel free to reach out. And if you use any of these tips and want to show off your new garage on Instagram, tag us at @organizedetroit.

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