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Hello, and welcome back to the podcast. Today we are going to talk about organization. And it's it's spring, spring is coming. It is in the air. Hopefully the weather is great wherever you are already, but if it's not there yet, it will be here soon. So I thought I would talk about garage organization today. And I love to organize the garage. So our garage, we do Park two cars in our garage, it is the place when the weather is nice that we do a lot of our projects. And so it's kind of a it's kind of a workhorse in a way. But it's also an area of that I don't like to have a lot of stuff in there that we don't need or you know, things that the kids have grown out of, or, you know, you know, when the old sleds or old you know, all those kinds of things, I just don't like to have it full of stuff. Because it has to function as storing two cars. And as a kind of a workspace for me and Matt, when we are doing different projects and things. So since it has to function for all of that keeping an organized is super important. So I thought since it's it's kind of getting the time of year when garage organization is talked about people think about it, I had somebody asked the other day about a certain thing in their garage and how they should organize it. And so I thought let's talk about garage organization. And this is kind of, even if you don't have a garage, maybe you have a shed, maybe you have a little like a lien to a carport. I mean, it doesn't have to be a garage, but maybe an outdoor space where you house items. This is just some tips on how to get it organized. In the garage, you know, it does seem like a daunting task, right? Especially if you've just been throwing and packing stuff in the garage, just to get it out of your house. So you don't see it anymore, right. So just put it in the garage, I'll get to it later just stored in the garage, I don't know where it's gonna go yet. That kind of thing. So it can be can be a really you feel like it's a really daunting task, but a little planning a little effort, it's super manageable. And then hopefully we're not in the habit of let's put it in the garage, I don't know what I'm going to do with it. If you're saying those kinds of things to put, let's just put it in the garage, I don't know, if I'm going to ever use that, let's just put it in the garage, and then I don't have to deal with it. Those are the kinds of things that need to go, those are the kinds of things that we need to donate. Because because you're right, you're probably you don't know where they're gonna go, because you're not using it, you're not wearing it you're not, you know, whatever it is, it's just time to donate it. So don't look to the garage, as, again, garage storage, shed, you know, whatever it is that you have, I'm going to, you know, call it a garage today. But don't look at the garage as Oh, it's an extra space to just store things. The only it's just like your house, the only things that are going to be inside the garage are things that you're going to use. It's not just a storage, a storage garage, right. And, you know, I should do I don't know, I when I say storage garage, I don't I know people that actually pay a monthly fee to have a separate storage garage somewhere for things that they aren't using or have are using their house or just an eye. You know, and it's just people that not that they have like multiple homes or anything, they have one home, but they have so much stuff that they have to go rent a separate garage to hold more stuff. So kind of the same thing, like your garage is not just there to store stuff, it needs to work for you when you need it, store things that you are going to use or that you love, you know, it's the same kind of principles as the house. But, you know, it's obviously different things inside the garage. So the first thing you're going to do is sort and declutter. So, just like any other room in your house, or any closet or any drawer or whatever, take everything out. And I know that's like some people are like, oh my goodness, but here's the thing. If you're taking out everything out of your garage, and let's just say you have a bunch of bins along the wall, right like I'm just you have no idea what's in the bins. Obviously if there's like family heirlooms you think number one those should not be stored in a plastic tub inside the garage. But if you Don't no matter what's in those bins and you don't, you know, throughout the year, if it's not like Christmas decorations or whatever, you're not even getting going to them at all during the year, it's probably just time to get rid of them. But taking everything out and going through everything is is part of the task. So it's a good project for, it's going to be a full weekend, depending on the size and depending on how how, how cluttered it is, but pick a nice, nice weekend, make sure the weather is going to be nice. But just like in your home, you're going to separate the items as you're taking them out. And as you're going through them, you're going to separate them into categories. Number one is keep right we are using this thing, maybe we don't use it right now. But you know, it's a seasonal thing that we use, it's something that it's not just stored to be stored, right? Like, those are the things you're gonna keep, you're also gonna have a pile for donate or sell. And then you're going to have, you know, like a trash, you know, like things that just need to be thrown away, the garage is a great place for you to make some extra money. So there's usually things in there that you're getting rid of put them on Facebook marketplace on Craigslist, your local neighborhood, you know, if you have like a, you know, a network type of thing, and sell the things that are in your garage, put the money away for a vacation, if you're not using it, get some money out of it, if you find that you have so much stuff, maybe you've just finished decluttering the house and now you're decluttering the garage, and you have enough to have a huge yard sale, do it, you know, get some money for it. But know that as soon as that sales over or that everything else that is not has not been sold has got to go, you have to go donate it that weekend when the sale as soon as the sales over, put it on the you know the curb and put a free sign on it and put it on Facebook marketplace that you have, you know all this stuff for free, whatever it is, it has to go, you can't bring it back in the house, you can't bring it back in the garage. So as you bring stuff out, put them into those three categories. And it's kind of nice, when you do like a garage or an outdoor space, you can you can spread it out in the yard down the driveway, you've got a lot of space to work with. So it's super, super nice. If you haven't used something in a year, if you have duplicates of something, if there is something broken or and you know, you can't use it anymore. Like it's it's not functional anymore. And anything you don't love or need, like those are the things that have to go for sure. And duplicates, always, it's funny to me, because the amount of money that you will save once you get organized from not buying duplicates, like seriously, it's like you can save a lot of money. So that's definitely the first the first step right. And then once you've gotten all of that done, then you're going to categorize right, so you're going to
figure out how you use the items that you pulled out. So you may have you know, groupings of like sports equipment. So for those kinds of things, the kids need to be able to easily, you know, get to them, right, and we're not talking about that right now, like how you're gonna put it back. But those are some things that you need to think about as you are putting these things into categories, right. So you so you may have a category for sports equipment, gardening tools, automotive supplies, household items, and so on, right. And then once you kind of know those separate categories, you can kind of visualize, that's why I said like, the sports equipment, the kids have to get to those, right. So they need to be in an area of the garage that you know, is not covered up by a car or, you know, if they needed to open a locker to get out the, you know, I'm just trying to think the football pads whatever, you know, they can, they can easily get that without hitting the car or you know, having to move a bunch of boxes or so kind of think about those things that you are keeping that you have now put in categories where they kind of need to be in the garage. The garage is a space that you have to maximize vertical space. And there are so many garage organization things that you can you can find online, you can find your local Lowe's or Home Depot Menards. But you need to go up in your garage, right especially like for us we have it's a two car garage, there's a little bit of room in the back for a like a little workbench and a little bit of extra storage but when we are working on a project, the cars have to be pulled out like I don't I can't park two cars in there and then work on a project. If that makes sense. There's not a lot of you know, extra space to kind of work on projects and so going up in the garage, you know vertically is just a great way for you to use the space that you've got. We also like our garage is not finished on the inside, you know so it's not like it's not like heated or cooled or it doesn't have insulation or anything. It's not attached to the house. But we have found ways to you know, we are People that do a lot of projects, so we have to keep wood and supplies on hand, whereas you may not. But we have found ways to utilize you know, the walls in our garage to store those things. So it's not just like a free for all things are just thrown away, when are thrown thrown about wherever they go. You know, when we work on a project and we need a one by four, we know exactly where to go in the garage and find that right, we need a knob for a dresser, we know exactly where to go, what door to go in the garage to get that. So maximize vertical space, and then also maximize the space you have like what you have to work with, you may not have a tall garage, we don't we don't have huge walls or anything. But we definitely do go up with you know, the things that we need to hanging bikes, when the kids were little those kinds of things. You know, you can install peg boards, we do have a pegboard behind the workbench, which, you know, you put those, oh, I'm not gonna think of the names of them, but you know, the silver things that come out. And that can hang a bunch of stuff on the pegboard. Anyway. So we have pegboards in the garage, think shelves, cabinets, you just want to keep things off the floor and easily accessible for what it is right? Those categories that we talked about, where those things need to live in the garage, so they're easily accessible, they're not all over the floor. If the kids are going out to play a sport, they know where to go get that, you know, if you're you're working on a project you have, you know, you have things so you can easily get them there. And then just to keep things off the floor, that's that's the goal. Now, this is this is up to you, this is something that, again, I have kind of talked about in our house, I don't like have a main label maker and have everything labeled, right, I just don't need you know, most of the stuff that I'm that I'm organizing with inside the house is clear or that I can see. And so I don't need to label that on top of that. But sometimes in the garage, you are using more things like totes, or you know, bins or those kinds of things that you might not be able to see through. So if you need to figure out you know, a label system or you know, pick up some labels definitely do that. You know, but for me, I like to keep it simple, right? So we have a set of lockers in the garage. And that is that's where the sports equipment goes. You know, so there's baseball mitts, a baseball, you know, basketballs, those kinds of things are in there, right? There, lockers, that's, that's kind of like we know, that's where it goes. And once you start getting things in, you know, after you categorize them, and you kind of get them in their spaces, you don't necessarily have to have labels. Because you're gonna live there, you're gonna use this right. So unless you are somebody that really thrives with labels, go for it, like for sure, do it, but don't think you have to do this step. It's just for those of you that that kind of thrive with that and think, maybe having things labeled, but here's the thing, let's not store a bunch of things we aren't using, I just want to reiterate that because I just, you know, I said sorting the clutter in initially, but really be honest with yourself, don't just have 75 Totes in the garage for Sunday for may be right like don't do that it's taking up prime real estate and I promise you once you get rid of these things that you are not using, or that someday may come out, or that maybe I'll like this thing someday, maybe I will go cross country skiing, I've had these for 15 years, I've never gone but maybe I'll go someday, right? Like, let's be really honest with ourselves, like that's not going to happen. And if it does, I can rent some you know, my friend so and so has a pair I can use there's you know, like let's really let's stop with the excuses. Let's get real honest when we're doing these projects and getting organized and just get rid of it. You will feel so much better I promise you your mind will feel better you'll feel lighter, your space will just feel so much more clean and just you know it won't be embarrassing it you know even your garage so especially if it's a space that's maybe hooked onto your house or like connected to your house and you have to go through it every single day right to get into the house. You want that space to to be clear of clutter and nice and organized. So sometimes people we do a few things you store seasonal items, so that's fine but make sure that it's it's it's things that you use every year so Is it Christmas decor that you're actually bringing out yet every year like do you go to that tote and get all the lights out of that tote right or something? I'm just making up things up or that's where all the wreaths go and I put every one of those Reese up every year on every window of our house. Or do you just have a big tote of Christmas decor that never comes out? Right? So you know if you live in a space where it's you have seasons so maybe you need to depending on how much stuff you have sports equipment that goes with different season seasons if you need to, like kind of put those away and Storm Away and but then you have to, if you're doing those kinds of things for seasonal items, you have to make sure that you go through them seasonally, right? So when winter comes, you get down the winter totes, go through them, make sure everything fits, you use it, whatever. And if not, it needs to go. Right. So you're constantly going through the seasonal stuff as that season rolls around. And making adjustments and getting rid of things as you as as you see fit, right.
So creating a workspace is another thing that I added to here. Because if you do work in your garage, or even just like that's maybe where you store tools and things that you need for your home, and you know, just being a homeowner, or, you know renting to you, you need to fix things or whatever, it it's a good idea to have a designated area for it. And this does not mean you need a complete workshop, a full work table, not at all, maybe it's just a corner of your garage, maybe it's just one pegboard in your garage where you can hang, you know, like hammers, and some screwdrivers or whatever it is that you have, right? Like, it doesn't have to be a major, major thing in your garage. But yet, it's an area that you know, if you need a screw a nail, a, you know, a drill a hammer of whatever, you go to that area. So definitely designate a space for that inside inside your garage or shed, wherever, wherever you're doing this. And then keep it clean. So here's the thing for us, like I said, we have a two stall garage, we keep two cars in it. When we work on projects, we are pulling out the tablesaw we are pulling out the miter saw we have you know, we have three tables, you know, we have what I want to say, you know fold up tables that we can bring out and work on like everything's pulled out, right? And and what is it about DIY projects that you think, Okay, I'm just gonna need a few things a drill, and you know this, and then it's like 1515 tools are out and you're six extension cords, and you're like, how did this happen so fast. But what we have to do then, and this is what I always say living in a smaller house and having the smaller spaces has put us and really helped us make this a habit of putting things away because if things aren't put away, you know, as we use them, or as we're done with them, our house can be cluttered and messy in no time. Same with our garage, if I want to put both those cars back in the garage, and I do, I have to pick up everything that we used and pulled out for every project that we do. And it just becomes part of the part of the project, it just becomes part of the using the garage. And so you know, you may not be doing a bunch of DIY projects in there. But you know, if your kids get all the sports equipment out, or all the toys out outdoor toys out or whatever, for a date or an afternoon, well, before we go in and have dinner, we need to put all those things back where they go, right. You know, same with like, if you're working on your yard, and you've got all the garden tools out and the mowers out and the you know, the weed whackers out whatever it's like, okay, now instead of just going in the house or leaving them all out, make time like part of working in the yard is putting everything away in the garage as soon as you're done. I'm telling you, once you have everything categorized, and a space for everything, you know, where everything goes, this stuff does not, it doesn't take long the picking up and putting it away. That's not the hard part, right. And making it a habit. Making that a habit is the hard part. If it's something that you're if you're you're somebody that's used to just getting everything out and then just leaving it for a week, the hard part is going to be making it a habit to not do that anymore. And taking the 10 minutes at the end of your project, the end of the work or yard work day whatever to put the stuff away. But it's worth it and and I when you have everything you've gone through everything, you don't have anything of excess or things you're not using and you've got kind of zones for everything, you will find that picking up parts in the end is so much easier. So a lot of times what we will do is Matt's really specific are really particular about his tools and where things are on the workbench which is great like he that's his what he wants to organize I do the house so it's great so when we work on projects, you know he kind of stands at the workbench when it's like we're cleaning up and things he will stand at the workbench and I will bring the tools to the workbench so that he can then put them away you know all the scrap wood that I may have to burn or that I'm just throwing out yes keep your scrap wood but yes, there are times when you don't you can't keep you know certain scraps but I'm you know, I'm cleaning all that as he's actually putting the things away. You know, I can push the tools. We have carts that like the miter saws on or like the table saws on I can push those back and put those away. But it's just it becomes it's just a system we're in Okay, we're done working for the day. We're done doing the projects for the day. You know, Matt starts putting things the way around the workbench the smaller tools, you know, and you know getting all of his batteries hooked back up again and, and I'm then in the garage, you know brooming things up picking up, you know, like I said, the scrap wood, it just, you want to make it a habit. And once you could, because you're gonna love the organization and it not being a mess all the time. And so you're just going to find, hopefully, that it just becomes a habit. And that's just, that's just the way it works anymore, right? So you did all that work to get it there. So now put in the work to keep it there. And that work to keep it there takes a lot less time than you having to do this entire process over again in two months. Don't do that to yourself. Don't do that to yourself. So Okay, those are a few of the tips to kind of keep your garage or get your garage organized. It's the perfect time before summer hits. And we're busy and we're gone. And we're out of town. Take the time to do this during the spring. And then just just enjoy what it looks like enjoy the the organization no more clutter. It's a great area to get organized in the spring. So if you have any questions, let me know. Always reached out to me email Lindsey at my creative days.com You can reach out to me on Instagram at my creative days. I love to hear from you. I would love to know is your garage organized. Do you have a garage? Is it connected to your house? How do you use your garage? What's your biggest struggle in your garage like tell me all the things reach out to me, I'd love to hear from you. So until next time, I will talk to you soon. And get your garages organized. Hello friends. Thank you so much for listening to the podcast. I am grateful that you tune in every week and that you share the show with your family and friends. I love having creative chit chats with you. And my hope is that this podcast will inspire you to try a new project started DIY that you've been putting off and decorate your home exactly how you want it. There are a few ways you can help us with the podcast. Follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode. And if you could take a few minutes to leave the podcast a review that would help us so so much. Again, thank you for being here and I look forward to our chat next week. Bye bye
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