Hey guess what? Today isn’t the final link up, it’s next week. So for everyone who thought they couldn’t get their garages done in time, you have one more week. And I understand it’s a long weekend in the US this weekend, so that even gives you an extra day! What? You don’t want to spend your long weekend organizing your garage? Really? I don’t understand why 🙂 However I will tell you this, doing something, any little thing is better than doing nothing at all. So I challenge you to set aside ONE hour this weekend. One solid hour, that’s it, to tackle your garage. You will be amazed at what you can get done in an hour. Start by pulling out all the stuff you know is junk and can be thrown away or donated. Load up your truck for the dump, call one of those junk trunks (depending where you live of course) to swing by and grab it or stick it at the end of your driveway with a big ole free sign on it. You will feel amazing I promise you!
And listen up all the rest of you without garages, this little challenge extends to any area of your home that needs a little organizational TLC. What have you been putting off forever? One hour. Tell yourself just one hour. Anyone can find one hour in a long weekend. Right? Right? I want to hear about it afterwards my friends because I’m nosy that way and well I know you won’t let me down. You can do this! One hour.
Now back to the garage challenge. Those who have been following from the beginning know that this week is all about the Evaluate and Simplify steps of the PROCESS.
Evaluate plan – how is your system working for you – are you able to work your system? What needs to be modified? A good system should be easy to maintain
Solve/Simplify any remaining issues. Address anything that isn’t working for you – revise accordingly
My own garage hasn’t changed much in the last week since I last showed it to you. However today I thought I would show you some of smaller details that help me maximize space and improve functionality. These systems don’t necessarily cost a lot of money as I’ve been able to use what we had around the house to pull it together.
First up is my backpack station that sits just outside the door that leads into the house. In this home I didn’t have room for the backpack station inside so this was the next best thing. We simply added some hooks to the wall and we were good to go. We also added the magnetic white board above it for notes and things.
On the door itself I’ve added a fantastic gear pocket storage organizer (watch for it in my shop soon!). Our entryway is ridiculously small so since this door opens up into the entryway it made sense to utilize this vertical storage space. I use it to hold our seasonal hats/mitts/sunglasses that type of thing. It’s hung up with Command hooks. Love it!
Then across from the backpack station sits our recycle station. This I created using an old shelving unit, a recycle bin we found years ago in our backyard ravine and for our paper products I simply use a lawn bag holder. That way we can dump our paper/cardboard right into the blue recycle bag so that on recycle day we just have to tie the bag off and stick it on the curb. Easy!
Next I took care of some labeling. I added some toy bins that I’ve had these for years and just keep moving them around my house. The labels I used are fun adhesive chalk labels that I sell in my shop.
Next are the bike helmets. I hang them on an otherwise un-used space on the back of the door to the outside.
These are also hung with Command hooks.
In this picture you can see I use a simple cardboard box to hold hockey sticks and other outdoor toys. The old cabinet was one I picked up at a garage sale years ago and for a long time it was used as a craft cupboard. Now we’ve put it to good use as garage storage. It holds paint supplies and other odds and sodds. I’ve got to organize the inside yet.
Remember it doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has be functional.
Now Sharon, over at Mom of 6, is making headway herself on her garage. I love the inexpensive solutions they’ve came up with for all the outdoor toys so that they take up less space on the garage floor.
Now they have room for all EIGHT bikes. Yep, eight! That’s a lot of space needed and they’ve made it work. Go check it out. So proud of them!
If you would like to provide a garage update of your own, simply join us by linking up below. We’d love to see what you’ve got going on.
Have a great long weekend and remember ONE HOUR!!!
lisa says
The absolute best bike helmet organizer for a family is a sweater organizer hanger that normally goes in a closet. In the winter, we put our snowboots, hats and gloves in it. In the spring, we box those up and put our bike helmets in it. And there are 5 compartments standard so it works for families.
Adhesives UK says
I am a klutz but I am trying so hard to get organized and to declutter. You have given me tons of ideas. I just wanted to know though is there any particular reason you spelled chalk as “chaulk”? Just curious.
Laura says
LOL…oops nope just an oversight. It’s all fixed now. Thanks!
Clever Colleen says
Totally could be telling you something you already know, Laura, but did you notice that gear pocket organizer (Clever Container has been carrying them) has those straps on the bottom? They are perfect for hanging helmets (4 of them!) Check out the image here: http://www.clevercolleen.com/gear%20pocket.png
Laura says
Oh I did know that Colleen but because where we have it hung is the door we frequently use it drove me crazy having them there hitting the door all the time. I moved them for the silence factor lol
Chris tremlett @ Professional organizer NYC says
Well I just loved the way you have managed to organize the garage it actually needs a lot of patience and also require great efforts, well it does add to that delight with the way it has been organized great job buddy.
Ginny says
Excellent ideas. Love the bookshelf for boots. You did an awesome job. The garage seems to be that hardest place to keep in any sort of order. We actually did our Great Garage Clean Out a few months ago and I blogged about it then (we even have a similar post name lol). Hope you don’t mind me linking up even though it wasn’t recent. The best part has been that it actually has stayed clean. It’s amazing what a little big labeling seems to do in keeping things in order. 🙂
Hilda says
I’m brand new at blogging & want to join the garage clean out challenge (better late than never right?!). Can someone please tell me how to get the button on my post? I tried to just copy & paste the code but only the code showed up when I previewed my post. Thanks!
Laura says
You can right click on it and save it to your hard drive and then upload to your post like you would a picture.
Hilda says
Thanks Laura! That was much less complicated than I thought 🙂
Karen says
Looks great. I linked to my “after” pics, but forgot the before ones. They are here, in an earlier post: http://dogsdonteatpizza.blogspot.com/2012/05/who-knew.html. Thanks for your great ideas!
Angie says
I totally get why it’s taking me so long! It registered finally when I read what you wrote about trying to make it into a showroom! I want it to be functional, but I get so caught up and lost in the details. I’m detailing everything! I actually enjoy working this way, but it’s definitely not the most efficient way to accomplish this project and makes it difficult to enlist someone else’s help. No wonder why they keep disappearing on me.
Laura says
What a fantastic A-Ha moment, thanks for sharing it with me. And you are so right. This is exactly what holds so many people back from getting organized. They get stuck in the details thinking it has to be perfect. Way to go!
Mary Katherine says
I am 39 an ..don’t laugh..have ADHD…have been on medication for a few years now. This makes organization a very DIFFICULT and extremely OVERWHELMING thing for me..often bringing me to tears and I end up quiting.I have 3 very sloppy kids who REFUSE to help me around the house no matter what I have tried…believe me I have done it all . Including biweekly session with an in home therapists to help them learn to organize. Two of them have ADD as well. So I need some advise!!! What do by suggest to help organize kids playroom areas. I have gotten rid of 4 bags of toys already but it is STILL a huge mess even with the toy boxes and shelves. How much easier can I make it for them…I mean REALLY!! It’s not that hard to put toys in a toybox is it???? What am I doing wrong?? Please HELP!!!!!