Hi.
I'm Lorie Marrero, creator of the Clutter Diet book and on-line program, and today I'm
standing here in my garage where I just installed these great garage shelves and I thought I
would share with you some tips about organizing your garage because it can be one of the most
difficult areas to organize in the entire house.
Here's why.
We talk about clutter being delayed decisions and delayed actions.
So what happens is, you've got these objects inside the house and you've delayed the decisions
about these objects to the point that they've marched themselves out the door into your
garage, kind of just waiting around in a clutter cemetery, you know, waiting to die or waiting
for you to have some kind of day of reckoning with these things.
And by the time you get out here to do that, it is a very difficult decision, because you
have already not been able to decide this for a while, so there's some reason that it's
hard for you.
So why not clear the path for those difficult decisions by answering a few questions up
front and deciding a few things up front about the project itself and make the whole thing
easier so that you can focus on those objects and deciding about them.
So I'm going to share with you three big things to ask yourself and decide before starting
your organizing project in the garage.
So first you want to think about your storage.
A great question to ask yourself is, "Do I want shelving, or do I want cabinets?"
In this case I chose shelving because I wanted to have the adjustability and versatility
that shelving provides.
These are the ClosetMaid heavy duty maximum load garage shelving pieces and I can reconfigure
these however I want.
I can add shelves, move them around, there are hooks that I can add in anywhere I want,
and they're easy to install.
So I was able to put this in and then I can change my mind.
In a previous house, I had a wall where I really knew where I wanted things to be and
I had a very permanent plan for the garage, and I wanted to put in cabinets.
And ClosetMaid has cabinet options too.
That can be great, because you don't want to see everything out all the time when you're
coming and going and you want to have a nice streamlined look in your garage.
Now, if you're going to do shelving, I want to make sure that you get 16-inch shelves
whenever possible.
Because big things like coolers, like I have behind me, or large storage tubs, they usually
don't fit very well on a 12-inch shelf and they'll hang over.
So 16 inches is a much more comfortable, you know, usable depth for most of your garage
needs.
You also want to look at how you're using your vertical space, like shelves and cabinets,
but also anyplace that you can fit a hook, anyplace that you can have any other way to
mount something on the wall or the ceiling.
So I have these ceiling wall hooks that you can use.
You can hang a bike with these, or a ladder, you can hang extension cords with these things.
So, you know, think through any available space where you can just add something to
be able to use that wall space or ceiling space.
The second thing you need to ask yourself is about your time and your resources.
So you want to allow plenty of time for a garage project.
Probably more than you think.
You want to allow a time when you don't have any chance for rain, either that day or even
the next day, because it may take longer than you think and you might want to have tarps
available to have things that you've sorted out into the driveway covered up overnight,
for at least a little bit of protection, if you need to do that.
Also, you want to make sure that you have your disposal plan all figured out.
Where are you going to donate things?
Hopefully to Goodwill.
[POP] Where are you going to take things if they require junk removal or if you have a
junk removal service come and get them?
What day is your garbage pickup usually going to happen and what things do they do and don't
accept?
You know, so is it mattresses, things like that that they can't take, you might want
to find out an alternative for those.
So you also want to think through your functions of your garage.
So anything that you have as a hobby like fishing, or golf, or woodworking where you
might need a workbench for that.
Any other kinds of functions, like I have this little car-washing center here with my
little water hose and my car-washing towels.
So think about any of those functions and make zones for those functions to happen in
your garage.
So make those decisions so you'll know what to keep and where to put things back when
you're finished.
So if you want to find out anything about these great ClosetMaid shelves or the cabinets
they have, you can go to closetmaid.com, you can also visit Home Depot to see these in
person or pick them up.
And you can find out more about all of these garage tips that I have on our You Tube channel,
at http://www.clutterdiet.tv.
See you next time, and may you always be happy and grateful for having more than enough.