Spring Cleaning: Mission Garage Organization

Spring is here and the garage door is open. This is a scary thought for Cindy. Her garage is so full that she can’t even park her car there. But the children want to bring out their spring toys now that the weather is nice. As she starts moving piles of trash from one place to another to dig up Nicole’s bike, 3-year-old Megan is having a good day in the piles of stuff on the garage floor. Eager to get on her old bike, Nicole starts digging through piles trying to find her bike helmet. The search for her is unsuccessful and she begins to complain about riding without him. Overwhelmed by the chaos and frustrated by the whining, Cindy picks up the 3 children
in the car to go buy a new helmet for Nicole.

The next weekend, Mike is forced to tackle the “friends list” because Cindy
the extended family comes to celebrate Easter. Yeah, it’s finally time to get that.
painted entrance. Now where did you put those paint rollers and trays anyway? After
rummaging through the garage for 20 minutes trying to find paint supplies, Mike
he heads to the store to buy all the new things.

Meanwhile, the kids want to hide eggs and ask Cindy for their Easter.
Sneakers. You know they’re somewhere in the garage, but the thought of digging
through the chaos is too daunting. Next time they go out, they’ll just buy new ones,
again.

The Mike and Cindy scenario is very common in today’s busy families. carefully
planning and organization can save time, money, and most of all, your sanity.
Read on to see how cleaning out that garage can make your life easier.

It’s the beginning of March, time for Tracy to bring out her spring decorations.
For your home. She goes into her garage and pulls out the bathtub labeled “spring”.
decorations” from the garage closet. Inside, not only do you find the decorations for
your house, but your children’s Easter baskets and leftover supplies like egg decorating
kits and plastic eggs too. Children will be excited to play with their Easter
tennis for the next two weeks.

Later in the week, Tracy begins planning her family work day once a year for the
garage. Get the kids involved by letting them make hanging signs
around the house detailing the time, date and goals of the family work day. she also leaves
they choose their own colored stickers to label their individual items for sale on
your future dirty garage.

Tracy and Kevin take the cars out of the garage and put several blankets on the
driveway. Each blanket is designated to “sell”, “throw”, “hold” and “move to another
location.” Every year the family checks everything in the garage to see if
is still needed and make sure he has a home. Allow children to have a say in
where items are “housed” gives them more incentive to keep things in their place.
They also work together to sweep, mop, and maintain various areas of the garage. HAS
a place is made to store the designated items for the garage sale to be held
In a couple of weeks. After a hard day’s work, the Tells celebrate by eating at a
favorite restaurant and go out for ice cream.

Garage Organization Tips:
o Make a list of all the problem areas in the garage. Try to find out why the
there is a problem (i.e. bikes are lying everywhere because there is no place to
to hang or park).

o Plan a family work day to work together in the garage. Let the children be
involved in the decisions of where things should go and what things should be
kept up.

o Use a pegboard, garage rack, or hooks to get tools and other items off the floor.

o Keep similar items together. (ie all Christmas decorations go together in clear containers and
all painting and maintenance supplies are together in a tub or on a shelf).

o Consider shelves or cabinets to store tubs of holiday decorations, seasonal toys,
car wash supplies and other items.

o Look for overhead storage to store larger items like camping gear
and luggage

o If you own several large items, such as lawn mowers, wheel bars, and trimmers, a
storage shed can be a good idea.

o Bike racks or hooks are a good place to store bikes. Be sure to put a hook
close to hang the helmet.

o Covering the floor with a layer of epoxy helps keep things cleaner in the garage.

o Hold a garage sale or donate to charity any items not used in the last
year.

o Help encourage children to “let go” of outgrown toys and clothes by allowing them to
keep the money earned on your personal items at your garage sale.

o Don’t forget to empty the garage and sort items at least once a year.
to keep a garage clean and organized.