Courier-Journal
May 13, 2006 Section: Features Edition: METRO Page: 1E Organize that garage Susan Hall Special to The Courier-Journal Now is the time to get started putting everything in its place By Susan Hall Special to The Courier-Journal A bedroom without a bed wouldn't work, nor would a bathroom without a sink, but most of us expect a garage to function without "furniture." So notes Barry Izsak, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers, in his book "Organize Your Garage in No Time" (Que, 2005 ). As a result, the garage tends to be the most disorganized place in the house. It houses not only the car and for some people the laundry but balls, bicycles and buckets, paint, patio furniture and pesticides, car seats, kayaks and clothing. Tackling it can be overwhelming, but professional organizer Tracie Utter simply advises, "Turn right, turn left. It doesn't matter where you start. Just start." Pull everything out to see what you have and what space you have, advises professional organizer Melanie Stokes of Intuitive Living. She advocates a system based on the acronym
SPACE that she says will work on any area: S sort. P purge. A assign. C containerize. E equalize (or maintain it) "Sorting is the easy part. Maintaining it is hard," said Utter. You can purge as you go or simply group like items together, Stokes said. "Then you'll realize, 'I really don't need 12 rakes.'" Then assign each item a home and thereafter "just put it there," Utter said. Giving homes to your stuff probably means adding some "furniture" shelves, hooks, cabinets. Adding cabinets alone won't solve a problem if there's no method to the way you stuff things in them, Stokes said.
Utter said you can easily spend $15,000 on a garage organizing "system" and the makers of them are fueling people's anxiety about getting organized, but she believes most people can do it themselves. "I'd say go look at these systems and then go home and get creative." Utter is a big fan of pegboard and hooks, plastic tubs clearly labeled and other low-cost solutions. It can pay, though, to buy quality shelves, she said. Store all your sports equipment together, all your gardening supplies together. Make items you use most often the most easily accessible; less-used things can be stored higher up, if they're not heavy, or in more remote areas. Switch out the skis and sleds in an accessible area when it's time to pull out the pool toys. Use all your vertical space. Do things to make organization work as you think of them. "I believe you should stop the repetitive thinking. If something needs to be done, do it ," Utter said. Stokes noted containers don't come into her system until the fourth step. Evaluate what you need to store before buying containers that are the right size . Once you've set up a system, it may require tweaking. "Everyone wants organization to be a one-time thing, but it's not. You have to maintain it. "Organization gives you time to spend doing what you'd rather be doing instead of just spinning your wheels," Stokes said.
ON THE WEB Find more tips on getting your garage in gear at courier-journal.com/home ORGANIZING YOUR GARAGE: TYPES OF STORAGE AND HELPFUL TIPS In "Organize Your Garage in No Time," Barry Izsak. (Que, 2005, $16.95) outlines types of storage. Hanging: Hanging systems can be as simple as hanging items from a nail hammered halfway into the wall; hammering two nails halfway a parallel distance apart next to each other to hang anything with a head, such as brooms and rakes; using cup hooks, utility hooks or bungee cords. Just make sure your hanging system even specially manufactured ones will bear the weight of items you want to store there. Shovels, hoes and tools with sharp blades pose a hazard if they fall on someone. Shelves: Open shelves work well for bulky items, such as ice chests, and you can easily see what you have. Adding doors puts it all out of sight. Shelves should be deep enough to store your items, but not so deep that things get lost in back. Adjustable shelves eliminate wasted space between them. Use more shelves spaced closer together rather than stacking things too high. Store items you use frequently at waist height. Less-used items should go higher or lower, with weightier items below to prevent injuries should they fall or be dropped. Replacement items go behind older items so you use the older ones first. Start 6 inches to 1 foot off the floor to keep items clean and dry. If you have children, use a cabinet with a lock to store chemicals.
Drawers: Drawers can be ideal for small items such as craft and hobby supplies that can be kept in a compartmentalized storage box. If you're storing various things in the same drawer, group like items together in smaller containers to prevent the drawer from becoming a jumble of junk. For small items, you can use cutlery trays, ice-cube trays, egg cartons or any number of things. On the floor: Though the floor should be kept as clear as possible, it just makes sense for some items to be stored there: lawn mowers, pressure washers and other heavy items. If your garage tends to flood, use pallets or plywood on bricks to get things off the floor. Pet food stored on the floor can easily get wet and infested with insects and rodents. On the ceiling: Use the rafters or create a suspended loft to create space for seldom-used items, such as holiday decorations, suitcases, fishing poles, skis and lumber. Create an attic space by installing ¾-inch plywood atop the rafters. Suspend the plywood from the ceiling using equal lengths of chain and heavygauge hooks to create a loft space for items that aren't too heavy and that you can safely retrieve using a ladder. Tips Tack up clothespins with finishing nails to hang things such as goggles. Unfinished garages provide space between the studs that can be used for storage. Use large cup hooks to hang things or stretch a bungee cord across two nails on a section to stand long items upright, such as hoes, rakes or skis. The various hooks available at hardware stores have many uses beyond their stated purpose. For instance, ladder hooks screwed into ceiling joists can hang bicycles, tires, fans and lawn chairs. When in doubt, use a stronger hook than you think necessary. Be careful about hanging things from exposed pipes, which aren't designed to bear a lot of weight. By using S-hooks, they can be used to store paint rollers, dustpans and other lightweight items. It's hard to beat the versatility and low cost of pegboard. You can just nail it up if your garage is unfinished.
In a finished garage, just nail up 1-by-2-inch furring strips at intervals and put the pegboard on top of it. That provides space between the board and wall to insert the myriad hooks available to hang tools, extension cords and other things. Assign a place for each item. You can even take a marker and draw an outline around it on the pegboard and label it, so it's easy to see where the drill goes and where the hammer goes.
TO FIND HELP Organizers: Melanie Stokes Intuitive Living Louisville, KY (502) 417-7123 intuitive_living@yahoo.com Tracie Utter Utterly Organized Prospect, KY (502) 291-6890 tracie@utterlyorganized.net www.utterlyorganized.net Class Clutter Club, a free discussion group devoted to solving the worst clutter problems, will begin meeting again in August. Professional organizer Tracie Utter has scheduled these sessions at the Northeast YMCA, 9400 Mill Brook Road: Aug. 22 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sept. 21 7-8 p.m. Oct. 17 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Dec. 28 7-8 p.m. Reservations: (502) 291-6890 or e-mail: tracie@utterlyorganized.net
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