Father’s Day Family Project
This article was first published in The Island Eye .
What do you get the man who has everything to celebrate Father’s Day? How about time together with the kids organizing the garage? I know, I know – that doesn’t sound like a fun Father’s Day - but tackling the garage is an extremely satisfying way to honor the man you all love. (Or better yet…give the father in your life a Just So Mary gift card and have a professional organizer do the work for you!)
Tackling the garage can feel insurmountable. It often becomes the dumping ground for items that don’t have a home. Items you use once in a while and all those bikes, scooters, wagons and other wheeled vehicles. But it can be conquered, and a well-organized garage will give you time and space back following these three easy tips to organize your garage.
1. Use Garage Real Estate Strategically
Install good shelf space. You can install wall shelving or use standing shelving units. In organizing your shelves, keep everyday items lower and more accessible. Save that hard-to-reach space for infrequently used items such as seasonal décor.
Use your walls. Hang as much as you can on your walls (ladders, leaf blowers, extension cords, and more). You can use individual hooks or a track system.
Create zones. Put like items together to be able to find what you need easily. For example, place all your lawn and garden items in one zone, outdoor toys in another, and cleaning products in a different zone.
2. Label Your Bins
Ever stare at your storage bins and wonder how many you will have to open to find what you are looking for? You aren’t alone. Every good organization project includes creating labels to make your items easier to find. And now technology has made it even easier. For bins with multiple items, you can now put a QR code on the outside of the bin and keep a list of contents on your phone. By scanning the QR code, you will see specifically what is in each bin. You can also search the QR app to find the item and be directed to the correct bin. Some of my favorites for this are ToteScan and Outlinx.
3. Invest in organization products for sports gear.
Is your garage starting to resemble the locker room of a multi-sport athlete or the start line of the Tour de France? One of the most frequent questions I get is how to control all the sports gear. This is one area where I recommend investing in storage solutions.
Using bicycles as an example, organizing multiple bikes using a bike rack keeps things much neater and creates more space. The best option for you depends on whether you have more wall or floor space for such items. There are also products designed to tame the multiple balls, gloves, bats, sticks and clubs that are currently scattered about.
So as Father’s Day approaches, gear up for a morning (before it’s too hot) of organizing fun.