It's May here in North Eastern Ohio and it looks like after a couple of false starts with 80 degree days in March that spring is finally here to stay!

So, if you're like me you've been walking through the garage for the past couple of months with blinders on, trying not to notice the mess that has accumulated there over the winter - yes, garage messes accumulate in professional organizer's garages too!

Today we're going to use my EASY™ formula to deal with that accumulated clutter in the garage.

• First, Empty the  garage of everything. Yes, that means putting it all out on the driveway, so make sure the weather forecast is on your side.  As you pull everything out, put all of the stuff that doesn’t belong in your garage in one area.
• Next, Arrange the remaining items you’ve removed that will be staying in the garage into categories. Categories I typically use when organizing garages include:  Lawn & Garden, Tools, Car Care, Sports & Recreation and  Kids Stuff.  After you Arrange these items into categories, next Arrange each category into the following categories:  Keep, Donate, Repair, and Dispose.  Pack up the donations and put them in your car immediately so you can donate them the next time you run errands.  Schedule the repair of the items in your Repair pile into your calendar so the repairs actually get done.  Finally, get the Dispose items into the trash right away.  If you have a lot of dispose items, give JunkAway a call.  You should be left with sorted piles of things you are Keeping.
• Storage: Your next step is to determine how your items will be stored in the garage.  I typically recommend like categories of items be stored together to make items easier to retrieve.  First figure out where the large difficult to store items, such as a wheelbarrow, lawnmower, and/ or bikes will be stored. Now look at what remains in each of your categories and think about how you use these items and how you want to store them:  Do you use these items once a year or on a regular basis?  Will they best be stored on shelves or bins?  Do they need to be placed out of reach of young children?  Can shelves or hooks be added to your walls?  Only once you have identified what will be stored where in the garage and how it will be stored should you buy and install any storage products.
• You’re almost done – Remember that pile of things that didn't belong in your garage that you created at the beginning of the process?  Now is the time to put those items away or return them to their rightful owner.  Your last step is to put away everything still left on the driveway in its new home and step back to admire what you've accomplished.

Andrea Sharb
CPO-CD®, COC® & CPO®  

S.O.S. ~ Sharb Organizing Solutions, LLC
Helping You Overcome Overwhelm™
440.522.2980
agsharb@mac.com
www.sossharborganizingsolutionsllc.com