I Need Help! Garage Cleanup

Monday, August 24, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra

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Photo courtesy of kaiton

We are changing things up for the next few Mondays. Instead of asking you a question, we are going to give you tips and ideas based on your great responses to our question from the first week.

Last week we gave you some tips on managing those paper piles and this week we are going to help you…

Tackle that garage cleanup!

When we started talking about garage cleanup which is really not our favorite topic, we discovered we both loved that show on TLC called “Clean Sweep”. Did you ever see that show? The concept they use in any room is to empty the entire room and divide all the contents into three piles. The piles are:

Save
Sell/Giveaway
Throw Away

In July, Sherra used this concept when she her husband emptied the entire contents of their garage onto their driveway. Sorry, no picture of this monumental event. Nor any audio or video of “the fun day.” I’m sure the neighbors enjoyed it.

The idea was to get rid of all the junk and clean up the garage and put only those items that we use back in to the garage.

We skipped the “Sell” step as I have an aversion to garage sales and we went straight to the “Giveaway” concept. If you have the time and inclination to raise a little cash, feel free to have a garage sale. The key is to giveaway ALL ITEMS that do not sell.

You (speaking directly to Sherra’s husband) are not allowed to move them back to the “Save” pile!

In the past, we have done this with the kids and then they have a garage sale and they get to divide the cash. This time it was without 3 of our 4 kids which seemed to make it go a lot faster. Less whining and pleading to save things.

This took us the entire Saturday. Be sure to block out enough time to tackle this project and give yourself a quit time. People get hot and cranky – I’m not pointing fingers but my husband needed a few snacks.

We both felt good about donating some items to Goodwill that someone else will have a need for. I know someone will love my kids’ Sno Cone machine, hot dog toaster and mini donut machine (shhh, they don’t know yet).

Side note: Yes, I did ask him to take a picture of the truck contents with the camera on his cell phone.

Some helpful things you need to get your garage organized:

A good shelving system – Leigh Anne uses the metal restaurant style shelving she got from Costco. Sherra uses Rubbermaid from Wal-Mart.
Containers – Leigh Anne uses laundry baskets that all match – no surprise here. (She does not tie bows on them; yes, I asked.) Sherra uses whatever is on sale.
Hooks of all sizes – Don’t forget to look up – there is a lot of storage space above your head. You can hang bikes with utility “S” hooks. Garden tools, sporting equipment, etc., can all be hung on the walls.

Leigh Anne uses her garage as an extension of her kitchen pantry. She found this great organizational tool for her canned goods.

For more inspiration check out these great tips on scheduling a garage cleanup day.

Let us know if you have a great garage cleaning or organizing tip. And be sure to tell us when you have your garage cleanup date scheduled!