Hi. I'm Lorie Marrero, creator of the Clutter
Diet book and on-line program, and today I'm standing here in my garage where I just installed
these great garage shelves and I thought I would share with you some tips about organizing
your garage because it can be one of the most difficult areas to organize in the entire
house. Here's why. We talk about clutter being delayed decisions
and delayed actions. So what happens is, you've got these objects
inside the house and you've delayed the decisions about these objects to the point that they've
marched themselves out the door into your garage, kind of just waiting around in a clutter
cemetery, you know, waiting to die or waiting for you to have some kind of day of reckoning
with these things. And by the time you get out here to do that,
it is a very difficult decision, because you have already not been able to decide this
for a while, so there's some reason that it's hard for you. So why not clear the path for those difficult
decisions by answering a few questions up front and deciding a few things up front about
the project itself and make the whole thing easier so that you can focus on those objects
and deciding about them. So I'm going to share with you three big things
to ask yourself and decide before starting your organizing project in the garage. So first you want to think about your storage. A great question to ask yourself is, "Do I
want shelving, or do I want cabinets?" In this case I chose shelving because I wanted
to have the adjustability and versatility that shelving provides. These are the ClosetMaid heavy duty maximum
load garage shelving pieces and I can reconfigure these however I want. I can add shelves, move them around, there
are hooks that I can add in anywhere I want, and they're easy to install. So I was able to put this in and then I can
change my mind. In a previous house, I had a wall where I
really knew where I wanted things to be and I had a very permanent plan for the garage,
and I wanted to put in cabinets. And ClosetMaid has cabinet options too. That can be great, because you don't want
to see everything out all the time when you're coming and going and you want to have a nice
streamlined look in your garage. Now, if you're going to do shelving, I want
to make sure that you get 16-inch shelves whenever possible. Because big things like coolers, like I have
behind me, or large storage tubs, they usually don't fit very well on a 12-inch shelf and
they'll hang over. So 16 inches is a much more comfortable, you
know, usable depth for most of your garage needs. You also want to look at how you're using
your vertical space, like shelves and cabinets, but also anyplace that you can fit a hook,
anyplace that you can have any other way to mount something on the wall or the ceiling. So I have these ceiling wall hooks that you
can use. You can hang a bike with these, or a ladder,
you can hang extension cords with these things. So, you know, think through any available
space where you can just add something to be able to use that wall space or ceiling
space. The second thing you need to ask yourself
is about your time and your resources. So you want to allow plenty of time for a
garage project. Probably more than you think. You want to allow a time when you don't have
any chance for rain, either that day or even the next day, because it may take longer than
you think and you might want to have tarps available to have things that you've sorted
out into the driveway covered up overnight, for at least a little bit of protection, if
you need to do that. Also, you want to make sure that you have
your disposal plan all figured out. Where are you going to donate things? Hopefully to Goodwill. [POP] Where are you going to take things if
they require junk removal or if you have a junk removal service come and get them? What day is your garbage pickup usually going
to happen and what things do they do and don't accept? You know, so is it mattresses, things like
that that they can't take, you might want to find out an alternative for those. So you also want to think through your functions
of your garage. So anything that you have as a hobby like
fishing, or golf, or woodworking where you might need a workbench for that. Any other kinds of functions, like I have
this little car-washing center here with my little water hose and my car-washing towels. So think about any of those functions and
make zones for those functions to happen in your garage. So make those decisions so you'll know what
to keep and where to put things back when you're finished. So if you want to find out anything about
these great ClosetMaid shelves or the cabinets they have, you can go to closetmaid.com, you
can also visit Home Depot to see these in person or pick them up. And you can find out more about all of these
garage tips that I have on our You Tube channel, at http://www.clutterdiet.tv. See you next time, and may you always be happy
and grateful for having more than enough.