Organize Your Garage

Source: Flickr: Matt Howry

Drive down any street in America and keep an eye out for homes with the garage doors open. You might find one or two per block, on a warm summer evening, in a good part of town.

Now, without being creepy, peak into the garage, and tell me what you see.  Furniture, holiday decorations, boxes of old clothes, aging sports equipment, enough canned food to feed a small country.

Count how many cars are sitting on the street because the garage was taken up with stuff. Garages were built to house our cars but somehow they became America's favorite storage facility. As if packing out a 2400 square foot house wan't enough space, the garage is seen as n extra 200 feet of prime real estate.

Why Do People Pack Out Their Garages? 

It's starts with a small compromise and a pile in the corner of something you think you will need later on in life.  Then a few extra boxes later, dumping stuff in the garage doesn't feel so bad. There is nothing more dangerous than the "I'll do it later" pile.

Apathy may be one cause, but fear seems to be the primal issue.  We love to keep things we don't need out of fear that we will need them again.  We are fearful of regret or that we won't be able to afford a replacement if we end up needing it.

Help! My Stuff is Taking Over My Garage 

Maybe you're reading this and you're thinking that your garage is starting to look like this.  Well, I'm here to help!

First, read How to Emotionally Detach From Items.  Once you've identified that your clutter is an emotional attachment, you can begin to fix the ways you think about your stuff.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: 

Can my stuff be used by someone else?

Would having money in the bank be more beneficial than owning this stuff?

If I haven't used an item in 5 years, realistically will I ever use it again?

Would I feel less mentally cluttered if cleaning the garage wasn't on my perpetual to do list?

Is the mental stress of these items worth their replacement value?

Start Small 

Going through a whole garage is a lot of work, probably too much work for one weekend.  Pace yourself.  Go one box at a time.

Make it a goal to get everything off of the floor and up onto a shelf. Shelving kits are cheap and can help you organize things like tools, paint cans, cleaning supplies, and sporting goods.

Sell your unneeded items on ebay, have a garage sale, or donate them to charity.


It's a lot of work, but wouldn't it all be worth it to come home to this everyday?

A clean garage
Source: Flickr: Dave Nakayama 

Spring Cleaning

Breaking down any task always makes it more bearable.  I have found that I am easily discouraged at the mere site of big projects and work more effectively by breaking them down into palatable pieces.

Items I use everyday 

What does a single girl do in her spare time?  Organize my sock drawer of course! Seriously, it's probably one of the cleanest you've ever seen.  

My other goal was to get through my cosmetics.  By no means am I a strict follower of the 100 item ultra-minimalist club, but I do enjoy clutter-free spaces.  I live with two other young singles and we each get one third of a cabinet and one shelf of the linen closet for our beauty tool kits.  

I have my items organized by the items I use everyday, use often, and use rarely.  

What helped me pair down and organize my items: 

• I threw away anything clearly old, dried up, or no longer in fashion.  
• I looked for products with expiration dates.  Sunscreens become ineffective with age.  You should buy a new bottle every year. 
• I clipped all my hair scrunchies together and boxed my clips
• I used small containers to organize like items such as nail polishes 

Items I use several times a week 

Tips for cleaning out your cosmetics: 

• Every item in your arsenal should be your favorite.  
• Keep it simple.  Most women can get by with a handful of nail polishes, not a salon's worth 
• Throw out anything you haven't used within the last year.  
• Newer products are more effective and usually healthier for you.  Don't keep five year old lotions and dried up nail polishes.  
• Organize items into categories 
• Don't keep hotel shampoo bottles.  Just don't do it! I know they're "cute."

I'm very proud of the progress that I've made but still feel that I have too many items I don't plan on using.  There's always that "What if I need it?" question lingering.  Maybe I'll actually use that under eye creme someday.  What I am excited about is that moving will be really easy, I'll just pick up my two bins and carry them away.   

Happy cleaning! 

Minimalism in the Kitchen

One of the most pressing issues for minimalists is how to cook and entertain with very few possessions.  While the scale of minimalism goes from owning exactly one bowl and knife, to an organized showroom of a kitchen, I seek to find the middle ground.  It may work for some minimalists, but I don't feel very hospitable making my guest bring their own utensils.

I came across a couple items at Cost Plus World Market that allow you to keep your kitchen, just in miniature.

How much cheese do you
really need to grate? 

Don't have room on your wall for a clock?  No problem.

To minimalists, space is just as important as quantity.  With these stackable cups, you get uniformity and space efficiency all in one.

Minimalism is all about organization and not carrying more than you can hold.  It teaches us to enjoy what is special to us and reject what clutters our lives unnecessarily.  Minimalism may be all bare boned, but it doesn't need to be sterile or without a sense of humor.