Table of Contents

-Introduction
-Did you know?
-Monthly Mission – Garage
-Check Out These Pages! – Relevant pages and new site additions
-Making Space and Finding Hidden Storage Areas

Introduction

Hello friends! I hope you got your papers all sorted out from last month’s mission. This month’s mission is to get into the garage. I need to get in there one afternoon and tidy up what’s been dumped in there over the winter months.

Is anyone feeling overwhelmed? I’m going through a bit of it at the moment. It seems that when the house is at its messiest, I feel most stressed, as well as have the strongest ambition to get organized. I just don’t like the energy of a messy house. It’s heavy and weighs on my mind. Not to mention, my feisty 7 year old daughter is doing her best to make the house a mess and even better to not clean up after herself. That on top of having a busy month and neglecting the house a bit, has gotten me to feeling a bit overwhelmed.

When we feel like this, the best thing to do is take a deep breath and focus on cleaning up one small area of the home. I tackled the kitchen the other day for about 30 minutes and it was returned to a pleasant welcoming kitchen. Progress, not perfection. And it’s OK to make progress organizing, and steps backwards. Just be sure to get back to making progress, even if only for 15 min. a day.

Did you know…

Less stuff = more calm… according to a recent UCLA study, American homes have lots of piles of junk and women in particular experience a spike in stress hormones when faced with this household clutter.

(Source: Health magazine January/February 2013)

I can fully agree with this one… the more messy my house, the more stressed and upset I get.

Can you park in your garage? Or is it a storage zone, and a messy one at that. For tips on how to organize your garage, go to the monthly mission by clicking here.

Here are some pertinent pages on the website you may have missed along with any new pages.

Kitchen Organization - Suggestions to get your kitchen organized and running more efficiently.

Before and After Photos - If you enjoy seeing before and after photos of organizing projects, you can find them all right here.

Living Room Storage Make-over - See how we recently re-organized our living room (play room) with a new Ikea wall unit that's great for storing lots of stuff.

Kitchen Spice Rack - How do you store your spices in the kitchen? See how my new spice organizer helps me save room in my kitchen cabinets.

Home Filing System - Keep all your paperwork in order so you can find what you need at a moments notice, and learn what to keep and what to toss.

Garage Makeover - before and after photos of my personal garage makeover. See how we tackled the problems and ended up with a functional garage.

Streamline Your Morning Routine - Ideas to help you get out the door in the morning and be on time for work or school.

Bathroom Drawer Make Over - How to organize a bathroom drawer, an example with before and after photos.

Stop Clutter - Quick simple tips on how to stop the clutter from coming into your home in the first place.

Are you looking for extra space in your home? I’ll bet you have more space than you thought, if you think outside the box.

In the kitchen, you don’t need to put every single appliance or cooking accessory on the counter. The clearer you keep your counters, the bigger your kitchen looks, and the more space you have to work on.

• Only keep out items that you use almost daily, like a coffee maker or a toaster oven.
• Less used items (a few times a month) can be put in an easily accessible cabinet.
• Items you use rarely can be put in the back of a cabinet. Or, if you don’t have enough cabinet space, put it in the garage, basement or another closet in the home.
• No pantry? Use part of a closet in another part of the home to store a small supply of non-perishables. You could also use a corner of a basement or garage (temperature and pests permitting) to store a small stockpile of food.

In my home, I keep a small stockpile of food in the garage, and I also use one and a half shelves in my linen closet for food and a supply of toiletries. My margarita maker lives in the garage until we plan to use it in warmer weather, and I keep as much as I can hidden away in cabinets as long as I don’t use them often.

Here are some other hidden spaces in your home, or some you can create:

Tall closets – add an additional shelf up high to store items you don’t use very often.

Under beds – use bins and space saving vacuum packed bags to store clothing and linens that are out of season.

Under tables - find a table and cover it with a table cloth to cover it down to the floor. Use the space under it for storage.

Double purpose furniture – have an ottoman for your feet? Why not use one that opens up and doubles as a storage area for blankets, magazines or video game items. Or perhaps a bench that also stores shoes, or a bench seating area that opens for storage items such as bulk paper towels or toilet paper.

Shelving systems and closet organizers – consider making the most out of the space you have by adding customizable closet organizers, or for your garage, a shelving system to hold all your items. Attractive shelves can also be used out in the open on your walls to decorate as well as store items.

Closet doors – use the back of doors to hang various organizers to store shoes, hats, purses, scarves, etc.

Under or in the stairs – this would be a project, but you can use the space under your stairs as a storage closet. I recently saw a fantastic idea where the under stair area had hidden pull-out sections of shelves. Another project is to make the space in the stairs into pull-out drawers.

I hope you’re able to find a little more space in your home. Be creative!

Until next time, happy organizing!

Tracy Greene
Plan-and-Organize-Life.com