One situation I often run into when organizing a garage is how to store bikes and I always say, where there’s a “wheel,” there’s a way. HA!

Where to store bikes depends on several factors: the size of your space (usually a garage unless you live in a big city), how much you want to spend, and how often you access the bikes.

If you have the space, horizontal floor racks work well, but if space is limited, hanging them works best.

Here are a few great storage solutions for organizing bikes:

Rolling bike stand for single bikes – $34.99 each at The Container Store

Stationary floor racks for multiple bikes – $38.99 each at OrganizeIt.com

Vertical wall-mounted bike hook – $16.99 each at The Container Store.

Horizontal wall-mounted bike hook – $14.95 each at BikeRackShops.com. I like these because they fold up with not in use, have a built-in shelf, and have a version that stores 2 bikes.

Ceiling-mount bike lift – $24.99 each at The Container Store.

Freestanding bike rack or Gravity stand $48.99 at Target. If you have more bikes, try the 4 bike stand at BikeRackShops.com

Slat wall bike hook – If you already have a slat-wall product, most retailers sell vertical and horizontal accessory hooks like this one at Sears for $6.99.

When climbing the ladder of success, make sure it’s leaning against the right wall…I’m paraphrasing one of my favorite quotes to live by, and I couldn’t help thinking of it as I was tasked with organizing a whole LOTTA ladders in a client’s garage.  And although I always think organizing is fun, I have to admit, this one  was a whole LOTTA fun!

Fun organizing ladders!

This wall was originally thought unusable by the homeowner because it was a pass-through between two doorways, so shelves were not an option because of their depth, which would have made it impossible to open the doors fully. And a slanted ceiling provided an extra challenge.  But where most people see an impossible space, I see potential storage!

By choosing to store shallow items in this shallow space, then placing the largest ladders first and filling in the gaps with smaller ones, I made functional use of this awkward wall for these awkward items. Kinda like a giant puzzle I had to put together, and to this organizer, it’s looks a little like art!

I hear this a lot — “We’d like to organize our 2 car garage to fit ONE car in there. We have too much stuff to park both.”

NOT TRUE!

We’ve proven time and time again that with a good purge, the right storage solutions, and little organization, you can have it all — a showroom garage, AND space to park two cars!

Here are a few of my tips to create a spacious garage…

Right bay – BEFORE This garage had three problems: 1. A lack of storage on the walls meant everything lived on the floor. 2. Similar items were scattered in multiple areas so things were hard to find. 3. Some trash or unused items taking up space.	Right bay – AFTER TIP #1: CREATE “ZONES” By grouping like items together, we were able to consolidate all tools together and create Zone #1 (a work station) on the left wall. Zone #2 (the back wall) is now used for military gear, and Zone #3 (the right wall) for home and garden storage. Now when my client needs something, they know exactly where to get it and where to put it away. And with no obstacles in the way, clean up is a snap!
Right wall – BEFORE Stand in a room and close your eyes. Open them quickly and what is your first impression? Probably that the room is “bottom heavy,” meaning everything is sitting on the floor and the walls are empty. That’s half of your square footage wasted! So what do you do?	Right wall – AFTER TIP #2: GO VERTICAL People often think buying bins will help them with storage problems, and while bins can corral your stuff, if it has to still sit on the floor, what good does that do? Spend your money on vertical storage like shelving, pegboard, or slat wall instead. Even one shelf can double your horizontal square footage. Installing slat wall and shelving enabled us to use every inch of vertical space – no more stuff on the floor!
Left bay – BEFORE Because there were no vertical storage systems in place, everything lived on the floor, and deep shelving units blocked the opening so a car couldn’t pull in. Also, large items were shoved to the walls which reduced the amount of functional horizontal space.	Left bay – AFTER TIP #3: GET OFF THE WALL Originally, this 6 foot tall tool chest was pushed against the right wall and blocked a side door, which not only created a hazard, but it still did not create more space like my client hoped. So instead, we turned it perpendicular to the wall along the staircase, making a functional, U-shaped work area for my client. We not only freed up wall space for shelving, but the side door is now functional and safe! And most importantly, there’s room to pull a car in!
Back wall – AFTER TIP #4: USE DEEP SHELVES IN DEEP RECESSES… We moved a 24″ deep shelving unit that *used* to partially block the left bay opening over to the 30″ deep recessed area under the slanted ceiling on the back wall. By doing so, we were able to allow access for a car to drive into the bay, create deep storage for bulky items, and keep the pathway clear between the the house door and the garage side door.	Right bay – AFTER …USE FLAT STORAGE IN SHALLOW AREAS The slatwall (even with stuff on it) is shallow, allowing a car to pull into the parking bay without being cramped or scratched. Told ya we could get a car in here!
Workbench – AFTER TIP #5: MOST USED in ARM’S REACH In the workbench station, we put the most used tools (hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, tape measure) on the pegboard at arm’s length. The lesser used handtools and screws are organized in the tool chest one step away, and the least used items like chemicals, cables, and car accessories were moved to a shelving unit a few steps away. Anything accessed only seasonally went on the highest shelves.

Kids have the same issue as adults when it comes to having too much stuff and not enough places to store things. Young children are also have a height challenge to consider, and they can benefit from a regular cleaning schedule, just like adults, so things stay neat long term.

Here are a few photos of a a girl’s closet and a boy’s closet we organized to illustrate some of the tips we use when organizing a child’s closet…

1. Only keep clothes in their current size, plus 3 outfits one size larger.
2. Only keep clothes they actually like and want to wear (usually about 20% of what’s in the closet.) Give away, hand down, donate, or consign the rest.
3. Move hanging rods down low so kids can reach them.
4. Use sliding drawers or baskets for small toys, stuffed animals, blankets, or loose clothing.
5. In general, kids prefer to fold rather than hang clothes so provide a dresser for t-shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, and pajamas. 3-drawer rolling storage drawers are also a good option and can be used to store other items down the road.
6. Include low shelving for shoes and folded clothes, and tall shelving for storing toys and items that are less frequently used.
7. Slimline hangers maximize horizontal space (and vertical if they have cascading hooks built in!)



8. Only keep toys they use.
9. Clear bins are great for small toys, memoribilia, or clothes so kids can see what’s in them without dumping them on the floor. Label the bins with text for older kids, and pictures for small children who can’t read yet.
10. Don’t use lids on bins for small children because it’s an obstacle to putting things away and seeing what they have.
11. Create a maintenace plan that’s age appropriate and let kids clean their own room. Start with 5 minutes for 3 year olds, and an additional 5 minutes for every year in age they are over 3. (8 year olds would be about 30 minutes a week.) They’ll learn focus, responsibility, and how to value their things.
12. Provide a laundry basket or bag so dirty clothes don’t land on the floor. If they kids are older, give them two laundry baskets to sort their own lights and darks.

Happy organizing!

Kara Russelo, Professional Organizer at Little Virgo, was featured in Triangle Home Improvement magazine in an article entitled “Back on Track: Staying Organized as you Navigate Major Change.”

Click on the image for a pdf of the article. (NOTE: it’s a bit fuzzy looking in places but legible…)

I think “Drop Zones” are one of the most important things you can add to your home to keep it organized, especially if you have kids. They stop clutter at the door so your house doesn’t get all clogged up with the junk that seems to land on the kitchen counters, tables, hallways, and floors and that no one else in the family ever seems to know how it got there.

It’s hard to believe the gorgeous drop zone above used to look like this:

It USED to be a hallway closet who’s purpose was questionable…We ripped out the builder-basic wire shelving, removed the sliding doors to gain full access to the opening, and installed a California Closets system.

Here’s what you’ll need to build a Drop Zone in your home:

A good drop zone has a set of hooks, a table, a rolling cart, a bench, or wall-mounted shelf/cubbies where you can hang keys, coats, shoes, bookbags, hats/gloves/scarves, pocketbooks, wallets, and any items that are incoming & outgoing like store returns, library books, stuff to take to work/school/car/office.

A few other accessories to think about:

• A mirror so you look presentable when you leave the house.
• A basket to catch the stuff nobody knows where to put.
• A whiteboard/chalkboard for family members to leave notes & reminders.
• A shredder/trash can so paper clutter doesn’t make it’s way in.

Drop zones not only stop the clutter from forming, but they can be as whimsical as you want. I love the metal faces with hooks in the photo above because it was a creative way for us to use my client’s art and represent each family member so they knew where to put their own stuff.

Want more ideas or to see a “before” shot of this whimsical drop zone? Check out my blog post Stop Clutter at the Door.

“ANOTHER load of laundry? Jeez, it feels like I’m doing laundry all day!” I hear this a lot from clients, and even used to feel like it a lot myself. But here are some quick tips for getting through it so it feels like it takes almost NO time:

• Do laundry while you sleep. Toss laundry in the wash an hour before bed. For most people, this means before you sit down to watch your favorite primetime TV show, crafting, or whatever it is that you do to relax before bed. Move it to the dryer on your way to bed and let it run while you sleep. It helps laundry feel like it’s not such a big project that takes a chunk out of the day.

• Fold it when you wake up. Before getting your morning coffee, fold the load and put it away. Get it out of the way before you have time to dread it, then coffee feels like a reward.

• “Zone” your clothes. When folding, create piles of your clothes putting like items with like. For example, make a t-shirt pile, a jeans pile, a pajama pile, etc. That way as you’re putting items in drawers or closets, you can replace a whole stack at once instead of having to think, “Ok, this shirt goes here, these pants go there, oh wait…this shirt goes back over here too…”

Do these steps and you’ll feel like you’re getting things done without even trying, and your day will be clear for fun stuff….like cleaning the kitchen. Haha!

Let’s face it — nobody REALLY loves to do laundry. But with a laundry room as organized as this one, it’s easier to face.

We worked together with California Closets to create a functional and atrractive room, complete with a broom cabinet, cubbies for each child’s own laundry basket, covered cabinets, a washsink, granite countertops, tile floors, and tall wainscoating topped with peg hooks for drying clothes.

I have to admit, my favorite part of this room is the wainscoating because it’s “country chic”, and makes use of an otherwise useless wall. It also doesn’t encroach into the walking area of this galley-style laundry room. This idea could also apply to drop zones, kids rooms, & pantries with odd-angled walls.

Want some tips for making laundry easier? Check out some of my other blog posts: Laundry-schmaundry – tips for making laundry painless & Laundry Tips.

For those of you with small children who are always looking for economical and readily available ways to cull kids toys, check out these tips from Housekeeping.org…

This was sent to me by a friend and I thought they were so helpful & clever I had to share them…thanks to thechive.com for the original article.

Use a comb to hold a nail in place
without hammering your fingers.