By Kathryn Loosli Pritchett
Reprinted from Contra Costa Times, April 13, 2002
Even the most organized homeowners tend to have a place they
stash the stuff they don't know where to put. For some, it's the
bedroom; for others a guest-room closet. But for most, the destination
for all homeless items is the garage.
Mary Lynne Murray, a professional organizer and Times columnist,
says the garage becomes the catch-all because it's less visible.
Which for most of us usually means trouble.
"When things get thrown into the garage without a plan for
more permanent storage, they tend to pile up and you forget what's
there," says Murray. "The old adage, 'out of site, out
of mind' makes for a messy, unusable garage."
Murray recently tackled a garage in Walnut Creek that was buried
in boxes of holiday decorations, sporting goods, scrapbook supplies
and more. Pool toys mingled with party decorations, candles were
scattered among paper plates and potential gifts hid beneath rolls
of gift wrap.
Working alongside her client, Murray spent three days sorting,
discarding and consolidating to create a tidy environment. "It
takes time to organize a space," says Murray. "Most
people think a garage will take a few hours on a Saturday, but
most garages take one to three days to completely organize."
It also takes cash, as most Bay Area organizers charge $40 to
$75 per hour for their service. But working as a team, whether
with a professional organizer or other family members, can help
the work go faster, says Murray. "When it's not your stuff,
you don't have an emotional attachment to it and you can give
some perspective to an otherwise overwhelming task."
In the sorting and discarding process, Murray helped her client
get rid of unused things such as the kids' old soccer gear. Like
items, such as the potential gifts and candles scattered throughout,
were consolidated and inventoried.
"Much of what came out of the garage was trash," says
Murray. "When things are stored haphazardly, there is usually
an excess of storage containers – that can be eliminated."
Other items that were in good condition but unnecessary were
donated to charity. Murray encourages her clients to help others
by putting objects back into circulation rather than hoarding
them in the garage. "Let go of the things that no longer
matter to you and let them become someone else's treasure,"
she says.
Items with sentimental value are pared down, if possible. "Baby
clothes, blankets and supplies could be limited to one box, for
example," says Murray, who parted with much of her own children's
baby things by keeping one large item -- the crib -- in her garage's
rafters.
Once the trash was gone and like items consolidated, Murray and
her client put them in a logical order. Fortunately, the homeowner,
who did not want to be named, had outfitted the garage with shelves
and cabinets for storage. And because so many items had been removed
or consolidated, there were freed-up storage bins to hold what
remained.
Larger items, such as an old cabinet, were also put to service.
"Since the cabinet was at the front of the garage, we put
all the car-washing supplies there for easy access," says
Murray. "There's no reason to have furniture in the garage
just taking up space."
Now comes the real test -- whether an organized space can remain
that way. Murray says yes, provided the person spends time maintaining
that hard-earned organization. "Just a few minutes a day
can keep everything in order," she says. "The organization
process tends to be a real motivator -- most people don't want
to go through the pain of doing it all over again."
|
