If you follow the zone plan of organizing one area of your home every month, September is a great month to tackle the garage or workshop area. It’s getting a little cooler. It’s time to think about putting away summer equipment and evaluating your current zone placements. Start by listing all the zones this area has. Some possibilities might include yard/garden storage; tools and workshop area; storage of home repair projects; recycling center; storage of extra household purchases like paper towels, cleaning materials, or soft drinks; storage of items for outdoor entertainment; sports equipment storage; and if it is your garage, maybe even a zone for parking your car! Next envision where to logically place these zones. For items that you use regularly, you will want your zones near the entrance. I want my bike near the front entrance for example. On the left side of my workshop one wall is all gardening/lawn equipment with the lawn mower near the entrance. As you group your items together, look for containers that can hold your smaller items. All seed packets go in a clear shoebox or all gardening gloves in a basket or all small gardening tools store together in one container with a handle. Utilize shelves, pegboard, and hooks to keep items off the floor. Don’t stack items on top of each other because, for sure, you are going to want what is on the bottom. Keep wide walkways so that it is easy to access every zone, otherwise you will wind up just dropping items at the entrance instead of walking back and placing them in the proper zone. Now grab a big black trash bag and purge in every area. Goodbye to old seeds, dried paint, gloves with holes, rusty nails. Use your broom and duster to clear away the heavy dirt and cobwebs as you go. Once you are finished with this zone, reward yourself. Admire your clean, organized space. Now hop on that bike and ride up to the coffee shop!
Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer