“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Rubbermaid, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FastTrack http://my-disclosur.es/RgFrEH”
I’m all about organizing today so lets talk about garages. Dude, why do they get so disgusting?! Our garage is probably the smallest a builder can make within legal requirements for a 1 car garage- seriously its so small, actually we were concerned we wouldn’t be able to fit the van in it so before we bought it we measured the teeny thing. Not to worry it fits, but its a pretty darn tight squeeze. I’m kind of in this mode where I want to use up every possible nook and cranny in our house to be able to have a “home” for every thing and feel like I’m not going to disappear into clutter. I hate clutter, like I get an anxiety attack just thinking about piles of papers or my basement storage room. I think its because I grew up in a house with a lot of clutter and I’m way too type A to be able to handle it. Anyway this all to say that I’ve organized my garage, again, and this time I had some help from Rubbermaid’s new system called the fast track. After organizing and re-organizing over the past couple years I’ve come up with 5 tips to help you tackle the garage clutter and hopefully keep it at bay.
See I told you it was teeny! 🙂
5 Tips for an Organized Garage
1. Find organizational systems that work. I recently discovered the Rubbermaid FastTrack system and I love it. We also have a pegboard but I love the versatility of the FastTrack, you can add more rails and with all the different hooks they make to attach on to the rail you can hang everything from your tools to a bike! You can see all of the FastTrack system options HERE. Another exciting thing about the FastTrack 5 piece kit is that its on sale at Target right now! It is on sale for $28.89 (reg. $33.99) from May 18, 2014 – May 24, 2014, so hop over to your nearest Target store and grab the five piece kit at a discount. I wish I had the money to line my entire garage with them just like on the package, that would be awesome, right ?!
2. Have a place to hide the crap. Just a few weeks ago we invested in a big cabinet for the garage and it has worked miracles. I love a wire rack but you can see the mess that sits on it and for me visual mess, even if its on a shelf, still gives me the feeling of untidiness. Am I the only one that wants everything I own to look like it came from the pages of Real Simple? So I’m a big fan of the cabinet with doors so I can throw all the tools and paint cans and random things that collect in the garage into it and if its a mess inside I don’t see it every time I leave or come home.
3. Be creative. Sometimes the exact measurements of what you are looking for are not out there so you’ll need to do it yourself. Like I mentioned we have the world’s smallest garage and we needed someplace to put all the Christmas storage, so Matt built shelves that attach to the ceiling. Even though they are tough to get to (kind of like an attic) they are perfect for storing all the stuff we only get out once a year. Again, trying to use up every inch of space that we have, I heard that once you start dreaming about discovering new closets and rooms in your house that don’t exist its time to move, I’m not there yet but I bet thats not too far off!
4. Get a shop vac. So this tip isn’t so much about organizing as it is about how good you’ll feel when the floor of your garage isn’t a mini minefield of rocks and dirt. I would really love to paint my garage floor, I hear its much easier to clean, but I’m not sure the hubs would be down for that project. Seriously though a good shop vac works wonders, and it feels so gratifying sucking up all those little rocks, leftover sawdust and chunks of tiny wood pieces, I think the power goes to my head. 😉
5. Don’t stress over it. It’s a garage. I have to remind myself of this daily for so many different things in my house- its just a bedroom who cares if your three year old rips the pillows and covers off of your bed daily, it just means theres no point in making it. ha! If you’re in a state of despair go to target and get yourself the FastTrack 5 piece kit, make your husband install it (or if you can use a drill its pretty simple, I seem to be deficient when it comes to power tools) and get some stuff off the floor, it will make you feel worlds better about the state of your garage. Organizing is cheaper than therapy, no? 🙂
Rubbermaid has like a million cool products that totally will save our sanity so follow them on all the social channels to get the latest updates on everything organizing!