Top Tips For Garage Organization by Leslie Segrete (NAPSA)—Aslife progresses, we strive to acquire items ofall shapes and sizes. Some are useful and some...not so much.When we’ve used these items to their fullest potential, they get sent to the last stop before the garbage—the garage. The garage can be an amazing Bresource for the home, but a messy one will do nothing but frustrate, and it can even be dangerous. Here are a few tips to get you started on the road to having a clean and useful garage: Set a time for you and your family to tackle the mess of the Leslie Segrete garage together. Everyone in the home has somelevel of attachment to the items in there, so makeit a groupactivity. Start by sorting through everything in the garage. Decide what you want to keep and place those items in one area of the yard. Create a separate area for things that still work but you don’t need anymore (those can be sold), and have a big trash bin for things that can’t be sold or donated. Sort everything in the “keep” pile by its use. Create small piles of garden tools, sporting equipment, toys, holiday decorations, ete. This will help you to become aware of the importance of each group of items and will ultimately help determine where they should go in the garage. At this stage of the game (and not before), go out and buy the organizational tools that will best suit your needs. People often make the mistake of doing this first, which tends to result in money being wasted on unnecessary items. When purchasing hardware, don’t forget helpful things such as hooks, pegboards, jars and cabinetry. If you’ve been storing large items such as lawnmowers, snow blowers, and the like in the garage, find a better place for them. You may want to consider a Hillcrest Shed from Lifetime Products. The items have a higher risk of damage in the garage and take up way too much room. These suggestions will certainly get you started, but there are even morecreative and clever ways to help you on the road to getting the car back in the garage. For more information and to see all of my garage organization tips, visit lifetime.com. Leslie Segrete loves to sew, build, and create art in every medium including food. She can be seen on TLC’s “While You Were Out” and “Trading Spaces” as a carpenter and designer. She appears on “Weekend Today” as a home improvement expert and can be heard nationwide on “The Money Pit” home improvement radio show.
