Clutter clearing for garage clutter and shed clutter

It is time to clear clutter in the garage and shed. We have had the whole winter (in Minnesota, anyway) to ignore the garage and shed areas of our home. If you are like me, those areas sometimes become dumping grounds for things you don't want to clutter up the more lived in areas of your home! Don't have a spot for it? Just take it out to the garage or put it in the shed...Here are some things to consider when clutter clearing the garage and shed.

First, let's sort out the problems with shed and garage clutter. To start with, it is important to recognize that we often aren't the only ones contributing to the clutter problems in those spaces. The garage and shed are often used as a dumping ground by everyone in the family!

Tip 1: You didn't get into this clutter trouble by yourself, so let's all get together to unclutter these areas. If you weren't the only one putting things there, it isn't fair that you be the only one deciding what gets tossed, donated, or relocated. Besides, it is really difficult to decide what to do with someone else's stuff (it often is hard enough to make those clutter decisions about our own things).

Second, people often dread this chore for a variety of reasons (some of these are addressed below). It can be hard to get other family members to commit to helping you. You may be dragging your feet on this one yourself! Who wants to organize a damp, dirty, messy, awkward place?

Tip 2: With garage clutter (and you already know this), it doesn't make sense  to park a vehicle, worth thousands of dollars, out in the elements because of maybe a few hundred dollars worth of clutter in the garage. It also helps to take a positive approach to clutter clearing these areas! Start with a plan or goal of what family members want to use this space for! In the case of a garage, this is the last place you see every time you leave your home and the first place you see every time you come home! Make this a pleasant location for you and everyone else in your household. You deserve that!

Third, items thrown in these areas often aren't small and manageable. Bulky, awkward items often wind up in the garage or shed because, well, they don't store easily and they take do take up a lot of space.

Tip 3: Pick a sunny warm day when you, and the other family members helping you, can pull these items out into the driveway or yard where they will be easier to sort, clean, and organize. This won't work very well on a rainy, muddy, or cold day.

Fourth, it does take a lot of time to deal with the awkward clutter that winds up in the garage and shed. Things tend to be bulky, dusty, dirty, or broken. Sometimes there are chemicals that have been kept in these spots too. Clutter clearing is making a lot of decisions that have been postponed, and these decisions have already been postponed at least once--that's how they wound up in the garage!

Tip 4: Allow a large block of time to deal with garage clutter. It takes time to wash, repair, and haul away items or figure out how to properly dispose of any paints or other chemicals. If you set aside at least a half day, maybe more, you won't get frustrated at a job that only gets partially completed.

Finally, after the garage or shed has been emptied out, take the time to dust and sweep before organizing and putting things back. Knock down the cobwebs. Sweep out the sand and dirt! Clean the bugs out of the light fixtures. When things are back in place, go out for ice-cream! Give yourself credit for a difficult job well done.

Do you have photo frame clutter in your home?

 A large collection of mismatched picture frames on a table top or shelf can look like clutter. Plus, it becomes time intensive to dust the frames and the table top!

My solution was to buy large inexpensive almost poster-size frames and print out my favorite pictures and make photo collages. Chain retail craft stores often sell many frame options that are reasonably priced. A little acid-free double sided photo tape works well to hold them in place on the mat. I usually choose a mat, again from the craft store, that goes with the colors in the room where I plan to hang it.

I  cut and trim each photo as needed to fit even more together. I can group photos together and display over 30 awesome pictures in one simple frame on the wall.

Another trick to reduce the visual clutter of multiple mismatched picture frames is to always buy one color of frame (black or white usually is easiest to find and be consistent). This draws the attention to the pictures rather than to their frames, and it ties the pictures together better as a grouping.

5 tips to deal with someone else's clutter in your home

5 tips to deal with someone else's clutter in your home

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Kids & Toy Clutter: How to find the floor

Here's an excerpt from my book "Clutter Clearing Choices" at www.nanafinds.com. Hopefully, it will help with kids and clutter, especially toy clutter.

Four ways to spring clean responsibly--and it isn't as hard to do as you think it is

Four ways to spring clean responsibly--and it isn't as hard to do as you think it is

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7 Paper Decluttering Tips For Mom Entrepreneurs

Check out my guest blog post at Heather Allard's awesome website for Mogul Moms. If you work from home, you will find a lot of great information at her site.

Spring clutter clearing Part 1 & Part 2 at minnesotamamasmusthaves.com

Here are two links to www.minnesotamamamusthaves.com guest blogs on clutter clearing that I am honored to post there. This is a great site for Minnesota moms! Enjoy!

Part 1 Tips to deal with the clutter

Part 2 Clearing your clutter

Author interview and book give-away at ExclusiveMagazine.com

Here an interview at ExclusiveMagazine.com of me as the author of "Clutter Clearing Choices: Clear Clutter, Organize Your Home, & Reclaim Your life."

I hope you enjoy it! It gives a little background about me and has a few clutter clearing tips that you may find helpful. You can also enter the drawing to win a free copy of the book!

Tips from a not-so-organized spring vacation

Tips from a not-so-organized spring vacation

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Television interview with Norma Holland 13WHAM in Rochester, New York

My book "Clutter Clearing Choices" and I appeared on television this morning. Here is the link:

13WHAM television interview with Norma Holland

Interview and article about "Clutter Clearing Choices"

Yes, I am a newbie author and I am happy to share with you the author interview article written by Lynn Voedisch in Blogcritics.org that is linked in USA TODAY

I hope you find the mail clutter tips there helpful!

It pays to be organized about money

It pays to be organized about money
posted on Examiner.com has helpful ideas
and resources about frugality and financial organization.

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