Garage Organizing: A How To Guide for Professional Organizers
Today, Sarah and I are talking about one of our favorite things to work on: garage organization!
A lot of professional organizers hesitate to work on garages—for some reasons that we really get. Today, we are doing a FULL how-to guide on this important part of a house—and if you are someone that avoids it, we want to give you lots of great reasons why you should say yes to it!
My guest is Sarah Brent, a professional home organizer at Practical Harmony in Bloomington-Normal, IL. She and I both love doing garage organizing and want to convince you that it’s a great thing for your business!
Want to watch Sarah and Melissa talk this out live instead of read the blog?
Here is a video of our entire conversation!
Sarah Brent of Practical Harmony Organizing in Bloomington-Normal, IL.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Okay. We recently I asked people what they wanted to hear about. Did I do this because I'm running out of ideas? Maybe. But whatever reason, I got some really great ideas. And one of the ideas, my guest and friend and coach in our Inspired Organizer program, Sarah was like, I want to talk about this with you.
Let's go. And I'm like, great. So Sarah, welcome back. And today we're talking about garages.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I’m kind of overly excited to talk about the topic of garages. So that's why I immediately texted you when I saw somebody make that comment and I'm like, “let's do this.”
We need to talk about this.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: And one of the things that people said to us, we don't just make this up, people actually say these things to us is- I kind of am afraid of doing garages, or I don't like doing garages, or, I want to break into a niche, what if I only want to do garages? So we had some people ask us some good questions.
And so we're just going to talk about the good, the bad, the ugly, the dirty, and the great about garages. And I'm very excited.
So you have been in business for a decade, which is amazing. Congratulations. And in that time, I'm sure you have seen every type of garage as I have too. What are your favorite garages to do? Do you like the ones that are a total mess? What do you like?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: It's like asking me to choose my favorite child, Melissa! If it's the right client, and they're ready to declutter the crap out of their life, I love a garage stuffed full of stuff that you have to scoot your way through in a path.
Because the end result is always amazing, and most of these people haven't ever used their garage. It's just a storage space. But also I really do love the garages that are really gorgeous. I did a garage last year that the previous homeowner had spent about $20,000 remodeling his garage, so it was gorgeous. And they left all of the storage units for the new homeowner. So we got to make it look beautiful. I don't know, garages are just great.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I think we've both been in some garages that are…not optimal, right?
I also have a client who redid his garage and he started calling it “the garage Mahal” which made me laugh really hard. Yes, but I have been in all sorts of garages, and I think that the most underutilized thought is that the garage doesn't have to be a gross place. You do not have to spend $20,000 to make it look great, unless you just want to.
But I think we have this idea that garages are just like yucky and gross, and they just aren't all like that. And we have a great opportunity to make them nicer spaces for people to be in.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Exactly. And if there are people out there, homeowners out there, that want a nice garage, who are they going to look toward?
House cleaners aren't going to do that. They don't do our job where we actually go through stuff. So you might as well tap into that market of people wanting their garage organized and cleaned out, because it's such a common area in homes, especially if you have kids coming and going and all of that.
It's one of the most used areas in your home so might as well make it look nice!
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: As a part of your business, tell me a little about how you promote garages to clients? Is it just something that is kind of an add on service for you? Tell me a little bit about what you do.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Late winter is when we start saying, alright, garage season's about to begin. I'm in central Illinois, so depending on the weather, we usually don't work in a garage if it's above 90 degrees especially with humidity. So we try to get them in early or later. At the end of summer, we will promote it again because usually fall, up until it's freezing, we will work in a garage. And there are two very different seasons to be working in a garage, but there's so many ways that we can make it more comfortable to get the job done.
I wouldn't say this is our main thing, but we do get a lot of garage jobs, and in addition to that we will get storage unit jobs, or sheds, or things that are outdoor-ish feeling storage areas.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Where I live, because you and I live in a similar area, we kind of have the same thing I will pitch to people: “Don't you want to park a car in your garage this winter?”
Don't you want to be able to use that space as it is intended to, to protect you from gross weather outside or whatever? Every region has something different, but depending on where you are, some people use their garages as an extension of their house. Like I know a lot of people in California, it's an actual like other room of your house.
But as you're going into certain seasons, I suggest you promote, “Hey, do you have a garage that needs to be cleaned out for graduations?” Whatever that looks like, there are lots of ways to market it.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: In the early, early springtime, talking about summer things that you want to do in your garage, parties like you mentioned. And then, always when it comes to storage of holiday decorations and then parking in there in the wintertime, those I always try to hit home for.
Oh, and also being able to access all of your summer stuff, like your camping stuff, your sports equipment, your bikes, all of that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Also if you have a client who is, let's just say a heavy Costco user the other thing that is a reality for a lot of people I will just say, Hey, let's put some shelving in your garage. Let's put some of these excess things that you really don't have storage space for.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And that is one of the reasons why I think that we focusing on garage at least talking about them is like really important because when you look at the square footage of a garage versus every other room in your home, it is one of the largest potential storage spaces you have, and it is so accessible because it has the giant garage door to open and then it usually has a door leading into your house.
It's on usually a main level so it's just much easier to access storage area for a lot of people and a lot of families.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: We have some people that we all know who are like, “I really hate garages, they are not my jam.” We're not here to sell you on doing something that you really, really don't want to do.
You know me, I like to dig down. I want to get a little bit honest about why we think some people try to avoid garage jobs. And I know you and I both have some feelings that might hurt some feelings, but we just want to be really honest about if these are things that are standing in your way of potentially having some nice revenue come in, let's kind of break through those.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Let's get uncomfortable for a moment.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love it. Let's get uncomfortable. Okay. I'll throw out the first one, which is I think there are people that really just don't like to get dirty.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. And I think that is every, if not everybody, almost everybody's first thought of a garage.
And yeah, garages can be very dirty, especially because they do have that giant garage door. And in my area, I live next to cornfields. So it lets in everything, including mice. Yes, it's dirty but also attics are dirty, playrooms are disgusting, kitchens can be gross, pantries have years old expired food.
That's my, I'm just like, it's, it's a different type of dirty.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing I will tell you is, I think versus some of the other rooms in a house that you just named that can also have their moments, depending on the house in a garage, it is completely socially acceptable to, wear gloves, to wear a mask, if it's really dusty or whatever. Or you might change your shirt halfway through. Versus I think when you're in a house, if you're like, “Oh, I'm going to use gloves,” a homeowner can get offended by that.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: In a garage, nobody cares. You're wearing gloves.
Literally, I've been like, I need to go inside and wash my face after we did some vacuuming of stuff. Your clients will not care. They will insist, oh please go do that. Because they hired you because they don't want to do it.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You know, when we're saying dirty obviously we're very big proponents of health and safety. I do not ever want anyone to go into a truly dangerous space or a space that might make them sick.
That's not what we're saying. But you're often dealing with outdoor stuff, you know, mowers, snowblowers, things like that, that just, you know, they're not indoor things. They don't get cleaned. So you're going to have some dust and some dirt and some other stuff, like just get comfortable with getting a little bit dirty.
What I will say is don't schedule a garage job the same day as you're doing other stuff. That would be my one caveat. Like a garage day is a garage day.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And pretty much you will know as soon as you get home you're going to take a shower. So it's, the dirt is temporary. The dirt is temporary.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A hundred percent.
Okay, so what are some of the things on your list of why you think people hate garages?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So actually I asked some people, I did a little poll, and I didn't specify. I said, what is your least favorite spot to organize and why? Everybody said garages. Surprise, surprise. And then a lot of people when I dug deep around like, why? They just mentioned that it's a giant space full of delayed decisions, full of unfinished projects, full of materials and all of that.
It's where things go to die.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I think the thing about garages in a lot of cases is people will just go, Oh, I don't want to deal with this right now. I'm just going to throw it in the garage. And so then it, and you're exactly right.
It's a set of delayed decisions. So it's either something very functional for your yard, or it is storage, and in some cases it's storage of stuff that is almost never used.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: It becomes a communal dumping ground.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. Just a quick side note, when you're a professional organizer, your garage sometimes becomes a client warehouse, which is what mine looks like right now. And my family is so nice about it, which they really shouldn't be because right now my garage looks like the worst before you've ever seen.
I have so many like client things that I need to take care of. But that's the one thing we need to mention is, your own personal garage might look like a disaster because of your profession, and that is okay.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep, I have a donate table, I have a product table, I have shelves full of supplies.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: So my parents moved, they downsized recently-ish. And my husband has always said about my parents, and this is true, he would eat a steak off of their garage floor because it's so clean, which is absolutely factual.
It's pristine. But I will tell you, I went through my garage with my parents as a professional organizer a few years ago, and even in a pristine garage, there was still a ton of stuff that they never touched, never used, didn't even know was there, all of that kind of stuff. So I find even people with very tidy garages still have space that they're underutilizing.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep. They just don't think like us, which is also the benefit of when they bring us in, because we can help them discover those underutilized spaces or, you know, help them think outside the box for storage and all of that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: So what's one of the more controversial reasons that you and I agree on as to why people don't like garages?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I think we, as a mostly female profession are afraid to step on toes of the males in the home.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I agree.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I hear this a lot because a lot of people think that a garage is a man's world. And I'm going to say, eff that. Agree. Every single human being who lives in your home deserves to take up space in their garage.
So that's what I'm calling out. And even the people who might feel like they are, you know, the most feminist of people still think that I, I can't go in there, like I can't touch tools. I can't do this. I can't do that. I'm like, “Oh, who's telling you, you can't do that because you can, I can, Melissa can, we both do.”
You have to start from somewhere to learn something new and all of us have. And so did your dad and so did your husband and so did your brother. Just because they are male and you are female does not mean you don't belong in the garage or that you shouldn’t own tools.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I just think there are still these very gender specific norms that are still in place on certain things and I think garage/tools is one of them. To me, I just always look at it as listen, no one's asking me to work at Home Depot. I am NOT going to sign up to be a handyman tomorrow.
I know enough to be dangerous. I know enough to install an Elfa closet by myself. But it I'm not going to be able to get out like a circular saw and make you a cabinet, right? But that I think that stops people because they immediately say I don't know what these things are. Therefore, I can't organize them.
And to that, I say, let's stop being ridiculous. We organize things all the time that we don't understand. I don't knit. I don't understand, you know, a lot of crafting things that I organize. I ask some questions. I start to get an idea of what the things are. I try to learn.
And then if I get stuck, I will ask a client like, Hey, tell me a little bit about how you use this or whatever. It's the same thing in a garage with tools.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: If we are working alone in a garage and the client isn't with us and the client has specialty, you know, projects or whatever, we either will set it to the side if we're totally stumped and it's we can't figure it out.
Or we pull out our phone, we take a picture of it, and we search it on Google, and it tells us what it is. So then when it tells us what it is, we know what category it goes in. And I do this for things that I even think I know about, like when it comes to sports equipment. Sometimes sports equipment looks all the same when it comes to pads and shields and all of that.
But if you take a picture of it and go Google it, it'll tell you that's a hockey pad. That's for motocross. That's for baseball. Toy rooms. I think we do have the most in toy rooms and kitchens when it comes to toys and gadgets.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. Oh yeah. I like, I take pride in this is a silly thing, but I feel really good about myself when I'm at a client and they don't know what something is.
And especially when it's something really obscure. Or if you've worked with a client a long time, and you can be like, Do you remember that thing three sessions ago in a blah, blah, blah? I think this is it. And they're like, Oh my gosh, you're a genius. It's one of my favorite things.
But yeah, Google Lens, so Googling things is everybody's friend. Okay, you can Google. Anything. And if you don't know what we're talking about on your phone, on the Google app, there is a little camera icon. It's called Google Lens. You can literally take a picture of something and it will give you back search results from the great internet of what something is.
Use that. It's your friend.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I will give you a pointer. It is so much easier to search on a photo if you take that item and lay it on a flat surface, lay it on a table, lay it on the ground, so it's just that image, just that item, and then that's the only thing it focuses on, and then boom, you have your answer within less than 30 seconds.
And you can move on and this isn't just like we said, this isn't just for garages. This is for every room, every item. I do this myself all the time. Just whatever.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: It's, it's a great way to be able to find some of that stuff out, but I just, I don't want people to be afraid of stuff that they don't understand.
You can just start to figure that stuff out and start to, it's just, it all comes down to categorizing it.
It's really not that bad.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. And a lot of times if you do have a large garage project where the homeowner has very specific, you know, projects, they kind of already have stations established. It's just has exploded. So it kind of does help you a little bit, at least like hone in on what's going on with everything that's happening in there.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Do you have anything else on your list as to why people avoid garages?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I have more to tap on the fear piece.
So along with the topic of, I believe every woman and human being on earth deserves to take up space in their garage. A lot of it, I think also does come down to fear and some of our own experiences with you got yelled at for going in your dad's domain, or you got yelled at for touching your dad's tools, or your mom always told you don't go in there, that's your dad's space—things like that. Or even seeing our grandparents act like that. And that's where I think another thing people need to think more about their fears on spaces because if somebody wants to bring you in to help them in that space, they're saying you belong here and I need you here.
So try to drop those fears.
And it's like everything in our lives and in our job. It's so uncomfortable and scary at first but if somebody's willing to pay you for it and they trust you for it, just it's worth it.
And kind of tread water for a while, it might be a little scary, but then you'll get used to it and it'll become so much easier and then you might enjoy it and make a lot of money on it.
So just do it scared. That's been kind of my whole thing this year, is just to do it scared and if the end, if you complete it scared and you absolutely hate it and never want to do it again, at least you can say you gave it a shot and you didn't let fear dictate your business.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Fear or just the unknown of like if you've just, if you've already decided, and this is my big thing, just, I think with any space, if you've already decided without ever doing it, that you hate it, just give it one fair shot. And you may find out that it's really good.
I will say the other thing I think about this space. And again, we're being very sexist/gendered. We're splitting things very much into like binary, you know, male, female, whatever, but we're just going to overgeneralize for the purposes of this. I also think because typically organizers are women with very limited exceptions, the second thing is often the people that are hiring us are typically the woman of the house. It's not often that the husband contacts us. And I think sometimes when you have husbands who are blockers of the organizing process, which also unfortunately happens in our business, I think that that can kind of stop people as well. If they feel like I'm being asked to do the garage, but this spouse of my client who seems a little hostile to my presence, if that is really more of their space, I think we can start to kind of take some of that in too. So in that case, I would just say, make sure you're communicating with your client.
If it is kind of the domain of a spouse, you're going to have to get them involved. Just use your charm and your delightful personality to make sure they understand that you're not there to get rid of all their stuff. My guess is, as I have been in many of these situations, you've got a wife that's like “he will not throw away any lumber.” That's one of the situations where we end up being marriage therapists, right? So these are all things that kind of go along, I think with the fear or the uncertainty or whatever word you want to use and getting past that, I think can give your client a really, really positive result.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. And I will say that we've had experience with that where the wife initially hires us to kind of do the whole home. And then she says, I really would like you to do the garage, but my husband doesn't think so. Well, we get him involved initially with the consultation and explaining everything. And then we basically say, garage will be last.. You watch what we do throughout the rest of your house. You watch how we aren't just coming in and chucking everything. You watch how we set up systems and we respect and honor your stuff and your property. And then eventually they're like, okay, yeah, I'm ready.
Let's get this party started because they just see how effective it is. And that we're not, you know, just going to throw everything away.
So a lot of people are afraid because they're not familiar with the things in the garage. I'm going to point out that everything in the garage, including all tools and power tools, are mine, not my husband's. I have purchased them or I have been gifted them. I do all the household projects, not my husband, and maintenance because I prefer it that way.
My husband was the one that grew up being taught all of these things. Doing all the stuff, fixing cars and helping change the, replace the roof and all of that. I was not taught any of this, and I did not grow up doing any of this, but I watched my dad be a handyman and I'm just like, well, he's a handyman.
Anybody can be handy. You just got to learn how to do it. So I basically taught myself and supplied everything and actually my husband loves to talk about because he's just like, “My wife does it all, literally those are all her tools.” And he just he loves that he's so fascinated that the fact that I'm basically saying eff society standards.
I choose pink tools over anything else. Cause I love pink and I'm a girl still, but it's like you, just because, you know, he was raised that way. I was not raised that way, but it's something that I took an interest in. And I never for once thought, “I should not have tools.” That never ever crossed my mind that I should not have my own tools and I should not learn how to do these things.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I have a lot of people who are shocked when I tell them that I install Elfa closets for my clients. I did one this week and people are like, wait, what are you talking about? Don't you have to drill things into the wall? And I'm like, yep, you do.
And what I personally did was during the dark days of the pandemic, I said, I want to learn how to do this. And I installed closets in my own house. Yes. So I ordered all the Container Store stuff. If I messed it up, I could redo it. It was my house. Who cares? I didn't have to learn there on someone's wall. I have installed by myself a ton of closets. Sometimes my husband, whom we call Mr. Home by Eleven, sometimes he comes with me to help out if it's a particularly big project. But honestly, it's great. I love being able to do that. I don't know, I really enjoy it. So it's a trial and error kind of a thing, but I really encourage you if this is something you feel comfortable with, go try it.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. Go out there, buy yourself a drill, get yourself some screws and a level and measuring tape and all of that. You don't have to buy the highest brand because you're not going to be out a carpenter you just got to do the basics. And then also you know, every day that I use my tools more and I do more projects, you become more and more confident, just like anybody else.
So then it's like at first you thought I can't even hang a picture and now you're like, okay, my limit is like 5,000 pounds. I can't go past that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I've done that a bunch of times like kind of under the, the you know, this is maybe more styling or staging, but I hang pictures for clients. I I will occasionally hang a shelf, something like that.
Like sometimes that's just a nice part of a cloth, you know, to finish up a project. But in general, if you open yourself up, there are probably a lot of things in your organizing job that are in your organizing business that you can start that just involves learning a few. I mean, and I'm talking like total basics, and this is a place where YouTube university, as we call it, will really help you.
There are tons of tutorials on YouTube and other places that can really help with this.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. And your clients honestly will be amazed when they're like, what can't you do? You declutter, you organize, you hang my pictures, you adjust my shelves, all of that. It's. It's kind of a one stop shop for things like that because then they don't have to wait another five months for their husband to hang a couple pictures on their wall.
You're like, no, let me handle that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Then my other tip, we're really going all over the place. My other tip for that in the cause we've all had clients that are like, well, my spouse was supposed to do X, Y, Z, and he hasn't done it also have a really good handyman in your repertoire that you can give as a referral.
My handyman is beloved by my clients. And then I, and I've talked about this before. He's given me a bunch of free work at my house. Cause I've referred so many clients to him. So have that guy to be like, listen, you're not getting the house projects done. I suggest you call Kevin.
Kevin's great. And when he retires, I'm going to be sad.
Okay. So garage logistics. If, if you are like, okay, fine, I get it. Let's do it. But how do I do it? What is your process on garages?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Typically we always try to bring in extra help. So if you are a solo organizer, reach out. If you have anybody that would ever be interested in organizing with you, that is not afraid of a dirty job.
It's just so much easier, especially in a garage. Cause there are big things or heavy things. So having an additional professional help there with you is awesome.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will break in and say, I am a solo organizer by choice. I've said it a million times. I do garages by myself. And one time I had a client whose husband was like extremely impressed that I got.
There was, they had literally a car door that they wanted to get rid of and I put it in my car by myself and he's who helped you with this? And I'm like, I just did it myself. And then they also had an industrial size snowblower and I moved it to a different part of the garage. And he's like, wait a minute. You did that by yourself? I'm like, I sure did. So you might get some extra bonus points from your clients. Just throwing that out there.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: We bought one of those interchangeable hand carts that goes from a cart to an upwards dolly. We use that in garages all the time.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That's a great point. that you can get them at Costco. Any sort of cart. I think that is a great suggestion because there is whether you're working by yourself or with people having something that can help you move from side to side. I just got a like a folding handcart from Home Depot and it is like $45. It saved my bacon on a big moving job.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: and that's the great thing, is it's perfect for moving and other projects. We don't just use it on garage jobs, or if we're hauling a bunch of donations down, you know, a weird path that you can't bring your car up to.
We've done that.
There are things that I bring almost to every single garage job, whether we use it or not, but we almost use all of these things. And they're just different than what you use for other areas of organizing. So
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: what else is on that list of things?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I say, number one, you also set your policies, which usually has to do with weather for us. So like I mentioned before, we try not to work in a garage if it's above 90 degrees with humidity. Sometimes in central Illinois, it can be 80 degrees, but it feels like a 100 with humidity. That can also be time of day that you want to work.
We usually try to start garages earlier than we do any other job. Last year, I started working and I was by myself, the client wasn't there, and I started working at 6:30 AM because it was in the middle of summer. We were on a timeline so we really had to get in there and get some hours in. And I'm like, well, at 6:30, It's still only 80 degrees. So I worked up until 10:30. I don't do that for anything else that was only for this specific garage job.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: This is just a preference thing. And same thing, I'm not doing extended hours for many projects, but on the right project, I will.
And sometimes for me, I'd prefer to do a garage late in the day. Like sometimes, especially if it's warmer outside, I'll say I'll be there at 4:30 or 5:00, and then I might work till 9:00 or something that works for me. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but that's personally what I would prefer.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep, that's actually what we did last year as well.
We kind of try to focus on early mornings or late in the evening, because then in the evening, you know, it's progressively going to get cooler and cooler. In the mornings, it just gets hotter and hotter. It is. It's just going to get more and more gross as the day goes on,
And some other things for scheduling is a lot of people might be wanting garages done on weekends, so that could be something that you open up.
And we also talked about you could potentially charge more for garage jobs, whether it is for scheduling on the weekends and having that ultimate spot, or just because of the inconvenience for it is to do garages. Another thing is kind of depends on how full the garage is with stuff. Sometimes if a client, if their garage is completely packed full and they want to get rid of 90 percent of it, we say, okay, you have to get a dumpster.
Like we're not going to entertain coming in here and trying to make piles until we have a receptacle to put all the garbage in. So either a dumpster or scheduling it around, our city does bulk pickup days where you can put everything on the curb and then they'll eventually pick it up. Or if they have a truck or a trailer where they can haul off stuff to the dump.
So arranging all of that for disposal of big garbage items, we try to do before the day of because it's just it can be time consuming figuring all of that out while you're trying to work so you might as well have all that ready to go the day of.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will also add in many, many, many areas, you can get a Bagster from Home Depot.
They probably have them other places, but you can probably order them. A Bagster is like a mini dumpster, but it doesn't require any it requires so little work, it's almost shocking. You buy a Bagster, they're like $35, I think. It's a ginormous bag that you lay out on your driveway and then you can fill it up and then you contact waste management that does it and they do a pickup. They have a thing online where you can type in your zip code and make sure that they pick up there and the whole thing. I think it's like 249 for them to pick it up. And they literally just plunk it off your driveway and you're gone. And I've used that for a ton of clients and it's a ton easier and less invasive than having a dumpster on your driveway too.
Or if you have like less stuff that needs to go in a dumpster, it's just, it's very convenient.
And by the way, when you get the bagster, it has a whole list of things that they don't accept—very obvious things like hazardous waste, all that kind of stuff.
So you're exactly right. If they have a ton of stuff, you need to have a garbage receptacle.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: The other option, a lot of people, more people are starting to be junk haulers and areas they're usually posting on Facebook Marketplace or in groups. And just like any junk hauler, you call them up, they say their price, they come and pick up your junk, and then they take care of it.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I think that's a good segue to one of the reasons that I think people get overwhelmed by garage jobs, sometimes there are things in garages that are not clear cut about where they go.
So garages are a place that you're going to have paint that hasn't been used in 10 years. Where does that go? Electronics from 10 years ago, 20 years ago that need a home. Yard chemicals, things like that.
You have to find specialized homes, batteries. Yeah, batteries, all of that. So a couple of, a couple of hot tips on this. First one is RIDWELL —it's not in every single area, but there's a service called RIDWELL, that will recycle all sorts of I mean, they'll recycle literally anything you can imagine.
They come to your house, they pick it up, you don't have to go anywhere. It's amazing. So highly recommend looking up RIDWELL. Very, very good investment for your business. The other thing too is check out your local area. So county is usually the one that, that does this, but I'm very fortunate. My county has really good recycling options and it's not just recycling.
They will take hazardous waste. They will take old paint. They will take a lot of things that you find in garages that need to find a home. And at least where I am, it's free. So knowing the resources in your area of where things go is critically important for a garage.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And when it comes to more of those like environmentally dangerous hazardous things in our area, we have something called an ecology action center.
So if there is any type of ecology organization, they usually have a very extensive list of what you can and cannot dispose of, where, How much it would cost or if they have future events like hazardous waste disposals or paper shredding or anything like that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, I highly recommend doing a good amount of research just in your local area on where this stuff goes because you probably have resources you don't even know.
Like if you, if you've never looked it up, you probably have stuff that you're like, Oh my gosh, I didn't know that I could take that XYZ place.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep. We have the most convenient electronics recycling in our area. And the only inconvenience is it's not open 24 hours, but it's self serve. You pull up, everything's clearly labeled.
I love. Stuffing my vehicle full of electronics that people are like, Oh, it's broken. What do I do with it? Give it to me, drop it off. And then you're done like, amazing.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Ours isn't quite as good as what you're describing, but , I didn't know mine existed until I became an organizer.
And I think about all the things that I was like, I didn't know where those went, but if your County doesn't have all of that. paint usually can go to Sherwin Williams or other paint locations. A lot of times, they will do paint disposal. Just call them, look it up online. And there are probably other resources in your local area, but just knowing where all that stuff goes instead of going “Oh, I don't really know,” or throwing it in your garbage, which is not always the right choice.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Like not only, I mean, come on, we only have one earth here. But you can start fires.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I am. I'm a little bit of a freak about safety. I like heard one time that if you put too many batteries together, like nine volts, can start a fire if they hit the wrong and I was like, forget it.
So now nine volts. I literally I'm such a weirdo. I will put electrical tape over a nine volt battery before I put it in the bag.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, there have been a lot of fires actually locally from people throwing batteries and recycling or in the garbage and then the recycling trucks and the garbage trucks catch on fire in the middle of neighborhoods.
It's really bad. Massive trucks full of flammable materials in the middle of neighborhoods.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: and smelly materials, might I add.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. Nobody wants burning hot garbage in their neighborhood.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: No.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Okay. So other garage tools, I think like contractor bags. I'm not a. Big like I don't show up at my client with 200 things, but if I'm doing a garage contractor bags are a must.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. We bring contractor bags. I actually have reduced the size of contractor bags I use. I used to get like the biggest and the giant ones…
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: They are not great.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Now I try to get the 30 gallon, which is about twice the size of a normal kitchen trash bag. And yeah, we. Use those. We use, I try to bag up as much as possible, even if we have a dumpster. Cause we just don't want flying debris and stuff. If it can fit in a bag, we try to squeeze it in there. Just keep things contained.
Also, if things aren't in a bag and somebody wants to look inside their dumpster, it'd be like, Oh, I don't want to get rid of this now. No, let's keep it in a bag. It's practical. Yeah. Functional and practical. Yes. Another big tool that I think is really important for garages that I think would make everybody's life so much easier is if you have a shop vac or a wet vac, we don't use it as much wet, but with a shop vac, you can vacuum up everything. It can be dust and dirt and leaves and debris. It can be bugs. It can be rodent droppings. It can be gravel and small rocks. And for us, we get corn stalks and leaves and stuff. I literally do not waste any of my time sweeping in garages.
Because all it is going to do is blow up everything and then you're gonna exhaust yourself from sweeping. I suck everything up and a shop vac is powerful and the drum of it is huge. So you'll never fill it up. So that's like my biggest tip. If you are afraid of the dirt and the dust and what are you going to do about it?
And the bugs. Yeah. Suck them up in a shop vac.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Totally. But where, so my recommendation for that is one shop vacs are genius. Wear a mask while you're doing it because there is a lot of just health and safety wise, a lot of dust does get spun up. So wear a mask while you're vacuuming.
Also the other thing too, is even if you don't have a shop vac, if you're working in a garage more than often, your client is going to have one. So even if you don't own one, if you don't want to invest in one right now you can just say Hey, do you have a shop vac available?
It'd be great if we could use it for this. Yep. You so much. Yeah.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And if you want to use theirs, let them know. before the first session so they can dig it out and get it ready.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Also that, yes. And if they say, I, I know I have one, but I don't know where it is. I mean, I guess the good news is you're going to uncover it, but it might not be in time for you to use it.
Yep. I will give you like the rookie mistake that I made one time which is I had a client who had a V messy garage. And so I got the brilliant idea that I was going to use a leaf blower to blow out the garage. Okay. First of all, very efficient. It did work. Okay. But the amount of dust that it spun up was alarming.
And so when I just think about what are you breathing in all that kind of stuff so it depends on what you have in the garage and you can use a leaf blower, but it just understand that that would be something I would for sure mask up before you do because yeah, really a lot of gunk.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: and we usually have a variety of masks and gloves on us, especially for garages, sometimes we just do you know, the basic and then when we're doing the really nasty stuff, like vacuuming, we'll use the real like N95 and 95. And then for gloves, most of the time in garages, we're just using different types of like work gloves or garden gloves you know, but then sometimes if it's something really, really gross that we don't want any possibility of it touching us, we will go ahead with a nitrile glove.
So you know, there's nothing coming in that. And like you had mentioned earlier-your clients are not going to be like, Oh, you're using gloves. They're going to be like, no, please, please do this. They're not going to think twice about you putting on a mask or putting some gloves on, or even switching out a mask or gloves after they get dirty and putting on something fresh.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. Yeah. And nitrile gloves are a great example. Those are just like kind of the blue or purple gloves that you often will see in medical settings. But that's a great suggestion for something that then you just snap them off, you throw them away immediately, go wash your hands, even if you have, you know, done gloves.
The other thing too, while we're talking about health and safety, before I forget, because I will I was working in a garage several years ago and my client was wearing flip flops. And I said, could you please go put on some proper shoes? And she was like, kind of snotty about it.
She goes, I'm fine. It's completely fine. She ended up in the hospital getting stitches. I don't want to like, say I told you but I told you, right? Like I told you to go put on some freaking proper shoes. She dropped a VCR, a really old VCR directly on her foot. And that ended all further progress for the day. I can tell you that for a fact, but for you, for your team, for any, if a, if a client is working with you. Everybody has to have proper shoes. Yep. Period.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: 100%. That is the one thing that I am kind of a stickler with, with my team, is you can wear whatever.
You can wear shorts, you can wear pants, t shirt, tank top, whatever. You will wear closed toed shoes, like, wherever we're at, because you don't want to step in anything. You don't want anything to fall on your feet. Yep. The thicker, the better. Just like any other shoe. Yeah. You're welcome.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will have so I, I have an old pair of really supportive tennis shoes, but they are older.
And so I will use those on garage jobs because they are, you know, you do need supportive shoes obviously, but also I can just throw them in the washer when I'm done and I don't really care about them, whatever. But they also have enough protection for if I drop something or whatever.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, that's actually a really good point that you need really supportive shoes because the garage is just hard concrete.
There's no cushion to it. There's, you know, nothing. Our feet do hurt worse at the end of the day after being in a garage because there's just nothing to that. So zero support. Yeah. Layer up on the padding, wear your good, good, not good, good, because they're going to get dirty, but wear your very supportive shoes.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Do you bring other any other products with you or any other supplies?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: The first supply I grab for packing up a garage job are, are box fans. So I purchased one box fan per person for on our team. Okay. And sometimes we'll bring extras and then if a client has fans, we'll be like, yep, bring them out because garages are going to get stuffy usually, hot and stuffy.
And then we just do this because we kind of spread out a little bit when we're working, and we're each in our own area doing our thing. And that way you can just plug in that fan and have it blasting on your face, on your legs. Sometimes we put them at the end of the garage so it just kind of keeps the air flowing through.
And I initially got these for garages and now we take them on every job during the summer
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Listen, I did three podcasts ago or whatever. I did a whole podcast on perimenopause and like other things, like just in general, I'm just hot. I was in a house yesterday.
That was the thermostat was 77 degrees. And I wanted to jump off of the roof. So bringing a fan, I have started to bring a small fan with me, just like a Vornado or what am I? Yep. I'm looking at it on the floor. It's like a Honeywell. I think it was 15, but I bring it with me because even inside houses sometimes I need that.
But in a garage it's imperative.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. Especially when we work in homes with elderly clients that are always cold and in the middle of summer they have their thermostat at 75 and above. And we can't convince them that we're dying, so we just bring in fans and make it work. But yeah, that is one of the things that really will help you feel better about being in a garage.
And if everybody has their own fan, then you can position it however you want. You can take it with you if you're walking across the room and you're gonna work in this area. So that's like my, honestly, like I said, the very first thing that we grab and probably the most important random supply that you could use in a garage for yourself to keep yourself cool down and comfortable.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Just while we're talking about cool and comfortable and whatever. I don't think we've talked about timing yet, like specific timing, but for health and safety, I do think it's important to be very careful especially with, you know, heat exhaustion, anything like that. Depending on where you live, obviously we all live in wildly different areas, but you know, I'm not going to do a garage in December.
But someone in Arizona isn't going to do a garage in July unless they are climate controlled, which some garages are climate controlled. But I would argue even with a climate control garage, the best, most efficient way to do a garage is to bring everything out onto the driveway. And so realistically, you really need to think about health and safety wise when you are going to schedule garage jobs and when you are going to say, sorry, that's not on our agenda.
We can't do that.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, and just be real with people, even if they push back and they're like, what do you mean you can't do a garage in the middle of winter in Illinois? Yeah. It's too cold, so we wait until it's not as cold, because of all these factors. You don't have to feel like you have to take a garage job just because somebody wants it done right then and there.
There's no garage organizing emergenices.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: They can wait. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: That was the very first thing I learned when it came to boundaries in every avenue of life.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes, but I want you to think about realistically, especially if you live in a place where it gets hot very early in the year, think about what those parameters are of when you want to work.
I will say living in a place that is cold, I will do garages later into the year than most people will, but that's because I'm hot all the time. So I'm like, Oh, it's 54 degrees outside. Amazing. 45 even better. But you've got to set your parameters of what works for you. And if you have a team, you know, there may be people that are like, that's not fair to do to me. And some people just aren't into it. And so you just have to know that as well.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I actually prefer cold garages too. I get hot. It's easier for me to bundle up, but when you start working, you start sweating.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Just being prepared for that and also being upfront with your client that again, if the weather is going to be bad and this is especially, this can get especially prickly when you have teams that are scheduled. So I remember last year in our Inspired Organizer group we, which Sarah and I would, by the way, love for you to be in just, we would love to have you in our wonderful little assemblage.
Join us. We're great. It's a great cult. I promise. It's really wonderful. But anyway, someone was saying we have a garage job. I have six people scheduled. It's supposed to pour rain for two days. And we're like, listen, there are things you can do. Like you can rent a tent. You can, you know, there are things you could do, but it's going to be a lot more challenging to do that realistically if the weather isn't good.
So you're going to have to make some contingency plans for that also.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, they're not that I've actually done it, but I've discussed it in the past with clients that should we go ahead and schedule some rain check days when you put their project on the calendar, but you're like, you know, you never know.
This is kind of an outside project in its spring. So should we go ahead and say this can be our potential rain check day? So that's another possibility to do just so you kind of have those things covered and you don't feel like, well, now what do we do? This whole job has just stopped because a little rain.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love it.
Okay. So in terms of how you organize, I am a big take everything out to the extent that is possible kind of a person. Is that how you guys do it?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: yeah. 100%. I take everything out if the client allows me to. Sometimes even if they don't, I'll do it. Oops. Sorry. Now we have to organize it.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. But that just makes it easier. Obviously there are exceptions. Like we talked about tools a lot earlier, you're not bringing out a tool bench or not, but, but like everything needs to kind of be out in the open.
You need to create enough space for yourself to be able to work. Cause the other thing I see in a garage a lot is, people have really sub-optimized how they deal with the space. And I think having that kind of clean slate of, Oh, it makes more sense for us to put blah over here, that type of thing, I think just becomes so much more clear when you bring everything out.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. We usually go in and, usually have folding tables that we set up for easier sorting areas, especially for smaller things, or if things are in boxes, it's just easier to put it up on a table and sort through it. If it is a garage that we're able to open up the door for larger items, we will pull things out and start, you know, piles.
The tricky part with this, especially in the Midwest, depending on the time of day and year, some people might think you're having a garage sale.
This happens a lot. And when I've talked about it before with other organizers, they're like, what? Yeah. That doesn't happen in the country. Well, it happens in the Midwest.
So we have done a couple of different things. If you feel like this might be an issue or people do approach you and it makes your clients uncomfortable. That's happened with some of my clients. They're just like, stop coming up to my stuff. We have either used our vehicles to block the driveway.
We've used like their trash cans, or if there's a dumpster to block their driveway we've used cones and things like that just make it literally look like, do not come into this driveway. This is not a garage sale or we just make sure our team knows. Hey, if anybody approaches, oh, hi, sorry, this isn't a sale.
We're just organizing today. Yeah. You can start talking about your business if you want, otherwise you can just walk away and you can continue with your work. Give them a card.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. And also I think that opening yourself up—so obviously every client is going to be different, but I will say this goes back to, sometimes there's stuff in a garage, you're like, what do I do with it?
I would say in garages in particular putting things on the curb , if your neighborhood allows this, putting the things on the curb with the big free sign or Facebook marketplacing things. I am routinely shocked at the things that people will be like, I'll take that. That can be your friend, especially with great big things or things that are much, much harder to say goodbye to.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: We actually did that last year. It was basically if it wasn't garbage enough to go into the dumpster, but they didn't want to try to actually sell it, if it was worth a lot, we're like, just put it on the curb. And then at the end of the session that day, I would take a picture and I would post it on Facebook marketplace for free.
And by the next morning, when I come back, everything's gone. And then we start that over again. And people, especially on Facebook marketplace are waiting and looking for free listings. And then they're going to go pick it up and do whatever they want with it.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You will get almost instantaneous results when you put things for free.
And I just want to be clear. I don't sell things for clients. That is not my jam. I will use Facebook marketplace specifically for those free things to get them out. And there are usually with some exceptions, things are picked up so quickly.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep. Actually, last weekend, I helped my mom clean out her basement and I'm like, you don't need this storage shelf.
It doesn't work in here. She's okay, let's just get rid of it. I'm like, let's put it on the curb. I don't feel like going and donating it right now. Correct. I sit on the curb with a specific free sign. I set my phone down and started a timer. Within 10 minutes, it was picked up and gone and we're like, heck yes, out of her life.
She doesn't have to worry about it anymore. And somebody else has a new new to them shelf.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I just try as much as possible, especially for clients who are very understandably safety conscious. I will just say nobody's coming inside the house. We're going to put everything out on the curb. Like I'm not, I'm not into the just having random people come in your house, but on the curb, it's, it's great.
Marketplace has saved my bacon a million times. Yep. Okay. So take everything out of the garage. I know we're like all over the place. You guys, this is just how things are going today. Take everything out of the garage. And then I assume you're doing the same thing that we always do. We're categorizing.
We're figuring out what stays and goes all the things.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. If the client is working with you, this is when you start asking, you know, them, what category does this go in? Is this something that you want to keep or get rid of? Sometimes like with other spaces, they just need to wait till everything is out and sorted before they can even make the decision.
Okay, yes, I have five hammers. I don't need five hammers. These are my two favorite things like that. And then usually, I mean, we kind of prefer to work without clients. They can help sometimes and then sometimes we just need to get to our job. So then after the sorting and categorizing, we will send them away and just be like, We're gonna start cleaning and that's when I bust out the shop vac and we start sucking everything.
We do the floors, we do the walls, we do drawers, we wipe down shelving. Basically, like you had mentioned before, we want this gross place to not be gross anymore because it doesn't have to be gross. So I don't like reorganizing and putting things away if a shelf is dirty and that is the same in a garage.
It doesn't have to be like sparkling clean, but we dust it and we wipe it off so that it can at least look nice. And we just try to clean as best as we can the whole thing.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I know that there might be people listening that will say “I'm not a cleaner,” which I heartily agree with.
We are not house cleaners. That is a different, great profession that talented people do. And I do not happen to be one of those talented people. But I will say in garages,I'm willing to do more cleaning. Yeah. Because I think it actually benefit, it not only benefits the client, but it benefits me to have a clean space to put the stuff back in.
And I just, I don't have the time to be sanctimonious about the difference between being an organizer and a cleaner in a garage. I'm going to just do the work.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. Yeah. 100%. And it's we don't even go into it with really our own cleaning supplies necessarily besides a vacuum. I will bring like some microfiber cloths that I love.
And then that's pretty much it. We just use.
cloths and water and a vacuum And then when you think about the, like some of this dirt can actually be a ridiculous amount of clutter, especially if it's like a woodworking client and there's like piles of shavings like this big underneath shelves and tables that you need to organize, it just makes sense to sweep or vacuum that up and get it out of your way.
And like I said, it does not have to be pristine. But they're going to be amazed at their garage being clean. Yes, they are going to be really, really pleased.
I just find it, the basic cleaning of wiping surfaces down and dusting and things, I personally find that a part of my job. I don't, you know, I'm not scrubbing floors and mopping their houses.
I agree. But if I empty out something and there's dirt on the floor, I'm going to sweep it up.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I always like to know from the client, like where are your vacuum? You know, do you have a handheld back? I know some people bring, I don't tend to bring things a ton of things with me, but I will look for the handheld vacuum.
I will look for the, just to try to make it look, I just think it's an above and beyond thing.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. And I personally will actually just ask them do you have your cleaners like, you know, if they have a specific multi surface cleaner it because then I know that they already trust that cleaner and it's safe for them to use in their home.
So I just will use that if I'm not using water, then I'll. Use their cleaner and some paper towels or something totally with you.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: After you have figured out all of the stay and go, I know we've talked about it kind of already but there is some really good stuff out there for garage organization-- like, really good.
So tell us about some kind of your favorite things.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I love, and this is almost for all spaces, I love those basic metal shelves that you kind of see in restaurants that are, they can be chrome or black or white and you can adjust the shelves to whatever height and they come in. So many different sizes, literally.
And you can find them at every box home store. You can find them at Walmart. You can find them at all.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Walmart container store, Costco. I've seen them a million places on Amazon before. They're not as nice, but they're more expensive and not as sturdy on Amazon. They're not great, but in a pinch.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. Yeah. Home Depot usually has a very wide variety lows. Places like that. I love those shelves. I don't really know if there's a proper name for them.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I just call them stainless steel shelves, like a container store there. It's the inner metro or the metro I know, but the only reason I'm saying that is because you can look them up there to know what we're talking about and then you can go, but yeah, they're, they're such, such good, sturdy shelves.
You can also put wheels on them sometimes. I have one in my garage on wheels and it's amazing. I love it.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: They have wheels, they have flat shelves you can add, they have mats and liners, they have hooks, like so many different, especially from the container store, they have so many different. Accessories for these shelves.
We've actually used them to create additional pantries and kitchen space in a very small kitchen once. They are so awesome. I, like I mentioned, we use those in all spaces and I recommend them for all garage jobs because of the variety of sizes they come in, the affordability.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The the other thing I was going to say is ULine, the company. ULine actually is kind of slept on for organizers because it does tend to be in bulk. Like you tend to have to buy like more things. But they some in terms of this shelving that we're talking about, you line is a good source of that.
And then also if you have a client that has a garage that is particularly, you know, dirty, dusty, like I know some of our friends in Texas have been having really bad dust storms lately. You know, these are not things about, it's not the cleanliness of the garage. It's literally where you live. ULine also has covers that you can get.
for that shelving. Nice that so just thinking about other options, like other places you can look for. Yeah.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. So we always usually first go to the idea of just doing shelving and bins. Clients usually prefer that having their stuff, their stuff out. We have also sourced cabinets, like the standing metal cabinets for things that they want to have enclosed.
Like we did a car washing cabinet. Yep. And, you know, paint supplies and cleaning supplies and things like that. Those are nice if you were to get them from I think Husky and Gladiator make those. Or even just off brands. Any enclosed metal cabinet, those are really nice for smaller items or for areas that have, like you mentioned, dust, dirt, rodents, bugs, things like that, that you want to store smaller things enclosed rather than having everything into a tub.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A garage is a space in particular. This is always a hot button for me in any part of a house, but especially in garages using the vertical space, using the wall space. I know garages are different, but you do tend to have a little bit more space and putting things on walls and there are a billion really good affordable things you can put on the wall.
And we're going to talk about fancy things you can put on the wall too, but container store has a line of garage stuff where like we have it up in our garage where we just hang all of our tools on it. You can just go to a regular hardware store and get some hooks, but like really thinking about how to use the wall space effectively in a garage, I think is incredibly important for reorganizing because a lot of people, I think just store things on the floor of their garage.
And that causes some of the organizational problem is stuff is just like all over the floor.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Especially for the larger like landscaping tools like your rakes and shovels and things like that. They almost need to be hung up on the wall, because what else are they going to do either lay on the floor or, you know, sit in a bucket trash can whatever.
A lot of clients are so overwhelmed because the floor is completely covered in stuff and the walls are empty and they're just, and it's, it's a blank wall too. So they're just like, what do I even do with this?
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Having a spot encourages people to maintain it.
You know, our leaf blower gets hung up in XYZ spot, it's not just kind of getting thrown somewhere. Yeah. I have seen for garden tools in particular, I have seen like a container that has kind of, individual slots that some of those things can go in. So nothing is hanging on the wall. It's just a freestanding thing that's on someone's floor.
So you can look up, garage organization tools. I will tell you, this is a place that Pinterest is going to shine up some boards on Pinterest for garage organization and get some good ideas from there because there are probably things, especially if you're less familiar with this stuff, probably some good organizational supplies that we're not even going to talk about today.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: There's also a bonus because sometimes and slightly older homes, there might already be organizational things hung up like the peg boards or the track systems and they're just being underutilized by the client. Yeah, those are particularly my favorite, especially a pegboard. Pegboards are great. I, and especially if they're above their like workbench or wherever they're doing projects and it's, it's in your face accessible organization.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A good pegboard, so especially if you are organizing, let's say someone has a total mess of a tool bench and there's no organization whatsoever, I would suggest as much as possible, putting up a pegboard. Ikea—great pegboards, Home Depot, Lowe's, any of those places, any of the big box stores, Menards, if you're in my neck of the woods there are lots of great tool storage for pegboards, but pegboards also work for a lot of other spaces.
They work for craft rooms. They work in lots of spaces, but definitely look into that for tools. I will say. If you have a client that is willing to make an investment in the garage, the Gladiator system is pretty glorious. If the client is, has the need, if they have the budget I do have a client who did his entire garage.
I can't fathom how much it cost, but his entire garage is Gladiator and it is, it's really, really cool to be able to move all the stuff around and give him , the space with that. What I will say with gladiator is that's one that you're going to need like a handyman or someone usually to put that system in.
You want to be really, really careful that you have someone that has the, you know, the tools and the skills to put that in. I should say handy person. Not just handyman. I'm not right. Oh, sorry. But there are also kind of knockoffs of gladiator ULine has a system. It basically a slat wall system is what you're going to be looking for.
But a lot of these systems have come out now, Husky. I think you were talking about where it's modular, but it's specifically for garage storage.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And those systems are awesome. Like you mentioned, if your client has the money to invest in that, because all of the pieces will match and interchange and you can set it up however you want and then it will look so nice.
Yes. And then they're going to want to show it off to their friends and family and then you'll get more jobs.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Look how great my garage looks. But that any of those systems are really, really helpful, especially when you think about bigger things that you have to store as much as possible. If you can, you know, save valuable floor space, get things up on a wall.
It really makes a lot of sense. Also don't forget in garages, you can often use ceiling space. So if you have a client that has like a ton of stuff, there are again, depending on budget. There are those pulley systems that will lower and, and bring things up to kind of like create some more space at the ceiling of your garage, lots of different things that you can do there as well.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. They also might have attics or crawl spaces, which depending on their location and how often they use it, sometimes those are great for holiday decorations, or sometimes it's great for literally family keepsakes that you're only keeping because it's. 200 years old and you need store it somewhere, right?
Like I'm not gonna judge you on that. Yes, we can keep this rocking horse that your great-great-grandmother used.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing that I see in garages a lot it's also in my personal garage, garage gym.
We have a garage gym set up. And so that's one thing I see a lot too. There are great organizing supplies for using wall space for workout stuff. So Gladiator certainly makes some there are also, if you go to some of the kind of Garage gym suppliers. Rogue is one of them. You can look up how they store things.
So especially if you have someone that is a weightlifter, like I have a weightlifter in my house. We've got a lot of the free weights out there. We got an organizer that all the weights go on. You can wheel it around the garage. It's great. So there are lots and lots of things out there too for garage gym equipment.
And because. Yeah. When I go into someone's garage gym, a lot of times they're just, the stuff's just like in a corner and getting some organization for that. And especially using the wall space for that is really smart.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. Also, depending on your area, if you have any cabinet companies, we have a local company that started doing just closets and now they do more garages as well.
And they have a lot of pieces that are for. Garage gyms and all the other things that people do in garages sports and all that stuff. And that's something that again, if the client has the budget for it and wants a whole new system, that's like the high end, really nice.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: There are budget friendly ways to do all of the things that we're talking about. Yes. Gladiator is a great example. You do not have to wall plaster every inch of your garage and gladiator. You can get one specific long piece and run it around the whole length of your garage and just have one strip of it.
I know I'm not explaining it very well, but go online. You'll see what I'm talking about. But you can do things in an affordable way that helps your client massively with the organization.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And it doesn't even all have to be name matching name brand. Like we have a client that she had a lot of black decor throughout her house.
So then when we were doing her garage and basement, we're like, let's do black shelving and black cabinets and black hangers and things like that. And it was just the pops of black throughout her garage made everything tied together. They were all completely different brands, but it looked great. And it looked intentional, so it looked nice and more put together.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I'll tell you something just on the aesthetic front, too. This will sound crazy, but I have been in a couple garages where they even have some things hung up. Have some pictures, have some, you know, like a lot of times it's sports memorabilia.
But I have seen some really cool garages that people have said Hey, I wanna, I wanna put, hang things up on the wall just like I would inside my house. And that's another great way to add some personality to a garage and then also make it not feel like it's just this trash space that no one cares about.
It actually helps you be maintained.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So I think we all kind of get the psychology behind that when your space looks good and you feel good, then you're probably going to take care of it more. And if your space looks like crap, then you're probably going to treat it like crap. So yeah, just more ways of making your space.
The garage intentionally nice and extension of the house rather than the just kind of thing that you don't want to talk about. You don't want to look at, you don't want your neighbors to see.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Again, I'm going to go back to my own garage every once in a while. When my garage door is open, I want to end like a neighbor walks by.
I want to be like, I'm a professional organizer. Can you tell?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I snapped a little bit at this one guy who worked at Walmart a couple of years ago. He was being annoying and wouldn't leave me alone. And then when I insisted, I don't need help lifting these containers, these bins in my car, he's Oh, your car is so full of stuff.
I'm like, yeah, it's for my job. Yeah. And he's Oh, okay. And I'm like, can you just leave me alone?
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Just leave me alone. I was judging me. I was at the container store the other day. And our container store has an employee who can be Yeah. Yeah. Judgmental. That's how I'm going to say it. And I had, my car was filled.
I've already talked about it with these moving boxes, right? And I had taken half of the moving boxes out of my car. My car was packed with moving boxes. I had taken half of the boxes out. And then I said, I'm not taking the other half out. Cause I'm going to repack these boxes in my car. It's a ludicrous use of my time and energy.
So I had to pick up closet. Closet components for the closet I was putting in and the, the employee comes out and I opened the back of my car and she goes, Oh my. And I'm like, absolutely not. Judgmental. You know, it's not like I have, it's not like I filled the back of the car with like rodents and garbage.
Okay. Boxes. Right. And she's I just don't know how we're going to fit all this and I'm like, ma'am, I literally said to her, I go I'm pretty good at this and I could load five closets in here. Well, I'm at one closets worth of stuff, calm down. And I was just like, I got it. Thank you so much.
And I was like, don't judge me for my car.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: How dare you? People, we literally do Tetris for a living. We got this.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, I got it. I got it. There anything we haven't covered?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Bins.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Oh, yeah. Let's do it.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Sarah's hot take. We need like some background music or something. I know I hate the yellow and black bins Me too! that everybody uses in their garages! They're so ugly! Yes, number one, they are ugliest thing. They are the ugliest thing. ugliest container out there.
Yes. Number two. Okay. These lids don't actually latch. They just sit on top. I don't know if it's just me, but literally they don't latch. And the only way they close is if you put heavy stuff on top of them, which makes it so hard to put things away in these bins. Yes. Did I mention they were bulky? No, I said ugly.
They don't close. They're bulky, unnecessarily bulky. The lids go into the bin. So you can't even fill the bin all the way up.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Also, I'm just going to go on a quick rant and it sort of goes back to what Kim Snodgrass and I talked on the last podcast about like people just having so much stuff and us starting to be frustrated by that.
People who have they have so many of the yellow and black bins that they have to then hire someone to build one of those systems to put them in. Just stop already with that. I can't, I can't handle that. I'll do it if someone really, really wants to, but it upsets me as a theory.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I had a client ask that last fall.
She's should I have somebody build me one of those? I'm like, no, please. Would you not recommend that? I'm like, no, I wouldn't recommend it to any client. I think just use a shelf. Cause then 10 years down the road, when you don't need this shelf anymore, you can put it somewhere else. You don't have to have a single use.
It's not just a single purpose bin thing. Single purpose. Or just maybe less stuff also.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: So I'll tell you the bins that I do love are weather. So you do, in my opinion, need weathertight weatherproof, you know, all of those, all those things. There are some exceptionally good bins, Target has them not quite as nicely, but Container Store does have some higher end weathertight bins.
They're also They're mostly opaque, like they're clear, but they're a little bit opaque, so it's not like you're seeing every single thing, but you have a decent idea of what is inside the box.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I think that's my other beef I have with these bins, is you can't see inside of them. And I've only ever had two clients that are like, no, I'm totally fine not seeing my stuff.
I know. I know. What's that? I just need to organize. Everybody else is I need to see my stuff.
And I know they've recently come out with clear versions of these, but I just don't think that they are superior to other bins on the market. I just think, again, it's another trendy thing.
It's a, look at this perfect garage basement bin. But there's better ones out there. And I kind of like how I think, you know, women get the pink tax, I think these bins are kind of a blue tax where it makes men feel better about buying bins to organize in. 'cause it's oh, it's a big bulky bin, right?
Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, and they're a pain to use and all other stuff. So I, I'll use them inside. I'll buy more if a client has them, but I hate them.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, I, I'm, I'm not a big fan. The other thing too is I think it has less room inside to store things. Yeah, it has all these weird indentations. Yeah, not actually they look humongous.
Yes, not actually decent space inside to store things.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: that's what we've noticed. You know how we really like things to have you know, straight lines, we can squeeze things in.
Yeah. No, these bins are not it. No. These bins take up probably two more feet than they need to be. That's an exaggeration. I don't know the exact ratio, but I couldn't agree with you more. Yeah.
Go get better bins. Get better bins.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That is one place where the encouraging your client to make an investment in those nicer bins is a, it's something that pays off for sure.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I also want to add when it comes to Ben's and storing things in Ben's since we are in an area that sees all the seasons, especially humidity. I go on Amazon and I buy a big packs of the moisture. Small pockets and they come in a variety of size. They come in the tiny sizes like you would usually get in your shoes.
They come in these like giant ones.
I usually get moisture ones that are about like this big. I personally buy them and I take them on any basement or garage job we're doing and every bin that we fill, I put in about three to four moisture packs depending on what's in the bin.
And the clients know that they're going in there.
They know that, you know, if the moisture pack gets filled up, throw it out, you can replace it with something new, but it's just that extra level of protection, especially when you're storing things that you might not look at for another year because you don't know what the moisture levels might be in.
And that goes for all seasons. We can have, we have humidity in all seasons here. So that's what I've started doing. I started doing it for myself and then I'm like, these cost me maybe five cents. I'll just do it for all my clients that we're doing that type of storage.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That's super smart. I would also just throw into that, make sure before you put things in bins, especially if you're stacking bins on bins, make sure that they're dry before you. Yes. Yes. Because sometimes, especially, you know, with, with garage stuff, if there is moisture in there, you do not want to create something gross for when the bin is opened at some point.
So make sure it's really dry before it goes in there.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: One extra level of security that we will do sometimes depending on what the items are and depending on the client is if things are going into the bin, we will sometimes also put them in bags. Whether it's just Ziploc bags, whether it's actually the vacuum seal bags, and then they go into a bin.
And that can be for stuff that is like actual, you know, material, linens, old quilts, stuff like that, that you, you want to try to cover all the bases of what might happen. And that I do more really in basements because basements have a tendency to flood a lot more. But that is just another level of protection for any, any space you're organizing, putting in bags and then in bins.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I also have encouraged some clients to get a dehumidifier for their car. Oh, yeah, yeah. That is something that is a legit, that's a legit good purchase for certain garages. And just being careful what you're storing out there, knowing where you live and knowing what the weather is going to be like, and knowing, you know, sometimes people are like, I'm going to put a bunch of books in my garage.
Well, you've got super high humidity and all those other things. Like that's, I just think kind of a next level of thinking through those things for a client that, that doesn't make sense.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I also, when I build my shelves, I do the, the bottom shelf is always at least six inches off the ground, which I believe I learned from working in restaurants.
They have to have it shelved six inches off the ground and that is space for you can clean under them if you need to. And if water comes in, it goes underneath that and you have at least six inches until water is going to hit whatever's on your shelves.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That's super,super smart.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And if clients have shelving already, we adjust it.
I am not afraid to adjust shelving. I've had some of my team members be like, We're going to adjust that. I'm like, yeah, we're flipping it over. We got our mallet. We are adjusting these shelves. Cause we're going to make them work. Cause right now they don't. And then usually I raise them up off the ground because we don't need to potentially have water damage to stuff.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: This is not garage specific, but I cannot tell you the number of my clients, especially in kitchens. I adjust shelves and kitchens all the time. I have had clients tell me they didn't even know that the shelves did that. Yeah. And I'm like, well, you see those pins on the side? That's what they're for.
But it's, it's kind of crazy. Yeah. You, you need to adjust the thing. I think sometimes we try to fit the thing in the thing and you're like, no, the thing needs to work for me. Like it's the opposite. Yep. Yep.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And on that same. Note, I, if we're doing, I mean, whether we're adjusting new shelves or old shelves, when we have the bins we're going to use and we have the shelving we're going to use, I draw up the shelf.
Yeah. We take the measurements and we start with, okay, this bend is this tall, next shelf, how can we adjust it? Okay, these bends are this tall. So you can. Make it work. Don't just put the shelves at whatever level looks necessary. If clients ask, Oh, can I build these shelves before you get here? I say, you can, but we'll have to adjust them to where they need to be at.
And they're like, okay, you can just do that. I'm like, yeah.
We build them faster than you anyways. So just let us do it. We're better than you.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: May I go on a labeling rant? I want to talk about labeling because this comes up in our Inspired Organizer group occasionally and I have very strong opinions about literally everything and I'm not sad or I'm not sorry to share them with people.
So the number of people that will come and they'll be like, my client wants QR codes for their bins. And like, how do I do that? Well, the answer is there are a million ways to do it. And I'd be happy to teach you how to do QR codes for your labeling. But I always tell people push back on the client because in my experience, if you just put a stinking QR code on the thing, and then you have to, you know, take a picture that you have to open up your camera and then you have to have a program that you're using.
To tell you what's in it, just use prodigiously specific labeling on the outside thing, especially if you have the black bins that you just have to deal with and, and don't don't with the QR code nonsense. Just label what's in there. And by the way, every client is different. I had a client recently.
I was like she was like, Hey, can you just label these with painter's tape? And I'm like, don't you want them to look, you know, like a little bit nicer? She's I don't care. I just want them to be labeled. Like painter's tape is fine. I'm like, okay, fine. Painter's tape is fine. Like you may have a client who doesn't care what the label looks like, but don't with the QR codes.
Yeah. Those aren't going to use them.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: No, they aren't going to use them. I would only, only. Ever consider QR codes. If I had a client who did not need organization done, they needed inventory system put in that I'd be like, okay, you can handle that. You can handle that because you aren't a disorganized person, but organizing needs to be easy and locating yourself needs to be easy and nobody with the mindset that can't organize is going to be like, let me go through these 12 steps to figure out which bin my one item is in and then I have to go to that bin.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: And that's the thing is you, just a QR code with nothing else, people just aren't going to do it. They're just, they're not going to use it. It's actually extra steps. Yeah. Yeah. We want to do is just, and by the way, if the client is insistent upon it, fine, but just walk through the, Hey, I just actually want to make this more efficient for you.
And if we just label what's on the outside, it's. It's so much easier. You can do like a header label, like great example would be holiday stuff. So let's say it's Christmas and then you, so you just put a Christmas tag on it and then below it, you're like wreaths, ornaments, blah, blah, blah, whatever. Give it a head category and then a subcategory if you need to.
No, but. Stop with the QR code nonsense.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, we actually talked one of our more tech savvy clients out of doing that last year for their garage. And, cause they just were like, can we just do those QR codes? And I'm like, well, what do you need them for? They're like, well, we just want to know what's in all these bins.
And I'm like, we will label them by category. And for that, they had. smaller bins that we could, make better categories for. So it'd be like gardening tools, irrigation, planting stuff you know, things like that. So if you kind of, like you said, make the labels simple, make them easy to read. And then if you want to put a very general do, do, do, do, do, that's what's in here.
And the other thing is organizing changes, like they're, they might get more tools and they outgrow that bin. They might get rid of some tools and then now what? Then they throw something else in. There's just too much updating that has to be done with the technology side of QR codes.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Label it, give them a spot.
Label it. Yeah. Keep it simple. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, I just think as much as possible, getting over some of these hurdles to make yourself more interested in doing something like there is a way out of pretty much any organizing situation.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: It's just for the most part, the challenge that your client is facing is not new and original.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Correct.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Most people when it comes to their garages have the same challenges. What do I do with these five bicycles? Then you go on and you say, okay, client, do you want your bicycles on the floor? Do you want them hanging from hooks on the wall?
Do you want them hanging from hooks on the ceiling? It's like you just have to hone in on what their challenges are and how to, the, what would work best for their family and then go source some product or some hacks or some whatever, and then just take it to them and be like, this is how we're going to do it.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, it's really, it's a great, great source of income. It's a great source of help to clients.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: one point that we really didn't touch on was money. Yeah, let's do it. Okay. So I had mentioned earlier that when you look at the square footage of how of homes and spaces, garages are literally one of the biggest storage spaces in homes and they're underutilized for storage, but they're stuffed full of stuff and nobody wants to organize them.
So all I hear is there's a bunch of money on the table and nobody wants to take it because they're afraid to take it. So if you want, if you have any interest at all already in organizing garages, market that because there are people out there that straight up will. Refuse it, and they just, and that's fine.
If you are, you know, kind of scared. And then after listening to this, you're like, well, maybe, you know, I could do that, do it, do it. It was like, I also had mentioned most of our garages are a minimum of 12 hours with two people. And that is for a typical two car. garage. We have done garages that were three organizers for I think it was 48 hours.
That was a fully stuffed garage, but it was so awesome. And it's just that is a lot of money, a lot of money. And if these clients are ready to purge, then they could be like, let's knock this garage out in a week. So you can make. So much money in one week. If you have a dumpster ready, a junk hauler ready, you have, you know, everything, there is so much money out there to be made in garages.
And the majority of people in this country have a garage that they don't park in. They can't park in, they can't park in, or they're embarrassed to open it because their neighbors are going to see it is literally front and center for the world to see their mess. So they want to give you money and make it clean again.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will also say, because apparently I'm being Debbie Downer today, There is a rash of car thefts throughout the country. Seriously, like for safety of your property, parking in a garage, getting things in the garage as much as possible is, it's just a, it's a smart move.
It's just another way that you can sell it. Yeah. Yep. So go make some money. Don't make so much money. Get some gloves and make some money because it's really, it's really great. I will say if you've listened to all this, I'm guessing people who are like hard pass not doing it. How about anything? It's tapped out already.
It's okay. It's okay. If you have made it to the end and you're like, man, this all still sounds terrible to me. What I would recommend is. Find someone, another organizer, I cannot express how important a referral network is for your organizing business. Find someone in your area that loves doing garages and then be like, cool, can we work out an agreement where, you know, I get a cut of it or I've, you know, whatever that looks like for you, go do that.
You will be very happy that you did. If you just absolutely say not doing it. Yeah.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. And that's okay. Cause we don't all like doing the same things. But it's like you want to not be a dead end for your clients and not just be like, Oh, I don't do garages. Yeah. Find somebody that you can refer them to and do some deals.
So that way that client isn't feeling like, Oh, I have to start my search over again.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: So we mentioned this very briefly earlier, but it was, and it was in a podcast a few months ago that I did with one of our inspired organizer members, but she does not love doing garages and the way she has found to make it more palatable is charge more money for it.
And so that's an option for you too. And by the way, a client might go, Oh, I'm not paying extra for a garage. Okay. You don't have to, but she charges I think it was a 20 percent surcharge for garages. It's just based on, you know, the work and the, all of the things. So that's an option that's available for you as well, if you feel comfortable with that.
I personally don't do that, but I know people who do.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I personally just love garages too much to do that.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love that. Okay. Now this is a serious question. Do you also like basements? I don't love basements. I mean, I do them, but I don't love them.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I do. I love all the spaces. I, you know, it's hard because I love, I, I would do pantries and kitchens all day, every day.
Like I just, I love that. But then when somebody takes me to their garage or their basement or their attic. That is stuffed full of stuff from decades. I'm like, Oh my God. Yes. Like seriously, let me in there.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I don't love, I don't love basements and attics as much. And I think it's because of the and I'm not claustrophobic, but I do like a garage.
You open the, even if it's hot outside, you open the door, there's breeze coming in. Like what you get fresh air. Sunshine, whatever. So I think that I don't mind that as much. Sometimes basements especially can feel just like dismal.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. And that is, oh, when we do basements, that's usually where we have to use the wet part of our wet vac floor.
And there's some dirtier things. I, it's, you know, I don't know, I grew up being terrified of bugs and getting dirty and now literally none of that phases me and I really feel like I have to thank this job because it's like when you're getting paid to overcome your fears, you're like, oh, this isn't that bad.
Getting paid really well also. Yeah, exactly.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I know everybody's different, but I find a lot of satisfaction when I am dirty, when I go home from a job, I'm like, I have done hard, good work today. Yes. And been paid. Very well for it. And that's satisfying to me,
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: you know, I think that's why when it comes to doing garages, we get paid so well to do it.
But I'm like, yeah, I will sweep up this stuff. I will wipe this down. I will work early hours of the morning. Because like you mentioned, I am getting paid to do that. They're not just paying me 15 an hour, like some racks. High school student to clean out the garage. No, I'm getting paid good. Our team is getting paid good and we're going to do a good job.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, completely agree. So, I think we've covered it all. Yes. Is there anything that I have missed?
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I don't think so.
I literally have three pages of notes. Good for you. No, I think like literally we tapped everything.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Okay, great. We'll just take a super brief detour. You have been on the podcast many times before.
Tell us a couple of the places we can find you. Two places. One, your organizing place and one, your thing for organizers. Which I love.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So I own Practical Harmony Professional Organizing, and we are based in Bloomington, Illinois, which is central Illinois. Like Melissa mentioned. I've been doing that over a decade.
That's is crazy. I have a small team, just me and. Currently two other organizers part time that do it. So small team with us. And my other thing is I own Tidy Stock Photography where we make the sock photos for home organizers and for blogs and interior decorators and realtors. social media, all of the things make very beautiful photos.
Yes. And after a two year hiatus of not doing any shoots, we're doing more this year. We are planning like at least, I don't know, three shoots within the next couple of months. And we have so many good things we're working on. So I'm excited.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I am a paying customer of Tidy Stock and I love your stuff and it's very artistic.
It's very aesthetic. It's perfect, especially for websites websites, blog posts, all of the things. And you can do all the good SEO magic that you need to on it. But just getting some nice photos is such a great way to break up your digital properties.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. And And there are photos made by an organizer for organizers we get what you need photos of.
Yes. And that was the main reason why I started it, is because I wanted good stock photos for organizing, and there really wasn't anything good out there.
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Well, thanks for being here again and evangelizing about garages with you.
I'm glad that we can high five and be something that we like to do together. And if you are in central Illinois and don't want to do garages now, you know who to refer them to.
Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And honestly, if you are an organizer who has listened this far, and you're still interested, but still kind of a little scared, I would say reach out to one of us or another organizer that likes garages.
We are happy to answer questions. I feel like there are probably some fears or other things that we have not discussed fully, and it's just I think we both want everybody out there to be more confident and comfortable in their business and in their services and help their clients and make money.
So please reach out,
Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: trust yourself to something I see a lot. And this is not specific to what we're talking about today is sometimes. I just want to tell people I want you to have more trust in yourself because you are a smart capable person and you don't need a road map of every single thing like you can figure it out and so just have that confidence in yourself and just like you said say yes and figure out how to do it I swear it's not rocket science you will do a great job your client will be thrilled and you'll take home a nice nice little check so yes you All right.
Money. Thank you. Yes, we all need money. We all need money. We are all trying to make it and this is a great way to do it. Well, thank you for sharing all of your insights with us. We appreciate it.