219 | Why We Love Garage Organizing!

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Written By Melissa Klug

This episode is a "how to" of garage organizing!

Sarah and I are here to tell you about ALL things relating to garages, and if you are someone who doesn't love organizing garages--we're trying to convince you they're GREAT! 

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Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Okay. Recently I asked people what they wanted to hear about on the podcast. Did I do this because I’m running out of ideas? Maybe. But whatever the 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: Garages. Thank you. I’m always excited to be here. Thank you. 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. Let’s do this now because we need to talk about this.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah. Well, it is getting into garage time for a lot of people. You know, if you are a listener of this podcast—which we have people all over the world—in a lot of places, it’s starting to be that time that you can do some garages.

And one of the things that people said to us—what, we don’t just make this up, people actually say these things to us—is: “I’m kind of afraid of doing garages,” or “I don’t like doing garages,” or, you know, “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. That’s crazy when you say it that way—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 shit show? What do you like?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: It’s like asking me to choose my favorite child, Melissa. I personally—okay, so if it’s the right client and they’re ready to literally declutter the crap out of their life—I love a garage stuffed full of stuff that you have to literally, you know, 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, you know, a storage space.

But also, I really do love the garages that are really gorgeous. I recently did a garage last year that the previous homeowner had spent like $20,000 remodeling his garage. Oh my gosh. So it was gorgeous. And they left all of the storage units for the new homeowner, so we got to make it look beautiful. And I mean… 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 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 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? Because house cleaners aren’t going to do that. They don’t already 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 and just, you know, coming and going, all of that. It’s one of the most “walk-through” areas in your home if you use it. So you might as well make it look nice.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Absolutely. A little story that no one asked for: when my older daughter was graduating from high school—at least how it works in Minnesota is usually graduation parties are at your house.

And they’re usually in the garage. You just clean everything out of the garage and you set up tables and chairs and all the things. So we did the thing that everybody does. And as a part of that, I was like… I don’t know, I couldn’t explain it—every time I’d pull into my garage, it was just plain white walls, like nothing exciting.

Right. And I was like, “We’re painting the garage.” And my husband’s, “Okay, sure. Whatever,” which is what he usually says to all my cockamamie ideas.

So the outside of our house is very dark, and I like dark, moody paint colors, and I was like, “Oh, we’re just going to paint the inside of the garage the same color as the outside of the garage,” which is like super dark gray verging on black.

My mother-in-law comes over at some point and she goes— I couldn’t make this up if I tried—she goes, “The garage is going to look smaller if you use dark paint.” And I’m like, “What? Why does it matter if our garage looks smaller? What kind of a comment is that?”

She just was so against it, which of course made me want to do it more, if I’m being honest. Right, right.

But I was just like—no. But the point of my story is not only was that a silly comment, but also: I was like, “We’re going to make our garage look like an extension of our house.” Yes.

I painted all the walls. It looked so nice. I painted the doors. Like, it just looked so much better.

And then it encourages—sort of like any room in your house—it encourages you to keep it up better as well.

So you treat your garage as an extension of your house and still make it look nice. And organizers have the ability to do that.

Okay, so tell me about your garages as they are part of your business. Tell me a little bit—do you promote that a lot? 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: Kind of 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 are so many ways that we can make it more comfortable to get the job done.

I wouldn’t say like heavily “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: Anybody listening to this is going to say, “Well, where I live…” Because you and I live in a similar area, so 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?”

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: 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.

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 other room of your house. But I don’t know where I was going with this anyway.

When it is a good thought as you’re going into certain seasons to really 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, what can we put… 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.” Also, depending on the size of someone’s garage, a great place to be able to do that.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: 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 a different type of dirty.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Different type of dirty. 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, to change… you might change your shirt halfway through… whatever.

Versus I think when you’re in a house, if you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to use gloves,” it gives the homeowner an idea of, “Oh…” Maybe they can get offended by that. In a garage—

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Nobody—

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: —cares. You’re wearing gloves.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, nobody cares. 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 I just mean: you’re often dealing with outdoor stuff—mowers, where we live snowblowers—things like that. 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. 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—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 why, 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: Isn’t that almost every room we do? Well, that’s true. 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.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And that is one of the reasons why I think focusing on garages—at least talking about them—is 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 a 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.” And we’re not here to sell you on doing something that you really, really don’t want to do.

But what we do want to do is get a little bit honest about why we think— you know me, I like to dig down—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: “Hey, 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.”

So do you have any notes?

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, “Oh, like a garage.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing I will say too: my parents moved—they downsized recently-ish. And my husband has always said about my parents (and this is true): my parents’ garage—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 help them think outside the box for storage and all of that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: All right. 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: F that.

Every single human being who lives in your home deserves to take up space in their garage.

And even the people who might feel like they are, you know, the most feminist of people still think, “I can’t go in there. 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. She does. We both do. Like—you can. 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.

And 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—all those things. But I’m not going to be able to get out a circular saw and make you a cabinet, right?

But 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 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.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Kevin’s great. And when he retires, I’m going to be sad.

Okay. So: garage logistics. 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. Because 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 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, “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: You’re right. Yeah. I will say we have bought—what do we have—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: And yeah—okay, that’s a great point. Any sort of cart is a great suggestion because whether you’re working by yourself or with people, having something that can help you move from side to side…

I just got a folding hand cart from Home Depot—like $45. It saved my bacon on a big moving job.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And that’s the great thing: 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.

So yeah, that’s a freebie. That wasn’t on my list of things to talk about—extra.

Also, I wanted to add—oh yeah, go ahead—my hand cart is pink.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Of course it is.

It’s great. We will link in the show notes—as much stuff as we’re talking about that we have links for—we will put them in the show notes, because they really are things that will help and are very worth the investment.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: 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.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: What else is on that list of things?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: We usually try to start garages by pulling everything out.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Which sounds very extreme…

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: …but it makes sense to have a plan for where things are going. Like, is the driveway going to be empty? Is there a vehicle? Is there street parking? Is there any lawn space? Where are we going to put this stuff?

There are a few other questions we ask ahead of time, like: are there going to be donations? Is the client going to have a donation pickup? Do we need to find out what their bulk pickup days are? Is there going to be trash? Do they have room in their garbage can?

We have to think through all the logistics, because unlike a pantry, you could just throw away, you know, three garbage bags full of expired food and it’s fine. But garages—there’s a lot more volume.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A lot more volume. Yep.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And we have some people that can utilize trailers or trucks. If you don’t have a trailer, who can you call? Can you call a friend? Can you rent a truck? There are all those things.

And then, once you pull everything out, you can identify, “Okay, where do these categories go?” and then start putting things back in.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: And the other thing that I will throw out is: sometimes with garages there are things that a client wants to keep, but they should not keep—because it’s a danger. Like, don’t keep open paint cans or chemicals or things that have been leaking. Like, there are definitely things to watch for with safety.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Absolutely.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: And I also think it’s important to remember: sometimes garages have critters. Not always. But sometimes. So just being aware of that, and having gloves, and having a mask available—it’s just part of it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Okay—so bringing things out, planning your zones, and having an actual plan for trash, recycling, donation, dump… all the things.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. And if the client is not ready to make decisions, garages can stall. Because there are bigger decisions. Like—are we keeping this broken lawnmower? Are we fixing it? Are we getting rid of it?

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yep.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And so you have to get your client in that decision-making headspace.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Totally.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And then I also think it helps to ask: “What do you want your garage to do for you?” Because some people truly just want it to be storage. Some people want to park in it. Some people want a workshop. Some people want a gym. Some people want all of the above.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Right.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And so you have to define what success looks like, and then build zones around that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And then once you have that, you can talk about things like wall storage, ceiling storage, shelving, cabinets—whatever fits their goals and budget.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yep.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And if someone is a big DIY person, you can also talk about whether they want to add pegboard or slatwall or those kinds of things.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Totally.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And also: labels. Because garages are the place where things go to die—so you have to make it easier to put things back.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So clear labels, big labels—labels you can read from a distance.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Absolutely.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And we also like to use bins that can handle garage conditions—temperature changes, dust, all that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yep.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: And you know, another logistical point—if you have a really good handyman, that can be part of your network. Not because you’re trying to be a contractor, but because you might need someone to install shelving or a rack or something. And having a repertoire that you can give as a referral can be really helpful.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. A hundred percent.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Kevin’s great. And when he retires, I’m going to be sad.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Same.

Garage Logistics and Process

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay. So garage logistics. If you’re 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—someone who is not afraid of a dirty job—it’s just so much easier, especially in a garage. Because there are big things or heavy things. So having an additional professional there with you is awesome.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’ll 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 extremely impressed that I got—there was literally a car door that they wanted to get rid of—and I put it in my car by myself. And he was like, “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:
You’re right. Yeah. I will say we have bought—what do we have—one of those interchangeable hand carts that goes from a cart to an upright dolly. We use that in garages all the time.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
And yeah—okay, that’s a great point. There’s one at Costco that’s really, really good. Any sort of cart— I think that is a great suggestion. Because whether you’re working by yourself or with people, having something that can help you move from side to side…

I just got a folding hand cart from Home Depot. It doesn’t go up and down like the one you’re talking about, but it was like $45. It saved my bacon on a big moving job.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And that’s the great thing: 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.

So yeah, that’s a freebie. That wasn’t on my list of things to talk about. Extra! (Ha!)

Also, I wanted to add—oh yeah, go ahead—my hand cart is pink.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Of course it is.

It’s great. We’ll link in the show notes—anything we talk about that we have links for, we’ll put them in the show notes because they really are things that will help and are very worth the investment in this kind of thing.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
There are things that I bring to almost every single garage job. Whether we use it or not, we almost always use all of these things. And they’re just different than what you use for other areas of organizing.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
So what else is on that list of things?

Policies, Scheduling, and Weather

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
I’d 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 100 with humidity.

That can also affect the 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, and the client wasn’t there—I started working at 6:30 a.m. because it was 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:
I’ll also say—and this is just a preference thing—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. Especially if it’s warmer outside, I’ll say I’ll be there at 4:30 or 5:00, and then I might work until 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, it’s progressively going to get—

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Cooler and cooler.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
In the mornings—

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
It just gets hotter and hotter. It is. It’s just going to get more and more gross as the day goes on.

Pricing, Weekends, and Disposal Plans

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And some other things for scheduling: 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 premium spot, or just because of the inconvenience of doing garages.

Another thing: it kind of depends on how full the garage is with stuff. Sometimes, if a client’s garage is completely packed full and they want to get rid of 90% 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.

Disposal Plans and “Where Does This Stuff Go?”

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
So arranging all of that for disposal of big garbage items—we try to do that before the day-of because it can be really time-consuming figuring all of that out while you’re trying to work. So you might as well have everything ready to go on the day of.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’ll also add: in many, many areas, you can get a Bagster from Home Depot. They probably have them other places too, but you can also order them.

A Bagster is like a mini dumpster, but 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.

Then you contact—Waste Management does it—you contact them and they do a pickup. They have a thing online where you can type in your zip code and make sure they pick up in your area 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 done. 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 less stuff that needs to go in a dumpster, it’s just very convenient. So I highly recommend looking up Bagster.

That is great, because Waste Management is almost everywhere.

So yeah—Bagster. B-A-G-S-T-E-R. If you are a true Minnesotan, you would pronounce it “Bigster,” but I’m not.

That’s a good thing too, because I think there are a lot of things in the garage that are truly trash. Obviously. 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 and all that kind of stuff.

But we have so many things that are just destined to be trash. They’re not going to be donations from a garage. 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: more and more people are starting to be junk haulers. In a lot of 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. And I don’t care what they do with it—as long as it’s legal. I mean, don’t just dump it. I don’t want that. But yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Well, I think that’s a good segue to one of the reasons people get overwhelmed by garage jobs: sometimes there are things in garages that are not clear-cut about where they go.

Garages are a place where 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 hot tips on this.

First one is RIDWELL. It’s not in every single area, but there’s a service called RIDWELL—R-I-D-W-E-L-L—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. Your county is usually the one that does this, but I’m very fortunate—my county has really good recycling options. And it’s not just recycling. They’ll take hazardous waste. They’ll take old paint. They’ll 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 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—anything like that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. I highly recommend doing a good amount of research in your local area on where this stuff goes, because you probably have resources you don’t even know about.

If you’ve never looked it up, you probably have stuff where you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know I could take XYZ to that 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. I’ll drop it off. And then you’re done. Like—oh my God.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Well, we’re also very lucky. 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 where 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’ll 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—come on—we only have one earth here. But you can start fires.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Also start fires. Yeah.

Safety Corner: Fires, Batteries, and Vents

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’m a little bit of a freak about safety.

By the way, I learned the other day that a lot of house fires start with bathroom fans. Yes. So anyway…

But I heard one time that if you put too many batteries together—like 9-volts—they can start a fire if they hit the wrong… and I was like, “Forget it.”

So now 9-volts? I literally— I’m such a weirdo—I’ll put electrical tape over a 9-volt battery before I put it in the bag.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yep. Yeah, Derek and I have stopped running our exhaust vent in our bathroom except for when we’re actively taking a shower, and then for 15 minutes after.

Even though our landlord, when we moved in, was like, “Can you keep it running so moisture doesn’t build up?” For… yeah, that’s a no.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
No problem, but it’s a humidifier if that’s what you’re worried about.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Right! I’m like, “We should just use a humidifier.” We have one.

And yeah—there have been a lot of fires locally from people throwing batteries in recycling or in the garbage. 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.

While we’re on this subject—man, we are really going off on a tangent—really?

I’m going to throw this other one in here, and I’m throwing it in here because I have an exceedingly brilliant client who did not know this: get your vents cleaned in your house.

It’s like $400. They’ll clean your dryer vents. They’ll clean all the vents in your house. You need to do it like every two or three years—so it’s not like you have to do it every three months.

One of the other number one causes of house fires are dryer fires. So I personally refuse—if nobody’s in the house, our dryer does not run.

I tell clients this too. I have a client whose house caught on fire when they were at church because they ran the dryer and then they went to church. When they came home, their house was on fire.

So yeah: dryer fires. And get your vents cleaned out in your house—for health and safety.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yep. We’ve stopped running our dishwasher before we leave because of that too. Just a fear of… yeah. This is a giant appliance that is running, and if something happens, we can’t control it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
And on a dishwasher, it’s water, and it can be heat, and I mean—there are a lot of water damages. No bueno.

All right. Safety first. Safety corner.

How am I going to title this podcast? Like garages and fires and tools… whatever. It’s stuff that you shouldn’t—

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Be afraid of… but we are kind of afraid of. So let’s prepare a little bit for it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Very long podcast title, but I might have to go with it.

Garage Must-Haves: Bags and a Shop Vac

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay. Other garage tools: I think contractor bags. I’m not a big “show up at my client with 200 things” person, 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 the biggest, giant ones—

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Those are not great.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
No. Now I try to get the 30-gallon ones, which is about twice the size of a normal kitchen trash bag.

And yeah—we use those. We try to bag up as much as possible, even if we have a dumpster, because 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, they’ll be like, “Oh, I don’t want to get rid of this now.” No. Let’s keep it in a bag. It’s practical.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. Functional and practical.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yes.

Another big tool that I think is really important for garages—and I think would make everybody’s life so much easier—is if you have a shop vac or 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.

Shop Vacs, Masks, and Avoiding the “Sweeping Trap”

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Because all it’s going to do is blow everything up, and then you’re going to exhaust yourself from sweeping.

I suck everything up. A shop vac is powerful, and the drum is huge—so you’ll never fill it up. That’s my biggest tip if you’re afraid of the dirt and the dust and what you’re going to do about it… and the bugs. Yeah. Suck them up in a shop vac.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Totally. And my recommendation: shop vacs are genius—wear a mask while you’re doing it, because health-and-safety-wise, a lot of dust does get spun up. So wear a mask while you’re vacuuming. But yes, that’s great.

Also, even if you don’t have a shop vac: if you’re working in a garage more than once, your client is often going to have one. So even if you don’t own one—or 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.”

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yep. 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 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.

I’ll give you the rookie mistake I made one time. I had a client who had a very messy garage, and 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. But the amount of dust it spun up was alarming.

And when I think about what you’re breathing in and all that, it depends on what you have in the garage. You can use a leaf blower, but you need to understand you should absolutely mask up before you do. Because yeah… a lot of gunk.

Gloves, Masks, and Client Comfort

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And we usually have a variety of masks and gloves on us—especially for garages.

Sometimes we do the basic stuff, and then when we’re doing the really nasty things—like vacuuming—we’ll use the real N95.

And for gloves, most of the time in garages we’re just using work gloves or garden gloves. But sometimes if it’s something really, really gross that we don’t want any possibility of it touching us, we’ll go ahead with a nitrile glove—so nothing is coming in.

And like you 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, putting on gloves, switching out a mask or gloves after they get dirty, and putting on something fresh.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. And nitrile gloves are a great example—those are like the blue or purple gloves you often see in medical settings.

That’s a great suggestion because you can just snap them off, throw them away immediately, and go wash your hands—even if you have been wearing gloves. But yeah, that’s a great suggestion.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah.

Safety Rule: Closed-Toe Shoes Only

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
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 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 be like, “I told you so,” but I told you so. 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.

So for you, for your team, and if a client is working with you: everybody has to have proper shoes. Period.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
100%. That is the one thing I’m kind of a stickler about with my team.

You can wear whatever. You can wear shorts, pants, T-shirt, tank top—whatever. You will wear closed-toe shoes, wherever we’re at.

Because you don’t want to step in anything. You don’t want anything to fall on your feet. The thicker, the better. Just like any other shoe.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I have an old pair of really supportive tennis shoes, but they’re older. So I’ll use those on garage jobs because they’re supportive, but also I can throw them in the washer when I’m done and I don’t really care about them. But they also have enough protection 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 hard concrete. There’s no cushion to it—nothing.

Our feet hurt worse at the end of the day after being in a garage because there’s just nothing to it. So yeah: layer up on the padding. Wear your supportive shoes.

Not your “good” good shoes because they’re going to get dirty—but wear your very supportive shoes.

Fans, Heat, and Scheduling Boundaries

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Do you bring any other products with you? Any other supplies?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
The first product—the first supply—I grab for packing up a garage job is box fans.

So I purchased one box fan per person on our team. And sometimes we’ll bring extras. And then if a client has fans, we’re like, “Yep, bring them out.”

Because garages are going to get stuffy—usually hot and stuffy. And we kind of spread out a little bit when we’re working, and we’re each in our own area doing our thing. That way you can 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 keeps the air flowing through.

I initially got these for garages, and now we take them on every job during the summer—

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Because we were telling you… hot houses.

Listen, I did a whole podcast on perimenopause, and also just in general—I’m hot.

I was in a house yesterday where the thermostat was 77 degrees, and I wanted to jump off the roof. So bringing a fan… I’ve started to bring a small fan with me too—like a Vornado or Honeywell. I think it was $15. I bring it 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 with elderly clients who are always cold, and in the middle of summer they have their thermostat at 75 and above. We can’t convince them that we’re dying.

So we bring fans and make it work.

But yeah, that’s one of the things that will really 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 going to work in another area.

So that’s honestly the first thing we grab and probably the most important random supply you can use in a garage—so you can keep yourself cooled down and comfortable.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Just while we’re talking about cool and comfortable—and I don’t think we’ve talked about timing yet—but for health and safety, I do think it’s important to be very careful, especially with heat exhaustion and anything like that.

Depending on where you live, obviously we all live in wildly different areas. I’m not going to do a garage in December.

But someone in Arizona isn’t going to do a garage in July unless it’s climate-controlled… and some garages are climate-controlled.

But even with a climate-controlled garage, I’d argue the best, most efficient way to do a garage is to bring everything out onto the driveway.

So realistically, you really need to think about health-and-safety-wise when you’re going to schedule garage jobs, and when you’re 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 are no garage organizing emergencies. They can wait.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
“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 realistically: if you live in a place where it gets hot very early in the year, think about what those parameters are for when you want to work.

Living in a place that is cold, I will do garages later into the year than most people—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, there may be people that are like, “That’s not fair to do to me.” Some people just aren’t into it. So you have to know that too.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. Yeah.

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. So yeah, I’d rather…

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I took a bunch of stuff into a client attic space the other day, and I was so happy about it because it was like 50 degrees up there, and I was boiling hot. I’m like, “Great. I have to be in the attic. Fantastic.”

But yeah: being prepared for that and being upfront with your client that if the weather is going to be bad… and this can get especially prickly when you have teams scheduled.

I remember last year in our Inspired Organizer group—by the way, Sarah and I would love for you to be in it. 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. You can rent a tent. There are things you can 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 contingency plans for that too.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. Not that I’ve actually done it, but I’ve discussed it with clients: should we go ahead and schedule some rain-check days when you put their project on the calendar?

Because you never know. This is kind of an outside project, and it’s spring. So should we say, “This can be our potential rain-check day?”

That’s another possibility—so you have those things covered and you don’t feel like, “Well, now what do we do? This whole job has stopped because of a little rain.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I love it.

“Take Everything Out” and the Garage Sale Problem

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay. So in terms of how you organize: I’m a big “take everything out to the extent that is possible” kind of person. Is that how you guys do it?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Oh yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
100%.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
I take everything out if the client allows me to.

Yeah. Right. 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 earlier—you’re not bringing out a tool bench or not.

But everything needs to kind of be out in the open. You need to create enough space for yourself to work.

Because the other thing I see in a garage a lot is that people have really sub-optimized how they use the space. And having that clean slate of “Oh, it makes more sense for us to put blah over here”—that becomes so much more clear when you bring everything out.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah, definitely.

We usually go in and 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 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.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Garage sale.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yes. This happens a lot. When I’ve talked about it with other organizers, they’re like, “What?” Yeah—doesn’t happen in the country. Well, it happens in the Midwest. We do things differently.

So we’ve done a couple of different things.

If you feel like this might be an issue—or people approach you and it makes your clients uncomfortable (that’s happened with some of my clients; they’re like, “Stop coming up to my stuff”)—we’ve used our vehicles to block the driveway.

We’ve used their trash cans, or if there’s a dumpster, to block the driveway. We’ve used cones and things like that to make it look like, “Do not come into this driveway. This is not a garage sale.”

Or we make sure our team knows: if anybody approaches, “Oh hi—sorry, this isn’t a sale. We’re just organizing today.”

You can start talking about your business if you want. Otherwise you can just walk away and continue your work.

Give them a card.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah, exactly.

Free Curb Finds and Facebook Marketplace

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. And I also think opening yourself up—obviously every client is going to be different—but I will say, this goes back to: sometimes there’s stuff in a garage and you’re like, “What do I do with it?”

In garages in particular, putting things on the curb—if your neighborhood allows this—with a big FREE sign, or using Facebook Marketplace… 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. Basically, if it wasn’t garbage enough to go into the dumpster, but they didn’t want to try to actually sell it—and if it wasn’t 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. By the next morning when I come back, everything’s gone. And then we start that over again.

People, especially on Facebook Marketplace, are waiting and looking for free listings. 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 up 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 that 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 like, “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.”

I put it on the curb with a “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-to-them shelf.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. I try, as much as possible—especially for clients who are understandably safety-conscious—to say: nobody’s coming inside the house. We’re going to put everything out on the curb.

I’m not into having random people come into your house. But on the curb? It’s great. Marketplace has saved my bacon a million times.

Sorting, Cleaning, and “We’re Not House Cleaners… But Still”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay. So take everything out of the garage. I know we’re 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 what goes— all the things.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. If the client is working with you, this is when you start asking them, “What category does this go in?” “Is this something you want to keep or get rid of?”

Sometimes, like with other spaces, they just need to wait until everything is out and sorted before they can even make the decision. Like, “Okay, yes—I have five hammers. I don’t need five hammers. These are my two favorite.” Things like that.

And then usually—we kind of prefer to work without clients. They can help sometimes, and then sometimes we just need to get to our job.

So after the sorting and categorizing, we’ll send them away and just be like, “We’re going to start cleaning.” That’s when I bust out the shop vac and we start sucking everything up.

We do the floors. We do the walls. We do drawers. We wipe down shelving.

Basically, like you 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’s the same in a garage. It doesn’t have to be sparkling clean, but we dust it, we wipe it off, so 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 there might be people listening who 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 do a lot more cleaning. I’m willing to do more cleaning. Because I think it benefits the client, but it also benefits me to have a clean space to put the stuff back in.

And I just don’t have the time to be sanctimonious about the difference between being an organizer and a cleaner in a garage. I’m just going to do the work.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. 100%.

And we don’t even go into it with really our own cleaning supplies necessarily—besides a vacuum. I’ll bring microfiber cloths that I love, and then that’s pretty much it.

We just use cloths and water and a vacuum.

And when you think about it, some of this dirt can actually be a ridiculous amount of clutter. Especially if it’s a woodworking client and there are piles of shavings this big underneath shelves and tables that you need to organize— it just makes sense to vacuum that up and get it out of your way.

Like I said, it does not have to be pristine. But they’re going to be amazed at their garage being clean. They are going to be really, really pleased with you.

I just find basic cleaning—wiping surfaces down, dusting— I personally find that a part of my job. I’m not scrubbing floors and mopping their houses. I agree. But if I empty something out 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: where is your vacuum? Do you have a handheld vac?

I know some people bring a ton of things with them—I don’t tend to bring a ton of things—but I will look for the handheld vacuum. I just think it’s an above-and-beyond thing.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. And I personally will ask them, “Do you have a multi-surface cleaner you like?”

Because then I know they already trust that cleaner and it’s safe for them to use in their home. So I’ll use their cleaner and paper towels or something, if I’m not using water.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Totally with you.

Favorite Garage Storage: Shelving, Cabinets, and Wall Systems

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
So after you’ve figured out all of the stay and go—and we’ve talked about it already—there is some really good stuff out there for garage organization. Like, really good.

So tell us about some 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. They can be chrome or black or white. You can adjust the shelves to whatever height, and they come in so many different sizes—literally.

And you can find them at every big-box home store. You can find them at Walmart. You can find them at—yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Walmart, Container Store, Costco… I’ve seen them a million places. Amazon has them too. They’re not as nice—more expensive and not as sturdy on Amazon. But in a pinch.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. Home Depot usually has a wide variety. Lowe’s. Places like that.

I love those shelves. I don’t know if there’s a proper name for them.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I just call them stainless steel shelves. At the Container Store, it’s the InterMetro or the Metro—something like that. The only reason I’m saying that is you can look it up there to know what we’re talking about, and then shop around.

But yeah: 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.

Especially from the Container Store, they have so many different accessories for these shelves.

We’ve actually used them to create additional pantry space in a very small kitchen once. They are so awesome.

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, and the affordability.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
The other thing I was going to say is Uline—the company. They do a lot of things.

Uline is kind of slept on for organizers because it tends to be bulk—you tend to have to buy more things. But for shelving like we’re talking about, Uline is a good source.

And if you have a client whose garage is particularly dusty—like, I know some of our friends in Texas have had really bad dust storms lately—these are not things about the cleanliness of the garage; it’s literally where you live.

Uline also has covers you can get for that shelving. So just thinking about other options and places you can look.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. So we always usually first go to the idea of shelving and bins—clients usually prefer that, having their stuff out.

We have also sourced cabinets—standing metal cabinets—for things they want enclosed. Like we did a car-washing cabinet. And paint supplies and cleaning supplies—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 is really nice for smaller items, or for areas that have dust, dirt, rodents, bugs—things like that—where you want smaller things stored enclosed rather than having everything in 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 garages—using the vertical space, using the wall space.

I know garages are different, but you do tend to have more space. And putting things on walls—there are a billion really good, affordable things you can put on the wall.

Container Store has a line of garage stuff. We have it up in our garage where we hang all of our tools on it. You can also just go to a regular hardware store and get some hooks.

But really thinking about using wall space effectively in a garage is incredibly important, because a lot of people store things on the floor of their garage, and that causes some of the organizational problem—stuff is just all over the floor.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Especially the larger landscaping tools—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 sit in a bucket or trash can—whatever.

I think a lot of clients are overwhelmed because the floor is completely covered in stuff and the walls are empty. And it’s a blank wall too—so they’re like, “What do I even do with this?”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Having a spot encourages people to maintain it. Our leaf blower gets hung up in XYZ spot—it’s not just getting thrown somewhere.

I’ve also seen, for garden tools in particular, a freestanding container with individual slots that the tools go in. So nothing is hanging on the wall—it’s just on the floor. That’s another option.

But you can look up garage organization tools.

I will tell you: this is a place where Pinterest shines. Look up boards on Pinterest for garage organization and get some good ideas. There are probably things—especially if you’re less familiar with this stuff—some good organizational supplies we’re not even going to talk about today.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
There’s also a bonus: sometimes in slightly older homes, there might already be organizational things hung up—pegboards or track systems—and they’re just being underutilized by the client.

Those are particularly my favorite—especially pegboard. Pegboards are great.

I would show you my pegboard right now, but it’s covered in stuff because I was preparing for a possible tornado.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yes. We’re going to take a picture of it later.

But a good pegboard—especially if you’re organizing a total mess of a tool bench and there’s no organization—put up a pegboard.

IKEA has great pegboards. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Menards—if you’re in my neck of the woods—lots of great tool storage for pegboards.

And pegboards work for other spaces too: craft rooms, lots of spaces. But definitely look into that for tools.

If you have a client willing to make an investment in the garage, the Gladiator system is pretty glorious.

I have a client who did his entire garage—I can’t fathom how much it cost—but it’s all Gladiator and it’s really cool to be able to move stuff around and give him that flexibility.

What I will say with Gladiator is: you’re usually going to need a handyman—or handy person—to install it. You want to be really careful that you have someone with the tools and skills to put that in.

But there are also knockoffs. Uline has a system. A lot of these are slat-wall systems—that’s what you’re looking for.

Husky—I think you were talking about—has modular systems specifically for garage storage.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And those systems are awesome if your client has the money to invest in that, because all of the pieces match and interchange. You can set it up however you want, and it will look so nice.

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.”

And any of those systems—really helpful. Especially when you think about bigger things that you have to store: saving valuable floor space, getting things up on the wall—it makes a lot of sense.

Also, don’t forget: in garages, you can often use ceiling space. If you have a client with a ton of stuff, there are pulley systems that lower and lift—creating more ceiling storage. Lots of different things you can do there too.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. They also might have attics or crawl spaces, depending on location and how often they use it.

Sometimes those are great for holiday decorations. Sometimes it’s great for family keepsakes you’re only keeping because it’s 200 years old and you need to store it somewhere. Like, I’m not going to judge you on that.

Yes, we can keep this rocking horse your great-great-grandmother used. That’s fine.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
The other thing I see in garages a lot—also in my personal garage—is the garage gym. We have a garage gym set up.

There are great organizing supplies for using wall space for workout stuff. Gladiator makes some. And also if you look at garage gym suppliers—Rogue is one—you can look up how they store things.

Especially if someone is a weightlifter: a lot of times the free weights are just in a corner. Getting organization for that, and using wall space, is really smart.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. Also, depending on your area, if you have cabinet companies— we have a local company that started doing closets and now they do garages. They have a lot of pieces for garage gyms, sports, all the other things people do in garages.

That’s the high-end, really nice option if the client has the budget and wants a whole new system.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
There are budget-friendly ways to do all the things we’re talking about too.

Gladiator is a great example: you do not have to slat-wall every inch of your garage. You can do one long piece and run it around the length and just have one strip.

I know I’m not explaining it perfectly, but go online and you’ll see what I’m talking about. You can do things in an affordable way that helps your client massively.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And it doesn’t all have to be matchy-matchy name brand.

We have a client who had a lot of black decor throughout her house, so when we did her garage and basement, we did black shelving, black cabinets, black hangers—and pops of black throughout.

They were completely different brands, but it looked great. It looked intentional and put together.

Making Garages Look Nice (and the “Judgy People” Stories)

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’ll tell you something on the aesthetic front too—this will sound crazy—but I’ve been in a couple garages where they even have pictures hung up. Some sports memorabilia.

I’ve seen cool garages where people say, “I want to hang things up on the wall just like I would inside my house.” That’s another way to add personality and make it not feel like it’s a trash space no one cares about.

It actually helps it be maintained.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
We all get the psychology behind that. When your space looks good and you feel good, you probably take care of it more. If your space looks like crap, you probably treat it like crap.

So yeah—more ways of making your garage intentionally nice and an extension of the house, rather than the thing you don’t want to talk about or look at, or want your neighbors to see.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Again, going back to my own garage: when my garage door is open and 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 years ago. He was being annoying and wouldn’t leave me alone.

And when I insisted, “I don’t need help lifting these bins into my car,” he goes, “Oh, your car is so full of stuff.”

I’m like, “Yeah, it’s for my job.” And he’s like, “Oh, okay.” And I’m like, “Can you just leave me alone?”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Just leave me alone. People judging me…

I was at the Container Store the other day, and our Container Store has an employee who can be… yeah… judgmental.

My car was filled—I've talked about it—with moving boxes, right? I had taken half the moving boxes out, and I’m like, “I’m not taking the other half out. I’m going to repack these boxes into my car. That is a ludicrous use of my time and energy.”

So I had to pick up closet components, and the employee comes out. I open the back of my car, and she goes, “Oh my…”

And I’m like, absolutely not. Judgmental.

It’s not like I filled the back of the car with rodents and garbage, okay? It’s boxes.

And she’s like, “I just don’t know how we’re going to fit all this.”

And I literally said, “Ma’am, I’m pretty good at this. I could load five closets in here. We’re at one closet’s worth of stuff. Calm down.”

I was 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.

Is there anything we haven’t covered?

Bins: Sarah’s Hot Take

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Bins.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Oh yeah. Let’s do it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Here’s Sarah’s hot take. We need background music or something.

I hate the yellow and black bins that everybody uses in their garages.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Me too!

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
They’re so ugly. Number one: ugliest thing. The ugliest container out there.

Number two: 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.

Did I mention 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:
I’m just going to go on a quick rant—and it sort of goes back to what Kim Snodgrass and I talked about on the last podcast about people having so much stuff and us starting to be frustrated by that.

People have so many of the yellow and black bins that they have to hire someone to build one of those systems to put them in.

Just stop already with that. I can’t handle that. I’ll do it if someone 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 like, “Should I have somebody build me one of those?”

I’m like, “No. Please.”

She’s like, “You wouldn’t recommend that?”

I’m like, “No, I wouldn’t recommend it to any client.”

I think just use a shelf. Because 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 bin system. Single purpose.

Or just maybe… less stuff also.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
The bins that I do love are weathertight—weatherproof— all of those.

There are some exceptionally good bins. Target has them (not quite as nice), but the Container Store has some higher-end weathertight bins.

They’re mostly opaque—they’re clear, but a little bit opaque—so you’re not seeing every single thing, but you have a decent idea of what’s inside.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And that’s my other beef with those bins: you can’t see inside of them.

I’ve only ever had two clients that are like, “No, I’m totally fine not seeing my stuff. I know what’s in there. I just need it organized.”

Everybody else is like, “I need to see my stuff.” I’m the same way for the most part.

And I know they’ve recently come out with clear versions of these, but I just don’t think they’re superior to other bins on the market.

Again, it’s another trendy thing—like, “Look at this perfect garage/basement bin.” But there are better ones out there.

And I kind of like how—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. Because it’s like, “Oh, it’s a big bulky bin,” right?

And I’m like, yeah—and they’re a pain to use and all that other stuff.

So—I’ll use them. I’ll buy more if a client has them. But I hate them.

Better Bins, Moisture Protection, and Smart Shelving

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah, I’m not a big fan. The other thing too is I think they actually have less room inside to store things. They have all these weird indentations. They look humongous, but there’s not actually decent space inside.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
That’s what we’ve noticed. We really like things to have straight lines so we can squeeze things in. These bins are not it.

They 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.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Get—

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Better bins. Get better bins.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
That is one place where encouraging your client to make an investment in nicer bins really pays off.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And I also want to add: when it comes to bins and storing things in bins—since we’re in an area that sees all the seasons, especially humidity—I go on Amazon and buy big packs of those moisture packets.

They come in a variety of sizes. They come in tiny ones like you’d find in shoes, and they come in giant ones. I usually get moisture packs that are about this big.

I personally buy them and 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.

The clients know they’re going in there. They know if the moisture pack gets filled up, they can throw it out and replace it with something new. But it’s that extra level of protection—especially when you’re storing things you might not look at for another year. You don’t know what the moisture levels might be.

And that goes for all seasons. We have humidity in all seasons here.

I started doing it for myself, and then I was like, “These cost me maybe five cents. I’ll just do it for all my clients when we’re doing that type of storage.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
That’s super smart.

I’d also throw in: make sure before you put things in bins—especially if you’re stacking bins on bins—make sure everything is dry before you put it in there. Because sometimes, especially with garage stuff, if there’s moisture in there, you do not want to create something gross for when the bin is opened later.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
One extra level of security we’ll do sometimes—depending on what the items are and depending on the client—is if things are going into the bin, we’ll sometimes also put them in bags.

Whether it’s Ziploc bags, or vacuum-seal bags, and then they go into a bin. That can be for things that are actual material—linens, old quilts—stuff like that, where you want to cover all the bases of what might happen.

And I do that more in basements because basements have a tendency to flood more. But it’s another level of protection for any space: bags and then bins.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’ve also encouraged some clients to get a dehumidifier for their garage. That’s a legit good purchase for certain garages.

And just being careful what you’re storing out there—knowing where you live, what the weather is going to be like… Sometimes people are like, “I’m going to put a bunch of books in my garage.”

Well, if you have super high humidity, that doesn’t make sense. That’s next-level thinking through those things for a client.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Also, when I build shelves, 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 shelving six inches off the ground.

That gives you space to clean under them if you need to. And if water comes in, it goes underneath, and you have at least six inches before water hits whatever is on your shelves.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Super, super smart.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
And if clients have shelving already, we adjust it.

I’m not afraid to adjust shelving. I’ve had some of my team members be like, “We’re going to adjust that?” And I’m like, “Yeah. We’re flipping it over. We’ve got our mallet. We are adjusting these shelves, because we’re going to make them work—because right now they don’t.”

And usually I raise them up off the ground because we don’t need potential water damage to stuff.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
This is not garage-specific, but I cannot tell you how many of my clients—especially in kitchens—I adjust shelves all the time.

I’ve had clients tell me they didn’t even know the shelves did that. And I’m like, “Well, you see those pins on the side? That’s what they’re for.”

Sometimes we try to fit the thing in the thing, and you’re like, “No—the thing needs to work for me.” It’s the opposite.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yep.

And on that same note: whether we’re adjusting new shelves or old shelves, when we have the bins we’re going to use and the shelving we’re going to use, I draw up the shelf.

We take measurements and we start with, “Okay, this bin is this tall. Next shelf—how can we adjust it?” “Okay, these bins are this tall.”

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.”

And they’re like, “Okay, you can just do that.” And I’m like, “Yeah.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
You build them faster than you anyway, so just let us do it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
We’re better than you. This is why we do this as a job.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Exactly.

Labeling Rant: QR Codes vs. “Just Label the Thing”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Can I go on a labeling rant?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yes.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay. I want to talk about labeling, because this comes up in our Inspired Organizer group occasionally—and I have strong opinions about literally everything, and I’m not sorry to share them.

So: the number of people who come and they’ll be like, “My client wants QR codes for their bins. How do I do that?”

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 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 open up your camera, and then you have to have a program you’re using to tell you what’s in it…

Just use prodigiously specific labeling on the outside—especially if you have the black bins that you just have to deal with.

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 who was like, “Hey, can you just label these with painter’s tape?” And I’m like, “Don’t you want them to look a little nicer?” She’s like, “I don’t care. I just want them labeled.”

So painter’s tape is fine. You may have a client who doesn’t care what the label looks like.

But don’t with the QR codes. They aren’t going to use them.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
No, they aren’t going to use them.

I would only ever consider QR codes if I had a client who did not need organization done—they needed an inventory system put in. Then I’d be like, “Okay, you can handle that.” Because you aren’t a disorganized person.

But organizing needs to be easy. Locating stuff 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, then go to that bin…”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Exactly. A QR code with nothing else—people just aren’t going to do it. It’s extra steps.

And if the client is insistent, fine. But walk them through: “Hey, I actually want to make this more efficient for you. If we just label what’s on the outside, it’s so much easier.”

You can do a header label—great example: holiday stuff. So let’s say it’s Christmas, and then below it: wreaths, ornaments, blah blah blah.

Give it a head category and then a subcategory if you need to.

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.

They were like, “Can we just do those QR codes?” And I’m like, “What do you need them for?”

They were like, “We just want to know what’s in all these bins.”

And I’m like, “We will label them by category.”

They had smaller bins, so we could make better categories: gardening tools, irrigation, planting stuff—things like that.

So if you make the labels simple and easy to read, and then if you want to add a general list of what’s in there, great.

But the other thing is: organizing changes. They might get more tools and outgrow the bin. They might get rid of tools and now what? Then they throw something else in.

There’s just too much updating required with the technology side of QR codes. Just label it. Give them a spot. Label it. Keep it simple.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yep.

Garages and Money: There’s Cash on the Table

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. I think as much as possible, getting over some of these hurdles to make yourself more interested in doing something—there is a way out of pretty much any organizing situation.

And for the most part, the challenge your client is facing is not new and original.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Correct. Most people, when it comes to garages, have the same challenges.

“What do I do with these five bicycles?” Then you ask: “Do you want your bicycles on the floor? Hanging from hooks on the wall? Hanging from hooks on the ceiling?”

You hone in on what their challenges are, what would work best for their family, then you source some product or some hacks or whatever, and then you take it to them and say, “This is how we’re going to do it.”

And one point we really didn’t touch on is money.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Yeah. Let’s do it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
So I mentioned earlier: when you look at the square footage of homes and spaces, garages are literally one of the biggest storage spaces in homes. 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.

If you have any interest at all in organizing garages, market that. Because there are people out there that straight up refuse it.

And that’s fine. If you’re kind of scared and after listening you’re like, “Well, maybe I could do that”—do it. Do it.

Most of our garages are a minimum of 12 hours with two people—for a typical two-car garage.

We’ve done garages that were three organizers for 48 hours. That was a fully stuffed garage, but it was so awesome.

That is a lot of money. A lot of money.

And if clients are ready to purge, they could be like, “Let’s knock this garage out in a week.” You can make so much money in one week if you have a dumpster ready, a junk hauler ready—you have everything.

There is so much money out there to be made in garages.

And the majority of people in this country have a garage they don’t park in. They can’t park in. Or they’re embarrassed to open it because their neighbors are going to see it.

Garages are 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’ll also say—because apparently I’m being Debbie Downer today, we’re talking tornadoes and house fires and all sorts of things—there’s a rash of car thefts throughout the country.

For safety of your property, parking in a garage and getting things into the garage as much as possible is a smart move. It’s another way you can sell it.

So go make some money. Get some gloves and make some money. Because it’s really great.

And if you’ve listened to all this, I’m guessing the people who are like, “Hard pass, not doing it,” tapped out already.

It’s okay. If you’ve made it to the end and you’re still like, “This all sounds terrible,” what I 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 work out an agreement—maybe you get a cut, whatever that looks like for you.

You’ll be very happy you did. If you absolutely say you’re not doing it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. And that’s okay. We don’t all like doing the same things.

But you don’t want to be a dead end for your clients and just be like, “Oh, I don’t do garages.”

Find somebody you can refer them to. Do some deals. That way the client isn’t feeling like, “Oh, I have to start my search over again.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
We mentioned this briefly earlier, but it was in a podcast I did with one of our Inspired Organizer members: she does not love doing garages, and the way she makes it more palatable is she charges more money for it.

That’s an option too. A client might say, “Oh, I’m not paying extra for a garage.” Okay—then you don’t have to. But she charges—I think it was a 20% surcharge for garages, based on the work and all the things.

That’s an option available to you 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—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.

It’s hard because I’d do pantries and kitchens all day, every day. I love that.

But then when somebody takes me to their garage or basement or attic stuffed full of decades of stuff? I’m like, “Oh my God—yes. Let me in there.”

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I don’t love basements and attics as much, and I think it’s because—even though I’m not claustrophobic—I like a garage.

You open the door, there’s breeze, fresh air, sunshine… even if it’s hot outside, you get airflow. Basements can feel dismal sometimes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yes. And when we do basements, that’s usually where we use the wet part of our wet vac. There are dirtier things.

I grew up terrified of bugs and getting dirty, and now literally none of that phases me. I really feel like I have to thank this job.

When you get paid to overcome your fears, you’re like, “Oh, this isn’t that bad.” Getting paid really well also.

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.” And been paid very well for it. That’s satisfying to me.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yeah. I think that’s why when it comes to garages, we get paid so well. I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll sweep this up. I’ll wipe this down. I’ll work early hours.”

Because, like you mentioned: I’m getting paid to do that. They’re not paying me $15 an hour like some random high school student to clean out the garage. No. 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. Is there anything I missed?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
I don’t think so. I literally have three pages of notes.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Good for you.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
No—I think we literally tapped everything.

Where to Find Sarah

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
Okay, great. We’ll take a super brief detour. You’ve been on the podcast many times before.

Tell us two places we can find you: one, your organizing business—and two, 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—central Illinois, like Melissa mentioned.

I’ve been doing that over a decade, which is crazy. I have a small team—currently me and two other organizers part-time. So a small team.

And my other thing is I own Tidy Stock Photography, where we make stock photos for home organizers, blogs, interior decorators, realtors, social media—all the things. We make very beautiful photos.

And after a two-year hiatus of not doing any shoots, we’re doing more this year. We’re planning at least— I don’t know—three shoots within the next couple months. We have so many good things we’re working on. So I’m excited.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
I’ll put this in the show notes. I’ve talked about it before, but I am a paying customer of Tidy Stock and I love your stuff. It’s very artistic. It’s very aesthetic. It’s perfect—especially for websites, blog posts, all the things.

And you can do all the good SEO magic 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 there are photos made by an organizer for organizers. We get what you need photos of. That was the main reason I started it—I wanted good stock photos for organizing and there really wasn’t anything good out there.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
You can check it out. I’ll put it in the show notes—she’s on Etsy, and it is Tidy Stock Photography.

Well, thanks for being here again and evangelizing about garages with me. I’m glad we can high-five on something 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.

Bye. Bye. Yes, yes.

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 scared, reach out to one of us—or another organizer who likes garages.

We’re happy to answer questions. I feel like there are probably some fears or other things we haven’t discussed fully, and we want everybody to be more confident and comfortable in their business, their services, help their clients, and make money. So please reach out.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
And trust yourself—something I see a lot, and this is not specific to today: I want you to have more trust in yourself, because you are a smart, capable person.

You don’t need a roadmap of every single thing. You can figure it out.

Have confidence in yourself. 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 little check. So yes.

All right—money. Thank you. Yes, 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.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing:
Yes. Thank you. I’m always happy to chat with you.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio:
All right. Bye, organizers.

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