Hiring a Professional Organizer to help "sort" your Garage Clutter Crap
 

New Years Resolution.


CLEAN OUT SHOP CLUTTER AND CRAP.


Im thinking, "we all at times hire someone to detail our cars, house cleaner, maybe lawn maintenance............."

So why not hire a Shop / Garage helper organizer?


anyone got stories? :rolleyes:




Here's my Gal. She's called "Life Unstuffed"

I love her quotes.


"Maybe the life you want
is buried underneath all the stuff you own…….."


she may be my angel.


Tips and Ideas | Life Unstuffed


I've got a huge shop, and slowly, after pickup truck and pickup truck loads to the dump, I've partially excavated an amazing thing in my shop bays! ITS CALLED A FLOOR!



It's like hiring a personal trainer at the gym.

You pay somebody $50 an hour to yell at you.
, so maybe my garbage clutter dirty soul be cleansed.




any stories? It's dumpster time.

I cleaned up when my dad died. I rigorously cull my own collection.

Yes needs to be done !

Easy, moved 18 months ago from a huge house and garage to a townhouse with 1-1/2 garage, if I hadn't opened/used it in 20 years, out it went.

6 month rule.

I put stuff in boxes with date and contents. If I do not open in 6 months, or whatever is left in box after 6 months goes in dumpster at office.

I am about to embark on another hard core boxing.

I am wondering if my 78 mini pickup will fit in one.

I have a 2 car garage that has 2 cars in it. I am the only one on my block that can do that. Most cannot fit one car.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

You guys who are downsizing are headed in the wrong direction.....I'm going this way:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1014684-now-s-my-turn-workshop-build-thread.html

:D

I’m with Jim, six month rule. Tools are the only exception. Spare parts get sold unless I actually still have the car. My wife and I despise clutter and are aggressively anti-hoarder.

I've got a big pile of stuff in the attic. Well, half a 911SC actually. And I don't want that stuff thrown out. I should label if so if I cark it, it doesn't end up in the rubbish skip. Oh I'd be spinning if that happened.

When we moved into our new house two and half years ago, I got rid of a mountain of stuff.

Ms Rocket does her side business with furniture in the garage, so it’s kinda full now.

I understand the need to have an adult in the room. I would never get rid of anything without a lot of willpower. I am finally organizing. It's been a struggle to consolidate three shops into one. There are lots and lots of duplicates of basic hand tools. I have at least 20 hammers of various types and sizes. I'm only getting rid of multiple duplicates and stuff I'm pretty sure I'll never need again - like SBC Chevy valve spring compressors and dwell adjustment tools and ... I don't know about my Ford flathead valve keeper tool - I mean, I haven't adjusted the valves in a flathead Ford in 40 years but the little gizmos don't take up that much room and you never know. The adult in the room says pitch em, but I'm resisting. I'm keeping my timing light, just because.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1546487038.jpg

It's an ongoing process of one step forward, 2 steps backwards for me..........

I’ve just got too much stuff and a small garage, it’s all good tools, table saws, etc.

I’m on the lotto plan

I've got my stuff organized, but I do have to say between the holidays and life lately it's a bit cluttered but not bad.

I've driven down the street in my neighborhood and others and have seen open garage doors. If I were them, I'd keep that shyte shut, I've seen some "packed to the gills" garages that make me cringe. How could you have that much crap?

So true....

Was in my Mom's neighborhood today and as I was leaving there was a guy with some of his "stuff" sitting outside his garage - looked like a NY's resolution to get organized. I was tempted to yell something out the window as I drove by but decided to leave in him peace....;)

A good friend of my sister is headed that way in a couple years. She's quitting her IT job and go into the organizing people's homes as a retirement side gig. She's after horders and people who can't seem to want to sink their teeth into cleaning things out. Sound interesting. She's already done a few of them in the past year.

Professional help. What a great idea! Dr Freud, are you available?
 

Garage crap - that's a whole sidebar that ALSO needs to be addressed - but over the long weekend I was going to purge some stuff.
Unfortunately, and this often happens - I suddenly had an Eureka moment and thought of a way to use some of the stuff I was going to slough off to a better world.

See those 5 clocks? I've had them for years. Didn't know what to use them for.

Eureka!
And I also used up 5 theatre-style spotlights in this same display that were getting trampled underfoot.
Plus a bunch of Porsche prints that were just sitting in a box.

Now I'm back to square one. Can't get rid of anything because I might want/need/?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1546494055.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1546494100.jpg

What, are you 12? Still play with toy cars?:D Damn that's a nice collection you have there. I am sure if I can get myself to part with them.

I get kind of lazy with putting away tools during a project, but once it's finished, I take a day to organize/clean, and put away everything.....it keeps me sane.

I remember cleaning out my parent's home when they passed on. My mom was a minimalist, my dad saved everything. I developed a 5 year rule - untouched? out is goes after 5.

That changed when I got divorced. The house was over 3000 sq ft with an oversize 2 1/2 car garage. I went to a small 2 BR apartment, no garage with the majority of the stuff going to storage locker. I eventually rented a garage and the cost for the garage and storage locker was over $500/month. I did this for 4 years. You can do the math what this cost.

I moved and got rid of stuff - I just don't need stuff anymore. I'm in a town home and I'm looking to downsize again. I'm really lean in my personal stuff. What I am now is a storage locker for my children. I have more of their stuff than me.

I hired a lady to do that garage organizing thing.

Didn’t work out so I ended up buying her a house to live in. Most of the stuff went with her.

Done!

I probably have 2-3 big cleans/purges yearly . Garage space that I do not use daily , becomes storage space, or where everything that I am not immediately using ends up. Once I go to use that space, I clean.
I cannot stand clutter, but like WD above, I will leave everything out till I am done with a project, then do a big clean/organize .

Throwing out old magazines, and old serial and printer cables is fine. But do not even think about throwing out any of my tools, even if they have not been used in years. The other day I came across my GM distributor bolt wrench. Mostly useless for any other purpose, but it will remain in my tool box. I have a few tools from my grandfather. One is a forged tool with Ford logo in it and a 11mm box end on one end and an 25 mm open end on the other side, and it is a offset wrench. I admit I have never used it, and it is not in my tool box, it hangs on the wall next to my timing light, and dwell meter. I have used that wrench mostly to show old grey haired guys that even American cars from before we were born used metric.

Never ever , throw away, tools, or hardware. I hoard all that stuff

Same. I know I have that somewhere, let me find it.... :)

Too many hobbies that each has specific tool, supplies, equipment... No chance I'd hire someone to 'help' organize my space. Typical rakes and old paint cans? Sure, but the hard part there is doing it.

I am renting my house out, which means getting rid of most things I own.

Once you get into the groove it's easy. The first step is the hardest.

I threw out boxes of bolts and fittings that I've had for twenty years, they were just collecting dust.

When I moved to my current place the previous owner left me a ton of hardware and misc stuff. Lots of baby food jars screwed to a shelf! And I brought my own misc stuff/hardware. Its been interesting.

I get rid of tools and stuff I haven’t used for about 20 years which invariably prompts me the next day to get stuff done that has needed to be done for about 20 years.

It’s like a movie going backwards:

Throw it out then look for it.

I look at it this way: if you need to pay someone to organize your stuff, then maybe "your stuff" isn't the root of the problem.

I spent many years gathering, collecting, getting tools and hardware and parts. Hey, I might need this someday!

I spent the last 10 years getting rid of most of that crap I thought I needed. Just a little at a time, at least a few things a week.
It became a burden I didn't need and the more I got rid of the lighter that burden became.
About 2/3rds of the stuff I had in the garage is gone and I don't miss it at all.
I could always get two cars in my two car garage, but barely.
Now it's a piece of cake, I can walk around and get to anything I want and I can find anything I'm looking for.

A few weeks ago I noticed the two rakes hanging up in my garage. The last time I used them was when I laid new sod in my yard in 2008.
I remember that because I blew out my knee doing that job and I promised myself I'd never do anything like that again, I'll just make a phone call.

Now my neighbor is storing two rakes he'll probably never use.

House is neat and tidy (except for my desk).

I do, however, have quite a few duplicate tools- Where did all these 10mm sockets come from?

Dave, I used to do that for a living in the biggest garage in the world and more recently in my more modest garage. Let me know if you want some help. I'm really good at throwing other people's s@%t away.

Will work for IPA and BBQ.

I think my only “collecting” vice is tools. One can never be too rich, too thin, or have to many tools.

In 2010, shortly after getting married, I purged my collection of Car and Drivers and car brochures which I had been collecting at auto shows since I was a kid. The collection had been moved 5 times, weighed a ton and just took up space in crappy looking card board boxes. I’ll admit that it was kind of anti-climactic, if also a little sad, to let them go but since we’ve moved another two times since then it’s nice not to be lugging around all that weight. I kept a few of my favorite issues and brochures that were memorable.

I still get Car and Driver but give them to my wife to share with her coworkers. I haven’t collected a brochure at a car show in a decade (not even sure they still have paper brochures). If I hadn’t stopped, my collection of each would be 30 years large. As it were, I was lugging around two 20 year old collections.

Not sure how much longer I’ll keep getting the magazine. Between it and Panorama, they stack up and I never have time to read them. Plus, Car and Driver is getting pretty thin these days, but that is a discussion for another thread.

Seems too easy to tell someone else what they should keep and not. What kind of training is needed for that? Seriously. I could to that to you, but don't touch my siht. If I move something and then look for it, well, it's just not to be found.

So, I make it a habit to go around once in awhile and just handle everything within reach. Now and then Ill go through boxes up high just to validate. In my hobby/side business of restoring antiques and collectibles I find that having all kinds of scrap this and that saves countless trips to God knows where to TRY and find something suitable for a repair.

Back to the organizing gig, seems like getting your foot in the door would lead to a garage renovation, new cabinets and all. I'm qualified there.

A side story: we've all found things "missing" in funny places. It's like a birthday present. I've been looking for my original jeweler's loupe for about 10 years now. I know I didn't take it off the property. It's in a box somewhere when I was examining something and put it away forgetting the loupe. But...., I've looked at every box since then and thrown out some.

I play a game with myself every garbage day

After everything is out to the curb, I go back in and find one more thing

Since I don’t like to fail I often have to make a really tough decision so that I can return to the curb successfully

Ummmmm. Scale of event.


as the OP, let me set the bar.


My Clutter Cave toy box.

My goal and target is to get floor space open for a high bay 2 post lift by summer.


THATS A NICE incentive, my own two post lift!


3000 sq ft shop has been in the build phase over 20 years, done 85% of it myself.


it's also 85% full of "stuff" :rolleyes:




http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1415137272.jpg



This Saturday is D-Day for nuclear cleaning.

I did a little bit of tool-downsizing recently. Went from a 40' x 50' shop and a 3-car garage to this tool bag. Didn't have any help, but it took me the better part of 2 years to get rid of it all. 95% of all the tools I own are now in this bag. My current goal is to not have to use them :D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1546544905.JPG

Man, is that a nice set up. I dream of something like that at home for when Im done doing it professionally . Id side job out of that big building, and store fun cars, and do projects in the smaller garages.

The 3 pile system works for me and I often struggle with hanging onto things too long. Clean once a month quickly using three piles.

Pile one - definitely throw out.
Pile two - definitely keep.
Pile three - unsure.

It goes fast and you touch everything. First time through, you'll have a lot in pile three. But do this every month and you'll get in the habit of throwing out a pile of junk every couple of weeks. You can also go through pile 3 a second time to see if a second look lands something in pile one.

After a couple cleaning sessions, if you keep seeing the same things in pile three, it's time to let them go. If they haven't graduated to pile two, cut 'em loose.

I really think over time this has trained my mind to throw certain things out right away since I know an item will quickly be in Pile One and hanging on to it is just waiting for the day I decide to clean. No reason to wait for that day.

I have 4000 sq ft and it's filled to the brim. I need a bigger shop but I can't even imagine moving everything I have even with most of it being pretty well sorted into bins and boxes.

I'm looking at the bag and trying to make sense of it with my mouth hanging open.

I remember the GM distributor wrench - what a life saving tool!