Spring gardening and lawn care puts us in our garages or sheds and often we face a jumble of outdoor equipment, tools and supplies. Try these easy steps to make this space works its best for you.
Sort & Take Inventory
- Collect each type of item in one place so that you can see what you have: tools, gardening/lawn care products, sports equipment.
- Consolidate duplicates so you don’t waste money purchasing items you already own.
- Seasonal decorations often hog valuable storage space. Weed out all but your favorite items.
Dispose of Extra or Unneeded Items
- Carefully dispose of hazardous products such as pesticides, paint or fertilizer. Check your township’s regulations and pickup schedule for hazardous household products. See the Berks Solid Waste Authority website for details: co.berks.pa.us/swa.
- Dispose of extra paint safely and efficiently. Check the Solid Waste Authority’s rules for latex and oil-based paint. Pour unneeded paint into one can to dispose of with hazardous household waste. Let the empty cans dry out to be disposed of in regular trash if your township allows it.
- Share extra tools and sports equipment with your neighbors or post on Craigslist. Check out what you might be able to sell to Play It Again Sports: playitagainsports.com/what-we-buy#Baseball
- Recycle plastic gardening pots with the recycle symbol imprinted on them. Ask your gardening center if you can return pots to them for recycling.
Storage Recommendations
- Store currently used items in the most accessible places. Place out of season items such as holiday decorations and snow shovels on higher shelves or in the back of your storage space. Rotate seasonally.
- Consider wall- or ceiling-mounted bike racks to free up floor space. Outdoor benches with storage bins underneath do double-duty.
- Wall-mounted pegboards with hooks give you easy access to your frequently used tools. Tool racks for the wall with clips for tool handles keep tools handy and un-jumbled.
Rachel M. Gambone is the owner of ReOrganize with Rachel, LLC. In addition to general home organizing, she specializes in helping you organize your office, papers and digital information. Her signature approach is positive organizing where she builds on your strengths, helps you find your treasures, and teaches you life-long organizing skills. See more organizing tips and a link to her free podcast at reorganizewithrachel.com.
