A few readers have asked for tips on garage organization so the last time I swept my garage out I took some pictures to share. When we first moved into this house I didn’t touch the garage much – I figured it was Kenny’s domain. But after a couple of years the randomness of all of our stuff piling everywhere totally drove me crazy! I spent two whole days gutting out and cleaning the garage – I still remember Ellie waddling around in her little walker the whole time I cleaned. :)

(Ellie – 2004)

So – I organized everything in 2004 and since then have just worked hard to keep things clean. I usually sweep out and straighten the garage about once a month while the girls are blowing bubbles, picking flowers, or riding their bikes in the front yard. If I don’t do this, things get messy in a hurry. Garages are such catch alls for any and everything! It’s an area you definitely have to stay on top of if you want it to stay organized.
Most of our shoes are in our closets, but we have these by the garage door to hold most often worn shoes – especially for the girls. We never wear shoes in the house (best way to keep your carpets clean!) and the girls know that before they can come in the they need to take off their shoes and put them on their shelf (top is Addison’s, second is Ellie’s). Straightening all of the shoes on these shelves is also one of the little jobs my girls do to help out.

We store a lot of things on the roof and walls of our garage to save room and make more space.

Space for more important things like Christmas trees, bikes, baby joggers, and the Barbie Jeep.

Oh.. and I also organized all of the loose nails, screws, etc. And I labeled them. And I put them in alphabetical order although they’ve been messed up a bit since then. When Kenny came home from work and saw this he seriously wondered if something was wrong with me. Now years later he KNOWS something is wrong with me.

Kenny won’t admit it, but I know he loves not having to search all over the garage for a toggle bolt or a drill bit when he needs one. :)

**Re-organized shoe station here.

So as soon as school got started we decided we needed one last summer vacation! Just got back from a quick camping trip with my family. We had a great time and I’ll share more of our trip later when I’m caught up on laundry, have groceries in the fridge, and have had time to sort through the 200+ pictures I took.

For now, I just wanted to share another fun Container Store find.

I bought this simple divider a couple of years ago and it has proved to be a great little home for all of my nail polish, files, clippers, etc.

I don’t use it much for me because I live for pedicures, but my girls love it! I pull it out whenever they are in the mood for their own little pedicures. Makes it so easy to have everything we need in one place.

Rainbow pedis are a favorite around our house.

{I think I was in the mood to post this picture because it’s such a contrast to the smell of dirt and camp fire smoke surrounding me right now} :)

Happy Monday!

but they always seem over stuffed and within ten minutes my girls seem to find a way to have everything dumped all over the floor.

I bought several clear bins at the Container Store to help me tackle the toys. After doing some serious down sizing (when the girls weren’t around, of course) I categorized everything in groups.

{animals and dinosaurs – Ellie went through a dinosaur phase when she was three}

{barbies, cooties, and magnetic dolls}

{little people, polly pockets and their clothes}

{doll clothes}

{and I already had this little suitcase for barbie clothes}

Isn’t this a beautiful sight! Everything so neat and tidy and organized. Kole loves our Container Store purchases almost as much as I do. He wanted to label everything, but I explained to him that there was no need. I bought clear bins so that the girls could easily see which toys were in each container.

Another thing I love about these particular bins is that they are stackable without the lids. A great option if I choose to store them this way in the future. They also make a great peek-a-boo tower as demonstrated by Ellie and Kole. :)

For now I am storing these beauty’s in some extra space I realized I had at the bottom of the girls’ closet. Making the most of what was unused space before. This is a great spot for toys because it is easily accessible. When organizing toys I’m always thinking about how I can keep them easy for the kids to get into and easy for them to clean up when play time is over.

I’m really liking this system so far! It seems to have even changed the way my girls play. They pull out a bin (or I pull one out for them when we are going to be home for awhile) and actually stay focused playing with one group of toys instead of just pulling out one toy after another and not really playing with any of it. Funny how just re-arranging toys in a different way makes them seem like new. Clean up is easy. Toss everything back in its container.

And now I have more room in the playroom bins for paper, coloring books, stickers, etc. so the girls can create a masterpiece when inspired. Or at least keep themselves entertained long enough for me to feed Kole and do a load of laundry which was my true objective.

But masterpieces are always appreciated. :)