219 | Why We Love Garage Organizing! - The Pro Organizer Studio Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hey, pro organizers.
My name is Melissa Klug andyou are listening to the Pro
Organizer Studio Podcast.
Professional organizingchanged my entire life.
After 20 years of working at hugecompanies, I started working for myself.
I opened a professional organizingbusiness, grew it to six
figures, and I never looked back.
Now I get to spend all day, every dayteaching organizers around the world.

(00:25):
How to find clients, how tomarket and sell yourselves.
How to turn this businessinto what you want it to be.
Whether you have been in businessfor 15 minutes or 15 years, you
have a home at Pro Organizer Studio.
I'm excited that you're here.
Let's get started.
I.
Hey, pro organizers.
It's Melissa and we are backwith a monster long episode.

(00:47):
I can tell you Sarah andI did not set out to make.
I, I think this is the secondlongest podcast we've ever had.
But here we are and we are talkingabout something very specific.
We're actually doing a how to podcasttoday about garage organizing.
It is starting to be the time of yearthat for a lot of the people that listen

(01:09):
to our show, it's garage organizing time.
And you might be going, I hate garages.
I, I don't take garages.
Any of that, I would like to saySarah and I are here to try to
convince you that garage organizingis accessible, it's doable, and
you're gonna make a ton of money.
A couple of things aboutthis podcast, we do veer off.

(01:31):
This is not like the most structuredpodcast we've ever had 'cause we bounce
around a little bit, but stick with us.
We get to everything, I promise.
We also give a couple of randomhouse safety tips for you that
you could share with clients.
I mean, we're all over theplace, so I hope you enjoy this.
Before we get started, I want tomake sure that if you have not heard.

(01:52):
I, along with my good friend and superamazing organizer, Cabri Carpenter, have
a new business called Organizer Near me.
You can go to organizernearme.com.
It is a listing service that willhelp your organizing business be found
by all sorts of amazing new clients.

(02:12):
We have so many things for you coming thisyear and out already now on the platform.
We would love to have you join us,so organizernearme.com and let's
get started talking about garages.
Have a great day.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio (02:27):
Okay.
We recently I asked people what theywanted to hear about on the podcast.
Did I do this becauseI'm running out of ideas?
Maybe.
But whatever reason, I gotsome really great ideas.
And one of the ideas, my guest andfriend and coach in our Inspired
Organizer program, Sarah was like,I want to talk about this with you.

(02:49):
Let's go.
And I'm like, great.
So Sarah, welcome back.
And today we're talking about garages.
Yes,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: garages. (02:57):
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Thank you.
I'm always excited to be here.
Thank you.

I'm

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: kind of overly excited to talk (03:02):
undefined
about the topic of garages.
So that's why I immediately textyou when I saw somebody make that
comment and I'm like, let's do this.
Let's do this now becausewe need to talk about this.

Yeah.
Well, it is getting into garagetime for a lot of the people.
You know, if you are a listener ofthis podcast which we have people
all over the world, it's in a lotof places, it's starting to be that
time that you can do some garages.
And one of the things that peoplesaid to us, what we don't just
make this up, people actually saythese things to us is I kind of.

(03:38):
afraid of doing garages, or Idon't like doing garages, or, you
know, I want to break into whatif I only want to do garages?
So we had some people askus some good questions.
And so we're just going to talk aboutthe good, the bad, the ugly, the
dirty, and the great about garages.
And I'm very excited.
So you have been in businessfor a decade, which is Amazing.

(04:00):
That's crazy when you say it that way.
Congratulations.
And in that time, I'm sure you haveseen every type of garage as I have too.
What are your favorite garages to do?
Do you like the ones thatare a total shit show?
What do you like?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: It's like asking me to choose my (04:16):
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favorite child, Melissa, I personally,okay, so if it's the right client,
and they're ready to like, literallydeclutter the crap out of their life,
I loved a garage stuffed full of stuffthat you have to literally you know,
scoot your way through in a path.

(04:36):
Because the end result is alwaysamazing and most of these people
haven't like ever used their garage.
It's just You know, a storage space,but also I really do love the garages
that are like really gorgeous.
I recently did a garage last yearthat the previous homeowner had spent
like $20,000 remodeling his garage.
Oh my gosh.

(04:56):
So it was gorgeous.
And they left all of the storageunits for the new homeowner.
So we got to make it lookbeautiful and I mean, I don't
know, garages are just great.

I think we've both been in some garages
that are, are not optimal, right?
I also have a client who redid his garageand he started calling it the garage
mahal, which made me laugh really hard.
Yes, but I have been in all sorts ofgarages, and I think that the most
underutilized thought is that thegarage doesn't have to be a gross place.

(05:31):
You do not have to spend 20, 000 to makeit look great, unless you just want to.
But I think we have this idea thatgarages are just like yucky and gross,
and they just aren't all like that.
And we have a great Opportunity to makethem nicer spaces for people to be in

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: exactly. (05:47):
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And it's if, if there are peopleout there, homeowners out there
that want a nice garage, whoare they going to look towards?
Cause house cleanersaren't going to do that.
They don't already do our jobwhere we actually go through stuff.
So you might as well tap into thatmarket of people wanting their garage
organized and cleaned out becauseit's such a common area in homes,

(06:07):
especially if you have kids and just,you know, coming and going all of that.
It's one of the most, you know, walkthrough areas in your home if you use it.
So might as well make it look nice yeah,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: absolutely. (06:17):
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A little story that no one askedfor when my older daughter was
graduating from high school, at leasthow it works in Minnesota is usually
graduation parties are at your house.
And they're usually in the garage.
You just like clean everything outof the garage and you set up tables
and chairs and all the things.
So we, we did the thingthat everybody does.
And as a part of that, I was like,I don't know, I couldn't explain it.

(06:39):
I just, every time I'd pull in mygarage, it was just a 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 usuallysays to all my cockamamie ideas.
So the outside of our house is verydark and I like dark moody the kind
of paint colors and I was like, Oh,we're just going to paint the inside

(07:00):
of the garage the same color as theoutside of the garage, which is like
super dark gray verging on black.
My mother in law like comes overat some point and she goes, I
couldn't make this up if I tried.
She goes, the garage is going tolook smaller if you use dark paint.
And I'm like, what?
Why does it matter ifour garage looks smaller?

(07:22):
What, 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 pointof my story is not only was that a
silly comment, but also that I waslike, we're gonna make our garage
look like an extension of our house.
Yes.
I painted all the walls.
It looked so nice.

(07:43):
I painted the doors.
Like it just looked so much better.
And then it encourages sort oflike any room in your house.
It encourages you to keepit up better as well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So you treat your garage as an extensionof your house and still make it look nice.
And organizers havethe ability to do that.
Yeah.
Okay.
So tell me about.

(08:04):
Your garages as they arepart of your business.
Tell me a little bit aboutdo you promote that a lot?
Is it just something that is kindof 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 (08:16):
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we start saying, Alright,garage season's about to begin.
I'm in central Illinois, so dependingon the weather, we usually don't
work in a garage if it's above 90degrees especially with humidity.
So we try to get them in early or laterat the end of summer, we will promote
it again because usually fall up untilit's freezing, we will work in a garage.

(08:40):
And there are two very differentseasons to be working in a garage, but
there's so many ways that we can makeit more comfortable to get the job done.
I wouldn't say like heavily say thisis our main thing, but we do get a
lot of garage jobs, and in additionto that we will get storage unit
jobs, or sheds, or things that areoutdoor ish feeling storage areas.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Anybody listening to this is going to (09:02):
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say, well, where I live, because you and Ilive in a similar area, so we kind of have
the same thing I will pitch to people.
Don't you want to park a garagein your car this one, or your car?
Yep.
You want to park a garage in your car.
Don't you want to park a carin your garage this winter?
Don't you want to be able to use thatspace as it is intended to, to protect you
from gross weather outside or whatever?

(09:23):
Every region has something different,but depending on where you are.
Some people use their garages asan extension of their house.
Like I know a lot of people inCalifornia, it's an actual like other
room of your house, but I don't knowwhere I was going with this anyway.
When it is a good thought as you'regoing into certain seasons to really
promote Hey, do you have a garage thatneeds to be cleaned out for graduations?

(09:46):
Whatever that looks like, thereare lots of ways to market it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: In the early, early springtime talking (09:48):
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about summer things that you want to doin your garage parties like you mentioned.
And then, oh, just.
Always when it comes to storageof holiday decorations and then
parking in there in the wintertimethose I always try to hit home for.
Oh, and also being able to accessall of your summer stuff, like

(10:09):
your camping stuff, your sportsequipment, your bikes, all of that.

Also if you have a client who is, let's just
say a heavy Costco user the other thingthat 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 thingsthat you really don't have storage
space for also, you know, dependingon the size of someone's garage, a

(10:35):
great place to be able to do that.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And that is one of the reasons why (10:37):
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I think that we focusing on garageat least talking about them is like
really important because when youlook 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 soaccessible because it has the giant

(10:58):
garage door to open and then it usuallyhas a door leading into your house.
It's on usually a main level so it's justmuch 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 (11:09):
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know who are like, I really hategarages, they are not my jam.
And we are, we're not here to sellyou on doing something that you
really, really don't want to do.
But what we do want to do is get alittle bit honest about why we think,
you know me, I like to dig down.

(11:29):
I want to get a little bit honest aboutwhy we think some people try to avoid.
garage jobs.
And I know you and I both have somefeelings that might hurt some feelings,
but we just want to be really honestabout Hey, if these are things that
are standing in your way of potentiallyhaving some nice revenue come in,
let's kind of break through those.

(11:50):
So do you have any notes

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: is let's get uncomfortable for a moment. (11:52):
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Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love it. (11:55):
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Let's get uncomfortable.
Okay.
I'll throw out the first one, whichis I think there are people that
really just don't like to get dirty.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. (12:05):
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And I think that is every, if noteverybody, almost everybody's first
thought of, Oh, like a garage.
And yeah, garages can be verydirty, 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 aredirty, playrooms are disgusting,

(12:29):
kitchens can be gross, pantrieshave years old expired food.
That's my, I'm just like, it's,it's a different type of dirty.
It's a

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: different type of dirty. (12:35):
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The other thing I will tell you is, Ithink versus some of the other rooms
in a house that you just named that canalso have their moments, depending on
the house in a garage, it is completelysocially acceptable to, to, Wear gloves
to wear a mask to you know, if it'sreally dusty or whatever to change, you

(12:57):
might change your shirt halfway throughwhatever, like versus I think when you're
in a house, if you're like, Oh, I'mgoing to use gloves, it's, it gives the
homeowner an idea of Oh, maybe by theycan get offended by that in a garage.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Nobody (13:09):
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Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: cares. (13:09):
undefined
You're wearing gloves.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, nobody cares. (13:11):
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Literally, I've been like, I needto 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 becausethey don't want to do it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You know, when we're saying (13:24):
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dirty obviously we're very bigproponents of health and safety.
I do not ever want anyone to gointo 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 dealingwith outdoor stuff, you know, mowers.
Where we live snowblowers you know,things like that, that just, you

(13:45):
know, they're not indoor things.
They don't get cleaned.
So you're going to have somedust and some dirt and some other
stuff, like just get comfortablewith getting a little bit dirty.
What I will say is don't schedulea 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 (14:02):
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know as soon as you get homeyou're going to take a shower.
So it's, the dirt is temporary.
The dirt is temporary.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A hundred, a hundred percent. (14:09):
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Okay, so what are some of thethings on your list of why
you think people hate garages?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So actually I asked some people, I (14:15):
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did a little poll I didn't specify.
I said, what is your leastfavorite spot to organize and why?
Everybody said garages.
Surprise, surprise.
And then a lot of people when I dug deeparound like why they just mentioned that
it is, it's a giant space full of delayeddecisions, full of unfinished projects,

(14:38):
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? (14:43):
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Well, that's true.
I think the thing about garages in a lotof cases is people will just go, Oh, I
don't want to deal with this right now.
I'm just going to throw it in the garage.
And so then it, and you're exactly right.
It's a set of delayed decisions.
So it's either something very functionalfor your yard, or it is storage, and

(15:03):
in some cases it's storage of stuffthat is almost never used, yeah, and

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: especially if you have a big (15:08):
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family, almost everybody isjust throw it in the garage.
It becomes a communal dumping ground.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Totally. (15:14):
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Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Full of everybody's delayed (15:15):
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Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: decisions. (15:16):
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Yeah.
Just a quick side note, when you'rea professional organizer, your garage
sometimes becomes a client warehouse,which is what mine looks like right now.
And my family is so nice aboutit, which they really shouldn't be
because right now my garage looks likethe worst before you've ever seen.
I have so many like client thingsthat I need to take care of.

(15:39):
But yeah, it's, that's the onething we need to mention is.
Your own personal garage mightlook like a disaster because of
your profession, and that is okay.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep, I have a donate table, I have a (15:49):
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product table, I have shelves full of

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: supplies, yeah. (15:55):
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I currently have a boatload of movingboxes that one client Oh, yeah.
Please go to a good home.
And I'm like, I have another clientthat's moving are you okay if they
go there, they're like, great.
And that client is fantastic.
Can you drop off my, well, I mean,there are like a hundred moving boxes.
They have to go somewhere.
They're in my garage.
Yeah.
The other thing I will say too, is so myparents moved they downsized recently ish.

(16:21):
And my husband has always said about myparents, and this is true, my parents
garage, he would eat a steak off oftheir garage floor because it's so
clean, which is absolutely factual.
It's pristine.
But I will tell you, I went throughmy garage with my parents as a
professional organizer a few yearsago, and even in a pristine garage,
there was still a ton of stuff.

(16:43):
that they never touched, neverused, didn't even know was
there, all of that kind of stuff.
So I find even people with verytidy garages still have space
that they're underutilizing.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep. (16:56):
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They just don't think like us, whichis also the benefit of when they
bring us in, because we can help themdiscover those underutilized spaces
or, you know, help them think outsidethe box for storage and all of that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: All right. (17:09):
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So what's one of the more controversialreasons 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 (17:15):
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profession are afraid to step ontoes of the males in the home.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I agree. (17:24):
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Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I hear this a lot because a lot of people (17:24):
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think that a garage is a man's world.
And I'm going to say F that.
Agree.
Every single human being wholives in your home deserves to
take up space in their garage.
Yes.
Agree.
So that's what I'm calling out.
And even the people who might feellike they are, you know, the most.

(17:49):
A feminist of people stillthink that I, I can't go in
there, like I can't touch tools.
I can't do this.
I can't do that.
I'm like, Oh, who's telling you,you can't do that because you
can, I can, Melissa can, she does.
We both do.
Like you can, you have tostart from somewhere to learn

(18:10):
something new and all of us have.
And so did your dad and so did yourhusband and so did your brother.
Just because they are male andyou are female does not mean you
don't belong in the garage or thatyou don't You should own tools.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I just think there are still (18:25):
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these very gender specific.
Norms that are still in place on certainthings and I think garage slash tools
is one of them and to me I just alwayslook at it as listen, no one's asking
me to work at Home Depot I am NOT goingto sign up to be a handyman tomorrow.
I know I know enough to be dangerous Iknow enough to install an Elfa closet by

(18:47):
myself All those things but it I'm notgonna be able to get out like a circular
saw and make you a cabinet, right?
But that I think that stops peoplebecause they immediately say I
don't know what these things are.
Therefore, I can't organize them.
And to that, I say, let'sstop being ridiculous.

(19:07):
We organize things all thetime that we don't understand.
I don't knit.
I don't understand, you know, a lotof crafting things that I organize.
I ask some questions.
I start to get an ideaof what the things are.
I try to learn.
And then if I get stuck, I will ask aclient like, Hey, tell me a little bit
about how you use this or whatever.

(19:27):
It's the same thing ina garage with tools.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: If we are working alone in a garage (19:31):
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and the client isn't with us andthe client has specialty, you know,
projects or whatever, we either willset it to the side if we're totally
stumped and it's we can't figure it out.
Or we pull out our phone, we take apicture of it, and we search it on
Google, and it tells us what it is.

(19:51):
So then when it tells us what it is,we know what category it goes in.
And I do this for things thatI even think I know about, like
when it comes to sports equipment.
Sometimes these sports equipmentlook all the same when it comes to
pads and shields and all of that.
But if you take a picture ofit and go Google it, it'll
tell you that's a hockey pad.
That's for motocross.
That's for baseball.

(20:13):
And that's a great point.
Toy rooms.
I think we do have the mostin toy rooms and kitchens when
it comes to toys and gadgets.

Yeah.
Oh yeah.
I like, I take pride in this is asilly thing, but I feel really good
about myself when I'm at a client andthey don't know what something is.
And I'm like, I do.
And especially when it'ssomething really obscure.
Or if you've worked with a clienta long time, and you can be like,

(20:39):
Do you remember that thing threesessions ago in a blah, blah, blah?
I think this is it.
And they're like, Oh mygosh, you're a genius.
It's one of my favorite things.
But yeah, Google Lens, so Googlingthings is everybody's friend.
Okay, you can Google.
Anything.
And if you don't know what we're talkingabout on your phone, on the Google
app, there is a little camera icon.

(20:59):
It's called Google Lens.
You can literally take a pictureof something and it will give you
back search results from the greatinternet of what something is.
Use that.
It's your friend.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I will give you a pointer. (21:11):
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It is so much easier to search on a photoif you take that item and lay it on a
flat surface, lay it on a table, lay it onthe ground, so it's just that image, just
that item, and then that's the only thingit focuses on, and then boom, you have
your answer within less than 30 seconds.
And you can move on and this isn't justlike we said, this isn't just for garages.

(21:35):
This is for every room, every item.
I do this myself all the time.
Just whatever.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: It's, it's a great way to be able to (21:40):
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find some of that stuff out, but Ijust, I don't want people to be afraid
of stuff that they don't understand.
You can just start to figure thatstuff out and start to, it's just,
it all comes down to categorizing it.
It's really not that bad.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. (21:55):
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And a lot of times if you do have a largegarage project where the homeowner has
very specific, you know, projects, theykind of already have stations established.
It's just.
has exploded.
So it kind of does help you a little bit,at least like hone in on what's going on
with everything that's happening in there.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Do you have anything else on your (22:17):
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list as to why people avoid garages?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I have more to tap on, on the fear. (22:20):
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Okay.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So along with the topic of, I believe (22:25):
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every woman and human being on earthdeserves to take up space in their garage.
A lot of it, I think also does comedown to fear and some of our own
experiences with you got yelled at.
for you know going in your dad's domainyou got yelled at for touching your dad's

(22:46):
tools your mom always told you don't goin there that's your dad's space you know
things like that or even like seeing ourgrandparents act like that and that's
where i think another thing people needto think more about their fears on spaces
because if somebody wants to bring you into help them in that space, they're saying
you belong here and I need you here.

(23:06):
So try to drop those fears.
And it's like everything inour lives and in our job.
It's so uncomfortable and scaryat first but if somebody's willing
to pay you for it and they trustyou for it, just it's worth it.
Yeah.
And kind of tread water for a while,it might be a little scary, but then

(23:27):
you'll get used to it and it'll becomeso much easier and then you might
enjoy it and make a lot of money on it.
So just do it scared.
That's been kind of my whole thingthis year is just to do it scared and
if the end, if you complete it scaredand you absolutely hate it and never
want to do it again, at least youcan say you gave it a shot and you
didn't let fear dictate your business.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Fear or just the unknown of like (23:50):
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if you've just, if you've alreadydecided, and this is my big thing,
just, I think with any space, if you'vealready decided without ever doing
it, that you hate it, you haven'tgiven it, just give it one fair shot.
And you may find outthat it's really good.
I will say the other thing I think.
about this space.
And again, we're beingvery sexist slash gender.

(24:12):
We're like splitting things very muchinto like binary, you know, male,
female, whatever, but we're just going toovergeneralize for the purposes of this.
I also think because typically organizersare women with very limited exceptions.
The second thing is often thepeople that are hiring us.
Are typically the woman of the house.

(24:33):
It's not often that we, you know,that the husband contacts us.
And I think sometimes and we talkabout this a lot in our group
when you have husbands who areblockers of the organizing process.
Which also unfortunatelyhappens in our business.
I think that that can kindof stop people as well.

(24:53):
If they feel like, I'm being asked to dothe garage, but this spouse of my client
who seems a little hostile to my presence.
If that is really more of theirspace, I think we can start to
kind of take some of that in too.
So in that case, I wouldjust say, make sure you're
communicating with your client.
If it is kind of the domain of a spouse,you're going to have to get them involved.

(25:18):
Just use your charm and your, youknow, delightful personality to make
sure they understand that you're notthere to get rid of all their stuff.
My guess is, as I have beenin many of these situations.
You've got a wife that's hewill not throw away any lumber.
He will not lose a lot.
So you're going to have to, that'sone of the situations where we end

(25:38):
up being marriage therapists, right?
Yeah.
So these are all things that kindof go along, I think with the fear
or the uncertainty or whatever wordyou want to use and getting past
that, I think can give your clienta really, really positive result.

undefined
And I will say that we've hadexperience with that where the,
you know, wife initially hiresus to kind of do the whole home.
And then she's I really wouldlike you to do the garage, but
my husband doesn't think so.
Well, we get him involvedinitially with the consultation
and explaining everything.
And then we basically say.
Garage will be last.. You watch what wedo throughout the rest of your house.

(26:14):
You watch how we aren't justcoming in and chucking everything.
You watch how we set up systemsand we respect and honor
your stuff and your property.
And then eventually they'relike, okay, yeah, I'm ready.
Let's get this party started becausethey just see how effective it is.
And that we're not, you know,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: just going to throw everything away. (26:30):
undefined
Exactly.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I will, this could just be for (26:33):
undefined
me and you if it makes no sense,but I'm going to add this point.
Do it.
So a lot of people are afraidbecause they're not familiar
with the things in the garage.
I'm going to point out that everythingin the garage, including all tools and
power tools, are mine, not my husband's.
Yeah, I have purchased themor I have been gifted them.

(26:54):
I do all the household projects,not my husband and maintenance
because I prefer it that way.
I enjoy doing it.
My husband was the one that grew upbeing taught all of these things.
Doing all the stuff, fixingcars and helping change the,
replace the roof and all of that.
I was not taught any of this and Idid not grow up doing any of this,

(27:16):
but I watched my dad be a handyman andI'm just like, well, he's a handyman.
Anybody can be handy.
You just got to learn how to do it.
So I basically taught myself.
And supplied everything and this is somepoint that actually my husband loves to
talk about because he's just like my wifedoes it all like literally those are all
her tools and he just he loves that he'sso fascinated that the fact that I'm

(27:40):
basically saying F society standards.
I choose pink tools over anything else.
Cause I love pink and I'm a girlstill, but it's like you, just because,
you know, he was raised that way.
I was not raised that way, but it'ssomething that I took an interest in.
And I never for once thought.
I should not have tools.

(28:01):
That never ever crossed my mindthat I should not have my own tools.
I should not learn how to do these things.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I have a lot of people who are (28:08):
undefined
shocked when I tell them that Iinstall Elfa closets for my clients.
I did one this week and people arelike, wait, what are you talking about?
Don't you have to drillthings into the wall?
And I'm like, yep, you do.
And what I personally did was duringthe dark days of the pandemic, I
said, I want to learn how to do this.
And I installed closets in my own house.

(28:30):
Yes.
So I ordered all thecontainer store stuff.
I, if I messed it up, I could redo it.
It was my house.
Who cares?
I didn't have to learn, you know,there on someone's wall, I have
installed by myself a ton of closets.
Sometimes my husband, whom wecall Mr. Home by Eleven, sometimes
he comes with me to help out ifit's a particularly big project.

(28:52):
But honestly.
It's great.
I love being able to do that.
And it, I don't know, I really enjoy it.
So it's a trial and error kind ofa thing, but I really encourage
you if this is something youfeel comfortable with, go try it.

undefined
Go out there, buy yourself a drill,get yourself some screws and a level
and measuring tape and all of that.
You don't have to buy the highest brandbecause you're not going to be out a
carpenter you just got to do the basics.
And then also you know, every daythat I use my tools more and I do more
projects, you become more and moreconfident, just like anybody else.

(29:30):
So then it's like at first youthought I can't even hang a
picture and now you're like, okay,my limit is like 5, 000 pounds.
I can't go past that.
Right.

Yeah.
No, I've done that a bunch of timeslike kind of under the, the you know,
this is maybe more styling or staging,but I hang pictures for clients.
I I will occasionally hang ashelf, something like that.
Like sometimes that's just a nice part ofa cloth, you know, to finish up a project.
But in general, if you open yourselfup, there are probably a lot of things

(30:00):
in your organizing job that are in yourorganizing business that you can start
that just involves learning a few.
I mean, and I'm talking liketotal basics, and this is a place
where YouTube university, as wecall it, will really help you.
There are tons of tutorials onYouTube and other places that
can really help with this.

undefined
And your clients honestly will be amazedwhen they're like, what can't you do?

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You declutter, (30:24):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: you organize, you hang my pictures, (30:25):
undefined
you adjust my shelves, all of that.
It's.
It's kind of a one stop shop for thingslike that because then they don't have to
wait another five months for their husbandto hang a couple pictures on their wall.
You're like, no, let me handle that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Then my other tip, we're really (30:40):
undefined
going all over the place.
My other tip for that in the causewe've all had clients that are like,
well, my spouse was supposed to do X,Y, Z, and he hasn't done it also have a
really good handyman in your repertoirethat you can give as a referral.
My handyman is beloved by my clients.

(31:00):
And then I, and I'vetalked about this before.
He's given me a bunch offree work at my house.
Cause I've referred somany clients to him.
So have that guy to be like,listen, you're not getting
the house projects done.
I feel you call Kevin.
Kevin sounds great.
Kevin's great.
And when he retires, I'm going to be sad.
Yeah.
Okay.
So garage logistics.
If, if you are like, okay, fine, I get it.

(31:23):
Let's do it.
But how do I do it?
What is your process on garages?
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Typically we always try (31:28):
undefined
to bring in extra help.
So if you are a solo organizer, reach out.
If you have anybody that would everbe interested in organizing with you,
that is not afraid of a dirty job.
It's just so much easier,especially in a garage.
Cause there are bigthings or heavy things.
So having an additional professionalhelp there with you is awesome.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will break in and say, I am (31:49):
undefined
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 husbandwas like extremely impressed that I got.
There was, they had literally a cardoor that they wanted to get rid
of and I put it in my car by myselfand he's who helped you with this?
And I'm like, I just did it myself.

(32:10):
And then they also had an industrialsize 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 extrabonus points from your clients.
Just throwing that out there.
You're right.
Yeah.
I will say we have

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: bought, what do we have? (32:24):
undefined
One of those interchangeable hand cartsthat goes from a cart to an upwards dolly.
We use that in garages all the

time.
And yeah.
Okay.
That's a great point.
that you can get them.
There's one at Costco.
That's really, really good.
Yes.
Any sort of cart.
I think that is a great suggestionbecause there is whether you're working by
yourself or with people having somethingthat can help you move from side to side.
I just got a like a folding.

(32:55):
Handcart from it doesn't itdoesn't go up and down like the one
you're talking about, but I justgot it at Home Depot is like 45.
It saved my bacon on a big moving job.
So yeah,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: and that's the great thing is it's (33:05):
undefined
perfect for moving and other projects.
We don't just use it on garagejobs, or if we're hauling a bunch of
donations down, you know, a weird paththat you can't bring your car up to.
We've done that.
So yeah, that's a freebie.
That wasn't on my list ofthings to talk about was extra.
Ha, ha, ha!
You're welcome.
Also, I wanted to add, oh yeah, go ahead.

(33:27):
My hand cart is pink.
You can find, of course it is.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: It's great. (33:30):
undefined
We will link also we'll link in the shownotes as much stuff as we're talking
about that we have links for, we willput them in the show notes because
they really are things that will helpand are very worth the investment.
In this kind of thing,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: there are things that I bring (33:46):
undefined
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 whatyou use for other areas of organizing.
So

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: what else is on that list of things? (33:55):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I say, number one, you also set. (33:57):
undefined
Your policies, which usuallyhas to do with weather for us.
So like I mentioned before, we trynot to work in a garage if it's
above 90 degrees with humidity.
Yeah.
Sometimes in central Illinois, itcan be 80 degrees, but it feels
like a hundred with humidity.
That can also be time ofday that you want to work.

(34:17):
We usually try to start garages.
Earlier than we do anyother job last year.
We, I started working and I was by myself.
The client wasn't there.
I started working at 6 30 AM becauseit was in the middle of summer.
We were on a timeline.
So we really had to get inthere and get some hours in.
And I'm like, well, that's 630.
It's still only 80 degrees.
So I worked up until 1030.

(34:38):
I don't do that for anything else thatwas only for this specific garage job.
I

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: will, I'll also say I, and this (34:45):
undefined
is just a preference thing.
And same thing.
I'm not, I'm not doing extended hours.
For many projects, but onthe right project, I will.
And sometimes for me, I'd preferto do a garage late in the day.
Like sometimes, especially if it's warmeroutside, I'll say I'll be there at four
30 or five, and then I might work tillnine or something that works for me.

(35:07):
I know it doesn't work for everyone, butthat's personally what I would prefer.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep, that's actually what (35:10):
undefined
we did last year as well.
We kind of try to focus on earlymornings or late in the evening,
because then in the evening, youknow, it's progressively going to get

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: cooler and cooler. (35:18):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: In the mornings, (35:19):
undefined

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: it just gets hotter and hotter. (35:20):
undefined
It is.
It's just going to get more andmore gross as the day goes on,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: and some other things for scheduling (35:25):
undefined
is a lot of people might be wantinggarages done on weekends, so that
could be something that you open up.
And we also talked about you couldpotentially charge more for garage
jobs, whether it is for schedulingon the weekends and having that
ultimate spot, or just because of theinconvenience for it is to do garages.

(35:47):
Another thing is kind of depends onhow full the garage is with stuff.
Sometimes if a client, if their garageis completely packed full and they
want to get rid of 90 percent of it, wesay, okay, you have to get a dumpster.
Like we're not going to entertain.
coming in here and trying to makepiles until we have a receptacle
to put all the garbage in.
So either a dumpster or schedulingit around, we do our city does

(36:09):
bulk pickup days where you can puteverything on the curb and then
they'll eventually pick it up.
Or if they have a truck or a trailerwhere they can haul off stuff to the dump.
So arranging all of that for disposal ofbig garbage items, we try to do before the
day of because it's just it can be timeconsuming figuring all of that out while

(36:29):
you're trying to work so you might aswell have all that ready to go the day of.

I will also add in many, many, many areas,
you can get a Bagster from Home Depot.
They probably have them other places,but you can probably order them.
A Bagster is like a mini dumpster,but it doesn't require any it requires
so little work, it's almost shocking.
You buy a Bagster,they're like 35, I think.

(36:55):
It's a ginormous bag.
That you lay out on your drivewayand then you can fill it up and
then you contact the you can't,it's waste management that does it.
You contact them and they do a pickup.
They have a thing online where you cantype in your zip code and make sure that
they pick up there and the whole thing.
I think it's like 249for them to pick it up.

(37:16):
And they literally just plunk itoff your driveway and you're gone.
And I've used that for a ton ofclients and it's a ton easier
and less invasive than having adumpster on your driveway too.
Or if you have like less stuffthat needs to go in a dumpster,
it's just, it's very convenient.
So I highly recommend looking up Bagster.

(37:36):
That is great.
Cause waste management islike almost everywhere.
So yeah.
Waste management.
Yes.
Tons of places.
So Bagster, B A G S T E R. If youare a true Minnesotan, you would
pronounce it Bigster, but I'm notthat's a, that's a good thing too,
because I think there are a lot ofthings in the garage that are truly.
Trash.
Okay.

(37:56):
Obviously.
And by the way, when you get thebag, sir, it has a whole list of
things that they don't accept, right?
Like it's very obvious things likehazardous waste, all that kind of stuff.
I think that we have so many things thatare just destined to be in the trash.
They're not going to bedonations from a garage.
So you're exactly right.
If they have a ton of stuff, youneed to have a garbage receptacle.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: The other option, a lot of people, more (38:17):
undefined
people are starting to be junk haulers andareas they're usually posting on Facebook.
marketplace or in groups.
And just like any junk hauler, youcall 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 dowith it, as long as it's legal.

(38:37):
I mean, don't just dump it,you know, I don't want that.
But yeah,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: well, But I think that's a good segue to (38:41):
undefined
one of the reasons that I think peopleget overwhelmed by garage jobs are
sometimes there are things in garages thatare not clear cut about where they go.
Yeah.
So garages are a place thatyou'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.

(39:02):
Yard chemicals, things like that.
You have to find specializedhomes, batteries.
Yeah, batteries, all of that.
So a couple of, a coupleof hot tips on this.
First one is RIDWELL it's not in everysingle area, but there's a service called
RIDWELL, R I D W E L L, that will recycleall sorts of I mean, they'll recycle

(39:25):
literally anything you can imagine.
They come to your house, they pickit up, you don't have to go anywhere.
It's amazing.
So highly recommend looking up RIDWELL.
Very, very good investmentfor your business.
The other thing too ischeck out your local area.
So county is usually the one that,that does this, but I'm very fortunate.
My county has really good recyclingoptions and it's not just recycling.

(39:49):
They will take hazardous waste.
They will take old paint.
They will take a lot of things that youfind in garages that need to find a home.
And at least where I am, it's free.
So knowing the resources inyour area of where things go is
critically important for a garage.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And when it comes to more of those like (40:05):
undefined
environmentally dangerous hazardousthings in our area, we have something
called an ecology action center.
So if there is any type of ecologyorganization, they usually have a very
extensive list of what you can andcannot dispose of, where, How much
it would cost or if they have futureevents like hazardous waste disposals or

(40:29):
paper shredding or anything like that.

Yeah, I highly recommend doing a good amount
of research just in your local area onwhere this stuff goes because you probably
have resources you don't even know.
Like if you, if you've never lookedit up, you probably have stuff that
you're like, Oh my gosh, I didn'tknow that I could take that XYZ place.

undefined
We have the most convenientelectronics recycling in our area.
And the only inconvenience is it's notopen 24 hours, but it's self serve.
You pull up, everything's clearly labeled.
I love.
Stuffing my vehicle full of electronicsthat people are like, Oh, it's broken.
What do I do with it?
Give it to me, drop it off.

(41:09):
And then you're done like, Oh my God.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Well, we have, we're also very lucky. (41:12):
undefined
Ours isn't quite as good as what you'redescribing, but , I didn't know mine
existed until I became an organizer.
And I think about all the thingsthat I was like, I didn't know
where those, those went, but if yourCounty doesn't have all of that.
paint usually can go to SherwinWilliams or other paint locations.
A lot of times, theywill do paint disposal.

(41:33):
Just call them, look it up online.
And there are probably other resourcesin your local area, but just knowing
where all that stuff goes insteadof going Oh, I don't really know, or
throwing it in your garbage, whichis not always the right choice.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Like not only, I mean, come on, (41:50):
undefined
we only have one earth here.
But you can start fires.
So that's back.
Also start fires.
Yeah,

I am.
I'm a little bit of a freak about safety.
By the way, I learned the otherday that a lot of house fires
start with the bathroom fans.
Yes.
Okay.
So I so anyway, but I like heardone time that if you put too many
batteries together, like nine volts,can start a fire if they hit the
wrong and I was like, forget it.

(42:18):
So now nine volts.
I literally I'm such a weirdo.
I will put electrical tape over a ninevolt battery before I put it in the bag.

undefined
Yeah.
Me and Derek have stopped running ourexhaust vent in our bathroom, except
for when we're actively taking a shower.
And then for 15 minutes after, eventhough our landlord, when we moved
in, he's can you keep us running?
You know, it doesn't moisturedoesn't build up for yeah, that's.
No

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: problem, but it's a humidifier if (42:40):
undefined
that's what you're worried about.
Yeah, exactly.
That's what I said.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I'm like, we should just do humidifier. (42:44):
undefined
We have one.
Yeah.
Yeah, there have been a lot of firesactually locally from people throwing
batteries and recycling or in thegarbage and then the recycling trucks
and the garbage trucks catch onfire in the middle of neighborhoods.
It's really bad.
Massive trucks full of flammablematerials in the middle of neighborhoods.
And it's just

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: and smelly materials, might I add. (43:04):
undefined

undefined

Yeah.
Nobody wants burning hotgarbage in their neighborhood.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: No. (43:11):
undefined

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: While we're on this subject, man, we (43:12):
undefined
are really going off on a tangent.
Really?
I'm going to throw, I'm going tothrow this other one in here and I'm
throwing this in here because I havean exceedingly brilliant client.
Who did not know this get yourvents cleaned in your house.
It's like 400.
They will clean your dryer vents.

(43:33):
They will clean all thevents in your house.
You need to do it likeevery two or three years.
So it's, it's not, you know, youdon't have to do it every three
months, like every two or three years.
One of the other number one causesof house fires are dryer fires.
So I personally refuse tolet, if, if nobody's in the
house, our dryer does not run.

(43:54):
I tell clients this too.
I have a client whose house caught onfire when they were at church because they
ran the dryer and they went to church.
And when they came home,their house was on fire.
So yeah, dry and get your vents cleanedout in your house for health and safety.

undefined
We've stopped running our dishwasherbefore we leave because of that too.
Just a fear of.
Yeah.
This is a giant appliance thatis running, and if something
happens, we can't control it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: It's, and on a dishwasher, it's (44:20):
undefined
water and 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 firesand tools, whatever.
It's shit that you shouldn't

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: be afraid of, but we are kind of afraid (44:37):
undefined
of, so let's prepare a little bit for it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Very long podcast title, but (44:41):
undefined
I might have to go with it.
Okay.
So other garage tools, Ithink like contractor bags.
I'm not a. Big like I don't show up atmy client with 200 things, but if I'm
doing a garage contractor bags are a must.

undefined
We bring contractor bags.
I actually have reduced thesize of contractor bags I use.
I used to get like thebiggest and the giant ones

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: are not great. (45:06):
undefined
No.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Now I try to get the 30 gallon, (45:07):
undefined
which is about twice the sizeof a normal kitchen trash bag.
And yeah, we.
Use those.
We use, I try to bag up as much aspossible, even if we have a dumpster.
Cause we just don't wantflying debris and stuff.
If it can fit in a bag, wetry to squeeze it in there.
Just keep things contained.
Also, if things aren't in a bagand somebody wants to look inside

(45:29):
their dumpster, it'd be like, Oh, Idon't want to get rid of this now.
No, let's keep it in a bag.
It's practical.
Yeah.
Functional and practical.
Yes.
Another big tool that I think is reallyimportant for garages that I think would
make everybody's life so much easier.
is if you have a shop vac

or

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: wet vac, we don't use it as (45:50):
undefined
much wet, but with a shop vac,you can vacuum up everything.
It can be dust and dirtand leaves and debris.
It can be bugs.
It can be rodent droppings.
It can be gravel and small rocks.
And for us, we get cornstalks and leaves and stuff.
I literally do not Waste anyof my time sweeping in garages.

(46:15):
Cause all it is going to do is blowup everything and then you're gonna
exhaust yourself from sweeping.
I suck everything up and a shop vac ispowerful and the drum of it is huge.
So you'll never fill it up.
So that's like my biggest tip.
If you are afraid of the dirt and the dustand what are you going to do about it?
And the bugs.
Yeah.
Suck them up in a shop vac.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Totally. (46:36):
undefined
But where, so my recommendation forthat is one shop vacs are genius.
Wear a mask while you're doing it becausethere is a lot of just health and safety
wise, a lot of dust does get spun up.
So wear a mask.
While you're vacuuming, but that's great.
Also the other thing too, is even ifyou don't have a shop vac, if you're
working in a garage more than often,your client is going to have one.

(47:00):
So even if you don't own one, ifyou don't want to invest in one
right now you can just say Hey,do you have a shop vac available?
It'd be great if we could use it for this.
Yep.
You so much.
Yeah.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And if you want to use (47:10):
undefined
theirs, let them know.
before the first session so theycan dig it out and get it ready.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Also that, yes. (47:16):
undefined
And if they say, I, I know I haveone, but I don't know where it is.
I mean, I guess the good news is you'regoing to uncover it, but it might
not be in time for you to use it.
Yep.
I will give you like the rookiemistake that I made one time.
Which is I had a clientwho had a V messy garage.

(47:37):
And so I got the brilliant ideathat I was going to use a leaf
blower to blow out the garage.
Okay.
First of all, very efficient.
It did work.
Okay.
But the amount of dust thatit spun up was Alarming.
And so when I just think about what areyou breathing in all that kind of stuff
so it depends on what you have in thegarage and you can use a leaf blower,

(48:01):
but it just understand that that would besomething I would for sure mask up before
you do because yeah, really a lot of gunk

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: and we usually have a variety of masks. (48:11):
undefined
And gloves on us, especially for garages,sometimes we just do you know, the
basic and then when we're doing thereally nasty stuff, like vacuuming,
we'll use the real like N95 and 95.
So yeah.
And then for gloves most of the time ingarages, we're just using different types
of like work gloves or garden gloves youknow, but then sometimes if it's something

(48:32):
really, really gross that we don't wantany possibility of it touching us, we
will go ahead with a nitrile glove.
So you know, there'snothing coming in that.
And like you had mentioned earlier.
Your clients are not going to belike, Oh, you're using gloves.
They're going to be like,no, please, please do this.
They're not going to think twiceabout you putting on a mask or putting
some gloves on, or even switchingout a mask or gloves after they get

(48:54):
dirty and putting on something fresh.

Yeah.
Yeah.
And nitrile gloves are a great example.
Those are just like kind of theblue or purple gloves that you
often will see in medical settings.
But that's a great suggestion forsomething that then you just snap
them off, you throw them awayimmediately, go wash your hands, even
if you have, you know, done gloves.
But yeah, that's, that'sa great suggestion.

undefined

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing too, while we're (49:14):
undefined
talking about health and safety,before I forget, because I will I was
working in a garage several years agoand my client was wearing flip flops.
And I said, could you pleasego put on some proper shoes?
And she was like, kind of snotty about it.
She goes, I'm fine.
It's completely fine.
I don't, I'm not going to,she ended up in the hospital.

(49:36):
Getting stitches because it was kindof like, I don't want to like, say
I told you but I told you right?
Like I told you to go put onsome freaking proper shoes.
She dropped a VCR, a reallyold VCR directly on her foot.
And that ended all furtherprogress for the day.
I can tell you that for a fact, butfor you, for your team, for any, if

(49:58):
a, if a client is working with you.
Everybody has to have proper shoes.
Yep.
Period.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: 100%. (50:05):
undefined
That is the one thing that I amkind of a stickler with, with my
team, is you can wear whatever.
You can wear shorts, you can wearpants, t shirt, tank top, whatever.
You will wear closed toed shoes,like, wherever we're at, because
you don't want to step in anything.
You don't want anythingto fall on your feet.
Yep.
The thicker, the better.
Just like any other shoe.

(50:26):
Yeah.
You're welcome.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will have so I, I have an (50:27):
undefined
old pair of really supportivetennis shoes, but they are older.
And so I will use those on garagejobs because they are, you know, you
do need supportive shoes obviously,but also I can just throw them in
the washer when I'm done and I don'treally care about them, whatever.
But they also have enough protectionfor if I drop something or whatever.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, that's actually a really good point (50:51):
undefined
that you need really supportive shoesbecause the garage is just hard concrete.
There's no cushion to it.
There's, you know, nothing.
Our feet do hurt worse at the endof the day after being in a garage
because there's just nothing to that.
So zero support.
Yeah.
Layer up on the padding, wear yourgood, good, not good, good, because

(51:12):
they're going to get dirty, butwear your very supportive shoes.
Yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Do you bring other any other products (51:16):
undefined
with you or any other supplies?
So the

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: first product, the first supply I grab for (51:23):
undefined
packing up a garage job are, are box fans.
So I purchased one box fanper person for on our team.
Okay.
And sometimes we'll bring extras andthen if a client has fans, we'll be
like, yep, bring them out becausegarages are going to get stuffy

(51:45):
usually and like hot and stuffy.
And then we just do this because.
We kind of spread out a little bitwhen we're working and we're each
in our own area doing our thing.
And that way you can just plugin that fan and have it blasting
on your face, on your legs.
Sometimes we put them at the endof the garage so it just kind of
keeps the air flowing through.
And I initially got these forgarages and now we take them

(52:08):
on every job during the summer

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: because we were telling you (52:11):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: hot houses. (52:12):
undefined

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Listen, I did three (52:14):
undefined
podcasts ago or whatever.
I did a whole podcast on perimenopauseand like other things, like
just in general, I'm just hot.
I was in a house yesterday.
That was the thermostat was 77 degrees.
And I wanted.
To jump off of the roof.
So bringing a fan, I have startedto bring a small fan with me,
just like a Vornado or what am I?

(52:36):
Yep.
I'm looking at it on the floor.
It's like a Honeywell.
I think it was 15, but I bringit with me because even inside
houses sometimes I need that.
But in a garage it's imperative.

undefined
Especially when we work in homes withelderly clients that are always cold
and in the middle of summer they have.
their thermostat at 75 and above.
Yeah.
And we can't convincethem that we're dying.
So we just bring in fans and make it work.
But yeah, that is one of the thingsthat really will help you feel
better about being in a garage.

(53:10):
And if everybody has their own fan, thenyou can position it however you want.
You can take it with you ifyou're walking across the room and
you're gonna work in this area.
So that's like my, honestly, like Isaid, the very first thing that we
grab and probably the most importantrandom supply that you could use
in a garage for yourself to keepyourself cool down and comfortable.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Just while we're talking about (53:30):
undefined
cool and comfortable and whatever.
I don't think we've talked about timingyet, like specific timing, but for health
and safety, I do think it's importantto be very careful especially with, you
know, heat exhaustion, anything like that.
Depending on where you live,obviously we all live in wildly
different areas, but you know, I'mnot going to do a garage in December.

(53:53):
But someone in Arizona isn't goingto do a garage in July unless they
are climate controlled, which somegarages are climate controlled.
But I would argue even with a climatecontrol garage, the best, most
efficient way to do a garage is tobring everything out onto the driveway.
And so realistically, you reallyneed to think about health and safety
wise when you are going to schedulegarage jobs and when you are going to

(54:15):
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, (54:19):
undefined
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 notas cold, because of all these factors.
You don't have to feel like you have totake a garage job just because somebody
wants it done right then and there.
There's no garage organizing

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: emergencies. (54:40):
undefined
They can wait.
Lack of planning on your part does notconstitute an emergency on my part.
That

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: was the very first thing I (54:47):
undefined
learned when it came to boundariesin every avenue of life.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yes, but I want you to think about (54:54):
undefined
realistically, you know, if you,especially if you live in a place
where it gets hot very early inthe year, think about what those
parameters are of when you want to work.
I will say living in a place that is cold.
I will do garages later into theyear than most people will, but

(55:15):
that's because I'm hot all the time.
So I'm like, Oh, it's 54 degrees outside.
Amazing.
45 even better.
But you've got to set yourparameters of what works for you.
And if you have a team, you know,there may be people that are
like, that's not fair to do to me.
And some people just aren't into it.
And so you just have to know that as well.

undefined
Yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I actually prefer cold garages too. (55:32):
undefined
I get

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: hot. (55:34):
undefined
It's easier for me to bundle up, but whenyou start working, you start sweating.
So yeah, I'd rather

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: take a bunch of stuff into (55:40):
undefined
a client, like attic space.
And I was so happy about it becauseI was like 50 degrees up there and I
was boiling hot and I'm like, great.
I have to be in the attic.
Fantastic.
That sounds wonderful.
Yeah.
But yeah, just being prepared forthat and also being upfront with your
client that again, if the weather isgoing to be bad and this is especially,

(56:01):
this can get especially prickly whenyou have teams that are scheduled.
So I remember last year in our InspiredOrganizer group we, which Sarah and
I would, by the way, love for you tobe in just, we would love to have you
in our wonderful little assemblage.
Join us.
We're great.
It's a great cult.
I promise.
It's really wonderful.
But anyway, someone wassaying we have a garage job.

(56:22):
I have six people scheduled.
It's supposed to pour rain for two days.
And we're like, listen,there are things you can do.
Like you can rent a tent.
You can, you know, there are thingsyou could do, but it's going to be
a lot more challenging to do thatrealistically if the weather isn't good.
So you're going to have to make somecontingency plans for that also.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, they're not that I've actually done (56:41):
undefined
it, but I've discussed it in the pastwith clients that should we go ahead and
schedule some rain check days when youput their project on the calendar, but
you're like, you know, you never know.
This is kind of an outsideproject in its spring.
So should we go ahead and say thiscan be our potential rain check day?

(57:02):
So that's another possibility todo just so you kind of have those
things covered and you don't feellike, well, now what do we do?
This whole job has juststopped because a little rain.
So

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love it. (57:13):
undefined
Okay.
So in terms of how you organize, I ama big take everything out to the extent
that is possible kind of a person.
Is that how you guys do it?
Oh

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: yeah. (57:25):
undefined

100%.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I take everything out if (57:26):
undefined
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.

Yeah.
But that just makes it easier.
Obviously there are exceptions.
Like we talked about tools a lotearlier, you're not bringing out a tool
bench or not, but, but like everythingneeds to kind of be out in the open.
You need to create enough spacefor yourself to be able to work.
Cause the other thing Isee in a garage a lot is.
People have really sub optimizedhow they deal with the space.

(57:57):
And I think having that kind of cleanslate of, Oh, it makes more sense for
us to put blah over here, that type ofthing, I think just becomes so much more
clear when you bring everything out.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, definitely. (58:07):
undefined
Yeah.
We usually go in and, usually havefolding tables that we set up for
easier sorting areas, especially forsmaller things, or if things are in
boxes, it's just easier to put itup on a table and sort through it.
If it is a garage that we're able to openup the door for larger items, we will pull
things out and start, you know, piles.

(58:29):
The tricky part with this, especiallyin the Midwest, depending on the time
of day and year, some people mightthink you're having a garage sale.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Garage sale. (58:36):
undefined

undefined
This happens a lot.
And when I've talked about it before withother organizers, they're like, what?
Yeah.
That doesn't happen in the country.
Well, it happens in the Midwest.
We do

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: things differently. (58:46):
undefined
All the time.

undefined
So we have done a coupleof different things.
If you feel like this might be anissue or people do approach you and
it makes your clients uncomfortable.
That's happened with some of my clients.
They're just like, Stopcoming up to my stuff.
We have either used ourvehicles to block the driveway.
We've used like their trash cans, orif there's a dumpster to block their
driveway we've used cones and things likethat, that just make it literally look

(59:09):
like, do not come into this driveway.
This is not a garage sale or wejust make sure our team knows.
Hey, if anybody approaches, oh,hi, sorry, this isn't a sale.
We're just organizing today.
Yeah.
You can start talking about your businessif you want, otherwise you can just walk
away and you can continue with your work.
Give them a card.
Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.
And also I think that opening yourself up.
So obviously every client is goingto be different, but I will say
this goes back to the you know,sometimes there's stuff in a garage,
you're like, what do I do with it?
I would say in garages in particularputting things on the curb , if your
neighborhood allows this, putting thethings on the curb with the big free
sign or Facebook marketplacing things.

(59:48):
I am routinely shocked at the thingsthat people will be like, I'll take that.
That can be your friend, especiallywith 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. (01:00:01):
undefined
It was basically if it wasn't garbageenough to go into the dumpster, but
they didn't want to try to actuallysell it, if it was worth a lot,
we're like, just put it on the curb.
And then at the end of the session thatday, I would take a picture and I would
post it on Facebook marketplace for free.
And by the next morning, whenI come back, everything's gone.
And then we start that over again.

(01:00:21):
And people, especially onFacebook marketplace are waiting
and looking for free listings.
And then they're going to go pick itup and do whatever they want with it.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You will get almost instantaneous (01:00:29):
undefined
results when you put things for free.
And I just want to be clear.
I don't sell things for clients.
That is not my jam.
I will use Facebook marketplacespecifically for those free
things to get them out.
And there are usually with someexceptions, things are picked up.
So quickly.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yep. (01:00:49):
undefined
Actually, last weekend, I helped my momclean out her basement and I'm like,
you don't need this storage shelf.
It doesn't work in here.
She's okay, let's just get rid of it.
I'm like, let's put it on the curb.
I don't feel like goingand donating it right now.
Correct.
I sit on the curb witha specific free sign.
I set my phone down and started a timer.
Within 10 minutes, it was pickedup and gone and we're like,
heck yes, out of her life.

(01:01:09):
She doesn't have toworry about it anymore.
And somebody else has anew new to them shelf.
So

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: yeah, I just try as much as possible, (01:01:13):
undefined
especially for clients who are veryunderstandably safety conscious.
I will just say nobody'scoming inside the house.
We're going to puteverything out on the curb.
Like I'm not, I'm not into the justhaving random people come in your house,
but on the curb, it's, it's great.
Marketplace has saved mybacon a million times.
Yep.
Okay.
So take everything out of the garage.

(01:01:34):
I know we're like all over the place.
You guys, this is just howthings are going today.
Take everything out of the garage.
And then I assume you're doingthe same thing that we always do.
We're categorizing.
We're figuring out what staysand goes all the things.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah. (01:01:47):
undefined
If the client is working with you, thisis when you start asking, you know,
them, what category does this go in?
Is this something that youwant to keep or get rid of?
Sometimes like with other spaces,they just need to wait till
everything is out and sorted beforethey can even make the decision.
Okay, yes, I have five hammers.
I don't need five hammers.
These are my two favoritethings like that.

(01:02:08):
And then usually, I mean, we kindof prefer to work without clients.
They can help sometimes and thensometimes we just need to get to our job.
So then after the sorting andcategorizing, we will send them away and
just be like, We're gonna start cleaningand that's when I bust out the shop
vac and we start sucking everything.

(01:02:28):
We do the floors, we do the walls,we do drawers, we wipe down shelving.
Basically, like you had mentionedbefore, we want this gross place
to not be gross anymore becauseit doesn't have to be gross.
So I don't like reorganizing andputting things away if a shelf is
dirty and that is the same in a garage.
It doesn't have to be like sparklingclean, but we dust it and we wipe it

(01:02:51):
off so that it can at least look nice.
And we just try to clean as best aswe can the whole, the whole thing.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I know that there might be people (01:02:59):
undefined
listening that will say I'm not acleaner, which I heartily agree with.
We are not house cleaners.
That is a different, greatprofession that talented people do.
And I do not happen to beone of those talented people.
But I will say in garages,I do a lot more clean.
I'm willing to do more cleaning.
Yeah.

(01:03:19):
Because I think it actually benefit,it not only benefits the client,
but it benefits me to have a cleanspace to put the stuff back in.
And I just, I don't have thetime to be sanctimonious about
the difference between being anorganizer and a cleaner in a garage.
I'm going to just do the work.

undefined
Yeah.
100%. And it's we don't even gointo it with really our own cleaning
supplies necessarily besides a vacuum.
I will bring like somemicrofiber cloths that I love.
And then that's pretty much it.
We just use.
cloths and water and a vacuum And thenwhen you think about the, like some of
this dirt can actually be a ridiculousamount of clutter, especially if it's

(01:03:58):
like a woodworking client and there's likepiles of shavings like this big underneath
shelves and tables that you need toorganize, it just makes sense to sweep or
vacuum that up and get it out of your way.
And like I said, it doesnot have to be pristine.
But they're going to be amazedat their garage being clean.
Yes, they are going tobe really, really pleased

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: with you. (01:04:20):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I just find it, the basic cleaning (01:04:21):
undefined
of wiping surfaces down anddusting and things, I personally
find that a part of my job.
I don't, you know, I'm not scrubbingfloors and mopping their houses.
I agree.
But if I empty out somethingand there's dirt on the floor,
I'm going to sweep it up.
Yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I always like to know from the (01:04:39):
undefined
client, like where are your vacuum?
You know, do you have a handheld back?
I know some people bring, I don't tendto bring things a ton of things with me,
but I will look for the handheld vacuum.
I will look for the, just to tryto make it look, I just think
it's an above and beyond thing.
Yeah.

undefined
And I personally will actually just askthem do you have your cleaners like,
you know, if they have a specific multisurface cleaner it because then I know
that they already trust that cleaner andit's safe for them to use in their home.
So I just will use that if I'mnot using water, then I'll.
Use their cleaner and some papertowels or something totally with you.

(01:05:16):
Yeah,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: so After you have figured out all of (01:05:17):
undefined
the stay and go I know we've talkedabout it kind of already but there is
some really good stuff out there forgarage organization like Really good.
So tell us about some kindof your favorite things

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I love, and this is almost for all (01:05:34):
undefined
spaces, I love those basic metal shelvesthat you kind of see in restaurants
that are, they can be chrome or blackor white and you can adjust the shelves
to whatever height and they come in.
So many different sizes, literally.

(01:05:55):
And you can find themat every box home store.
You can find them at Walmart.
You can find them at all.
Yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Walmart container store, Costco. (01:06:02):
undefined
I've seen them a millionplaces on Amazon before.
They're not as nice, but they're

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: more expensive and not (01:06:11):
undefined
as sturdy on Amazon.
They're not great, but

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: in a pinch. (01:06:15):
undefined

undefined
Yeah.
Home Depot usually has avery wide variety lows.
Places like that.
I love those shelves.
I don't really know if there'sa proper name for them.
I

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: just call them stainless steel (01:06:26):
undefined
shelves, like a container store there.
It's the inter metro or the metro Iknow, but the only reason I'm saying
that is because you can look them upthere to know what we're talking about
and then you can go, but yeah, they're,they're such, such good, sturdy shelves.
You can also put wheels on them sometimes.
I have one in my garage onwheels and it's amazing.

(01:06:51):
I love it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: They have wheels, they have flat (01:06:52):
undefined
shelves you can add, they have mats andliners, they have hooks, like so many
different, especially from the containerstore, they have so many different.
Accessories for these shelves.
We've actually used them to createadditional pantries and kitchen
space in a very small kitchen once.
They are so awesome.
I, like I mentioned, we use those inall spaces and I recommend them for all

(01:07:16):
garage jobs because of the variety ofsizes they come in, the affordability.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The the other thing I was going (01:07:22):
undefined
to say is ULine the company.
They're kind of like, well, theydo a lot of a lot of things.
ULine actually is kind ofslept on for organizers because
it does tend to be in bulk.
Like you tend to haveto buy like more things.
But they some in terms of thisshelving that we're talking about,
you line is a good source of that.
And then also if you have a clientthat has a garage that is particularly,

(01:07:46):
you know, dirty, dusty, like I knowsome of our friends in Texas have been
having really bad dust storms lately.
You know, these are not things about,it's not the cleanliness of the garage.
It's literally where you live.
ULine also has covers that you can get.
for that shelving.
Nice that so just thinkingabout other options, like
other places you can look for.
Yeah.

undefined
So we always usually first go to theidea of just doing shelving and bins.
Clients usually prefer that havingtheir stuff, their stuff out.
We have also sourced cabinets, likethe standing metal cabinets for things
that they want to have enclosed.
Like we did a car washing cabinet.

(01:08:27):
Yep.
And, you know, paint supplies andcleaning supplies and things like that.
Those are nice if you were toget them from I think Husky
and Gladiator make those.
Or even just off brands.
Any enclosed metal cabinet, those arereally nice for smaller items or for areas
that have, like you mentioned, dust, dirt,rodents, bugs, things like that, that you
want to store smaller things enclosed.

(01:08:48):
Rather than having everything into a tub.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: A garage is a space in particular. (01:08:51):
undefined
This is always a hot button forme in any part of a house, but
especially in garages using thevertical space, using the wall space.
I know garages are different, but youdo tend to have a little bit more space
and putting things on walls and thereare a billion really good affordable
things you can put on the wall.

(01:09:12):
And we're going to talk about fancy thingsyou can put on the wall too, but container
store has a line of garage stuff wherelike we have it up in our garage where
we just hang all of our tools on it.
You can just go to a regular hardwarestore and get some hooks, but like really
thinking about how to use the wall spaceeffectively in a garage, I think is
incredibly important for reorganizingbecause a lot of people, I think just

(01:09:35):
store things on the floor of their garage.
And that causes some of theorganizational problem is stuff
is just like all over the floor,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: especially for the larger like (01:09:42):
undefined
landscaping tools like your rakesand shovels and things like that.
They almost need to be hung up on thewall, because what else are they going
to do either lay on the floor or, youknow, sit in a bucket trash can whatever.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio (01:09:56):
Yeah.
I think that

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: is a lot of clients are so overwhelmed (01:09:57):
undefined
because the floor is completely covered instuff and the walls are empty and they're
just, and it's, it's a blank wall too.
So they're just like, whatdo I even do with this?
Yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Everything, having a spot encourages (01:10:13):
undefined
people obviously to maintain it.
You know, our leaf blower getshung up in XYZ spot, it's not just
kind of getting thrown somewhere.
Yeah.
I have seen for garden tools inparticular, I have seen like a container
that has kind of, individual slotsthat some of those things can go in.

(01:10:34):
So nothing is hanging on the wall.
It's just a freestanding thingthat's on someone's floor.
So you can look up,garage organization tools.
I will tell you, this is a placethat Pinterest is going to shine up
some boards on Pinterest for garageorganization and get some good ideas
from there because there are probablythings, especially if you're less
familiar with this stuff, probably somegood organizational supplies that we're

(01:10:55):
not even going to talk about today.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: There's also a bonus because sometimes (01:10:56):
undefined
and slightly older homes, theremight already be organizational
things hung up like the peg boardsor the track systems and they're just
being underutilized by the client.
Yeah, those are particularly myfavorite, especially a pegboard.
Pegboards are great.
I, and especially if they're abovetheir like workbench or wherever

(01:11:18):
they're doing projects and it's, it's.
In your face accessible organization.
I would show you my pegboard right now,but it's covered in stuff because I
was preparing for a possible tornado.
So

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: yes, we're going to, yeah. (01:11:29):
undefined
I'll take a picture of it later.
Had to run away and get into a tornadoshelter yet on this call, which is good.
But a good pegboard, so especially if youare organizing, let's say someone has a
total mess of a tool bench and there's noorganization whatsoever, I would suggest
as much as possible, putting up a pegboardIkea Great pegboards, Home Depot, Lowe's,

(01:11:52):
any of those places, any of the big boxstores, Menards, if you're in my neck of
the woods there are lots of great toolstorage for pegboards, but pegboards
also work for a lot of other spaces.
They work for craft rooms.
They work in lots of spaces, butdefinitely look into that for tools.
I will say.
If you have a client that is willing tomake an investment in the garage, the

(01:12:16):
Gladiator system is pretty glorious.
If the client is, has the need, ifthey have the budget I do have a
client who did his entire garage.
I can't fathom how much it cost, buthis entire garage is Gladiator and
it is, it's really, really cool tobe able to move all the stuff around
and give him , the space with that.

(01:12:38):
What I will say with gladiator isthat's one that you're going to
need like a handyman or someoneusually to put that system in.
You want to be really, really careful thatyou have someone that has the, you know,
the tools and the skills to put that in.
I should say handy person.
Not just handyman.
I'm not right.
Oh, sorry.
But there are also kind of knockoffsof gladiator ULine has a system.

(01:13:02):
It basically a slat wall system iswhat you're going to be looking for.
But a lot of these systemshave come out now, Husky.
I think you were talking aboutwhere it's modular, but it's
specifically for garage storage.
Yeah.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And those systems are awesome. (01:13:15):
undefined
Like you mentioned, if your client hasthe money to invest in that, because all
of the pieces will match and interchangeand you can set it up however you
want and then it will look so nice.
Yes.
And then they're going to want toshow it off to their friends and
family and then you'll get more jobs.
So yes, look

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: how great my garage looks. (01:13:34):
undefined
But that any of those systems.
really, really helpful, especiallywhen you think about bigger things that
you have to store as much as possible.
If you can, you know, save valuablefloor space, get things up on a wall.
It really makes a lot of sense.
Also don't forget in garages,you can often use ceiling space.

(01:13:56):
So if you have a client thathas like a ton of stuff, there
are again, depending on budget.
There are those pulley systems that willlower and, and bring things up to kind
of like create some more space at theceiling of your garage, lots of different
things that you can do there as well.

undefined
They also might have attics or crawlspaces, which depending on their
location and how often they use it,sometimes those are great for holiday
decorations, or sometimes it's greatfor literally family keepsakes that
you're only keeping because it's.
200 years old and you needstore it somewhere, right?

(01:14:34):
Like I'm not gonna judge you on that.
Yes, we can keep this rocking horsethat your great-great-grandmother used.
That's fine.
. Yes, definitely.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: The other thing that I see in (01:14:41):
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garages a lot it's also in mypersonal garage, garage gym.
We have a garage gym set up.
And so that's one thing I see a lot too.
There are great organizing suppliesfor using wall space for workout stuff.
So Gladiator certainly makes somethere are also, if you go to some

(01:15:04):
of the kind of Garage gym suppliers.
Rogue is one of them.
You can look up how they store things.
So especially if you have someonethat is a weightlifter, like I
have a weightlifter in my house.
We've got a lot of thefree weights out there.
We got an organizer thatall the weights go on.
You can wheel it around the garage.
It's great.
So there are lots and lots of thingsout there too for garage gym equipment.

(01:15:28):
And because.
Yeah.
When I go into someone's garage gym,a lot of times they're just, the
stuff's just like in a corner andgetting some organization for that.
And especially using the wallspace for that is really smart.

undefined
Also, depending on your area, if you haveany cabinet companies, we have a local
company that started doing just closetsand now they do more garages as well.
And they have a lot ofpieces that are for.
Garage gyms and all the otherthings that people do in garages
sports and all that stuff.

(01:16:01):
And that's something that again,if the client has the budget for it
and wants a whole new system, that'slike the high end, really nice.
But

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: There are budget friendly ways to do all (01:16:11):
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of the things that we're talking about.
Yes.
Gladiator is a great example.
You do not have to wall plaster everyinch of your garage and gladiator.
You can get one specific long piece andrun it around the whole length of your
garage and just have one strip of it.
I know I'm not explainingit very well, but go online.

(01:16:33):
You'll see what I'm talking about.
But you can do things in anaffordable way that helps your client
massively with the organization.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And it doesn't even all have (01:16:41):
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to be name matching name brand.
Like we have a client that she had alot of black decor throughout her house.
So then when we were doing her garageand basement, we're like, let's do
black shelving and black cabinets andblack hangers and things like that.
And it was just the pops ofblack throughout her garage
made everything tied together.

(01:17:01):
They were all completely differentbrands, but it looked great.
And it looked.
Intentional, so it lookednice and more put together.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I'll tell you something just (01:17:09):
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on the aesthetic front, too.
This will sound crazy, but I havebeen in a couple garages where
they even have some things hung up.
Have some pictures, havesome, you know, like a lot of
times it's sports memorabilia.
But I have seen some really cool garagesthat people have said Hey, I wanna, I
wanna put, hang things up on the walljust like I would inside my house.

(01:17:31):
And that's another great way to add somepersonality to a garage and then also
make it not feel like it's just thistrash space that no one cares about.
It actually helps you be maintained.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So I think we, we all kind of get the (01:17:43):
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psychology behind that when your spacelooks good and you feel good, then you're
probably going to take care of it more.
And if your space looks likecrap, then you're probably
going to treat it like crap.
So yeah, just more waysof making your space.
The garage intentionally niceand extension of the house rather

(01:18:03):
than the just kind of thing thatyou don't want to talk about.
You don't want to look at, youdon't want your neighbors to see.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Again, I'm going to go back to my (01:18:12):
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own garage every once in a while.
When my garage door is open, I wantto end like a neighbor walks by.
I want to be like, I'm aprofessional organizer.
Can you tell?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I snapped a little bit at this one guy who (01:18:22):
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worked at Walmart a couple of years ago.
He was being annoying andwouldn't leave me alone.
And then when I insisted, I don'tneed help lifting these containers,
these bins in my car, he's Oh,your car is so full of stuff.
I'm like, yeah, it's for my job.
Yeah.
And he's Oh, okay.
And I'm like, can you just leave me alone?

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Just leave me alone. (01:18:42):
undefined
I was judging me.
I was at the containerstore the other day.
And our container store hasan employee who can be Yeah.
Yeah.
Judgmental.
That's how I'm going to say it.
And I had, my car was filled.
I've already talked about itwith these moving boxes, right?
And I had taken half of themoving boxes out of my car.

(01:19:03):
My car was packed with moving boxes.
I had taken half of the boxes out.
And then I said, I'm nottaking the other half out.
Cause I'm going to repackthese boxes in my car.
It's a ludicrous useof my time and energy.
So I had to pick up closet.
Closet components for the closetI was putting in and the, the
employee comes out and I opened theback of my car and she goes, Oh my.

(01:19:26):
And I'm like, absolutely not.
Judgmental.
You know, it's not like I have, it'snot like I filled the back of the
car with like rodents and garbage.
Okay.
Boxes.
Right.
And she's I just don't know how we'regoing to fit all this and I'm like,
ma'am, I literally said to her, Igo I'm pretty good at this and I
could load five closets in here.
Well, I'm at one closetsworth of stuff, calm down.

(01:19:50):
And I was just like, I got it.
Thank you so much.
And I was like, don't judge me for my car.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: How dare you? (01:19:55):
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People, we literallydo Tetris for a living.
We got this.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, I got it. (01:19:59):
undefined
I got it.
There anything we haven't covered?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Bins. (01:20:04):
undefined

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Oh, yeah. (01:20:05):
undefined
Let's do it.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Here's Sarah's hot take. (01:20:07):
undefined
Sarah's hot take.
We need like some backgroundmusic or something.
I know I hate the yellowand black bins Me too!
that everybody uses in their garages!
They're so ugly!
Yes, number one, they are ugliest thing.
They are the ugliest thing.
ugliest container out there.
Yes.

(01:20:28):
Number two.
Okay.
These lids don't actually latch.
They just sit on top.
I don't know if it's just me,but literally they don't latch.
And the only way they close is if you putheavy stuff on top of them, which makes it
so hard to put things away in these bins.
Yes.
Did I mention they were bulky?
No, I said ugly.
They don't close.
They're bulky, unnecessarily bulky.

(01:20:50):
The lids go into the bin.
So you can't even fillthe bin all the way up.

Also, I'm just going to go on a quick rant and
it sort of goes back to what Kim Snodgrassand I talked on the last podcast about
like people just having so much stuffand us starting to be frustrated by that.
People who have they have so many ofthe yellow and black bins that they
have to then hire someone to buildone of those systems to put them in.
Just stop already with that.

(01:21:14):
I can't, I can't handle that.
I'll do it if someone really, reallywants to, but it upsets me as a theory.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I had a client ask that last fall. (01:21:20):
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She's should I have somebodybuild me one of those?
I'm like, no, please.
Would you not recommend that?
I'm like, no, I wouldn'trecommend it to any client.
I think just use a shelf.
Cause then 10 years down the road,when you don't need this shelf
anymore, you can put it somewhere else.
You don't have to have a single use.
It's not just a single purpose bin thing.
Single purpose.
Or just maybe less stuff also.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: So I'll tell you the bins (01:21:42):
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that I do love are weather.
So you do, in my opinion, needweathertight weatherproof, you know,
all of those, all those things.
There are some exceptionally goodbins, Target has them not quite as
nicely, but Container Store does havesome higher end weathertight bins.
They're also They're mostly opaque, likethey're clear, but they're a little bit

(01:22:06):
opaque, so it's not like you're seeingevery single thing, but you have a
decent idea of what is inside the box.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I think that's my other (01:22:13):
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beef I have with these bins, isyou can't see inside of them.
And I've only ever had twoclients that are like, no, I'm
totally fine not seeing my stuff.
I know.
I know.
What's that?
I just need to organize.
Everybody else is I need to see my stuff.
I'm the same way

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: for the most (01:22:30):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: part. (01:22:30):
undefined
And I know they've recently comeout with clear versions of these,
but I just don't think that they aresuperior to other bins on the market.
I just think, again, it'sanother trendy thing.
It's a, look at thisperfect garage basement bin.
But there's better ones out there.
And I kind of like how I think,you know, women get the pink tax, I

(01:22:50):
think these bins are kind of a bluetax where it makes men feel better
about buying bins to organize in.
'cause it's oh, it's abig bulky bin, right?
Yeah.
And I'm like, yeah, and they're apain to use and all other stuff.
So I, I'll use them inside.
I'll buy more if a clienthas them, but I hate them.
. Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, I, I'm, I'm not a big fan.
The other thing too is I think ithas less room inside to store things.

(01:23:13):
Yeah, it has all these weird indentations.
Yeah, not actually they look humongous.
Yes, not actually decentspace inside to store things.
I think

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: that's what we've noticed. (01:23:24):
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You know how we really likethings to have you know, straight
lines, we can squeeze things in.
Yeah.
No, these bins are not it.
No.
These bins take up probably twomore feet than they need to be.
That's an exaggeration.
I don't know the exact ratio, butI couldn't agree with you more.
Yeah.

Get

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: better bins. (01:23:38):
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Get better bins.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That is one place where the encouraging (01:23:40):
undefined
your client to make an investmentin those nicer bins is a, it's
something that pays off for sure.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And I also want to add when it comes (01:23:50):
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to Ben's and storing things in Ben'ssince we are in an area that sees
all the seasons, especially humidity.
I go on Amazon and I buy abig packs of the moisture.
Small pockets and theycome in a variety of size.
They come in the tiny sizes likeyou would usually get in your shoes.

(01:24:11):
They come in these like giant ones.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I usually (01:24:14):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: get moisture ones that (01:24:14):
undefined
are about like this big.
I personally buy them and I take themon any basement or garage job we're
doing and every bin that we fill, Iput in about three to four moisture
packs depending on what's in the bin.

So

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: smart. (01:24:28):
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And the clients know thatthey're going in there.
They know that, you know, if themoisture pack gets filled up, throw it
out, you can replace it with somethingnew, but it's just that extra level
of protection, especially when you'restoring things that you might not look at
for another year because you don't knowwhat the moisture levels might be in.
And that goes for all seasons.
We can have, we havehumidity in all seasons here.

(01:24:50):
So that's what I've started doing.
I started doing it for myself and thenI'm like, these cost me maybe five cents.
I'll just do it for all my clientsthat we're doing that type of storage.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: That's super smart. (01:25:01):
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I would also just throw into that.
Make sure before you put thingsin bins, especially if you're
stacking bins on bins, make surethat they're dry before you.
Yes.
Yes.
Because sometimes, especially, youknow, with, with garage stuff, if
there is moisture in there, you donot want to create something gross for
when the bin is opened at some point.

(01:25:21):
So make sure it's reallydry before it goes in there.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: One extra level of security that we (01:25:24):
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will do sometimes depending on what theitems are and depending on the client
is if things are going into the bin, wewill sometimes also put them in bags.
Whether it's just Ziploc bags,whether it's actually the vacuum seal
bags, and then they go into a bin.
And that can be for stuff that islike actual, you know, material,

(01:25:45):
linens, old quilts, stuff like that,that you, you want to try to cover
all the bases of what might happen.
And that I do more really inbasements because basements have
a tendency to flood a lot more.
But that is just another levelof protection for any, any
space you're organizing, puttingin bags and then in bins.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I also have encouraged some clients (01:26:07):
undefined
to get a dehumidifier for their car.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
That is something that is a legit, that'sa legit good purchase for certain garages.
And just being careful what you'restoring out there, knowing where you
live and knowing what the weather isgoing to be like, and knowing, you know,
sometimes people are like, I'm goingto put a bunch of books in my garage.
Well, you've got super highhumidity and all those other things.

(01:26:31):
Like that's, I just think kind of a nextlevel of thinking through those things for
a client that, that doesn't make sense.
That's not something that wouldmake sense to put out in the, in a,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I also, when I build my shelves, I do the, (01:26:40):
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the bottom shelf is always at least sixinches off the ground, which I believe
I learned from working in restaurants.
They have to have it shelved six inchesoff the ground and that is space for
you can clean under them if you need to.
And if water comes in, it goesunderneath that and you have at

(01:27:01):
least six inches until water is goingto hit whatever's on your shelves.
That's super,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: super smart. (01:27:06):
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Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And if clients have shelving (01:27:07):
undefined
already, we adjust it.
I am not afraid to adjust shelving.
I've had some of my team members belike, We're going to adjust that.
I'm like, yeah, we're flipping it over.
We got our mallet.
We are adjusting these shelves.
Cause we're going to make them work.
Cause right now they don't.
And then usually I raise them up offthe ground because we don't need to
potentially have water damage to stuff.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: This is not garage specific, but (01:27:29):
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I cannot tell you the number of myclients, especially in kitchens.
I adjust shelves andkitchens all the time.
I have had clients tell me they didn'teven know that the shelves did that.
Yeah.
And I'm like, well, yousee those pins on the side?
That's what they're for.
But it's, it's kind of crazy.

(01:27:50):
Yeah.
You, you need to adjust the thing.
I think sometimes we try to fit thething in the thing and you're like,
no, the thing needs to work for me.
Like it's the opposite.
Yep.
Yep.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And on that same. (01:28:01):
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Note, I, if we're doing, I mean, whetherwe're adjusting new shelves or old
shelves, when we have the bins we'regoing to use and we have the shelving
we're going to use, I draw up the shelf.
Yeah.
We take the measurements and we startwith, okay, this bend is this tall,
next shelf, how can we adjust it?

(01:28:22):
Okay, these bends are this tall.
So you can.
Make it work.
Don't just put the shelves atwhatever level looks necessary.
If clients ask, Oh, can I buildthese shelves before you get here?
I say, you can, but we'll have toadjust them to where they need to be at.
And they're like, okay,you can just do that.
I'm like, yeah.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You build them (01:28:38):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: faster than you anyways. (01:28:38):
undefined
So just let us do it.
We're better than you.
You're better than you.
This is why we do this

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: as a job. (01:28:44):
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Exactly.
Can I go on a labeling rant?
Yes.
Okay.
I want to talk about labeling becausethis comes up in our Inspired Organizer
group occasionally and I have verystrong opinions about literally
everything and I'm not sad or I'mnot sorry to share them with people.
So the number of people that will come andthey'll be like, my client wants QR codes.

(01:29:07):
For their bins.
And like, how do I do that?
Well, the answer is thereare a million ways to do it.
And I'd be happy to teach you howto do QR codes for your labeling.
But I always tell people push back onthe client because in my experience,
if you just put a stinking QR code onthe thing, and then you have to, you
know, take a picture that you have toopen up your camera and then you have

(01:29:30):
to have a program that you're using.
To tell you what's in it, just useprodigiously specific labeling on
the outside thing, especially if youhave the black bins that you just
have to deal with and, and don'tdon't with the QR code nonsense.
Just label what's in there.
And by the way, every client is different.

(01:29:52):
I had a client recently.
I was like she was like, Hey, can youjust label these with painter's tape?
And I'm like, don't you want them tolook, you know, like a little bit nicer?
She's I don't care.
I just want them to be labeled.
Like painter's tape is fine.
I'm like, okay, fine.
Painter's tape is fine.
Like you may have a client whodoesn't care what the label looks
like, but don't with the QR codes.
Yeah.
Those aren't going to use them.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: No, they aren't going to use them. (01:30:11):
undefined
I would only, only.
Ever consider QR codes.
If I had a client who did not needorganization done, they needed
inventory system put in that I'dbe like, okay, you can handle that.
You can handle that because you aren'ta disorganized person, but organizing

(01:30:33):
needs to be easy and locating yourselfneeds to be easy and nobody with the
mindset that can't organize is goingto be like, let me go through these
12 steps to figure out which bin myone item is in and then I have to go

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: to that bin. (01:30:45):
undefined
And that's the thing is you,just a QR code with nothing else,
people just aren't going to do it.
They're just, they're not going to use it.
It's actually extra steps.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We want to do is just, and by theway, if the client is insistent
upon it, fine, but just walk throughthe, Hey, I just actually want to

(01:31:05):
make this more efficient for you.
And if we just label what'son the outside, it's.
It's so much easier.
You can do like a header label, likegreat example would be holiday stuff.
So let's say it's Christmas and then you,so you just put a Christmas tag on it
and then below it, you're like wreaths,ornaments, blah, blah, blah, whatever.
Give it a head category and thena subcategory if you need to.

(01:31:26):
No, but.
Stop with the QR code nonsense.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yeah, we actually talked one of our (01:31:28):
undefined
more tech savvy clients out of doingthat last year for their garage.
And, cause they just were like,can we just do those QR codes?
And I'm like, well, whatdo you need them for?
They're like, well, we just wantto know what's in all these bins.
And I'm like,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: we will label (01:31:42):
undefined

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: them by category. (01:31:42):
undefined
And for that, they had.
smaller bins that we could,make better categories for.
So it'd be like gardening tools,irrigation, planting stuff
you know, things like that.
So if you kind of, like you said, makethe labels simple, make them easy to read.
And then if you want to put a very generaldo, do, do, do, do, that's what's in here.

(01:32:05):
And the other thing is organizingchanges, like they're, they might get
more tools and they outgrow that bin.
They might get rid of sometools and then now what?
Then they throw something else in.
There's just too much updatingthat has to be done with the
technology side of QR codes.
Just label it, give

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: them a spot. (01:32:23):
undefined
Label it.
Yeah.
Keep it simple.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just think as much as possible,getting over some of these hurdles to
make yourself more interested in doingsomething like there is a way out of
pretty much any organizing situation.
It's just for the most

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: part, the challenge that your client (01:32:42):
undefined
is facing is not new and original.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Correct. (01:32:47):
undefined
Most

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: people when it comes to their (01:32:48):
undefined
garages have the same challenges.
What do I do with these five bicycles?
Then you go on and you say, okay, client,do you want your bicycles on the floor?
Do you want them hangingfrom hooks on the wall?
Do you want them hangingfrom hooks on the ceiling?
It's like you just have to hone inon what their challenges are and how
to, the, what would work best fortheir family and then go source some

(01:33:10):
product or some hacks or some whatever,and then just take it to them and be

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: like, this is how we're going to do it. (01:33:14):
undefined
Yeah, it's really, it's agreat, great source of income.
It's a great source of help to clients.
I think, you know, if Ican interrupt you, that's

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: one point that we really (01:33:24):
undefined
didn't touch on was money.
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay.
So I had mentioned earlier that whenyou look at the square footage of how of
homes and spaces, garages are literallyone of the biggest storage spaces in
homes and they're underutilized forstorage, but they're stuffed full of
stuff and nobody wants to organize them.

(01:33:46):
So all I hear is there's a bunch of moneyon the table and nobody wants to take
it because they're afraid to take it.
So if you want, if you have any interestat all already in organizing garages,
market that because there are peopleout there that straight up will.
Refuse it, and they just, and that's fine.
If you are, you know, kind of scared.
And then after listening to this,you're like, well, maybe, you know,

(01:34:09):
I could do that, do it, do it.
It was like, I also had mentionedmost of our garages are a minimum
of 12 hours with two people.
And that is for a typical two car.
garage.
We have done garages that were threeorganizers for I think it was 48 hours.
That was a fully stuffedgarage, but it was so awesome.

(01:34:31):
And it's just that is a lotof money, a lot of money.
And if these clients are ready topurge, then they could be like, let's
knock this garage out in a week.
So you can make.
So much money in one week.
If you have a dumpster ready, a junkhauler ready, you have, you know,
everything, there is so much moneyout there to be made in garages.

(01:34:54):
And the majority of people in this countryhave a garage that they don't park in.
They can't park in, they can't parkin, or they're embarrassed to open it
because their neighbors are going tosee it is literally front and center
for the world to see their mess.
So they want to give youmoney and make it clean again.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will also say, because apparently (01:35:13):
undefined
I'm being Debbie Downer today,we're talking about tornadoes,
house fires, all sorts of things.
There is a rash of car theftsthroughout the country.
Seriously, like forsafety of your property.
Yeah.
Parking in a garage, getting thingsin the garage as much as possible
is, it's just a, it's a smart move.

(01:35:35):
It's just another waythat you can sell it.
Yeah.
Yep.
So go make some money.
Don't make so much money.
Get some gloves and make some moneybecause it's really, it's really great.
I will say if you've listened toall this, I'm guessing people who
are like hard pass not doing it.
How about anything?
It's tapped out already.
It's okay.
It's okay.

(01:35:55):
If you have made it to the endand you're like, man, this all
still sounds terrible to me.
What I would recommend is.
Find someone, another organizer, Icannot express how important a referral
network is for your organizing business.
Find someone in your area that lovesdoing garages and then be like,
cool, can we work out an agreementwhere, you know, I get a cut of it

(01:36:17):
or I've, you know, whatever thatlooks like for you, go do that.
You will be very happy that you did.
If you just absolutely say not doing it.
Yeah.

undefined
And that's okay.
Cause we don't all likedoing the same things.
But it's like you want to not be adead end for your clients and not
just be like, Oh, I don't do garages.
Yeah.
Find somebody that you canrefer them to and do some deals.
So that way that client isn'tfeeling like, Oh, I have to
start my search over again.
Yeah.

So we mentioned this very briefly earlier,
but it was, and it was in a podcast afew months ago that I did with one of
our inspired organizer members, butshe does not love doing garages and
the way she has found to make it morepalatable is charge more money for it.
And so that's an option for you too.
And by the way, a client might go,Oh, I'm not paying extra for a garage.
Okay.
You don't have to, but she charges I thinkit was a 20 percent surcharge for garages.

(01:37:14):
It's just based on, you know, thework and the, all of the things.
So that's an option that'savailable for you as well, if
you feel comfortable with that.
I personally don't do that,but I know people who do.
Yeah.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I personally just love (01:37:25):
undefined
garages too much to do that.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I love that. (01:37:27):
undefined
Okay.
Now this is a serious question.
Do you also like basements?
I don't love basements.
I mean, I do them, but I don't love them.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I do. (01:37:35):
undefined
I love all the spaces.
I, you know, it's hard becauseI love, I, I would do pantries
and kitchens all day, every day.
Like I just, I love that.
But then when somebody takes me to theirgarage or their basement or their attic.
That is stuffed fullof stuff from decades.
I'm like, Oh my God.
Yes.
Like seriously, let me in there.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I don't love, I don't love (01:37:58):
undefined
basements and attics as much.
And I think it's because ofthe and I'm not claustrophobic,
but I do like a garage.
You open the, even if it's hotoutside, you open the door,
there's breeze coming in.
Like what you get fresh air.
Sunshine, whatever.
So I think that I don't mind that as much.
Sometimes basements especiallycan feel just like dismal.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. (01:38:20):
undefined
And that is, oh, when we do basements,that's usually where we have to use
the wet part of our wetback floor.
And there's some dirtier things.
I, it's, you know, I don't know, I grew upbeing terrified of bugs and getting dirty
and now literally none of that phases meand I really feel like I have to thank
this job because it's like when you'regetting paid to overcome your fears,

(01:38:43):
you're like, oh, this isn't that bad.
Getting paid really well also.
Yeah, exactly.

I know everybody's different, but I find
a lot of satisfaction when I am dirty,when I go home from a job, I'm like,
I have done hard, good work today.
Yes.
And been paid.
Very well for it.
And that's satisfying to me,

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: you know, I think that's why (01:39:05):
undefined
when it comes to doing garages,we get paid so well to do it.
But I'm like, yeah, Iwill sweep up this stuff.
I will wipe this down.
I will work early hours of the morning.
Because like you mentioned,I am getting paid to do that.
They're not just paying me15 an hour, like some racks.
High school student toclean out the garage.

(01:39:25):
No, I'm getting paid good.
Our team is getting paid goodand we're going to do a good job.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: Yeah, completely agree. (01:39:29):
undefined
So, I think we've covered it all.
Yes.
Is there anything that I have missed?

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: I don't think so. (01:39:38):
undefined
I literally have three pages of notes.
Good for you.
No, I think like literally we tapped

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: everything. (01:39:44):
undefined
Okay, great.
We'll just take a super brief detour.
You have been on thepodcast many times before.
Tell us a couple of theplaces we can find you.
Two places.
One, your organizing place andone, your thing for organizers.
Which I love.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: So I own Practical Harmony (01:39:58):
undefined
Professional Organizing, and weare based in Bloomington, Illinois,
which is central Illinois.
Like Melissa mentioned.
I've been doing that over a decade.
That's is crazy.
I have a small team, just me and.
Currently two other organizerspart time that do it.
So small team with us.
And my other thing is I own Tidy StockPhotography where we make the sock

(01:40:23):
photos for home organizers and for blogsand interior decorators and realtors.
social media, all of the thingsmake very beautiful photos.
Yes.
And after a two year hiatus of not doingany shoots, we're doing more this year.
We are planning like at least, Idon't know, three shoots within

(01:40:44):
the next couple of months.
And we have so many good things.
We're working on.
So I'm excited.

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: I will put this in the show notes and (01:40:50):
undefined
I've talked about it before, but I ama paying customer of Tidy Stock and I
love your stuff and it's very artistic.
It's very aesthetic.
It's perfect, especially for websiteswebsites, blog posts, all of the things.
And you can do all the good SEOmagic that you need to on it.
But just getting some nice photosis such a great way to break

(01:41:12):
up your digital properties.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: Yes. (01:41:13):
undefined
And And there are photos madeby an organizer for organizers
we get what you need photos of.
Yes.
And that was the main reason why Istarted it, is because I wanted good
stock photos for organizing, and therereally wasn't anything good out there.
It was

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: You can check that out. (01:41:29):
undefined
I'll put the, put it in the shownotes, but she's on Etsy and
it is Tidy Stock Photography.
Well, thanks for being here again andevangelizing about garages with you.
I'm glad that we can high five and besomething that we like to do together.
And if you are in central Illinoisand don't want to do garages now,

(01:41:50):
you know who to refer them to.
Yeah.
Bye.
Bye.
Yes, yes.

Sarah Brent | Practical Harmony Organizing: And honestly, if you are an organizer who (01:41:53):
undefined
has listened this far, and you're stillinterested, but still kind of a little
scared, I would say reach out to one of usor another organizer that likes garages.
We are happy to answer questions.
I feel like there are probably somefears or other things that we have not
discussed fully, and it's just I thinkwe both want everybody out there to

(01:42:16):
be more confident and comfortable intheir business and in their services
and help their clients and make money.
So please reach out,

Melissa Klug | Pro Organizer Studio: trust yourself to something I see a lot. (01:42:26):
undefined
And this is not specific to what we'retalking about today is sometimes.
I just want to tell people I want you tohave more trust in yourself because you
are a smart capable person and you don'tneed a road map of every single thing
like you can figure it out and so justhave that confidence in yourself and just

(01:42:46):
like you said say yes and figure out howto do it I swear it's not rocket science
you will do a great job your client willbe thrilled and you'll take home a nice
nice little check so yes you All right.
Money.
Thank you.
Yes, we all need money.
We all need money.
We are all trying to make it andthis is a great way to do it.

(01:43:09):
Well, thank you for sharingall of your insights with us.
We appreciate it.
Yes.
Thank you.
I'm always happy to chat with you.
All right.
Bye, organizers.

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219 | Why We Love Garage Organizing!

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}219 | Why We Love Garage Organizing!