WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.040 KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The 2 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:10.560 House Whisper on demand on the iHeartRadio app. This very 3 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:15.000 program is also the House Whisper podcast. Yes, this live 4 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:19.760 broadcast that you listen to from nine to noon Pacific 5 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:24.280 time on every Sunday morning also becomes the House Whisper 6 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:28.280 podcast that you can listen to anytime, anywhere on demand. 7 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:33.079 Hundreds of episodes, all searchable by topic. It is truly 8 00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:36.399 a home improvement reference library that we have built for 9 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.719 you over the years. Here. I think I was somebody 10 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:43.880 sent me to some podcast server the other day and 11 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:46.520 I was looking at home. They said, oh, you check 12 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.479 it out there, look at it there. It's there as well. 13 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.560 I mean, we know it's everywhere. It's on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 14 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:55.359 anywhere you listen to your favorite podcast. You can find 15 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:57.880 us there. But I think it literally listed at the 16 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.000 top of this one podcast server. Thirteen hundred episodes have 17 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:05.280 we done? Thirteen hundred episode we probably have. That makes 18 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:10.719 sense anyway, home improvement reference library waiting for you there. Also, 19 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:12.840 if you're thinking, hey, that's all great, Dean, what we 20 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.040 really need is you and Tina in our house. You 21 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:16.719 can do that too. You can book an in home 22 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:19.680 design consult with me and Tea just go to house 23 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:24.760 whisper dot Design. It is our way of trying to 24 00:01:24.799 --> 00:01:31.000 help more people than we can do just with signing 25 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:34.400 up for long term design work. It's the consults that 26 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.400 we do. They're always special. We come to your home, 27 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.959 help get you pointed in the right direction. Quite often 28 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.079 it makes all the difference in the world. So it's 29 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.920 just something that we love doing and we can do 30 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:50.359 relatively easily as opposed to getting a long waiting list 31 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:54.040 for a full design. So house whisper a dot Design 32 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.239 is where you find that. All right, let's dive back 33 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:01.040 into the subject of organization and my own little system, 34 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:10.000 which I've very adorably called SIPs SIPs which stands for Sort, Inventory, 35 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:14.080 Purge and Store. This is not the end all of 36 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.919 organizational systems. No, I'm not going to write a book 37 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.960 about it. It is just something that actually came to 38 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.159 me as I was processing through how I help our 39 00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.400 own clients with their organizational issues. I realized that these 40 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.719 are the four steps that I go through and it 41 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:35.199 happens to spell the word SIPs. And what I thought 42 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.479 was cute about it is that or interesting or both. 43 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.199 Is the fact that organization it's all ahead game. It's 44 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:47.680 all about our head and our heart fighting with each 45 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.560 other over things that are meaningful and things that we 46 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:52.400 don't want to let go of and things that we 47 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.560 don't want to edit harshly out of our lives or 48 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:57.639 out of our homes. And that's why we all end 49 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.800 up holding onto more stuff than we should. Let's face it, 50 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:03.479 it's all in our head. It truly is our head 51 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:07.800 in our heart. And so this process of sorting and inventory, 52 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:12.240 purging and storing, it's SIPs. It's a way to kind 53 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.479 of help get around your heart issues on a thing. 54 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:17.879 So you're taking a little sip of a thing, and 55 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.800 you don't have to be intimidated by, you know, guzzling 56 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.400 it all down at once like a fire hose. So 57 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.520 I got to I got through sorting, which is the 58 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:31.039 most critical step. It's also the easiest. We're not deciding 59 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:33.960 to keep anything or get rid of anything, or how 60 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.240 to store a thing. We're just making piles. I use 61 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.479 the example of socks. There's really no way of really 62 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.599 getting an emotional sense of how many socks you have 63 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:45.719 until they're all in a pile together and then you 64 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:49.080 inventory them. Step two, you sort and then you inventory 65 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.680 how many socks do we have? We have forty seven 66 00:03:51.719 --> 00:03:55.479 pairs of socks and about nineteen unmatched singles. Well, those 67 00:03:55.520 --> 00:03:58.840 are gone, right, and then the forty seven pairs that 68 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:02.039 are left. It allow you, once you've sorted something into 69 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.719 that small of a category, it allows you to be 70 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:09.840 more rational about this and say, I only have two feet. 71 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:12.000 There are only seven days in a week. If I 72 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:17.360 wore three pairs of socks every day all week long 73 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.360 for an entire week, okay, that's only twenty one pairs 74 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:25.160 of socks. And that's if I don't do laundry during 75 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:27.839 the course of the week. So twenty one is not 76 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:33.399 forty seven. And that allows us some real emotional impetus 77 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:36.600 to make some cuts, right, to make some cuts, to 78 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:41.160 reduce down to what's really really necessary. And by the way, 79 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.199 I'm not talking about you having some spartan life in 80 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.879 which you know, there's just there's your home, and there's 81 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:50.560 a stool in the corner and a you know, in 82 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:52.639 a hair shirt over there that you put on to 83 00:04:52.680 --> 00:04:56.720 punish yourself, an itchy shirt, one piece of clothing. That's 84 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:58.959 not at all what we're talking about. What we're talking 85 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:03.720 about is max the storytelling capacity of your home by 86 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.360 editing things down and just dealing with a problem that 87 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:11.040 we all deal with, which is too much stuff. Even 88 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:16.240 those who are economically challenged among us the most still 89 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.600 probably have too much stuff. Just something that happens to us. 90 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:28.160 So we have sorted, we have inventoried. Now comes the 91 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:31.879 time to purge, right, And that is what I'm talking about. 92 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.000 When I say do I need forty seven pairs of 93 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.720 stock socks, It's time to toss those out. 94 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:43.000 You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from 95 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:44.639 KFI AM six forty. 96 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.120 Thanks for joining us on the program today. We're talking 97 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:53.000 about all things organization, and we've got to the place 98 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:58.120 in my little system of sorting, inventory, purging and storage 99 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.959 to give a little bit more intention to the purge. 100 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.959 We all know that's the hardest part of this whole process, 101 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:10.120 the purge getting rid of some stuff. And there's not 102 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.639 a whole lot I can tell you other than to 103 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.199 approach this as rationally as possible. From the other two 104 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.639 steps they're sorting in the inventory, so you can actually 105 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:24.000 get some emotional and mental perspective around just how much 106 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:28.120 stuff you've got versus how much you need, and then 107 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:31.160 we want to let it go. And we don't mean 108 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:33.680 throwing it away. Most of the things that you've got 109 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.879 that you're tempted to hang on to are going to 110 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.279 be things that other people could use as well, and 111 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:42.920 so pass it on, share the love. As our earlier 112 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:48.720 caller suggested as well, there's the Salvation Army, there's Goodwill, 113 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.160 there's the Rescue Mission. There are places that will come 114 00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:53.199 and pick up your stuff. There are places you can 115 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:56.319 take it too. They take everything from clothing to furniture 116 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.279 to everything, everything, everything, everything. The fact of the matter 117 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.560 is there are others who could use it, and if 118 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:05.839 that becomes an emotional point of leverage for you, allow 119 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.680 that to be the fact that this thing's life doesn't 120 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.759 end with you, but it moves on and it can 121 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:16.639 find a new life and new memories with new people. 122 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:22.720 The point is this, there are things you want to 123 00:07:22.759 --> 00:07:26.720 hold on to, things that aren't going to necessarily be 124 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:33.759 sitting in your house on display. Memorabilia nostalgia keepsakes. Nothing 125 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:38.480 wrong with that. The only thing about keepsakes that become 126 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:43.040 problematic is when an entire garage and a rented storage 127 00:07:43.079 --> 00:07:47.040 area and five other rooms in your house are all 128 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.680 full of them, because at this point they aren't serving you. 129 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:55.959 Keepsakes should be sorted in such a way that you 130 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.120 can go and sit down for a little bit of 131 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:03.959 time you want to and revisit them. Not everything in 132 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.759 your life, not every moment in your life, not every 133 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:10.800 greeting card you ever received, not everything anybody has ever 134 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:16.079 given you. No life, no human life, can afford to 135 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:22.439 hang on to its memorabilia and become the Smithsonian Institute 136 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.959 for your life. It's just not feasible, And believe me, 137 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.240 it is a far greater burden. Allow memory to serve 138 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:37.799 its function. And ideally, memorabilia are things that set off memories, 139 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:41.879 not having to relive every single moment, every single detail, 140 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:45.000 but things that set off the best memories for you 141 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:47.879 along the way. Those are the things that are worthy 142 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.480 of keepsakes. And then we purge the rest, We purge, 143 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.639 we let it go. Now we finally come to the 144 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.879 question of storage, because when we've done our of sorting 145 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:05.559 and inventory and purging, we've got stuff left and the 146 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.279 question is what do we do. How do we handle 147 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:13.519 the stuff that's left well, that finally comes to storage, 148 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:19.080 storage now me be really clear. Storage comes in two forms. 149 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:23.279 In fact, I'm so hesitant to even say this in 150 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:28.000 the same sentence, but I'm gonna say it anyway. When 151 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.519 it comes to closets inside your house, that's not storage, 152 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.000 not storage at all, but I'm gonna just put it 153 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:39.440 in this term, right. Storage comes in two forms, staging 154 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:45.080 and long term storage. Now what's the difference. Okay, Well, technically, 155 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:48.240 I guess everything that's in your home, inside a cupboard, 156 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.919 inside a cabinet, inside a chest of drawers, or furniture 157 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.720 or whatever, is storage. But I would rather you think 158 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.200 of it in terms of staging. What's in your house 159 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:05.720 is ideally best described as staging. What is staging. Staging 160 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.799 is what furniture and closets are for. It is a 161 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:15.440 resting place, a short term storage place for frequently used 162 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:19.399 items to be able to access them. Okay, like your 163 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:22.840 sock drawer. Okay, not with forty seven pairs of socks 164 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.440 in it, but a few pair of socks, and it's 165 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.279 there for you to get to and get at because 166 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.759 you go to it every single day. It's that kind 167 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:37.039 of thing. Staging. Staging is different than long term storage. 168 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.320 Long term storage are simply the things that have to 169 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:44.240 be stored away somewhere that are important but aren't going 170 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:47.480 to get used every week or every month or looked 171 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.360 at every other day. You know what I'm talking about. 172 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:54.600 So I'm very serious about this, and I really push 173 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.120 my clients to the point of them usually being very 174 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:02.360 annoyed with me. But I'm very serious about it. Closets 175 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:07.559 in your home if you are using them as they 176 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.960 should be used in a home. And I'm a home designer, 177 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:15.840 so I know all about what closets are for. They 178 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:21.159 are places where we stage things. Stage the clothing that 179 00:11:21.240 --> 00:11:25.720 you actually wear, Stage the shoes and the socks, and 180 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:31.159 the hanging items that you actually realistically go to, stage 181 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:34.639 the stuff, the sports gear or the whatever that you 182 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:40.799 actually use on a regular basis. Closets are short term 183 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:47.399 staging areas staging long term storage. That's for the garage 184 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:49.960 or for the storage shed, or for wherever else you've 185 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:54.840 got a room to do that kind of stuff. Long 186 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:58.039 term storage, it's about crates, it's about shelving, it's about 187 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:01.440 organization and so on. In the garage. By the way, 188 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:08.480 the workbench staging the area above the workbench staging. Okay, 189 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.799 peg board or slat boards up there so that we 190 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.679 can put in little hooks and fixtures to hold tools, 191 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:21.039 to organize the screwdriver set, to keep things organized and 192 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.919 clean and clear so you can get to it when 193 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:25.519 you need it and hang it up out of the 194 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:29.600 way when you don't need it. That is staging. Long 195 00:12:29.720 --> 00:12:32.600 term storage is stuff that you know you still own, 196 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.279 but you don't have to see it or you're not 197 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:37.159 going to deal with it. And that's the kind of 198 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:39.600 stuff that we want to get as clean and clear 199 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:42.960 as possible and up and out of the way. Long 200 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:47.240 term storage the one area that is just kind of 201 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:51.559 the hybrid between long term and store storage and staging 202 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:55.840 would be like holiday decorations, the stuff that comes out 203 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.840 seasonally because you know it's going to sit there for 204 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:02.360 six plus months at a time, let's just call it seasonal. 205 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:05.840 If it's seasonal, it's gonna sit there in long term 206 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:09.320 storage for about nine months and then you need to 207 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.440 access it and then you use it and then it 208 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:15.600 goes away again. But other things are on long term 209 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:19.879 storage that aren't seasonal, they're just long term storage. Okay, 210 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.039 So here are the clues about that. We want to 211 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:27.799 keep things off the floor as much as possible so 212 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.440 they're not in the way. But there are so many 213 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.919 options when it comes to long term storage these days. 214 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.840 I just walked through the aisles of my local home depot. 215 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.000 It's a couple three days ago, and I thought, you know, 216 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.960 I'm going over and see what's going on with the 217 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.960 crates and everything. Man, every time I look there, there 218 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.200 are more and more storage ideas. Heavy duty storage racks 219 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:53.919 that hold crates in a way that they slide out 220 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.440 and are easily accessible. Crates are being built better and 221 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:01.879 better with stronger lids and longer sidewalls so that crates 222 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.320 can be stacked and nested on one on another and 223 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:09.120 stand five six seven crates tall, only taking up a 224 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.720 relatively small area labeling the front of them so you 225 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.919 know what's in each one. There are so many ideas. 226 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:18.360 I'm going to share a few more with you, But first. 227 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.440 You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from 228 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:24.039 KFI AM six forty. 229 00:14:25.799 --> 00:14:30.080 Happy Father's Day, Glad that you are here. It's a beautiful, 230 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.639 warm day here in sunny southern California. I hope wherever 231 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:37.039 you are today, wherever you're listening from, that the weather 232 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.200 is treating you well, and I hope that your family 233 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:43.440 is treating you well. And if you're a dad, happy 234 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:47.159 Father's Day. And I hope that your family is celebrating you. Today, 235 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:53.480 we are finishing up our conversation about organization and storage 236 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:55.840 and all of it. And we've come to this place 237 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.600 now where we've gone through the sorting and the inventory 238 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:02.000 and the purging. I hope, I hope we've got enough 239 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.679 purged that we're in the storage mode. And I shared 240 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.399 with you before the break that storage in a home 241 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:11.919 comes in two forms, long term and staging. Closets in 242 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:19.200 your home, furniture in your home, staging, staging. I guarantee you, 243 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.759 as hard as that may be to embrace, if you 244 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:27.279 set that as an inviolable rule for yourself that inside 245 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.919 your home furniture and closets are for staging items that 246 00:15:31.960 --> 00:15:35.679 are frequently used, you will never live to regret it. 247 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.320 Never live to regret it. Okay, you don't need more 248 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:44.120 closet space most of you. You just need less stuff 249 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.799 and to get a little bit more organized along the way. 250 00:15:47.799 --> 00:15:50.440 It doesn't apply to everybody. I get it, I get it. 251 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:53.559 Don't write me emails about you don't know how small 252 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.679 my closet. I get it, especially if you live in 253 00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.720 an older home, like a pre World War Two era home. 254 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.799 I know, hardly any storage whatsoever. But what's interesting. You 255 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:08.799 know what's interesting about pre World War two homes. They 256 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:12.759 reflect a very very different lifestyle, a very very different 257 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:19.679 economic strata. Homes built before World War Two, built in 258 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:21.720 the twenties and the thirties, which there are a lot 259 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:26.360 of them in every town, including here in southern California, 260 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.559 people just did not have as much stuff, and yet 261 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.240 they seem to be living perfectly, healthy and happy lives. 262 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.240 It's a different way of looking at the world. Material 263 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:42.799 possessions were on a different scale back then. That's why 264 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:48.320 there aren't that big of a closet in the primary bedroom. 265 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:52.120 That's why there isn't as much storage. There just wasn't 266 00:16:52.120 --> 00:16:56.080 as much stuff. Some to think about, That's all I'm saying. 267 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.720 It's something to think about when it comes to storage 268 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:03.159 for the garage. There are so many innovations these days 269 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:07.599 that are available heavy duty overhead racks. If you have 270 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:11.079 a dry walled garage, or even if you don't, if 271 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:15.559 you've got a well supported garage ceiling above you, you could 272 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:19.039 take advantage of these overhead racks. They're built to work 273 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.079 around the garage door opener. Both sides of the garage 274 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:25.680 door opener take advantage of that area up there. They're 275 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.960 relatively easily accessible. Some of them are incredibly accessible. Some 276 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.799 of them. If you've got the budget for this, you 277 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:35.480 can get a garage hoist, a motorized hoist that literally 278 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:39.400 will lower that stuff down to the floor of the garage. 279 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.000 You pull the car out, lower that down, get whatever 280 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.799 you need out of there. It's a good place to 281 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:49.960 store seasonal things, and then right up it goes back 282 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:53.519 up to the ceiling again out of your way. It's 283 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:57.960 a tricky thing garage ceilings, because most garage ceilings still 284 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:03.279 have a traditional garage door opener that kind of cuts 285 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:08.200 off the whole midpoint of the garage. For some of you, 286 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.880 getting rid of that garage door opener is actually the 287 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.759 first step in getting better organized in your garage. And 288 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.400 you're like, Dan, it's a garage door opener. I said, 289 00:18:17.480 --> 00:18:22.319 I know. Here's the thing. The traditional garage door opener 290 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:24.880 that sits up on the ceiling and breaks up the 291 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:29.480 whole ceiling access up there can be replaced with a 292 00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:34.440 modern garage door opener that is direct drive and actually 293 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:39.559 mounts on the wall next to the garage door. Nothing 294 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:42.240 out in the middle. Now you still have the tracks 295 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.920 running back there, okay, but you don't have the big 296 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.519 opener in the center, and so you can get three 297 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.680 sections of storage going on in your garage instead of 298 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:55.039 just two or even less because you've got the opener 299 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:57.680 and the tracks to negotiate around. So that's something that 300 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:02.240 you should look into. A door wreck drive wall mounted 301 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:06.240 garage door opener bringing up the entire center space in 302 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:10.359 between the tracks of that sectional garage door. In addition 303 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.279 to that, I already mentioned slat boards or peg board. 304 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:17.480 There's still nothing wrong with peg board. Honestly the least 305 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:21.799 expensive way to organize tools and stuff out in your 306 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:27.359 garage up above your workshop cabinets. Still nothing beats peg 307 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:31.519 board in economy and effectiveness at the same time, plus 308 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:35.039 stackable crates and again things that are staged, things like 309 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:37.079 tools that you use in your household all the time. 310 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:41.279 Let's say you don't have a workbench, then bucket organizers 311 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:45.799 five gallon four dollars buckets from the big box store 312 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.240 with a good bucket organizer put inside one for gardening, 313 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:53.400 one for household tools, one for miscellaneous materials for a 314 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.599 project that you might be doing. Bucket organizers are a 315 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.839 brilliant way of getting things out of your way and 316 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:02.599 not losing track of them. All right, let's go back 317 00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:06.400 inside the house now. Okay, let's talk about those closets 318 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:09.880 we've purged. Now we've got stuff, and we want to 319 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:15.920 keep closets going in the best way possible. Closet systems 320 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:20.960 inside your closet. The oldest and most traditional closet system 321 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.400 is what we call in the industry shelf and pole, 322 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:27.000 shelf and pole, and that is a closet rod with 323 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:31.839 a twelve inch shelf sitting above it, mounted to brackets. 324 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:35.319 Maybe the brackets are wood in old school shelf and pole. 325 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:38.680 Maybe they're metal brackets with a little cup on the 326 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.960 end that holds a little shelf or a platform that 327 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:46.720 holds the pole along there. There's absolutely nothing wrong with 328 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:50.799 good old shelf and pole. It's the least expensive in 329 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.839 some ways, it's the most durable. Okay. The only thing 330 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.640 is if you're installing more of it yourself, you need 331 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.319 to make sure that a secure ledger on the back 332 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:05.839 that's holding up the shelf actually gets screwed into the studs, 333 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:09.960 not just the dry wall in between the studs. That's 334 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:14.599 a sure path to disaster when it comes to shelf 335 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.640 and pole. Okay, so we want a ledger and we 336 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:20.960 want to hit the studs. So a little stud finder 337 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:22.960 and you can put in your own shelf and pole 338 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:25.599 really easily. Here is the thing. Though, I'm not a 339 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:28.799 big fan of pre built organizers. I find most of 340 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:31.759 them are kind of particle boardy and cheap and flimsy. 341 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.759 I am a huge fan of top hanging closet systems. Okay, 342 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:40.599 top hanging closet systems. You can find them at place well, 343 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.880 you can find the most advanced forms of them at 344 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.319 a place like the Container Store, the Alpha system. You 345 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:49.079 can also find them at Ikea. You can find them 346 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:53.119 at home Depot and lows in the shelving aisles. They're 347 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.240 kind of open wired shell coded wired shelves there. But 348 00:21:56.400 --> 00:22:00.680 top hanging systems are brilliant. And what is that. It's 349 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.440 a system in which there is a hooked rail that 350 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:06.440 mounts all the way up against the ceiling and you 351 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.440 put several screws into it. And you know why, you 352 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:12.519 can do that easily all the way at the ceiling, 353 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:15.400 because that is where the top plate of your wall is. 354 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.880 That's nothing but solid wood up there, left or right. 355 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:21.279 You don't have to find studs, it's all going to 356 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:25.480 hit wood. You can literally put a bunch of screws 357 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:29.039 into that top rail up there, and at that point 358 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:33.279 it can hold literally hold thousands of pounds. And then 359 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:38.720 with that rail come these hanging stanchions that hang down 360 00:22:39.079 --> 00:22:43.240 that have slots in them for shelves and or accessories. 361 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:46.920 They just clip on and they hang down on the wall. 362 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:50.240 All of their weight is being supported by the top 363 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:55.559 plate of the wall. And these stanchions coming down, they 364 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:58.119 can slide left and right, they can go wider, they 365 00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:00.799 can go closer together. You can put a ton of 366 00:23:00.839 --> 00:23:05.680 different accessories. You can have single hanging, double hanging shoe racks, 367 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:10.279 all sorts of stuff going on them. It is a 368 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:12.799 great system. And the thing I love about it is 369 00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:18.359 that it's a modular system, meaning, you know, closets, in 370 00:23:18.440 --> 00:23:22.720 my opinion, should be allowed to evolve, just like people's 371 00:23:22.839 --> 00:23:26.680 lives evolved, just like like the home evolves, and you 372 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:29.680 go through different phases of time. Right, there's a time 373 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:33.640 when you need that long hanging for those formal suits 374 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:36.440 and the addresses, and there are other times when you're like, 375 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.319 you know what, I'm way past that now. I'm not 376 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:41.039 even wearing suits anymore. I'm not wearing We don't need 377 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:43.799 the dresses. We only need a very small space. I'd 378 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.599 love to reorganize my closet. So the one downside of 379 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:51.319 shelf and poll or fixed fancy cabinets inside a closet, 380 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:54.119 as nice as they are, is that they don't have 381 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:57.559 a lot of flexibility. But these top hanging modular systems, 382 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.559 we can simply get all the clothes out of there, 383 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.240 slide some things around, take double hanging, turn it into 384 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.960 single or single hanging, and turn it into double. We 385 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.799 can add storage shells, we can add shoe racks, we 386 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:13.680 can redesign the closet with the existing materials, and maybe 387 00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:16.079 just adding another shelf for two and one more trip 388 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:18.960 to the store and another couple of accessories, and you 389 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.319 reconfigure the closet for your current needs. There is just 390 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:27.920 a lot of wisdom in having a closet system that's strong, 391 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:32.519 that's efficient and modular, and that can change with your 392 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:35.799 changing needs. And if it all comes down to well, 393 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.440 that's all well, and goodeing. But I want a really nice, 394 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:42.400 fancy walking closet system. That's fine. I would suggest this. 395 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:46.599 You can call a place like California Closets. By the way, 396 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.680 as far as the closet places are concerned, they're not 397 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:51.200 the sponsor of the show. But I'm going to give 398 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:54.200 you this endorsement. Those guys know how to do it well, 399 00:24:54.279 --> 00:24:57.440 and I find the quality kind of what works well 400 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:00.559 with the pricing. But if you're going to get overly 401 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.559