The inclement weather that heralds the season’s arrival is bad news for your car. Rain, sleet and hail might be all in the line of duty for the mail carrier, but they do a number on your vehicle’s paint job and can even damage its inner workings.

The simplest solution is to store your car safely in the garage, but that’s easier said than done in a garage filled with clutter. If you want to protect the thousands of dollars you’ve invested in your car, there’s only one thing to do. Time to get organized!

Step 1: The Game Plan

When Benjamin Franklin said, “Without a plan, you plan to fail,” we’re pretty sure he was referring to cleaning out a garage. If you dive right in, you’re likely to find yourself standing exhausted, hours later, in the middle of a bigger mess and no clear plan for moving forward.

Instead, put together a list of priorities. Break down every to-do item on your list into one of these three overarching steps: “Clear It Out,” “Give It a Home” or “Put It Away.” If you’re not sure where to begin, give us a call and schedule an in-home consultation. Your designer can give you tips and ideas from previous storage solutions they’ve helped to create!

Step 2: Clear It Out

To get space in your garage, you’ll need to make space. The easiest way to give yourself a little elbow room is to get rid of anything you no longer want or need.
Whether it’s the bike your child has outgrown, the “bargain” power tools you never use or just everyday trash, you’re likely to find some unwanted items once you start looking. Donate them, sell them or toss them. You don’t need them anymore!

Step 3: Give It a Home

Once you’ve settled on what you’re going to keep, your next job is to give everything a home. Break down the layout of your garage into stations, such as “sports equipment” or “construction materials,” and our designers can help you find the perfect storage solutions specifically tailored to each station’s needs.

Got a woodworking station? You’ll need lots of shelf space for tools and counter space to lay out your work. Bins, drawers and storage racks are musts for sporting equipment. Hang your sharp gardening tools away from little hands or careless feet. And don’t forget to leave space for the car!

Step 4: Put It Away

At last, you can put everything away and finally pull your car in out of the elements. Use this step as a way of checking your work so far. Is it easy to put away your belongings? If not, they’re likely to end up cluttering the garage floor again.

Make the necessary adjustments, and then stand back, enjoy what you’ve accomplished, and maybe post some “Before and After” pictures online to make all your friends jealous. You’ve earned it!

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When it comes to organization and functionality, there are several areas that seem to beg for some structure. Closets that become a catch-all for clothes, shoes, linens, accessories, home items, toys and more. Garages can become so full of gardening equipment, unused furniture and electronics that there’s hardly enough room for a vehicle. And offices would be buried under papers and supplies without some organization system.

Closets by Design in Exton custom designs, manufactures and installs products that can solve these organizational problems and fix more complicated spaces. And now, they offer a selection of Murphy Beds that can be built into wall units or offices to add function to the room without taking up precious space.

Consolidation Is Key

The easiest way to save time and energy is to organize and consolidate your belongings in a way that is logical and accessible. Looking at an overflowing closet or cluttered garage is intimidating, and so the staff at Closets by Design is here to ease your stress and help you complete the project.

Charles Waterman, owner of Closets by Design says, “Life is crazy enough.” His company wants to “give time back to the homeowner” by helping to consolidate their necessities.

Closets by Design meets with each customer in a free in-home design consultation. The designers ask questions to find out how to best organize your belongings in way that be the most useful for each customer. Do you like your shirts folded? Pants hung by the waist, long or in half? Shoes facing in or out? Jewelry in a drawer or hanging? Whatever your answer, Closets by Design will have a consolidation solution for your space.

Another benefit to organization, Waterman says, is increased space. “We can typically double the size of your space without even moving a wall,” he says.

Keith Lowe of Middletown, Del., has worked with Closets by Design for a variety of upgrades in his home, including creating new closet spaces in his master bedroom, guest bedroom, pantry and stairs. Each had its own unique requirements, according to Lowe, but, “it’s easier to take care of a house when it’s organized,” he says. Having custom-made closets has made all four of his spaces more organized and functional.

Mary Beredjiklian, of Media, says that her new garage cabinets are “very clean and streamlined.” In fact, they keep her from seeing the clutter and make sure everything has its place, including canned goods, bottled water, cleaning supplies and even hazardous materials.

Closets by Design has ultimate flexibility because they use quality, custom cabinetry, not prefabricated cabinets.

One of the main reasons Beredjiklian would recommend Closets by Design is because of the personal attention and ability to customize her designs.

This one-on-one time with a designer is key to solving challenging space issues. Lowe says he had a very unusual space under a set of stairs that required extremely complicated specifications.

The designer not only worked with him, but created a roll-out cart with functional drawers and spaces that could even be used to serve drinks if he needed additional serving space for a party, Lowe says.

All in the Details

Customers who use Closets by Design know they are going to get quality accessories and workmanship that will stand the test of time.

When completing a closet in a master bedroom, Closets by Design uses solid handles and knobs—not hollow ones. Also, when hanging drawers designed to withstand heavy tools in a garage, the hardware they use, such as ball bearings, can withstand up to 150 lbs. of weight versus what Waterman describes as “a cheaper ball bearing only able to handle 25 lbs.”

“It’s this behind-the-scenes type of quality that sets us apart from our competition,” says Waterman.

In fact, no matter what you are purchasing from Closets by Design, you will receive a quality product, stellar service and amazing results. Customers throughout the Delaware Valley attest to the excellent customer service, extremely polite and clean installers and overall a finished product that enhances daily living and improves the quality of their homes.

Visit ClosetsByDesign.com to schedule your free in-home design consultation or call 610-644-4143.

by Jeannine Fielding, a freelance writer in Bucks County

Originally printed in suburbanlife, July 2010 Issue

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