garage sale Archives - Garage Tailors

Hiring a Garage Renovation Professional

March 2, 2019 by Rick Scully

When you’re looking to renovate your garage, you’re looking to add some utility to your garage so it becomes a valuable space in your home. A good garage renovation specialist will help you manage the entire process from beginning to end. Here are some things that you’ll want to do to prepare and hire the right garage renovation specialist.

Start with a Consultation in March or April

professional garage interior designer, rick scully, spatial visualization, engineering, design, commercial tools, knowledge, experience

Start a complimentary in-home consultation with your garage renovation specialist to review your vision of how you need to use your garage and add value to the home. A garage renovation is a lot like a kitchen renovation. Just like a kitchen you will likely need some work spaces but you’ll also need a variety of different storage spaces. Many of us will want a place for those large green bins, blue bins and garbage bins so we can just wheel them out to the curb on pick up day.

Also, we’ll have some essential tools that we’ll want to easily access. The tools may range from lawn mowers in the summer to snow shovels in the winter. And, we’ll likely see our garage as a place for the kids bikes and other toys such as scooters, skateboards and much more. For outdoor activities and travel, it’s also where we’ll store a Thule carrier, kayaks, canoes, camping gear, stand up paddle boards, snowboards, hockey gear and so much more. Of course, we may also store the Christmas tree, lights and other decorations of the season in the overhead spaces.

And, the most obvious thing to do with our garage is to park the vehicles inside the garage. With time, sometimes we allow the clutter of things to take over our garage. Parking the vehicles inside the garage helps provide safety for our vehicles, a longer vehicle life away from the elements and reducing theft or vandalism. It’s important for most of us to be able to have the space for our vehicles as well as many of our lifestyle items for ourselves and our children in the garage.

De-Clutter and Eliminate Things You Won’t Be Storing

In addition to the initial consultation most people will need to de-clutter their garage before the project can start. You can begin the de-cluttering before you meet with the garage renovation specialist and even beyond or after the initial meeting. The goal of a garage renovation is to create a space which you actually use regularly. If you haven’t used something in a long time, consider if you’ll actually use it ever again. It can be some outdoor toys that the kids have outgrown or it could be a tool that you thought was a great idea at the time, but you’re really using something else instead. Of course, there are things such as snow shovels which may not see a lot of use some years but you’ll need at some point which you will need to keep.

Items which are not used can be given to a neighbour or you can get a garage sale day going for your entire street so it becomes a community event with a lot of drawing power. If you get the whole family involved, it becomes a fun day and learning experience for the kids to understand running a small business project.

Anything left after a garage sale can be donated. There are a variety of charities who are in need of lightly used items so if you have two of something in the garage because you purchased something twice, you may want to consider donating one if it doesn’t get purchased at the garage sale. Or, you can run a kijiji ad if it’s something you know that you can sell but just didn’t find a buyer on the day of the garage sale.

There are some great learning experiences for the little ones to pay it forward and let go of things emotionally by de-cluttering. Then, learning life skills and business skills from doing all the activities of running a garage sale will grow their independence and confidence while creating an opportunity for the family to come together.

Group Belongings by Lifestyle Activities

After de-cluttering and a garage sale, whatever is left needs to be organized. Before the garage storage project begins, organize the items into piles for your garage renovation specialist to review and understand what you’ll need to store in the garage. Also, a discussion of your family lifestyle together will give an idea of what you’ll need your garage to be able to do. It’s much like a kitchen. The master cook may want a double oven while the busy family may want an oversized fridge for all the kids to find food. Our lifestyles will determine how the garage can be designed as much as determines what we may need in any other room of the house.

By grouping items into piles, it will help you see and understand what has been dumped in the garage and the storage challenges these items have presented so far. You can consider each family member’s hobbies such as handyman activities, crafts activities, gardening activities and sports that each person plays.

During the initial consultation, you’ll get an idea of what can be done. An in-depth discussion into the things your family would like to do or need to do will help define how you can get the most out of your garage space. Also, your organizational style will also be explored. For instance, if you would prefer a clean looking garage where everything is put in its place and hidden away behind doors, garage cabinets will make a lot of sense. If you prefer to see things so it will stay fresh in your mind that you own certain things, then an open style storage solution would be more appropriate for you and your family to find things easily.

A Garage Renovation Timing and Timeline

Once the project begins, you’ll want a garage renovation specialist who will keep you informed and prepared for the next phase of the project. Sometimes, this may be moving items into the backyard or basement during a specific phase of the project or having access to the full driveway for specific days of the week.

Project management skills are a key element of a good garage renovation specialist. They will guide you through each phase of the project instead of having these tasks become a surprise on the day they arrive to do work.

Plan You Garage Renovation Well in Advance

If you’re looking to do a garage renovation this year, March or early April is the best time to start the consultation process so that the project can match your family’s schedule as well and the appropriate garage storage solutions can be made-to-measure and delivered in time for installation day.

If you’re looking for both a good renovation experience as well as solution, contact us today to learn how we work to make this a reality for your family.

How to Run a Successful Garage Sale

September 5, 2018 by Rick Scully

Are you thinking of getting rid of all the clutter of things in your garage? Maybe, you’re thinking that you’d finally like to park both your vehicles in the garage this winter. You’re thinking of re-organizing your garage storage items so you’ve taken the first steps to declutter.

Now, you have a pile of stuff which is ready for a garage sale. Next you’re thinking how to get everything sold by the end of the garage sale day. So, it’s time to figure out how to make the garage sale as successful as possible. It’s time to get the whole family involved and get everyone connected with the process. Not only is it a great learning experience for young ones to gain some business experience but they’ll be more involved in the process of letting go of things.

Let’s take a look at some key things to discuss as a family for how to make your garage sale or yard sale a success.

Team Up with Your Neighbours

One of the best ways to increase the success of your garage sale is to do it as a street sale by involving as many neighbours as possible. When you’re attracting people to a street with multiple garage sales, there will be a lot more attraction for the bargain hunters to come out and do some hunting when they know that they can view several lots worth of garage sale items.

Also, it’s a great way to build up some community spirit on your street while getting to know your neighbours better. In addition, pooling resources makes the work of preparing for the garage sale a little easier overall.

Also, invite family and friends of the family to participate so there are plenty of people to service bargain hunters with a purchase or making change for them. Let younger family members run a small lemonade stand and bake sale for hungry bargain hunters. Enhance the atmosphere with music which will boost the mood of everyone there looking around for a deal. Having a few extra people around means that someone can look after the music if there is a rush of people.

Plan Your Garage Sale Date with a Rain Date

It’s best to have a rain date so if things go sideways on the planned garage sale date, then everyone is already agreed on the rain date and it’s a no brainer to run it on the rain date. It can also be part of the advertising.

Start the garage sale earlier so that people can attend the sale without interrupting the rest of their day. A garage sale that runs 8:00am until 1:00pm will do better than one that starts in the afternoon. Be prepared for avid garage sale shoppers to arrive earlier than the hours set for the garage sale. Also, if you choose a summer morning, then it will be cooler and more comfortable in the morning. Comfortable temperatures are important to people attending and buying more. For the best temperatures, it is best to hold a garage sale in late spring and early fall. So, late September is a great time to hold a garage sale as much as late April or early May.

Saturday morning is the better day for the garage sale. People seem to enjoy starting their weekend with a fun bargain hunting excursion on a Saturday morning while leaving Sunday to catch up and complete all those things they intended to complete over the weekend. Also, this allows people to make Sunday the rain date.

Advertise Your Garage Sale

One common suggestion is to call it a “yard” sale as opposed to a garage sale. It’s been said that people feel that a yard sale sounds a little more upscale than a garage sale. This may help more in some neighbourhoods than others.

For local neighbourhood signs, use large 3 foot square cardboard signs with very large easy to read letters so people driving along in vehicles can quickly read and follow your signs. There should be about 20 – 30 signs attracting drivers from all directions towards your street.

In addition, use social media to promote your garage sale. People will drive a short distance to attend your garage sale, especially if the sale is organized and includes multiple households all on the same street for a greater bargain hunting experience for the shopper. Some of the social media sites you can use include:

Start advertising early so there is time for people to plan to attend your yard sale.

Organize for a Successful Garage Sale

Place price tags on everything so there is a starting price for everything. Bargain hunters enjoy the interaction with other people when purchasing something. These buyers also enjoy the haggling process so be prepared.

Arrange sale items into groups of items or by price range on different tables where you have many smaller items. Label everything and make it easy for people to walk around and view everything just like any retail space. Display things in a fun way and to frame things so they are more appealing.

Have some chairs for people to sit and rest including a chair for yourself. Your chair should face the road and allow you to stand up and greet any visitors to your yard or driveway.

Prepare to make change for people. And, if you anticipate people using larger bills, it’s possible to get a counterfeit detector from Staples or Walmart to scan any bills which you suspect.

The Apres Yard Sale

Work with neighbours to keep it fun and lively while having enough hands to look after all the small things which will make the day memorable and a success. Anything that’s left over at the end of the day, you can either post online as a classified ad, donate to a charity or drop off with a local Value Village or other second hand shop.

A yard sale helps everyone declutter leaving only the stuff we actually use regularly. It’s a healthy start before any garage renovation project. Now that you’ve run a garage sale to look after the discard pile, it’s time to look at how to manage and organize the garage to store the things that needs a place in the garage so people can access and use it.

In our next blog, we’ll review how to use the space in the garage to store the remaining items so they remain safe but also easily accessible while leaving space for the vehicles to park inside the garage.

Preparing for a Garage Sale

August 14, 2018 by Rick Scully

August 11^th 2018 was National Garage Sale Day. All of us can benefit from a garage sale from time to time. And, it’s a great way to spend time with your growing family and the lifestyle changes that occur as children grow out of old toys or as new sports or other hobbies enter our lives.

It’s not just the garage sale but the process which can be a great learning experience for everyone in the house. The day of the garage sale is a good way to connect with neighbours and friends from the neighbourhood. In fact, they often say that getting together with a few other families to plan a garage sale is a great way to be more successful. And, while the National Garage Sale Day occurs in August each year, any of the warm days from about April to October can be a good day.

A garage sale allows us to let go of things and manage our garage storage whether we’re looking to have a garage renovation done shortly or we’re looking to make the most of our existing garage storage options.

The Benefits of Decluttering

Decluttering and organizing has great psychological benefits for us and our family members. It’s a great learning experience for younger members in many ways.

There is a lot of decision making involved with decluttering because we are working with limited garage storage space while we may have a growing selection of things we believe we want to store. So, we need to make decisions as to which things to get rid of and which things might need to be stored elsewhere.

This task allows our children as well as ourselves to gain a sense of competence or confidence that we are able to do things well. Also, it gets everyone moving and active while accomplishing tasks so there is a lot of satisfaction about completing things.

Also, we know that we feel relief as well as reduced anxiety from being organized. Order and symmetry has been known to do this for us psychologically or as witnessed from people with OCD who feel temporary relief immediately after organizing something.

Step-by-Step Decluttering Rules

If you don’t yet have a garage storage system, the first step is to empty the garage. This first step alone lifts our spirits. It is the first step to getting us motivated and inspired about the space. When the garage is just full of stuff, we just don’t want to look at it so some of us just keep ignoring the problem because it’s unpleasant to keep looking at our own clutter.

Creating piles is now the next step to your final garage organization masterpiece. Start by creating 2 piles. One pile will be the stuff that you want to store in the garage. The other pile will be the discard pile or the pile for the garage sale.

If your garage is already organized into a garage storage system, you may only need to create the pile of items to be discarded. These might be toys and sports equipment which the kids have outgrown. It may also be duplicate items such as an additional weed trimmer tool.

If you don’t already have a garage organization system, it’s time to organize the pile which has been designated to be stored in the garage. You can do this by grouping these items into smaller piles. Group things together into these types of piles on the floor of the garage:

gardening items
automotive accessories
household tools
patio furniture & accessories
sports equipment
bicycles
camping gear

And, add any other categories of items which might be a part of your lifestyle. Organize these groupings of storage items onto the floor of your garage.

Now, it’s time to call in a garage renovation specialist to help you design and implement a made-to-measure garage organization and storage system. Or, if you’re looking for a DIY solution, it’s time to visit the big box stores for supplies to build and mount your systems inside the garage.

Meanwhile, it’s time to run a garage sale to find new owners for all the items in the discard pile. It will be quite a relief when all the things you want to get rid of are finally out of your home.

Promoting the Garage Sale

There are some keys to getting the garage sale to become a success and an event which is full of people visiting your sale. If you follow a few steps, you’ll be able to elevate the success of this event and have a little more fun running the event with your family and neighbours.

We’ll continue next month with a blog on how to put on a successful garage sale. In the meantime, if you’re looking to hire a garage renovation specialist, please contact us for a complimentary in-home consultation.

Preparing for a Garage Renovation

March 14, 2017 by Rick Scully

The garage has become a dumping ground for your family’s stuff. It’s taking over the garage floor and it’s becoming ever more difficult to park the vehicles with belongings littering the space. Now is the time to start planning and preparing a garage renovation.

Declutter with a Garage Sale

Start by clearing out the clutter. As spring approaches, it’s a great time to hold a garage sale and clear out equipment or tools you haven’t used for a couple of seasons or toys the kids have outgrown by paying it forward to another family in the neighbourhood.

Having a garage sale is a great way to set a deadline for everyone to get things cleared out. By getting the entire family involved in the process, it becomes a learning experience in decluttering and organizing habits which will carry through a lifetime.

Start by throwing out anything that is broken. From there, if you have duplicate items, move them to your garage sale items. Decorative items that we don’t love are ideal for the garage sale. If you’re just holding on for some day, then take courage and put it with the other garage sale items. If it is clothing that you haven’t worn for a year, the guideline is that you probably won’t be wearing it again. So, take courage and include it with the garage sale items. Finally, all belongings require upkeep so if you’re not willing to dust and clean it regularly, consider it another item for the garage sale.

For some people, decluttering may be more psychologically difficult than it is physically difficult to do. Letting go of items will improve the well-being of your family.

Donate Your Stuff

Whether you decide to run a garage sale or not, whatever is collected or left behind from the garage sale can be donated. Anything from clothing, furniture, small appliances, old renovation items like insulation and even an old clunker which may still be sitting in your driveway can be donated.

In Canada, there are some great ways to donate your belongings. In the Greater Toronto Area, there are many drop off locations for donations of clothing, furniture and old renovation items. In some cases, there are ways to get your donations picked up free or for a small fee. Depending on the items, sometimes you may get a donation receipts for your items.

Clothing & Small Items

You can donate to specific charities or choose a thrift shop near you.

For instance, Diabetes Canada (formerly Canadian Diabetes Association before February 13, 2017) will accept: gently used clothing, bedding, sleeping bags, blankets, footwear and small household items such as kitchenware, pots & pans, tools, blenders, etc. They’ll also accept small electronics such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, iPods, digital cameras, gaming consoles, PDAs.

Visit http://www.diabetes.ca/how-you-can-help/clothesline to book a pick up.

Vehicle Donation

If you’ve got an old clunker which needs to go to Car Heaven, they will tow it ($200 value) for no charge and give you a $100 donation receipt to one of the charities featured to promote health, protect the environment or inspire communities.

Furniture Bank

The furniture bank works with social agencies which need furniture for shelters, refugee programs as well as homeless & poverty programs. For a listing of agencies they service, visit http://www.furniturebank.org/programs-services/partner-agencies/.

Donate here: http://www.furniturebank.org/furniture-houseware-donate/

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Donate by dropping off items to a Habitat ReStore nearest you. They accept all sorts of renovation items from flooring, windows, doors, kitchen cabinets, sinks, counter tops, hardware, tools, building materials, garden tools, fridges, stoves, microwaves and more.

They also have multi-item pick up services and de-construction services to remove kitchen cabinets and bathroom fixtures. Submit your ReStore Donation Form here.

Organize What Stays in the Garage

Now that you`ve decluttered, the remaining items will need to be organized back into the garage.

Organize the remaining belongings into groups. Typical groups include sports equipment and camping gear, bicycles, seasonal decorations, household supplies, workshop tools, gardening tools, automotive accessories, recycle and trash bins. You may have some additional categories unique to your lifestyle. Many people who have home businesses may find that they need to find appropriate storage space for their working tools and supplies so plan this category of items into your overall garage renovation plan.

Once there are categories of items, it makes it much easier to understand what needs to be organized and stored in the garage.

Do It for Me or Do It Yourself Garage Renovations

Next, the question becomes whether you do it for yourself or you get someone to do it for you. You might have a handyman in your family. Maybe, they are not adequately skilled. Or, they are abundantly skilled but just don’t have the time to get it done in a timely manner. It`s may be time to consider booking a complimentary in-home consultation with one of our garage renovation specialists.

If you’re on the fence as to whether you’re ready and prepared to do your own garage renovation, then, read my upcoming blog on “Garage Renovation & Design: DIY or Do It For Me”. You’ll gain some insights as to whether you are able to handle the garage renovation as a DIY or DIFM project.

Spring Cleaning

May 21, 2013 by Rick Scully

Over the winter months you likely don’t spend a lot of time in the garage. Your main goal is to get from the car into the warmth of the house as quickly as possible, or grab the skis or hockey equipment you need and go. Now the weather has finally warmed up, you might be a little more interested in spending time in the garage doing a little spring cleaning. But more than just a sweep and a mop, you need to switch around the winter stuff to make it easier to access gardening supplies and summer recreation equipment. If your garage is already organized, this becomes a much easier task.

The stage of life you are at will determine the level of organization and the type of garage storage you need. A couple with no kids around will have very different needs to a family with young children. Let’s explore some different scenarios:

The no-children or post-children-at-home couple

This is my situation now, and boy it sure makes a difference to the amount of clutter in our life. I’ve either given away or sold anything that I no longer need and there’s not a lot of new stuff coming in to be stored. I’ve organized my garage into zones for gardening supplies, seasonal decorations, car supplies and my golf clubs. When the season changes I just have to switch the things I’ll need to where I can find them easily. Slatwall with hooks and baskets makes this easy. And anything I won’t need for the next six months I can store away in overhead bins. I then just have to give the flooring a wash with soapy water and a mop and I’m done.

The family with growing children

This is the most challenging stage for garage organizing. There’s bikes of varying sizes, sports equipment, maybe some boxes of old clothes and toys, as well as gardening tools, car accessories and other treasures you just haven’t been able to part with. It’s time to take stock of what you need and what you can get rid of. A little cash to be earned from having a garage sale or listing items on Kijiji or Craigslist is a great motivator for kids to help sort through their stuff. Once you’ve gotten rid of what you no longer need, you can organize the rest. Hooks, baskets, overhead containers and bicycle racks make it easy. And before you store away the hockey equipment for the summer, treat it to a professional washing. Most sports stores offer this service, and you can also check out ProCleanGear and Fresh Gear for more information.

The family with aging parents and children away at university

They don’t call this the sandwich generation for nothing. In the garage, it can feel like your car and your stuff is literally sandwiched between your kids’ and your parents’ stored furniture. Granted, it’s difficult to part with furniture that has sentimental value – but there are solutions. Take an honest look and decide if you’ll really ever use it again. And ask your kids. Most of us gladly furnished our first homes with our parents’ old furniture, but today’s generation seems less willing to. Sell what you can and look for ways to re-purpose the rest. An old wooden coffee table or chair could have new life inside your house with a coat or paint or a faux finish.

No matter your age or stage of life, an organized garage can make spring-cleaning a simple task. For more ideas on how to create a garage that fits your life, have a look at my website.

Spring Purging

February 5, 2013 by Rick Scully

Spring Purge

For many people, hanging onto the memories & sentiments of kids sporting equipment, science projects and bedroom furniture or pieces of wood from recently completed renovations is comforting. You just never know when you might need a piece of wood for a home project or an extra roll of insulation.

Purge before Adding Storage

2 car garage willowdale showcase - garage door, clutter, painted garage floor, slatwall organizer, shelving, drywall finished walls, drywall finished ceilings

2 car garage willowdale showcase - garage cabinets, overhead platform storage, tire storage, seasonal storage, flatscreen tv, work station, polyaspartic garage flooring

Why bother getting rid of perfectly good things when you can always store things in the garage? But wouldn’t you like to be able to park both your cars inside during the winter, or not have to worry about your kids taking out their bikes and scratching the car doors? Maybe it’s time to purge.

Start with a manageable task. Just charging ahead and trying to tidy everything up sets you up for disappointment. Take a good long look at all the stuff living in your garage and divide it up into what you need and what you no longer use. Old bikes, skiis and other household items may be useful and valuable to other people so give them away. Give away online via freecycle, donate items to a charity, prepare for a garage sale or just leave things at the curb. It’s almost guaranteed someone will scoop them up.

The next step is to review what you need to store in the garage and organize it into groups by category. Decide how often items are accessed as well as their use & placement within the garage. For example, holiday decorations can be placed into a sealed plastic storage bin instead of a cardboard box in the corner of the garage. For seasonal items, the best place for them is off the floor and above in overhead storage where you will only be accessing them occasionally or once a year. If you don’t create a well thought plan for storage locations of items, you’re likely to resort to old habits and pile them up in the corner.

Creating designated storage areas in the garage is the key to good organization. Unlike your kitchen, which already has specific places such as a pantry for food or drawers for cutlery, a garage usually starts as a bare room with walls & doors. Create specific zones for items so they can be found when you need to use them, or stored safely away when you don’t. Imagine the ease of knowing where to look and finding your weed remover when you need it, or no longer tripping over your son’s skates on the garage floor. Clearing the clutter and a bit of organizing can do wonders for your state of mind. Start by deciding how you want to use your space, then transforming it to suit those needs.

Gardening equipment such as rakes, hoes and spades can be stored in one zone and can be hung from hooks. Shovels and ice breakers can also be hung on the wall. Sports equipment, such as hockey sticks and pucks can be placed on hooks or in baskets. And while you’re re-arranging your space, garbage and recycling bins placed near the entrance to the house makes for convenient access.

A happy consequence of purging the garage and getting it organized for spring is a sense of freedom or heavy weight finally being lifted. I’ve helped many people transform cluttered garages, where there wasn’t room to park the family car, into garages with the space to store family belongings, to become a workshop and to park the full number of vehicles intended. When the garage is no longer a dumping ground for things without a home, it becomes a functional living space and frees up room for tools, sports equipment, seasonal decorations and garbage and recycling bins. I can show you garage storage solutions and fabulous products to transform your garage into the envy of your neighbours.

My clients say they feel happier and uplifted when they are finally free of the shackles of a cluttered and dangerous garage. Organizing allows them to concentrate on things that really matter and to stop stressing about the mess hidden behind the garage door. If you’re interested in discovering your garage’s potential, start by purging.

Avoid Seasonal Anxiety Disorder with a Garage Changeover

October 2, 2012 by Rick Scully

Spring cleaning has become a tried and true ritual, the ideal time to gather up unwanted things for a garage sale or trash haul. Fall is also a great time of year to consider a sort and purge to transition into winter and ensure your garage is ready to do what it was built for – protect your car from the elements. But for many people, the idea of saying goodbye to summer and getting ready for winter is so off-putting they avoid it. At Garage Tailors Garage we call this common condition, Seasonal Anxiety Disorder. And the best way to alleviate symptoms is to have an organized garage.

For people with existing garage storage solution systems, the time that it takes to do the seasonal changeover is usually less than an hour. The changeover typically involves transferring the items you won’t need for a few months to the back of your garage and the ones you will be using to the front for quick access. Shovels replace rakes, the snow blower gets more prominent placement than the lawnmower and you can stash the pink, bug-eliminating windshield fluid in a cupboard and break out the blue antifreeze. Any sand or ice melting products that keep your stairs, pathways and front sidewalk slip-free get moved to a basket, which is suspended just off the floor near the front of the garage to grab when necessary. Snow tires are removed from overhead platforms or secure floor racks to be replaced with your all-weather tires until the spring. Typically people power-wash the garage in the spring to remove any salt stains from the floor, but a good soap, water and brush cleaning in the fall wouldn’t hurt.

If you’ve accumulated stuff that you no longer need, get rid of it. Give it away to a charity, have a garage sale or throw it out. Don’t put yourself in the position that led you to organize your garage in the first place. Purging should be an ongoing activity. It’s impossible to keep everything and keeping things you’ll never use again is a waste of space. For example, when kids get older, strollers get replaced by tricycles, which are replaced by scooters and bikes. Unless you’re planning on having more children, don’t keep the stroller. That’s what Craigslist and Kijiji, or the curb with a “free” sign, are for.

However, if the very idea of going into your garage to dig out winter items makes you feel queasy, you might be suffering unnecessarily from a bout of Seasonal Anxiety Disorder. Chaotic garages can be scary, but the problem is easily remedied. If you’ve never organized your garage, or the last time you did was during the past millennium, the best way to tackle it is to start in reverse. First, you decide what you need to keep, what to donate and what to throw away and then organize your garage to make space for your cars. The process takes planning, time and money, but ultimately will save you valuable time and aggravation each time you realize snow is on the way.

You can pretend the good weather will last forever and then cuss and fuss every time you find yourself scraping snow and ice from your windshield in minus 30 degrees. Or you can transform your garage with custom-designed storage solutions that address your personal needs and get into a warm, snow-free vehicle every winter morning.

At Garage Tailors Garage, we’re hoping to eradicate Seasonal Anxiety Disorder so everyone can feel good about getting the garage winter-ready. If you’re interested in knowing what could be done with your garage, we offer free in-home consultations.

Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Garage Sale

August 21, 2012 by Rick Scully

When people embark on a garage transformation, the question they’re faced with is “How do I make room for the cars and get rid of the mess?” In a previous blog post, seasonal garage anxiety disorder, I discussed an easy way to sort through the clutter. A lot of what you’re storing may not be of use to you, but it may be useful to someone else.

A garage sale can be an effective way to sell some of the stuff that’s in your garage and generate some money to put towards your transformation, but it has to be done right! Here are some tips on holding an successful garage sale:

Before the sale:

Advertise. Keep the posters simple with your address, dates and times. Many realtors will have signs they’ll loan out that you can prop up around the neighbourhood to direct traffic, but you can also put posters up on lamp posts. Don’t discount an ad in the paper – many people still check the local newspaper for garage sale listings.
Price your items in advance and keep the prices realistic. Often people think their stuff is more valuable than it is. The people that go to garage sales are mostly bargain hunters. For things that are clean and in good shape, try pricing it at about a fifth of retail value. If it’s new or almost new, the piece could command a third. Repair something if it needs it. Wash it if it’s dirty.
If you’re unsure about an older appliance or baby product, check with Health Canada’s Product Recalls
Be prepared for early birds who will arrive before the scheduled opening time!

During the sale

Be friendly. Nobody likes a silent shopkeeper.
Have lots of change ready (10 fives, one roll each of quarters, loonies and toonies should do).
Don’t use a cashbox, it’s too easy to forget. A money belt or fanny pack is better.
Designate one person as the cashier, that way there’s no confusion over what’s been sold and for how much.
Selling electronics? Make it easy for people to test these items by having an extension cord or putting in fresh batteries.

Exit Strategy

In the early afternoon, start reducing prices.
Have a plan for the items that go unsold. You can drop them off at a charity at the end of the day (some will do a pick up).

You’ve now freed up space in your garage, gotten rid of the clutter that’s been holding you back and the garage is now ready to do the job it was designed to do.

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