For garden enthusiasts, garden tool storage is very exciting. Whether an enthusiast or not, keeping your garden tool storage neat and organized allows you to more easily get the curb appeal you want.  Your yard and garden areas are a great asset to the overall look of your home. Even apartment dwellers can grow a flower garden or vegetable garden by planting a window box or patio box.

As an organizing expert, I was recently invited back by KSL TV to help their viewers understand how to organize their garden tools by introducing my garden tool storage formula and favorite garden tool storage containers. I used my 4M organizing formula to move viewers through the process of organizing their garden tool storage spaces and products. A brief synopsis of that formula is listed here:

Minimize by deleting your broken tools and those you no longer need or use.

Measure (take stock of) what tools you have & decide on an area to store your gardening tools.

Maximize the storage space by defining tool categories, then contain tools in garden tool storage products.

Maintain your garden tool storage space by labeling and retaining.

I promised the KSL TV viewers a few lists and links.  Click on the green links below to find the garden tool storage information you want:

Vicki’s Garden Tool Storage Categories List

Vicki’s Garden Tool Storage Check-out List

Vicki’s Favorite Garden Tool Storage Products and Buying Links

Once you have organized your tools and garden tool storage spaces you are ready for this years planting season. Organizing your garden tool storage so your tools are ready when you need them is worth your while. Prepare your tools and garden tool storage areas now and enjoy the “fruits” of your labors for seasons to come. Organizing your home spaces saves you time and money. Now that’s something to plant, cultivate and nurture!

To view our family’s favorite garden tools, click here.

To listen to my online talk show Organize your Spring Yard Care (show #34) click here.

Because I have years of experience organizing home spaces of all varieties I know that organizing your garden tool storage and other home spaces saves you valuable time and money.  I offer you a FREE 20 minute phone analysis for you to decide if I might help you. Contact me by clicking here.

Thanks to a donation by LOWES (a $50 gift card) AND Tools Away (a $30 wall organizing system), a random drawing took place on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 3:45 p.m. and the following names were drawn out of a hat…so to speak: Nikki & Sheila who both left comments here on this blog. Congratulations you two! Check back often for more great give aways.

To view my 7 minute video on Studio 5 click here.

The key to spring cleaning is to declutter first, organize what you decide to keep, and only then begin your spring cleaning projects. Here are my four steps to success as you start the spring cleaning process:

1. Divide the Clearing Out and the Cleaning Up into two entirely different projects as you begin.

To begin the spring cleaning process round up a pen and notebook. Walk through your home and make a list of 3 spaces that need your attention as you begin the spring cleaning. Of those 3, begin in the room where you spend the most time. That room will give you the greatest satisfaction. Decluttering is ALWAYS the first step. Why deep clean things you will not end up keeping? Round up 3 large labeled boxes or bags, Label them 1) Give away, 2) Put away, 3) Throw away. When you run across things you are not sure about, ask yourself these two questions: “Do I truly love this?” and “Is this item useful to me in my current life?”

2. Organize What’s Left before you begin your spring cleaning. Purging is the 1st part of my formula. Organizing what’s left is the other half. There are 3 key elements in maintaining your newly organized spaces:

■ Store your kept items where they will be used.

■ Label the container and/or the space so others know where to return the used items.

■ Adopt the something in/something out philosophy.

3. Now you can begin spring cleaning once the purging and organizing are completed. Professional organizers are not professional housecleaners; none-the-less I have learned some cleaning tricks in my years of working side by side with my clients. Here are a few spring cleaning suggestions:

■ Use the North to South approach or you will sabotage your efforts. Start at the top and work down to the floor.

■ Schedule blocks of time to clean and then be sure you honor those appointments with yourself.

■ Get others involved in the project. At my home we understand the “If you live here, you work here” philosophy. Those large projects become very doable when others join in and help.

4. I have made a list of some of my favorite spring cleaning products. Click here to view my spring cleaning recommended products.

Decluttering, organizing AND spring cleaning,  are about being aware of your surroundings. Because you lead a complicated and pressure filled life, clutter and grime build up. Grab a notebook today and begin your week of decluttering. It will make your spring cleaning a breeze. When our surroundings are organized and newly cleaned, your life feels at peace. Now isn’t that’s refreshing?

To listen to my online podcast dealing with this topic, click here and look for show number 035 titled Organize your Spring Cleaning.

To view my 6 minute Spring Cleaning Video, click here.

Do you know what to do in the early spring to prepare your spring landscape for the upcoming seasons? This week I invited my hubby Gary to be a guest expert on my online organizing show. He taught  about preparing your trees, lawn and planting beds in relation to spring landscaping plans. I invited Gary because he is a self taught spring landscape groomer and does such a good job with our yard that I knew he had some great information  to share with my listeners. Below I have posted some photos and links of the spring landscape and general yard care products he mentioned. I also included some spring landscape or yard-care tools he uses but didn’t have time to mention on the show. I will post his spring landscape top yard-care tools and tips under the 3 categories he suggested.

1. Spring landscape products for your Trees:

Fiskars 12′ Low Prof Tree Pruner

Fiskars EZ Reach Stik Tree Pruner

2. Gary mentioned that you organize your spring landscape preparations for your Lawn by doing the following in the order listed:

• Aerate
• Weed Control/Fertilizer combo
• Pest Control

One of Gary’s favorite lawn care tools is the Sthil BG 55 Handheld Blower

3. Spring landscape tips for your Planter Beds:

Ames True Temper 8″ Poly Shrub Rake for leaf removal in shrubs

Corona 6″ ByPass Pruner for pruning up to 1″ stems on bushes and flowers

Planning for and organizing your spring landscape care  is well worth the effort invested. Gary starts early with his spring landscape plans, usually the very first of March, and our yard is evidence of his tender spring landscape care-giving year after year. Thanks honey. I appreciate you!

If you would like to listen to Gary’s tips, click here and look for show number 034 titled Organize your Spring Yard Care.

To view my TV segment Organize your Garden Tools click here.

I was hired last year by a Doctor who lives in the Provo / Orem area of Utah and knew he needed professional  help with garage organizing. He realized that clutter is a stress creator and the condition of his garage was affecting the quality of his life. At our first meeting I asked him what pushed him to call me and he said, “I feel real frustration when I drive into my garage every day.” He realized that letting go of the excess and organizing what was left would allow him to feel more positive about his daily return home.

Because the garage is one of a few home spaces where we place our “I might need this someday” stuff, garage organizing is quite simple. When I work with clients I bring with me a list of all the possible garage organizing categories and we start sorting their items into categories purging and deleting as we go. You can organize your garage by looking at your gathered items and decide on these main categories.

Realize, that when I refer to your garage, anything that I share with you can be applied to any home storage area including your attic, basement or outdoor shed. To hear my online talk show dealing with garage organizing AND to learn my SPARK formula for organizing ANY home storage area, visit www.TheOrganizedWomanShow.com. In that show I promise you some photos of a few of my favorite garage organization products. I am always good on my promises. Here you go:

Schulte’s freedomrail line makes a complete garage storage solution.

Ceiling Shelves for storage of Yard Furniture or Holiday Decor. (pulley driven baskets to raise and lower ceiling stored items)

Tool Rack – to get tools off the garage floor.

Sporting Goods – For winter ski’s & tennis rackets – Two 1” dowel pieces cut 12 to 24” long and then anchored to a 2 X 4 wood piece and attached to the garage wall.   You slide your skis in with the curved tips out and the tennis racket with the webbed net up.  For Bicycles:  2 bike gravity stand $70    Bike Hoist Pulley System    $25    LOW BUDET:  2 Large ceiling Cup Hooks per bike

Through garage organizing you can turn your garage into the garage of your dreams. Realize that even your home storage areas require monthly and yearly upkeep. I recommend to my clients that they get the whole family involved and plan to spend 3 hours yearly doing a purge and clean. Who knows, after YOUR garage organizing session, you may even be able to easily get your car inside. Now, wouldn’t that be delightful?

If you are tired of your garage disorder and would like some professional organizing help, contact us today for help with your garage organizing. We offer a FREE 20 minute phone analysis.

Home Organizing Workshops

Join Vicki for any or all of the 3 classes she will be teaching during the month of January 2010 in conjunction with National Get Organized Month. The class information is listed below. If you have any questions about the Utah professional orgainzer, Vicki Winterton, and her organizing classes please contact us.

“I just wanted to say thank you for your time in teaching me about time management. As you promised, the “Action File” has changed my life. I’m able to stay on top of the paper mess that comes into my home. I knew the importance of daily maintenance prior to your class (I only learned this in the last year!), but you’ve taught me how to perform daily maintenance on the paper mess, not just tidying the house. Wow! What a great thing!” –Diane, 2009 UVUcommunity education class

Are you tired of making New Year’s Resolutions that, by the end of January, have become another failed attempt at improved self image or moral? Each resolution you set represents a longing of the heart, a personal stretch toward better health, more happiness, or increased wisdom. THIS YEAR  try a new approach. By working on one resolution or goal at a time and following my few simple steps below you will find success in making and keeping your New Years Resolutions.

To begin, make a list or a photo board of your successes this past year. Don’t be modest; make sure you note the learning and the progression that happened.

Next, begin the process of defining your new goals by setting up major goals broken into smaller goal steps:

1. Personalize your goals. Make them specific to you. Use the words “I” and “me” often. Realize you need to focus in on YOU in this step.
2. Write as if you had already accomplished the goal.  Use such terms as “I have”, “I see”, “I feel”, etc.
3. Adjectivize (my own word) the benefits of the Resolution. Use lots of descriptive words to explain the benefits of achieving your goals and resolutions. Words such as: calming, peaceful, energized, terrific, etc.
4. Calendar and schedule with (a) beginning, (b) progression, and (c) completion dates.

Reward yourself with prizes or recognitions of achievement not only when you complete your set goal, but also each day you actively work toward your desired resolution.

Complete THEN Repeat. When you have completed your first New Years Resolution, begin on goal #2. However grand the change we hope for, the vehicle for change is small, simple, daily steps that move us forward. It is the step by step changes each day and week that transport a new goal or resolution to completion. Change is ALWAYS hard for us to make. Be sure you  don’t overwhelm yourself by working on too many goals at once.

If you would like to receive my New Years Resolutions/New Goals Template, please leave a comment on this post and share with us what YOUR top three New Years Resolutions are this year. We love to hear from you!

For many years, I stored my own Christmas decorations in any one of  the 14 holiday boxes lining my garage shelves.  I often felt overwhelmed at the prospect of getting all those Christmas Storage boxes emptied before Christmas and restocked after the holidays. Then I developed a better system that now makes holiday decorating and take-down much simpler. My Christmas storage has become manageable.

I was an invited guest writer for my local newspaper, The Daily Herald, last year and wrote a full article containing my formula for boxing up ANY holiday.  Click here to read the full details of the article dated 12/2008 and titled, Packing up the Holidays OR listen to my online talk show number 024 titled Christmas Storage by clicking this link.

You can do this…It takes just a little longer as you pack up your holiday decor, but saves you lots of stress and time each year from here on in. Organizing your Christmas storage is worth your time and effort this year…YOU CAN DO THIS!

Please leave a comment sharing a tip on how you have simplified your holiday storage. We love to hear from you!

Blending a family of any variety is an obstacle course with many hardships already built-in to jump over & climb above. The holiday season is especially hard because of all the memories (bad AND good) that come attached to each blended family member.  This week I invited my friend and neighbor, Janet Peterson, mother of 11 children combined, to share some Blended Family Holiday Tips. Listen here to show #023. My friend Janet has maneuvered the course for many years and has been successful! She shares specifics on holiday activities and traditions that have worked for her blended family over the years. A few suggestions include these:

Just think of it, for ½ the cost of a new desk or ½ the cost of a new TV set, YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE can receive the gift of peace! In fact, I guarantee greater peace of mind!

Imagine the opportunity to organize your home spaces or business office spaces so they are easily maintained for $500 or less at my special Christmas rates?

Suggest this gift option to those buying gifts for you OR give this gift to someone you love who has tried and just doesn’t have the know how to make it happen on their own.

Organizing Gift Certificates Available

Contact me now for organizing help once and for all at 801-623-8411