Weekend Project: Reclaim your garage with a garden shed

The statistics from one garage-storage-and-organizing company (Word file) indicate that many U.S. homeowners have packed their garages with so much stuff that there's no room for the car. While my car could squeeze into my garage, all the clutter required me to pull out the car or climb over it when I needed to grab a tool or access the electrical panel to reset a circuit breaker.

But that's no longer the case, now that I had a new shed (shown) installed, which is admittedly more of a multi- rather than a single-weekend project. I had planned to do the project with my son this spring and summer, but as the weeks went by and since the site preparation was going slowly, I settled for a model whose price included installation.

If you don't want to install a shed, consider holding a garage/yard sale to get rid of stuff you no longer need or try to do a better job organizing your space. For instance, if items like a leaf blower or other outdoor power equipment are taking up valuable floor space, stow them on hooks or other hardware. (Read "10 Questions for . . . Katherine Steiger, Professional Organizer" for advice on uncluttering your home.)

If you do go the shed route, follow these pointers to make the process go more smoothly:

Follow the letter of the law. It might be tempting to put up a shed without notifying your town, but you're better off abiding by building and other codes. The roughly $200 I spent for a building permit and certificate of occupancy means that the shed won't be an issue when I sell my house.

What's more, by consulting with the town early, I ascertained that the 8x10-foot model I was considering would not require a setback from the property line, a plus since my backyard isn't especially spacious. And if your neighbors are more informed about town or municipal requirements than you are, you could potentially be ordered to move or remove the shed.

Weigh all the options. Sheds come in many sizes, styles, and colors, and with numerous options. For mine, I chose vinyl siding (no need to paint the shed), vents (to air out the gas-powered gear), a pressure-treated wood floor (to hold off the critters), a little window and planter, and a code-required anchoring kit to better secure the shed during storms. Remember, each add-on bumps up the price of the shed.

Prep the site. If you're installing a shed kit, follow the manufacturer's guidelines to prepare the site. If you're hiring someone to assemble it, follow that company's instructions. The challenge at my house was that on two sides we needed to level the site by cutting into a hill (and find a place for all the dirt). We also had to dig down a few inches to situate a bolted-together 4x4 border. Drainage around and beneath the shed is also important; we laid about a cubic yard of a crushed-stone mixture typically applied before asphalt, and half that of gravel. If you’re lucky, your driveway will be near the shed site. Mine isn't, so it took my son and me about 40 long trips pushing the wheelbarrow between the front yard and the back yard. Also be sure there's adequate clearance all around the site where the shed will go.

My shed got installed last weekend, and now that the building inspector has approved the project, I'll soon have the certificate of occupancy. Next, I'll lay down a coat of wood preservative on the shed floor and then tackle the next big weekend project: emptying the garage.—Ed Perratore | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Once you get a new shed and have more storage space, autumn sales on lawn gear might entice you to buy. Check out our tools-and-power equipment and lawn-and-garden pages and free buyer's guide to mowers and tractors, string trimmers, snow blowers, and leaf blowers. For more information on sheds, read "Building a Shed," by Joseph Truini.

Tiny Greenwich Village home makes the most of minimal space

This 9.5-foot-wide home for sale on Bedford Street in New York City's Greenwich Village could be a most appropriate buy for this era of downsizing.

The three-story, 42-foot-long town house was built in 1873 and counts actors Cary Grant and John Barrymore, anthropologist Margaret Mead, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay among its former owners. If not averse to the space, a buyer might pause at the asking price of $2.75 million. The home actually has 1,500 square feet of living space, in line with a trend toward "rightsizing" homes that saw average floor area of newly built home shrink from 2,629 to 2,438 square feet in the last quarter of 2008.

Inside the home, open floor plans and extended balconies give the illusion of roominess, reflecting a move toward better use of existing interior space, as described in our  10 Questions for interviews with The Not So Big House author Sarah Susanka and architect Marianne Cusato.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Our newly updated Kitchen-Planning Guide has dozens of tips to maximize your space and budget.

In Westchester County, some contractors have built a bad reputation

Most of the contractors I've dealt with have been upstanding citizens, but in Westchester County, New York, home-improvement pros again headed the 2008 top-10 list of complaints filed by residents there, according to a March 3 release from the county's Department of Consumer Affairs.

Home-improvement contractors were the subject of 357 of the more than 1,500 complaints the department received. The county issued 121 summons to unlicensed contractors and began enforcing a new law that allows for the seizure of tools and trucks. Gasoline sales, furniture stores, specialty services (including collection agencies and home-security companies), motor-vehicle sales, heating-oil companies, food stores, professional services, utilities, and department stores made up the rest of the list.

To try to avoid hassles on your next project, use our advice for hiring a contractor, finding a handyman, and choosing between a contractor or the services at a home-improvement center. And learn how to keep yourself from getting scammed by burglar-alarm companies, duct-cleaning services, and chimney sweeps.—Gian Trotta

Essential information: Read about New York State's Know Your Contractor Web site, launched last fall to help consumers avoid getting ripped off by shady pros.

Remodeling tips for first-time home buyers

A glut of unsold homes and plummeting prices are luring more first-time buyers into the market. According to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal, first-time home buyers made up more than 40 percent of all buyers at the end of 2008, up from 36 percent in 2006—when boomburgs and boomburbs were, well, booming.

If you're a recent first-time home buyer, you know what it's like to sign the roughly 439 closing-related documents, pay your lawyer and others who get a piece of the action (perhaps a buyer's broker, the title company, et al.), and put the key in the front door for the first time. The home is finally all yours.

And so is the Depression-era boiler, the 1960s paneling in the family room, or the mismatched array of disco-generation appliances. If you're planning major remodeling, renovating, or redecorating, use our Home Improvement Guide (shown). The free interactive is based on our unbiased, independent tests and includes information on dozens of products, including those mentioned below as well as mattresses, air conditioners, closet organizers, paints and stains, smoke and CO alarms, vacuum cleaners, and snow blowers.

• For a bathroom sink, consider an undermount model for its easy cleanup or a drop-in type for its lower cost and easier installation. You can also save in the bathroom by choosing a single-handle design for the faucet and vinyl tiles or planks for the floor. Learn more about bathroom remodeling.

• In our tests of kitchen flooring, plastic laminate has actually proved tougher than solid wood and engineered wood. Even bamboo did far better than before, though it's expensive.

• For your kitchen countertop, quartz—also called engineered stone and sold under such brand names as Caesarstone and Silestone—mimics natural stone better than ever, often costs less than granite and marble, and never needs resealing. You can also save by opting for today's better-looking laminate.

• When buying a range, look for a model with at least one large gas burner or higher-wattage electric element. And think twice before choosing a pro-style range. Many other ranges provide can comparable or better performance and greater overall reliability.

• When you need to replace your washing machine or dryer, focus on the washer, since performance of washing machines varies far more than it does among dryers.—Bob Markovich

10 Questions for . . . Libby Langdon, Interior Designer

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico speaks with Libby Langdon, a New York City-based interior designer who appears on HGTV's Small Space, Big Style; her new book, Small Space Solutions, is due out in March 2009. Here, Langdon reveals her favorite paint colors, shares several space-expanding tricks, and talks about the latest in lightbulbs.

What's your attraction to small spaces?
While traveling the country for my first show, Design Invasion, I saw that people have space constraints everywhere you go. I realized that I have a lot of tips for people who are intent on making their tight quarters feel larger and function better.

What are a few of your favorite tricks of the trade?
• Use full-scale shelves and cabinets. Pieces that go all the way up to the ceiling visually draw the eye upward making the ceiling seem higher and your space feel larger.
• Put your walls to work by mounting shelving to display collections and store items that would otherwise waste precious table space and create clutter.
• When hanging drapes, mount the rod where the ceiling meets the walls. This will also expand the space visually.
• Avoid using all wood furniture, which gives a room a clunky feel. Mix in glass-topped tables to give the room a lighter, airier and more open appearance.
• Position a large mirror on the wall directly opposite a window or a door with panes in it. This will amplify the available natural light.

Can color be used to expand a space?
People are often petrified to paint a small space a color because they think it's going to make it look smaller. That can be the case if you paint all four walls a bold hue. Instead, choose an accent wall, maybe the wall that your headboard is on in the bedroom (see picture) or that your sofa is on in the living room. Paint that accent wall a rich, wonderful color and keep the other three walls a neutral, mellow color, like a soft tan. What happens visually is that the dark wall recedes and it tricks the eye into thinking the space is bigger than it is. (Learn more about specialty paints.)

What advice do you have for choosing paint colors?
Flip through a few design magazines to find colors you like. Nine times out of 10 they'll list the names of the colors in the resource guide at the back of the magazine.

What role does lighting play in opening up a space?
Layers of light add depth and dimension and make a small space seem visually much larger. This might mean a combination of overhead fixtures, undercabinet lighting, wall sconces, and table lamps. Always try to light all four corners of a room. If you can't see a corner, it's as if it isn't even there. I can't tell you how many times I go into small rooms that are lighted by a single lamp. Even in a small room, four or five lights are not too many. You also want to think in terms of tall, large-scale lamps. People tend to fall into the "small space, small accessories" trap. But a tall lamp will spread a lot of light, while again tricking the eye by creating a sense of scale and height.

You use a lot of lights. Are you a fan of compact fluorescent lightbulbs?
I do like CFLs for efficiency but not always for the quality of their light. I prefer LED lights, which manufacturers say last up to 60,000 hours. I find the quality of LEDs to be brighter and truer. I've found some that are around $40, so they're starting to come down in price.

(The quality of light from CFLs has improved. CFLs labeled "soft" or "warm" white will more closely resemble incandescent lightbulbs, while those tagged "bright white," "natural," or "daylight" will give off a whiter, crisper light.)

10 Questions for . . . Barb Schwarz, Professional Stager

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Associate Editor Kimberly Janeway interviews Barb Schwarz, staging guru and CEO of Stagedhomes.com. Schwarz explains staging and how it helps to sell houses.

Who coined the phrase “home staging”?
I invented the industry 36 years ago. I had an interior design business and then went into real estate in the early ‘70s and was shocked at the way the houses looked. I started thinking about decorating houses to sell them. I used my theatre experience to set the scene. Staging is preparing your home so that the buyers can imagine living there with their own things. But most people have too much stuff and they don’t think to put it away. I’ve taught more than one million realtors and decorators about staging via my seminars.

But don’t potential buyers like a house that’s neat but lived in?
Just because you lived in a home one way isn’t the way you sell it. A home becomes a house, then a product to get top dollar. That’s why you do the staging—so the buyer doesn’t look at the stuff, but looks at the space.

What does a stager actually do?
First, I chat on phone with the potential client and then visit the home. I bring my credentials and pictures of my work. I take notes and photos and then I’ll write a proposal. I work on full homes, vacant homes. I have inventory for rent. Usually in lived-in homes you don’t have to buy or rent anything. Staging includes cleaning, packing up stuff, rearranging and moving furniture from one room to another, displaying art, and maybe even painting rooms.

Packing up stuff? What happens to the stuff?
The homeowners might have to get portable storage or box it up and put it in storage and get rid of it for now. Or they can have a garage sale or give things to charity.

Tell me more about staging. What are the steps?
1. Get it clean (stager arranges this or owner does it)
2. Make it clutter-free (seller or stager does it)
3. Use color wisely. Put soft colors, neutrals, on the walls and floors. This expands the size of the room. No red bedrooms, no purple. Put the punch in accessories.
4. Compromise. When you can, put the money in something that’s in poor condition, such as replacing a vinyl kitchen floor that’s in bad shape. But if the bathroom counter is pink, diffuse it and go retro by hanging black hand towels, putting up a new white shower curtain, and painting the walls white.
5. Creativity. Staging is not about spending money. I can stage homes with a ball of rope and a pair of clippers. Angle the bed so that it opens walls and makes the room look bigger. Use nice sheets and pull back the bedspread to show off the sheets.
6. Communication. What is each room communicating to the buyer? Do we have to change the message? Is the room calm, peaceful?
7. Commitment. The seller has to be committed and say they can do this and not be afraid of changes.

10 Questions for . . . Katherine Steiger, Professional Organizer

In this installment of 10 Questions for . . . , Senior Editor Daniel DiClerico talks to Katherine Steiger, a professional organizer whose company, Right Stuff Organizing, helps households in the Boston area combat clutter. Steiger shares her tricks of the trade and favorite sources and explains how to keep things organized with kids in the house.

What are the most common sources of clutter in the home?
Mail is one of the biggest causes of clutter. It's relentless, and people just don't know how to deal with it. The first thing is to get your name off the mailing lists by visiting the Direct Marketing Association Web site. That will put an end to unwanted catalogues. Also, don't subscribe to things that you don't read.

I encourage clients to deposit unwanted mail directly in the recycling bin. It can take some time to get off the mailing lists and cancel subscriptions, so this is a good stopgap. If the mail comes through a slot in the front door, keep the recycling bin right there. That might not be the most elegant solution, but if you're entertaining you can always move the bin temporarily. The important thing is to stop the pile up of papers.

In general, what does it take to live an organized life?
I often say to my clients, "Be ruthless." The general rule is if you haven't used something in a year, you're probably not going to ever use it. Maybe there's that one roasting pan you use for Thanksgiving that you do need—you don't want to spend $100 every year to buy a new one. But if you haven't touched the thing in 10 years, you're probably not the one hosting Thanksgiving. So you really need to be honest with yourself. It's the same with clothing. If you haven't worn an outfit for a whole cycle of seasons, get rid of it. Here's where charities help. People always feel better donating clothing than tossing it in the garbage. There's a charity called Dress for Success that prepares out-of-work women for job interviews, including giving them an outfit. Charities are one of the organizer's greatest tools. OnlineOrganizing.com has clearinghouse of organizations that makes it easy to donate just about anything.

There are so many products out there geared toward organization. Are they useful?
People often think if they just buy the right stuff their lives will be perfect. You can spend $200 at the Container Store or Target, but if the products don't get used they haven't helped you. So first you have to figure out what you're going to be left with. Professional organizers use the acronym SPACE:

• Sort the stuff.
• Purge those items you no longer use.
• Assign the keepers a place.
• Pick a Container.
• Equalize—if one comes in, one goes out.

So you see, products are far along in the process. When the time comes, containers should be sized relative to what you have—little things in little containers and big things in bigger containers. And it's always better to use clear containers so that you can see what's inside.

How has the green movement affected home organization?
A big challenge I find is older homes that weren't designed to cope with modern recycling needs. Just figuring out a place where clients can keep a bin or basket is tricky. But there are a lot of retractable trashcans and recycling systems that can be tucked into a cabinet, solving the spatial problem. Sometimes products are the answer.

Another great green organizing resource is Freecycle. This community-based Web site allows you to give away items to or get them from other people in the network. Often you have something that you just don't need anymore and that isn't valuable enough to sell but may not fit within your local charity's donation guidelines. For instance, most charities don't take Legos and other toys for safety reasons. Freecycle is a way to keep them out of the landfill.

The kitchen is command central in many households. What are some tips for keeping one orderly?
The biggest step is getting rid of the stuff you don't use. We all have items crammed in the back of cabinets, the ice-cream or bread maker or the special late-night-TV slicer that we got as a gift 10 years ago. These items should not be taking cabinets space away from things you use every day. If you really do make ice cream once a year for the Labor Day picnic, that's fine. But move the maker to a shelf in the basement.

Once you've purged, you need to create centers of activity. That's a concept organizers use a lot, not just in kitchens. The goal is to create zones where you do the same kinds of activities. That might mean putting all your baking stuff together in a cabinet by the oven and keeping the things that you need for food prep by an island countertop. It's also important to create a landing pad in the kitchen, since it's usually the first and last point of entry for families. A dedicated spot for keys and cell phones will keep you from hunting around for them when you leave. It will also keep the counters clear. You can't let this prime real estate get cluttered with unnecessary stuff.

Women want a clutter-free home

What do women want?

That age-old question should be on the minds of builders, remodelers, and manufacturers of products for the home. Why? Because 91 percent of all new household purchases are made by or influenced by women, according to Paul Foresman, who earlier today at the International Builders’ Show delivered the “Her Home in 2015” seminar, which focused on the design and amenities that women will want—and expect—in their homes in the coming years.

The typical American woman is stressed, and builders/remodelers and manufacturers need to design spaces and products that will make her life easier and her home a haven from the madness, says Foresman, director of business development for Design Basics, a home-plan-design company and runs the quarterly publication Her Home.

Some other key points Foresman made during his presentation:

• Household messes cause stress, but cleaning is no walk in the park either. The solution? Provide women with products and spaces that are easier to clean, say showers without doors.

• Women want to eliminate clutter in the bathroom, kitchen, and garage. They’ll expect to see well-designed storage systems that can rein in the mess.

The simplest stress reducer I can imagine? Have everyone in the house put his or her stuff away without nagging. My colleagues and I agree that would alleviate a lot of tension.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman

Essential information: Read our report on closet and garage organizers to find the best products to unclutter your home.

Q&A: I'm agonizing over organizing. How can I get my home in order?

My No. 1 New Year’s resolution was to organize my home, including the garage. Any tips for managing the mess?

You’re not alone. Getting organized ranks high on resolution lists, up there with losing weight and spending more time with family and friends. The National Association of Professional Organizers even designates January as Get Organized Month. This drive to organize spells big business for manufacturers of de- and uncluttering products: The storage-and-organizing industry is a $6 billion business, and Americans will spend $8.6 billion on organizing products in 2011, according to the Freedonia Group, a business-research company.

But while plastic bins and drawer dividers can be part of an organizing strategy, buying them is not the starting point. “I try to steer my clients away from buying products, at least in the beginning,” says NAPO president and Boston-based organizer Standolyn Robertson. Instead, she gets homeowners to figure out how they want to use a space. In a garage, that might mean creating space for a small plant-potting station—“not to mention the $80,000 worth of cars that are currently parked out on the driveway,” says Robertson.

Once you’ve figured out what function a space will serve, it’s time to purge and purge again, as our colleagues at ShopSmart note in their March 2008 issue. Debra Proctor, an organizer based in Raleigh, North Carolina, stresses the importance of sorting. She has clients take everything out of a given space and sort it into three piles: essentials, useful stuff that they’re not crazy about, and items that no longer serve any purpose. She has them sort through the useful pile again until only the bare necessities are left.

The next step involves getting rid of unwanted items. Some of the cast-asides will merit a date with the dustbin. But keep them out of the landfill, if possible, by observing local recycling laws. For example, rather than toss paint cans out with the household garbage, take them to your local household-hazardous-waste station. Learn more about dealing with leftover paint here and disposing of other household materials. And visit our Electronics Reuse & Recycling Center.

For items that are still in decent shape, find charities that will take them off your hands for free. Some organizations will even come to your home and haul away the goods—and you might even earn a tax deduction in the process. Click on each category below to find an organization that will take your items.

Appliances    Automobiles    Books    Building Supplies    Cell Phones    Computers    Electronics    Exercise Equipment    Furniture 

Other options for getting rid of your stuff include Freecycle and Craigslist. Remember, your trash might be someone else’s treasure.

Once you’ve parsed, purged, and passed along, you’re ready to find a home for the stuff you’ll be keeping. “Placement is important,” says Robertson, emphasizing that you should keep objects near where you’ll use them. In other words, don’t store DVDs in a separate room from where your home theater is.

The execution stage is the time to make any purchases that will help keep things in their proper place. We’ve tested pro-installed and DIY systems for closets and garages. Some of the DIY systems delivered nightmarish results—wobbly parts, confusing instructions, indifferent customer service—while others were as good as professionally installed systems for a lot less money and required only your time and basic tools.—Daniel DiClerico

Essential information: Share your ideas with or get advice from other readers in our new home-organizing forum.

10 easy house-cleaning strategies

Conquer housework’s drudgery with our easy-to-follow tips

Spring is here, but you've got better things to do than clean. With smart planning, a few easy-to-establish habits, and the 10 tips below, you can make cleaning less of a hassle. The advice below is from How to Clean Practically Anything (Consumer Reports Special Publications, 2002). Click here to buy this essential reference tool.

Divide and conquer. As with any daunting task, housecleaning is easier if you break it into smaller parts. Doing a chore or two a day is easier than letting tasks accumulate and become overwhelming. Cleaning regularly gets rid of dirt before you have to scrub it, saving you elbow grease and the things you clean unnecessary wear and tear. Regularly brushing Fluffy and Fido may cut back on the amount of pet hair around the home. There are also a number of easy--and often free--things you can do to improve the air quality inside your home: See our indoor-air-quality report for tips.

Devise a schedule. Many people find that a schedule lets them take control over housework, rather than the other way around. Start by making a list of cleaning tasks in your home. Then note how often each chore needs to be done--daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonally. Devise a schedule that spaces your daily chores evenly over the course of a week and your weekly chores evenly over the course of a month. Happily, few chores need to be done on a daily basis.

If it's not dirty . . .  You don't have to clean things that aren't dirty--sometimes a touch-up is all that's necessary. If there is a handprint on an otherwise perfectly clean mirror, don't clean the whole mirror; just attack the print itself. You don't have to dry-clean a suit that only needs to be aired, brushed, or pressed. Surfaces that you or your visitors can't see--like the top of a cabinet--don't need to be cleaned regularly. Put some paper down, and when it gets dirty, pick the paper up and throw it out.

If you can't clean, straighten up. If you're short on time, getting rid of clutter can make a room feel a lot cleaner. Make it a habit to tidy things up every day or two and there'll be less to do when you do haul out the vacuum cleaner and dust cloth.

Simplify and unclutter. If you don't need or like something in your house, give it away, throw it away, or recycle it rather than clean it. The fewer things you have, the less clutter you have. And, of course, the less you have, the less there is to dust, polish, shine, vacuum, and otherwise take care of.

Reevaluate your storage needs. Cleaning is much easier if you have well-thought-out storage space for the possessions you do hang on to. Look at each room in your house to see if additional storage can help you solve some of your day-to-day cleaning problems. For example, if you have a crate for shoes and boots near the door, it's less likely that shoes will be scattered around the room. Plastic containers with lids are great for getting such seasonal items as skiwear and beach gear out of the way. If you're considering buying an install-it-yourself organizing system.

Keep lists. Everyone knows how making a shopping list before you go to the supermarket helps keep you from making impulse buys. Lists can be handy in organizing your housekeeping, too. List the chores you need to do in a given week. If you notice a problem--a scuff on the wall in the stairs, a wobbly leg on a chair--and you don't have time to fix it now, write it down so you don't forget about it.

Locate supplies conveniently. In the kitchen, you'll probably make frequent use of a few key items: dishwashing liquid, automatic-dishwasher detergent, an all-purpose cleaner, ammonia, glass cleaner, metal cleaner, and white vinegar (a great all-purpose cleaner), along with a mop, cloths, and scrubbers. Store these items close at hand. Plastic caddies fit conveniently below sinks and can be carried from room to room. Though you probably keep baking soda with your baking supplies, it's such a handy cleaner that you might want to store a box with your cleaning supplies. To get the cleanest dishes, see our report on dishwasher detergents. And if you're looking to save a little money or need a cleaner in a pinch, our free recipes for homemade cleaning products can do the trick.

Use cleaning as a way to check on the house. While you're cleaning or doing the laundry, take time to note any item that needs special attention. The time you take now can save you more time and work later. When crumbling grouting around the bathtub is not repaired, water can leak into the walls. If a dangling button falls off and you can't find a matching one, you might need to replace all the buttons. A loose piece of veneer can catch on a sleeve and break off. If plants aren't draining, they may be staining the furniture on which they've been placed. If you're wondering which household items, such as appliances and electronics, are worth fixing or throwing away, see our report, "Repair or Replace It?" (available to subscribers).

Get everyone to help. Make cleaning a family endeavor. Divide up specific tasks among family members. List chores on a calendar so that you all know what your responsibilities are. It might help to set aside a specific time when the whole household does chores. Devise a system of rewards to inspire kids to participate willingly. Everyone can pitch in when it comes to laundry, and an organized laundry room will save your family from schlepping a load of dirty clothes from the bedroom to the basement or utility room.

Remember, cleaning is always easier with the proper equipment. For more help with the housework, see our buying guides for vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, and clothes dryers.