Get Organized for a Backyard Barbecue!

Sunny and warm days are ahead, which means optimal weather for a backyard barbecue with your household. To make sure you aren’t caught unawares the next sunny day that comes, take the time now to set up your outdoor entertaining and most importantly, your barbecue!

Uncover Patio Furniture

Pull out your patio from its winter storage area – whether it is in your garage, shed, or still outside under patio covers. Determine where you will place your furniture and consider the location carefully. For example, where do you get the most sun exposure, and at what time of day? How close is the furniture and entertaining space to the house? When hosting barbecues, it is more convenient to be near the house to easily move food and drinks in and out. Once you’ve decided on your location, place the furniture to create the perfect eating and relaxing area.

Clean, Clean, Clean

No matter how carefully items are stored, there will likely still be some dust and grime to clean off your outdoor furniture and décor. Take some time to spray and wipe everything down so you can eat and visit on clean and fresh smelling furniture. If you have cushions stored separately, make sure they’re given a quick airing and pat down to remove any dust that has accumulated.

Of course, it’s important to make sure the star of the show is also thoroughly cleaned and ready for the main event. Before you fire up the grill for the first time, make sure it has had a good clean and scrub. You can check out this guide from Popular Mechanics on how you can properly clean your barbecue before use.

Inspect Your Items

Check to make sure all your furniture and décor are in working order. Any cushions that need replacing or lights that are burnt out? Need more charcoal or smoke chips, or a replacement brush for the barbecue? Take inventory of what items you may have around the house and in outdoor storage to see what else might need restocking before the barbecue and outdoor season begins in earnest.

Enjoy for the Season

Once you’ve finished inspecting and replaced any materials that were damaged or used up last season, you can look forward to enjoying your outdoor space for the rest of the season! To keep your outdoor space organized and in working order for the rest of the spring and summer season, implement some practical and easy-to-find storage placements for items you won’t need outside all the time. For example, outdoor cushions and décor might only be needed when the space is in use, so if you have furniture with built-in storage, plan for where to keep items in the interim. You can also designate a space in your backyard shed, garage, or spare storage space in your home that is easy to access whenever you’re ready to go outside. If you have separate outdoor dining accessories, consider keeping them in a kitchen cupboard or drawer so they are all together and in easy reach of the backyard or patio.

Finally, don’t forget to keep your eye on the weather forecast for the next perfect barbecue day!

Phase 6: Start implementing the move!

It’s time to unpack to organize! We’re following a moving and unpacking story of one of our clients through its many stages. So far, we’ve made a plan, starting unpacking boxes and sorting items, purchased the right organizing products and implemented them, and most recently, looked at how our clients were able to use some of their previously owned items instead of purchasing new ones. Now it’s time to take the items we’ve sorted and place them in their new homes!

First, we discussed with the clients what their priority areas were in their new home. In this case, our clients identified their priority areas as the master bedroom, en-suite, and kitchen. At Calm Order, we like to work with our clients to figure out what areas are the most important to them in their new home. Organized unpacking can take time, and we want to make sure that the rooms you need are the first ones that are ready for you and your family to use when you move. The clients, who were moving from outside the city, were unable to assist us with the project so it was important for Calm Order to make sure that everything was set up in the right way for when the clients arrived.

During the initial planning phase, Calm Order was able to get a sense of how our clients used their home and space, so we could come up with a plan to know where to put what items. We were also in regular contact with the clients to determine what their ideas and thoughts were for their new home. As a result, we had a good idea of their needs and wants so we could set up their home for maximum function and flow that fit their lifestyle.

The kitchen, master bedroom, and en-suite were the priorities for our clients, so we made sure all their kitchen supplies were unpacked, sorted, and put in the appropriate place. We had dividers and tray inserts ready to put utensils into drawers. A few of the cupboards required organizing units to hold other dishes, spices, and small appliances, so we utilized those to make sure all the items fit nicely in their space. For the bedroom, we made sure all the furniture was set-up and placed in the most intuitive way. Calm Order also made sure that everything from knick-knacks to lamps and extra blankets were all unpacked in the bedroom based on the client’s specifications. We even made sure the bed was made up with fresh sheets! Lastly, we unpacked the client’s toiletries in their en-suite bathroom and included all the essential items like toilet paper, towels, soap, tooth brushes, and more.

The clients had packed an overnight box packed with all the essential items they would need, like chargers, important documents, change of clothes, and supplies for their morning coffee. This way, other areas of their home like the living room, laundry room and spare bedrooms did not need to be completed immediately – Calm Order could take the time to make sure the entire house was unpacked and organized properly. We want everyone to be able to live in their homes right away, in a space where everything has a place and no items or boxes are left unpacked – this case was no exception! 

Our team isn’t done yet though – we always want to make sure that the job is done right, and sometimes that goes beyond the move-in date. Stay tuned for the final phase in our organizing journey.

Phase 5: To buy or not to buy?

 During any organizing project, it is sometimes necessary to buy new products to help organize people’s personal items in the new space. As we discussed in our previous two posts, there are some circumstances where buying new organizers may be necessary, and certain organizing products work better than others. However, sometimes people have items they already own that can be repurposed and used in their new home. Buying more items isn’t always the right answer – sometimes it is more efficient, clutter-friendly, and financially beneficial to use what people already own.

When the Calm Order team does our initial walk through and determines that items the client already has, we start to plan for what can be reused in the new home, and what needs to be purchased. Sometimes these items are used in the new home for a completely different purpose than what they were initially used for in the previous home. Finding a new purpose for an item or giving it a simple update can completely change its functionality and usefulness. For example, our clients had a small cabinet that was just collecting unnecessary clutter in the living room of their previous home. However, in their new space, Calm Order was able to find a new use for the cabinet. The new home came with a dedicated play room/bonus area, so the team was able to designate the cabinet for toy and game storage without having to buy a new unit. Other smaller items like bins, hangars, drawer organizers and shelving units are easy to customize and adapt for a new space and are regularly repurposed by Calm Order when unpacking in a new home.

There can be a downside to reusing items – in some cases, people can hold on to more items than they need or try to use objects for a purpose that does not work or does not contribute to the organization of the space. Similar to purchasing new organizers that aren’t needed, some people may try to find a use for items when there is none. In circumstances like this, Calm Order can work with clients to find a place to donate or sell their items to people who might need it more than they do. A list of some of these organizations is available on our website here.

Whenever possible, Calm Order will work with clients to use what they already own. Sometimes all it takes is a new space or a new idea to completely reinvent and repurpose and object that may have previously been creating clutter and contributing to a disorganized space.

Stay tuned for our next post where we continue our journey through the unpacking process!