Willow Glen is a bustling whirlwind this time of year. Between decorations, ski gear, and holiday ephemera, “San Jose’s Local Treasure” ends up full of clutter and mess in the back rooms, closets, and garage spaces across the neighborhood. Old town charm takes a lot of “stuff” to pull off—especially when the holidays hit.

Every new year, we seem to get a barrage of clients coming to us saying that it’s their New Year’s resolution to finally clean out their garages. They’ve allowed their garages to be taken up with clutter until they’re practically useless even for car parking. These desperate organizers come in droves, seeking creative and efficient ways to get their storage under control.

I was recently sitting in the spacious kitchen of a home in the Blackhawk community outside Danville with some clients. They live near the country club, so golf came up. The couple were excellent golfers, with very low handicaps, and their enthusiasm was contagious. They’d gotten each other new clubs last Christmas, and when I asked to see them, we went to the garage. That’s when the situation got complicated.

Palo Alto has amazing natural beauty, a booming economy, and one of the most educated populations in America. There is also a fair amount of traffic. The situation has gotten so severe that Palo Alto's CIO Jonathan Reichental is even pushing for Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology that helps drivers minimize parking time and optimize traffic flow by collecting data on local traffic patterns. This information, along with that already being collected by internet-enabled cars, can create a new data-based urban model.

But why not try the old-fashioned way to “go green” and beat traffic by hopping on your bike? In addition to IoT tech, Palo Alto is addressing the traffic problem by aggressively funding new bike paths that will offer an alternative to many popular commuter routes. As residents start to see a comprehensive network of new bike routes throughout Palo Alto, they can increasingly opt to skip the long commute for the appealing combination of a pleasant ride and a morning workout. Redesigning your garage with custom bike racks and retractable tool chests can facilitate biking. You’ll feel good about lowering your carbon footprint and skipping the gridlock when you're easily able to opt for biking. Once you free up space with an effective storage system, a beautiful garage becomes so much more than just a place to park.

GUEST BLOG BY LORI KROLIK OF MORE TIME FOR YOU. THIS IS PART OF A SERIES OF GUEST BLOGS FROM SOME OF OUR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER PARTNERS.

Valet offers great solutions for storing and keeping your stuff organized, but you don’t want to just fill your redesigned cabinets and closets with disorganization and clutter. To kick off the New Year, we asked professional organizer, Lori Krolik of More Time For You, to share her thoughts on how to get your home organized and create the custom Valet cabinet, closet, or space of your dreams.

Mark Olson is one of the Senior Designers at Valet Custom Cabinets & Closets. Mark has been with Valet since March 1999 and, along with experience that he gained prior to coming on board with us, has over 30 years experience in the home improvement industry. Over the years, he has “really had fun designing cabinetry for people with all sorts of garages filled with junk.” When Mark discovered a slow leak in his water heater, he finally had the chance to design his own custom garage! “My kitchen was the next home remodeling project my wife and I had in mind,” Mark said. “However, since the water heater needed replacing and the platform and sheetrock re-done, one thing led to another.”

So what does it look like when a designer gets to create his own garage? Let’s take a look!

GUEST BLOG BY Lori Krolik OF More Time for You. THIS IS part of a SERIES OF GUEST BLOGS FROM SOME OF our PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER PARTNERS.

If you’re like many homeowners your garage has become the dumping ground for your past, your present, and your future. 

Steve T. in Palo Alto wanted to redesign his garage to completely eliminate clutter, to get rid of places for dust to collect, and to ensure that everything that needed to be housed in the garage had a proper place to be stored. Enter Ward Wildanger and Valet Custom Cabinets & Closets.