Outdoor Organization Tips Just in Time for May Day

May Day is just a few short days away and while you might not be dancing around a maypole this weekend the start of the new month and the ancient festival of spring is a great reminder to get your outdoor spaces organized and ready for the warmer months ahead. Your outdoor spaces, as well as the spaces that support the outdoors (think garage and shed), are often overlooked as needing organizational help but can benefit just as much from an overhaul. Whether you garden, have kids that play outdoors or are just ready for a happy hour or two on the patio, a May Day spent organizing will prevent a mayday later this summer.

Just as with indoor organization, it is important to keep in mind our standard organizing process: decluttering, categorizing and creating a home. Outdoor items are often out of sight, out of mind, in the winter months so doing a thorough declutter and then finding everything a new home for the season will help create order for the summer. When your items have a home it will be easier to put them away quickly as well as find them when you are ready for that last minute backyard barbecue or baseball game. In the warmer months, we use the outdoors just as much as the inside of our homes so those spaces deserve just as much attention.

To help start your summer off on the right foot, I have included below 6 ways to organize your outdoor spaces for spring and summer as well as a few favorite products to help in your outdoor organization. I also have a blog post here all about how we have organized our garage (pictured) – check it out for more tips!

TELL ME: does your backyard or garage need a Saturday spent organizing?

6 Ways to Organize Your Outdoor Spaces for Summer

• Organize your gardening tools and supplies. You are likely more than ready to swap out your snow shovel for a rake or trowel but gardening tools can get messy. I love a wall hanging option like this here for your garage or shed to keep everything off the ground and with a specific home (added bonus for adding labels to that home).

• Create a space for all of the bikes and scooters. If your family is like mine, the kids spend more time on their bikes and scooters in the summer than walking on their own two feet. Set up a system in your garage or storage space for their rides. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a wall or ceiling mounted option, as accessibility is just as important for bikes and scooters. If a wall mounted bike rack isn’t the best fit for your garage consider a floor based option like this here or even just creating a good old fashioned parking spot for each item.

• Remove the covers from your outdoor furniture. This one might seem like a pretty easy task but I am going to add an extra required step – find a new home for those covers for the season and I don’t mean a pile on the garage floor. Outdoor furniture covers can be bulky and often end up getting tossed aside when they are not in use. I suggest a bin like this here that can be easily popped in your garage or even an outdoor storage option like this here or here that can live in your backyard and keep the covers at the ready for a quick rainstorm.

• Move winter items out of reach. Just as you might transition your closet from winter to summer clothes, your garage storage area can benefit from some movement. I suggest moving things that are exclusive to winter like sleds, skis, snow boots, etc. to a less accessible area to make room for items you need closer at hand like bikes and soccer gear.

• Prepare for summer rain. As much as we would like to think that summer is all sunshine, those rainbows come too and we all know what that means. Get your mudroom or entryway ready for a rainy day and avoid a cluttered mess of umbrellas and rain boots. I love an umbrella stand like this here or here and even a boot tray like this here to protect your floors.

• Create outdoor toy storage and zones. If you store all of your kids’ outdoor toys in one spot you are going to end up with a jumbled mess by the end of the summer. Create zones for different items like balls, water toys, sports equipment, sand toys etc. to help keep everything neat and in its place.

Favorite Products for Outdoor Organization

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