If you no longer have room to park your car inside the garage, it’s time to make that space more functional. Use this guide to clean and declutter so that you can fit your car and still have useful storage areas. Let’s look at six tips to help you organize your garage.
Organize Your Garage
1. Sort and Declutter
Before you organize, sort through everything currently stored in the garage. Get rid of items you no longer need or want. If you haven’t used something in over a year, it’s a good idea to clear it out and reclaim space. Anything broken or unusable should be repaired or thrown away. Dispose of empty paint cans and chemicals according to your local regulations.
As you sort, make groups of like items. For example, if you have painting supplies like brushes, trays, and rollers, group them together. Try to categorize items that you typically store in the garage. Doing this will make it easier to organize later.
2. Create Zones to Organize Your Garage
After you go through everything, it’s time to think about how you want to organize your belongings. One way to do this is by designating zones for like items. For instance, it’s common to store landscaping and gardening tools in the garage. Make a place for those items. Store all your outdoor tools and supplies in one location to keep things organized and easy to find.
Other zone ideas include hobby supplies, home improvement materials, a mechanics workbench, holiday decoration storage, and sporting equipment.
3. Add Storage
To eliminate clutter on your garage floor, store loose items on shelves, in cabinets, or other storage solutions. Fortunately, you have a wide range of options available for storage in the garage.
Open shelving is an easy DIY solution for most storage needs. Organize items in bins or boxes, then store them on an available shelf. You can buy commercial shelves or build custom ones for your space.
Cabinets are another solution. One advantage of cabinets over shelves is that everything is hidden from view. Storing things out of sight makes the space feel tidy and less cluttered.
4. Clean the Space
Clean the garage before you start finding places for your belongings. Use a broom to sweep the floor. Vacuum the ceiling and walls to remove debris, dust, and cobwebs. Use a pressure washer on the floor to get rid of stains. If you already have shelves or cabinets in the space, use a multipurpose cleaner to wash them thoroughly before putting things away.
5. Organize Your Garage by Using Vertical Space
If you have a narrow area on either side of your parked car, don’t let that space go to waste. Add vertical storage solutions. A pegboard fastened to the wall offers a place to store household tools and other small items without taking up floor space.
6. Look Overhead for Storage
The ceiling of your garage is another place to add storage. Purchase racks that are mounted from the ceiling to hold plastic bins or larger sporting equipment. Add a few hooks high up on the wall to hang bicycles. Inexpensive pulley systems are available for suspending canoes and kayaks from the ceiling, keeping them off of the floor and out of the way.
These tips will help you better organize your garage. Give yourself a weekend to tackle this project and you’ll have a functional, useful space that’s well worth the effort.
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