A garage is one of the best places for storage in any home. It’s so easy to keep packing the garage with more and more stuff, and then completely forget all about it. So often, we come to a point where our garage is overloaded, over cluttered, or just an all-around mess. This is bound to happen. There’s the kid’s stuff, seasonal stuff, and who knows what other kind of stuff. The garage is just full of stuff, except our cars…which is pretty ironic. Organizing an entire garage can be a very overwhelming and daunting process, one which often gets put off for months or years on end. If you know the right way to go about it, however, organizing your garage doesn’t have to be such a frightening task.
Here are some great tips for how to organize your garage once and for all, as well as some definite no-no’s.
DO:
Map out the space you need beforehand
This is a very important step in the process to make sure you make the most of all your space. You have to be strategic, here. There is a delicate science to all of this! To start, take inventory of everything you have (after you’ve gone through it all and decided what you can get rid of). Map out how much space you have and where everything can go. Then, you’ll know exactly where everything is and you won’t waste any time or any space.
Use a wall storage system
When using a garage for storage, the obvious place to start is by stacking piles of boxes right on the floor. Considering the floor is also the place your car would typically belong, the space here is limited. Many people don’t realize the amount of real estate they would have in their garage if they took advantage of all the space on the walls. Create a wall storage system consisting of shelves, cubbies, and even lockers, and you’ll find that you have much more room than you ever could have imagined! This is a home run, seriously. Highly recommended.
Hang anything and everything you can
On the same note as our point above, utilize your wall space to hang whatever you can. You can use hooks and even a pegboard (which are really inexpensive, another added bonus!) to hang bikes, tools, sporting equipment, and more. You’d be amazing how much better everything is when it’s up and off of that floor!
Install a rack for anything with a handle
There’s nothing more annoying than trying to figure out how to store things that have handles, such as brooms, shovels, rakes, etc. They are always falling over, knocking things down, and end up being a big unorganized pain. So, install a rack that allows you to slide these items right in. They’ll stand upright, won’t knock each other over, and will keep your garage looking neat and tidy.
Storage on the ceiling
Adding storage to the ceiling of your garage is probably an idea you’ve never considered; however, this could literally double the amount of storage space you have! You can hang racks/shelves from the ceiling for the things you don’t need or use very often. Whenever you do need to get to them, just use a ladder and be careful! When you do install storage on the ceiling, be sure you’re not putting racks or shelves in the way of where your garage door will open! That baby needs space to move!
DON’T
Stack everything on the floor
As I mentioned earlier, yes, the floor is the obvious place to store anything and everything you have in your garage, however, there’s only a limited amount of room on the floor, especially if you have more than one car. Make sure you’re utilizing the other areas of your garage and saving floor space for what the garage floor was really made for – your car. See the “do’s” section.
Pile things on top of each other
If you start piling things on top of each other, you’ll create a lot of work for yourself any time you need to find something. Every time you go looking for something in your garage, you’ll need to stack and unstack everything you’ve piled up, making it very difficult and very frustrating when it comes to finding what you need. You have to be organized and be able to see everything, or else it’s all a pile of useless junk.
Keep things you don’t need
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to organizing your garage and then keeping it organized is to hold on to every last thing. Sure, your garage is a place for storage, but that doesn’t mean you should keep every little thing you’ve ever owned, just because you have the space for it. With a mentality like this you surely won’t have the space for long! Before you begin your organizing, go through everything you have and get rid of whatever you don’t need. A good rule of thumb, if you haven’t used something or even thought about it in over 6 months, it’s probably time to toss it. The only exception to this rule are things that are seasonal like golf clubs or skis.
Well, there you go. It’s spring, the time for renewal, cleaning, and re-organization. I know it seems like a massive task, but it’s not as bad as you think. You just have to dedicate and day and get it all done. If you follow these do’s and don’ts and just think about it logically, it won’t be that terrible a task at all. Plus, the results will be more than worth the time and effort.
If you have any other ideas, please be sure to let me know! Good luck! Happy org-ing…that’s a word, right?