Tag Archive for: garage organizing

How to Organize Your Garage (and park your car inside)

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how to organize your garage

 

With spring is here now is the time to tackle the garage. Organizing the garage can be a giant project, but you will be giddy when your garage is clean and organized and you can easily park your car and find gardening tools, bikes, and other items you use in warmer weather.  Use these 6 steps to organize your garage this spring.

 

1. Make a Game Plan: Planning ahead makes every tasks easier. Write down what you want to accomplish in the garage and how you plan to accomplish it. What are my goals? How will things be stored? Will I use boxes or bins? Where will things be stored? Will I need to invest in a storage system?  When will I do this work? How will items be donated? How will heavy trash be picked up? Be practical and keep the end in mind in planning your project.

2. Enlist Help: Working as a team makes everything easier. It can be you and your family, you and a team of teens, or you and your paid helpers. Your team helps you decide what to toss out, helps you move large and heavy items around, and offer perspectives on how to best store and organize things. A team also makes the work more fun!

3. Move Everything Out: Plan to move everything out of the garage. You can use your lawn blower to blow out all the cobwebs and dust that have accumulated. This gives you a fresh start to your project.

4. Sort & Toss: As you are moving items out, determine what you will be decluttering and letting go.  Deciding what to keep and what to toss is usually the most difficult part. Decisions can be based on how often an item is used or if it is broken or unusable. Items can be donated that are still working to local philanthropies. Consider placing items that are to be given away on the curb depending on rules in your neighborhood or listing free items on local social media sites. Be sure your plan and timeline align for trash pick up.

5: Categorize: Once you’re left with your “keep” pile items, it’s time to group like items together. Some typical garage storage categories include:

  • Landscaping and yard tools
  • Power tools and repair tools
  • Automotive items
  • Holiday decorations
  • Sports gear
  • Children’s outdoor toys

Items that should not be kept in the garage are technology or photos. These deteriorate with non-climate controlled conditions.

6. Store:  Plastic bins are best for stacking and durability. Use clear bins so you can see what is in each. Add labels to the bins to be specific.

Choose a specially designed tool box for your tools. With drawers, you can categorize your tools. Label each drawer to know what is stored inside.

Instead of stacking bins and other items on the floor in the corner, take advantage of the vertical space your garage has to offer. Sturdy shelves with ample durability, large hooks, and ceiling racks are great for storing and hanging everything up off the floor, creating a clean, organized look and opening up floor space.

Place items back in the garage with an eye toward frequency of use. More frequently used items should be stored in a visible area and within easy reach. Less frequently used and seasonal items should be stored out of the way. Kids bikes and riding toys should be to the front of the garage, near the garage door.

 

Look back on your project and the work you have accomplished each day as you pull your car into your newly organized space.

Garage Organizing Do’s and Don’ts

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garage organizing

Did you know…

§  38% indicated that the garage was the messiest room in their home.

§  25% of people with two-car garages don’t park any cars in their garage and that 32% parked only one.

§  In a recent poll people 25% of respondents said they want a three-car garage, even considering the extra cost.

 

Spring is a great time to organize your garage.  Here are some simple ways to get your garage organized with do’s and don’ts.

 

DO’S                                                                         

1.    Start with a team.  Garage organizing is a big project and best done with lots of help. Your team can be your family, church or high school teens, or anyone you can corral to help.

2.    Plan for small, manageable time and space pieces. Schedule several times throughout a month to work in 2 -3 hour segments. Work in sections throughout your garage, such as floor first, left wall, back wall, then right wall.

3.    Set up pick up times for your donations.  It’s easier if a charity comes to you to pick up rather than loading your car.

4.    Establish categories and zones for your keep items, such as car, athletics, gardening, camping, storage. 

 

DON’T’S

1.    Just buying shelves and containers is not the way to start.  Have a plan so you know what to purchase and how much to purchase.

2.    Just relocate items in the garage.  Now is the time to review, recycle and donate what is not used at your home.

3.    Pull everything out of your garage and onto your driveway. It’s easy to get overwhelmed while organizing. Taking it in small increments helps you make good decisions and finish the project over time. 

4.    Keep things for an unscheduled garage sale.  If you don’t have a garage sale on the calendar already, donate and get a tax deduction instead.  

 

Remember, your garage is the most frequently seen space in your home.  Organizing your garage gives you the greatest financial bonus in money saved from storage unit costs and wear and tear of your car costs. Most importantly you have access to what you use.   

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Garage Organizing

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garage organizing

 

In Houston, we are notorious for keeping our cars in the driveway and lawn equipment, unopened boxes and more in our garage! October is a great month to organize your a garage and even have a garage sale too!  It is a big project to tackle so be sure to include your family team in the process.

Plan Your Work
With all organizing projects, we need a plan for organizing success! Begin by setting aside 2 consecutive days for organizing your garage. You will need to take everything out of the area, boxes, bikes, recreational equipment or whatever! Enlist your family to assist with this endeavor for them to have ownership of the project and help in the decision making! If a clean space and a way to find toys is not reward enough, remember to find an incentive for your children in this family project.  Plan for the biggest parts of what is to be removed from the garage.  When is the heavy trash day? You can put items at the curb and have someone else taken them away.  Contact Salvation Army to pick up from your home the day after organizing so you won’t have to bring the donations to them.   What other large items will be sold and can be listed on www.craigslist.com?  Get your plan in action with the big stuff first.

Toss and Categorize
Keep in mind when you might use items again! “Just in case” is not a sufficient reason to keep all the items in your garage. Be decisive about how frequently you will use belongings and whether to keep them. Decluttering is just as important in this space as any other in your home. Once you have made decisions about what you are keeping, it is time to define categories for storage. Categories for your garage might be recreation, hardware, tools, gardening, and seasonal. If you have wood scraps, be sure to store these together but don’t keep every scrap. Also, take this opportunity to clean your garage, sweeping out bugs, dirt and more!

“Finding a Home”
Once you have created your categories, remember to locate what you use most in the areas of best access. Whatever you use most should be located closest to the door to the house. Items that are used the least can be stored behind or beneath other belongings. Use wall and ceiling space to maximize your area. However, keep as much as you can off the floor.

Organizing Products
When purchasing organizing products for your garage, retail and wholesale superstores have wonderful and inexpensive products. Garage items can be very heavy and need extra support. Four tier metal shelving units are most popular. Sturdy plastic containers with lids that seal are an excellent way to keep bugs and dirt away. Rubbermaid has products designed specifically for garages with slots for specific tools.  Called “Fast Track” it is an easy way to use vertical space where you have lots of it!.   As always, be sure to label everywhere including bins and shelving.   Monkeys Bars also has outstanding products to organize visually with hooks, shelves and more.  If you can see it you know you own it.

Is garage organizing a priority for you? Email me what you have accomplished to park your car in there!