Garage Organization 6 Tips

Do you have a messy and disorganized garage? Many people are in the same boat. Keeping the inside of the house spic and span can be enough to keep a homeowner busy. The garage, however, will be a more functional space with a bit of organizing attention. Get it put in order with these 6 tips:

1) Get into your grungy work clothes so you do not have to worry about being careful with your clothing. Cloth or leather work gloves might be a good idea, too, as you will be handling an assortment of sharp tools.

2) Take everything out of the space and lay them around the yard in appropriate piles. Sort the items into categories of “throw away,” “donate,” “garage sale” and “keep.” Some of the miscellaneous junk stored in there is probably worn out, broken or just plain trash. Get some large black plastic heavy duty trash bags out and start stuffing them full. A pile of objects that are suitable for donations should be accumulated, too. Many charitable organizations will even come to pick up the goods if you phone them in advance. This is especially true of appliances or furnishings. You will most likely want to hold a garage sale before calling the charity organization so that your items that did not sell can be given to charity, too. Place all of the “to keep” goods in a pile as you will be refining them into groupings before returning all to the garage.

3) Sort the “keeper” items once again. Put them into categories such as yard maintenance equipment, sporting
goods, carpentry tools, plumbing and electrical parts. Store everything in bins marked for the appropriate category and you will not be hunting around for tools next time something breaks down.

4) Utilize all of the space by hanging tools and equipment on the walls. Peg boards, hooks and nails can hang from the wall in order to place ladders, weed whackers and the like out of vehicle pathways. Why take up floor space when you can use the walls? This makes everything easily visible, as well.

5) Double and even quadruple the space available by stacking items on shelving units. The shelves do not have to be expensive cabinetry; they can simply be open shelves made of unfinished lumber or laminate placed on metal brackets.

6) A work bench is essential to an organized garage. This should be made of wood and with the work surface at an appropriate height. The wood should be unfinished and nothing fancy so that it can be utilized for the rough-and-ready projects that will land on it.

Once the garage has been organized, the entire household will begin to run more smoothly. The inhabitants will ask themselves and each other what took them so long to streamline the space.