Garage Organizing Tips

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Try these practical tips when beginning a garage organizing project:

1.           Consider what categories of items you want to store in your garage. Does luggage really have to live there, or can it live in the attic, or an indoor closet? Should chemicals live in the garage, or can you relegate them to the garden shed? Some typical items that are housed in the garage are recycling, sports and recreational equipment, camping gear, automotive, seasonal décor, garden, and tools. 

 Tip   It is much easier to tackle a garage AFTER you have organized the rest of the house. The garage tends to be a dumping ground for all the “unknowns” throughout the house. Once you determine the purpose of your interior storage, and items have a “home” inside, when you organize your garage, many items can be re-located inside.

2.           Set aside enough time to work on your project.  Back-to-back days are recommended (like an entire weekend), so items that are being sorted do not have to sit out in piles for long. 

 Tip  Try to plan for a dry weekend, since you’ll have to pull many items out of the shelter of the garage.

3.            Hire an expert, or get a team of people to work on the project, or it may turn into an overwhelming task that will be abandoned part way through.  

 Tip   While friends and family may be willing to help, be sure you have a plan and guidance to direct the process from start to finish.

4.           Once you know what categories of items will “live” in your garage, begin pulling everything out of your garage, and grouping into these categories in the driveway, or center of your garage. Use lots of boxes for this process. 

 Tip  Obtain boxes of all sizes, since items of all descriptions… from huge   paint cans to nuts and bolts… will need to be contained. 

 Tip  Don't forget to label boxes with contents as you are grouping them.

5.            Reconsider, trash, or donate items that do not fit the categories. 

 Tip  Sometimes, random parts or singular items are discovered in the garage. In this case, if you want to keep them, just store with the most similar category, or in a visible place so you remember you have them. 

6.           Once items have been consolidated by like type, purge any excess, broken, or unnecessary items. 

 Tip  This process takes time, so allow reasonable time to accomplish this task.

7.           Determine where you want each type of item to live by frequency of use and available space. Recycling should live near the entrance to the home for ease of use. Tools should live near the workbench, and so on. 

 Tip  Think about “valuable real estate” when you are considering available space.  Parking space and those shelves at eye level or within reach are “valuable real estate.”  Less valuable real estate would be very high or low shelves, and should be reserved for less frequently accessed items.

8.            Install additional built-in cabinets or obtain modular storage if needed.

9.           Relocate remaining items into their new sensible “home” within the garage. 

 Tip  Don’t buy containers, bins, baskets, and boxes to organize your items until this far into the process. A big mistake people make is purchasing the fun plastic bins too early in the process, and then discovering that they don’t have the correct sizes, sturdiness, etc. 

10.       Commit to a regular schedule of maintenance for your newly organized garage. Promptly put things away after using them... and order will truly be restored!