It’s time to overhaul your garage! Summer is just around the corner and before you begin the hunt for your beach items and camping equipment in your garage, wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly where they’re stored? A garage overhaul may be just what you need!
The garage seems to be the place where we dump and toss everything we don’t have a place for in the house. Since they are wide open places, we tend to put things that are hard to store in closets or that we think still have value even though we no longer use them. It ends up being a giant mess and you are then using a valuable piece of real estate as a storage shed and leaving one of your more valuable possession, your automobile, out in the elements! It’s time to reclaim your space, restore order to your storage and make room to park your vehicle inside. Grab your work gloves and follow these 8 steps to clean your way to a neat and organized garage!
Garage Overhaul – Organize Your Space
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Plan Out Your Space.
Take time at the very beginning of this project to measure, assess and decide on how you’d like your garage to function. Ask yourself how you’d like to use the space. To park your car? To have a workspace or crafting area? To store bikes and exercise equipment? To store holiday and seasonal items, as well as long-term storage? Perhaps all of the above?
This is the time to analyze and prioritize how you plan to use your garage space. Write out the top priorities first and continue on. As you are cleaning, purging and organizing, it will be easier to decide what to keep, what no longer has use and what to donate to charity.
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Start With a Clean Slate.
As much as possible, remove everything from the garage. It may help to take everything to the backyard and lay in out on tarps for sorting. (If you do this in the front yard, your neighbors may think you’re having a garage sale!) Once everything is removed, sweep and clean the floor and walls. This is a great time to paint, if it’s needed.
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Sort & Categorize Everything.
It’s now time to deal with all that stuff sitting in your backyard. Begin by sorting like items together. It would be handy to have a pad of paper and a pen to formulate your categories as well. Once you begin sorting specific sections will begin to be revealed. Tools, lawn equipment, camping gear, beach items, sports equipment, etc. This step is probably the most important one you will take in this project. These categories will help you establish zones in the garage as you are putting things back together.
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Purge Every Category.
Take each section that has been sorted and begin removing those items you no longer use or need. Be sure to check for duplicates and pare down everything. You must be brutal and eliminate at least half of what you have in the pile. To make the purging easier, be prepared with boxes divide the cast-off items into three piles: keep, donate, trash. When you are undecided ask yourself, is this from yesterday or will I use it today? If it’s outlived its use in your home, donate or give it to someone else who will be blessed by it.
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Remove All Trash & Donations.
Get the items that are leaving out of sight. Take a quick trip to the closest charity drop-off or if there is a lot of garbage take it to the dump. Having these items out of sight and out of the way will assist you when you assess how much space each zone will need.
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Create & Assign Zones.
Now it’s time to go back to step 1 and review your plan. Then looking at the size of the items in each category, assign a zone area. As the old saying goes about organizing – “a place for everything and everything in it’s place.” Zones provide a designated place for all items in the space. As much as possible, try to store items vertically, such as tools and bikes and see if long-term storage can be placed in the rafters. Get creative, but remember safety first.
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Contain & Label.
At this point you may need to go to the home improvement, discount or dollar store and purchase storage racks, containers or bins for your items. Once items are placed in a container don’t forget to label it! It’s quite impractical to have everything stored in containers and you can’t remember what they contain! I would recommend you put a label on the both sides and the ends of each bin. Label, label, label!
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Place Everything Away in the Proper Zone.
This is the best part of the project! Place your items and containers in their zone area and be sure that all labels can be clearly read. Once everything is put where it belongs, stand back and enjoy the satisfaction that comes from a job well done and anticipate the freedom from frustration that often comes from disorganization!
*These organizational steps can be used for any type of storage area. In addition to the garage, you can also organize your attic, shed, basement or storage unit.