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A thought-through approach to storage in the garage makes the most of this valuable space. Maybe your house is bursting at the seams, and the overflow has also taken up the garage. Or maybe you don't have other storage options, so the garage is your primary storage space. Whatever the cause, many of us have overflowing garages that compromise the full potential that a garage space provides.
If you struggle over toppled boxes and piles of who-knows-what to reach your drill, this blog is for you. Let's corral the chaos and allow the garage space to bring us peace in the blissful organization.
1. Reduce
With every organization project ever, this is step one. Get rid of what you no longer need. You can donate to a local thrift store or drop a load at the dump to get the unwanted goods off your hands. (Most thrift and dump services also provide pickup options, if needed.) This step may be tempting to skip if you are a collector, but I encourage you to take this step seriously. Start by going through all of your drawers, piles, and shelves and make a give/throw away pile. In many cases, we will be shocked to discover those leftover metal scraps from 7 years ago are no longer needed.
2. Place
It's important to keep the most frequently used things most accessible. For example, when storing cleaning materials, find a place easily accessible by the door for easy access. When storing bikes you may want to keep it as close to the garage door as possible to make it easy. Line up where you want to place the different items around the garage. (Never be afraid to keep adding to that give-away pile as you sort!)
3. Sweep the Floor
The goal at the end of this project is to sweep the garage floor. That's right: in order to sweep the floor, there needs to be a clear floor. Wall space is everything when organizing a garage. Consider pegboards, open shelving, closed cabinets, or panelized systems when getting things off the ground. Avoid piles and stacks as much as possible as this makes accessing things frustrating and complicated. It also is a temporary fix. It is way too easy to recreate clutter and disorganization when organization becomes inconvenient. Make it as easy on yourself as possible by using your wall space as much as possible! (For certain items used infrequently [old bikes], consider hanging them from the ceiling!)