Cleaning and Organizing the Garage.

How to Organize the Garage

My husband is one of those that believe the garage should be used only for what it was meant for. (That’s ONLY the Car).

Unfortunately, it can’t always be that way.

At least on one side of the garage…

We accumulate “stuff” in my garage; stuff for holiday decorations, stuff for birthday parties, stuff for the house, you know…stuff.

So now my honey is a little upset with me for messing up his garage. I want my husband to have a nice work space, so I’m on a mission to clean up this messy garage.

So are you ready to get busy then? Let’s organize the garage!

Pull Everything out of the Garage

Start by taking everything out of the garage and put it outside in the driveway.

Everyone has to come to grips at this point that not everything will be going back in the garage.

Yes, some things will be moved elsewhere, but still some things will be taken to the dump.

What a Mess!

Has it spilled into the yard and has some of your stuff made it into the neighbor’s yard? Yikes!

Now it’s time to decide what to keep, what to donate, and what to trash. Separate these items into 3 separate piles:

1. What you must keep – like the snow blower
2. What you can donate or give away – the stuff that still works- but you no longer use, or need, or even want
3. Trash – anything that is broken, useless or just downright garbage can go into bags, boxes or a dumpster for final removal.

Organizing your Belongings

There are some things that will most likely stay in the garage like some sporting equipment, yard tools, bikes, and of course all the other guy tools for working on cars, and fixing the plumbing.

We purchased metal cabinets for my husband. There are so many to choose from – he wanted them all – but we had to be practical and buy what fit into the space we have available.

So what do we use?

Containers

I like to see what is in the containers I store things in. I also label containers. So I went out and bought some containers in various sizes and some labels.

Store like items together such as Christmas decorations, Easter decorations, clothing items, etc. Pack them nicely and label each container.

When you’re done, stack them with the labels facing out. If you don’t have a shed or attic for storage then these can be neatly stacked in the garage and out of the way (Maybe in one of the new cabinets or shelves you might want to be putting in).

Cabinets

We bought four lower cabinets and four upper cabinets. The lower section consist of a couple of tool boxes and a couple of cabinets, all these are on wheels and can be moved around.

I put some of my containers in the cabinets. I also put chemical products of like types together.

All the lawn supplies, paint supplies, and car detailing and washing supplies are stored together in their own specific area.

Hooks

Garage hooks are ideal for hanging heavy or bulky items such as bikes or yard equipment like weed eaters.

You can also put up a peg board and hang garden tools or frequently used hand tools for easy access.

Look for heavy duty galvanized steel.

We can find what we need quickly and I like that.

Shelving

Garage shelves are great for holding items you use frequently.

Look for one that’s heavy duty but still light enough to move easily.

I also place my storage containers on the shelves to keep the containers off the floor and help to keep the garage looking neat and organized.

Work Bench

There is a nice work bench area that is a little bigger than the four lower cabinets and off to the side of all this on either end of the work bench are large storage units.

Look for something durable, preferably with drawers.

We have organizing bins on the top of the work bench that holds nuts, bolts, and other misc hardware that can be accessible in a jiffy.

My husband is in garage heaven. He has a place for everything, can move around easily when working on cars, motorcycles, whatever – and now when I have a project for him to make – it actually gets done.

If after all this organizing and adding cabinets, shelves, etc., you can still fit your car in the garage – that’s a bonus too.