Most of the rooms in your home are easy to keep nice and neat, but the garage isn’t always one of those spaces. It’s a place to store your cars, but every other part of the garage is often filled with anything else that doesn’t fit into your home. Living like this quickly leads to clutter, but there are ways to declutter and organize your garage, giving it an entirely new look and feel. A little bit of elbow grease and planning is all you need to breathe new life into your garage.
Take Inventory
The first step that will help make everything else easier is taking inventory of everything you have in your garage. It can be an extensive process, depending on how big your garage is and how much stuff there is, but it is rewarding and lays the best foundation for organization. Knowing everything you have and where it is, you can tackle different projects as you see fit. For example, many people use their garages to store tools and other equipment, but after years of use, all that equipment ends up in every nook and cranny of the garage. If you’re doing a construction project, the screws you may need are on the opposite end from the drill, and who knows where the charging cable is. It’s a tricky situation to navigate, so taking inventory and categorizing everything you have is the best place to start. From there, you can bring all your equipment together in a single place.Toss Trash
Taking inventory is the best way to start your decluttering process, and during this process, you can start to find the items that have been in your garage for years, simply collecting dust. Some of those items may be usable or have sentimental value. But there will also be a lot of scraps that have no place in your newly cleaned and organized garage. For example, when people paint, they’ll often have scrap paper and tape to block off places they don’t want to paint, and instead of tossing this tape and paper, many people keep it close by. It’s a great thing for the next project, but it takes up space when getting new paper is so easy. You’ll be surprised how much of the stuff in your garage is not usable, but rather just trash that’s been taking up space. If you want a decluttered and organized garage, take inventory, and when you come across junk, don’t write it down. Instead of trying to find a place for all this clutter, take it to where it belongs—the trash. It will save you space, both in your garage and in your mind.Implement an Organization System
The next step in simplifying your decluttering process is having an organizational system. After taking inventory, you can know what you have and cluster those items together. You can do it with equipment and tools, but you can also create an organization system that keeps other items together, like:- Seasonal decorations
- Holiday decorations
- Foods
- Drinks
- Yard supplies
Get a Labeler
Labelers can seem excessive, but they are a best friend to organization. A garage full of unlabeled bins and cabinets will quickly lead to headaches and confusion, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With a labeler, you can mark everything in your garage. Doing this will help add to your garage’s organization and make it easy for everyone else, not just yourself, to know where things are.Think Vertical
Another important tip for garage organization is thinking vertically. Garages are big spaces, and running out of floor space for all your items is easy. Thankfully, there is another dimension you can capitalize on—vertical space. With well-placed shelves, cabinets, or hanging hooks, your storage space will quickly double or even triple in size. However, it’s important to remember that even with this storage space, you don’t need to fill it all immediately. Instead, you should try to keep things light, creating room for items in your future, not just your present.Don’t Forget Safety
When you’re finally putting everything back in its place, you mustn’t forget about safety. Paint or tools can work on a lower shelf, but you could accidentally spill paint, or your child may get their hands on these dangerous tools. Safety is one of the most important things you must remember when you’re finally putting everything away to ensure you’re not creating hazards in your newly organized garage. It can make organization a little difficult in the moment, but the headache is well worth it when you can rest easy knowing your garage is organized and safe.Final Sweep
There’s no right way to end decluttering and organizing because there will always be room for improvement. However, even with that said, one of the best things you can do at the end of your cleaning spree is give your garage a final sweep. Even with organization systems and an inventory, there will be stuff you miss or things you want to put in other places. For example, it makes sense to put paint near tools and equipment, but then you may notice all this paint is taking up usable space. Instead of leaving the paint there, consider putting it in a cabinet or on a shelf where it can be out of the way. During a final sweep, you can identify these improvements or other pieces of trash and unwanted items you didn’t notice before.Don’t Let It Happen Again
You’ve successfully decluttered and organized your garage! It’s a hard process, but what’s even harder is keeping it organized. It’s so easy to take out an item and set it somewhere else, telling yourself you’ll put it back where it’s supposed to go later. Small choices like this are easy to make in the moment. But they add up over the years, and soon, you’ll have a cluttered garage again, maybe even worse than last time. To avoid that, you need to be proactive in putting stuff away in its rightful place. It takes effort, but all that effort pays off as you maintain your garage’s organization, the organization that you worked so hard to achieve. Take these decluttering tips and organize your garage, turning it back into a space you can use for more than just storing cars and Christmas decorations. During decluttering, it’s normal for homeowners to discover issues with their garage doors. If that’s you and you’re unsure how to get everything working again, don’t hesitate to contact us at Steel City Garage Doors. We’re the Pittsburgh garage door service that will bring your garage door back to life in no time at all!
