Garage Organization for Beginners

Posted on July 15th, 2015

Of all the spaces in your home, the garage is likely one of the most cluttered. Years of random boxes, seasonal items, and more have accumulated in a sea of cardboard and tools. However, there are simple ways to remedy this. Organizing your garage may be a large task for some of us, but by breaking it down into parts, it will be more manageable. The first thing you must do is go through everything in your garage. Depending on the weather and the amount of time/space you have, you can either haul many boxes out at once and go through them in the yard or take on one box/area at a time. No matter how you go through the things in your garage, the important idea is that you can assess what you have.

In determining what you have, you can also decide what you want to get rid of. As a general rule, if you have not used something in over a year, it is time to say goodbye. We recommend having three piles when going through your garage: a keep pile, a rummage sale or Goodwill pile (depending on how much you get rid of), and a garbage pile. From the “Keep” pile, sort your things into categories, such as tools, shoes, holiday, games, etc., making it easier to know what kind of storage you will need.

Once you’ve done the garage purge, your next step will be to just clean the garage. Do a good sweeping and dusting and throw away any rugs that cannot be salvaged with a good cleaning. After the cleaning is done, you can start to put everything back into the garage. When you do this, invest in actual storage. Buy metal shelves that won’t get too dirty in the garage or take up too much space. Places like Wal-Mart and Michaels have great plastic bins of all shapes and sizes, with space to label the bin. Cardboard boxes are fine for moving, but when it comes to storing your things for extended periods of time, it is better to find something sturdier. Organize your bins by the categories you separated your “Keep” pile and then label them.

There are many other specific things you can do to organize your garage, but as far as a base goes, these tips will help you de-clutter your garage immensely. If you are looking for any other garage services, call Absolute Garage Builders at (773) 583-8800 today!