garage organization
The garage is your car’s room. It’s meant to keep your car safe as well as store a few tools and equipment here and there. However, this is not always the case.
It’s pretty common for a garage to be a home’s dumping ground. According to a provider called Same-Day Rubbish Removal, old furniture, seasonal decorative items, children’s toys, and any other unwanted items tend to clutter and fill the garage.
Whether these items accumulated over the years or a short period (after a move or the return of your kid from college), too much garage clutter may have already kicked out the supposed-to-be occupant—your car.
If you’ve finally had enough and decided to do a garage clean-out, this article shares a few tips to make things a bit easier.
- Have A Schedule
Scheduling a specific time on your calendar to focus on cleaning your garage is important. Depending on the amount of clutter, cleaning out your garage is a time-consuming job. Don’t expect to fully clean your garage in just a few hours or within the day, especially if you’ve been hoarding clutter for years. Set a schedule for garage cleaning for a few days or even during the weekends, allowing you to focus more on the job.
- Take Everything Out
When your garage organization day arrives, the first step you need to do is to take every single item out of your garage. You want your garage to be empty.
When you have less stuff to worry about, it’s easier to clean and organize. Not only that, but it also allows you to see the amount of space you have to work with. This way, you can decide on the right storage to organize the items you want to keep.
- Sort Items
Unless you expect good weather for the next few days or want all items and junk out of your curb until you can put them back in your garage, it’s important to start sorting through the items you’ve taken out.
You want to set some ground rules and criteria for deciding which items to keep and which to throw out. This should help speed up the sorting process by preventing you from agonizing over every item.
Some examples of criteria for things you want to keep include:
- Tools or items you can’t easily borrow or rent
- Items or tools you’ve used more than once in the past year
- Things that are still in working condition
Now, whatever doesn’t meet your ‘to keep’ criteria is, by default, junk or clutter. With your ‘to keep’ items set aside, you can start going through the rest of the items. Here, you can further sort items into ‘to donate’ and ‘to sell’ items. Most of these items may still be working, but you don’t have any use for them or don’t want them. Have cardboard boxes and plastic bins on hand to pack up these items.
Now, any items that don’t fall under these three categories, should be bagged up and thrown away. If you’ve rented a dumpster, you can simply toss these items into the container. Or you can hire junk removal services to carry and dispose of any unwanted items, saving you time and effort.
- Clean The Surfaces
Once you’ve sorted through the items, you can now focus on cleaning the empty garage organization. To make it easier, always work from the top to bottom. Remove cobwebs on ceilings. Dust off and wipe your cabinets, shelves, walls, windows, and garage doors. Sweep or vacuum the floor to remove some of the dirt collected on the ground.
If there are stains or stubborn dust on your walls or windows, you can start scrubbing these surfaces with a liquid solution. The next part is scrubbing your flooring and removing motor oil stains and stubborn marks. You can finish by hosing off the floor or mopping. Allow the floors to dry completely.
- Plan For Zones And Storage
Before putting everything back into your cleaned garage, make sure to plan for storage and divide it into various zones. This way, it’s easier to find things when you need them as well as keep them clean for longer. In general, you want the items to be put in your garage organization by frequency of use and accessibility.
For instance, if you have kids’ toys, you want to assign a low space where your kids can easily access them. Meanwhile, toxic chemicals should be placed higher so that kids won’t be able to reach them.
Once you know where everything should go, consider adding a lot of storage from cabinets, shelving, racks, hooks, and more to accommodate and store the items. Storage tools help maximize the space while also making everything look neater and more organized.
Takeaway
A cluttered and messy garage is not only an eyesore. It can also be pretty annoying, making it difficult to find anything you need or even park your car inside. However, with the above garage cleaning tips, you’ll be able to keep this most neglected space easier to handle and clutter-free.
