You may be quite tired of having to deal with that cluttered garage, and may be thinking about turning it into a shop, or even just getting your garage organized so that everything has a place, and everything is in it’s own place.
Luckily, you don’t have to be overwhelmed with this task all by yourself. There are an abundance of different websites available that can help you with garage organization, and others that offer a wide range of different storage ideas.
The first place you need to start is by cutting through all the clutter. This mess didn’t happen overnight, so it’s going to take more than one day to get through it.
While there are many different techniques for this, one of the best that anyone can do is by making a space in the back yard, or even in the driveway close to the garage. Set aside three areas.
One of these areas is what you absolutely have to keep, like the lawn mower, the rakes and garden tools.
Another area is for things that you just have to get rid of, like that broken lamp that you keep threatening to fix but never do, toys that are just out of date with your kids, etc.
The third pile is the ‘I don’t know what to do with pile.’ This is the pile for all those things that you bought thinking you were going to use, but never got around to, that canoe you thought was a steal but hasn’t touched a water source, those skis or snow board that you wanted to try but never got around to.
It is really important that these don’t wind up back in the garage, taking up space. You have to put a time limit on when you are going to use it. For an example, if you have some skis that you are wanting to use, but it’s Summer, then put a six month time limit on them. If by the end of the year you haven’t hit the slopes with them, it is time for someone else to make use of them.
This in itself is going to take a little time. The get rid of pile may also be divided into a definite get rid off section, and garage sale section, so at least you can make some pocket change to help pay for the next step, organizing.
So now that you have gotten through the clutter, it is time to prevent the disaster in your garage from happening again.
There are many ways to get organized so that you have plenty of room for that perfect garage layout.
There are peg boards that you can buy to hold a variety of different items, from bins for small screws and nails, to hooks to hold power tools. There are large hooks that can be anchored into the stud boards to get bikes and even the lawn mower up off the floor and out of the way.
There are self organizers, with bins. There are ceiling racks, which are attached to the rafters, or even built on the rafters if you have an exposed ceiling. There are even elevated racks that you can raise and lower like an elevator, to hold a variety of different items.
These storage ideas can be a simple or as creative as you can imagine, and your budget will allow. You can even combine different ideas.
You can have a workbench area, which can fold up to save space, around which you have a pegboard wall that will hold all of your tools, your screws and small items so that your can have everything you need close at hand to work on your projects. When you are done for the day, you simply fold the work bench up and lock it so your kids can’t get at it.
Garage organization may seem a little overwhelming at first, but don’t fear. Once you have mastered the clutter, you are half way to achieving your goals.