How to Organize Your Garage:
Getting Started
Before you focus on how to organize your garage (or any room, for that
matter!), it's so important to
declutter
first.
Seriously.
In my opinion,
organizing
before
clearing out the clutter is like waxing the car before you have
washed it.
In other words, it just doesn't make sense.
In fact, when you
clear
out the clutter first, organizing is pretty
darn easy.
So get on some clothes you don't mind getting dirty,
roll up your
sleeves, and let's figure out how to organize your garage.
First,
before you even start going through all of those dusty boxes, decide
what you will do with the stuff you decide you aren't going to keep.
Will you be donating items, selling them, having a garage
sale, or throwing them? Or maybe a combination of all of the above?
When you have decided up front what you will do with things you'll be
getting rid of, you will also be less likely to get stuck
half-way through and get frustrated and overwhelmed.
Most
of the stuff that people store in their garage ends up there because
they don't know what else to do with it. They aren't using most of that
stuff regularly, otherwise it would likely be in the house, playing an
active part of their lives.
Things that legitimately have a home in the garage are:
- your CAR :)
- tools (that you actually use)
- parts for the cars (the ones that you currently own, not
parts for cars that you owned 10 years ago)
- bikes and related gear
- holiday decorations (that you DO use at the holidays)
- yard tools and equipment (again, that you USE)
If you find any of these things in your garage, they are probably
clutter:
- lamps that you're not using
- boxes of clothes that don't fit
- boxes of anything that you haven't opened in a year or more
- furniture that doesn't quite work in your current home
- old lawn furniture
- anything broken that hasn't been fixed in over a year
- old phone books
- stationary bike you haven't used in a decade
- anything you can't remember what it is
In
other words,
most of the
stuff people put in their garage is clutter.
Figuring out how to organize your garage alone won't help much...but
getting rid of a lot of the stuff first will!
Once
you have cleared out what doesn't belong in your garage, the
next step is to
organize what's left.
The challenge with most garages is that they are usually wide open
spaces...with lots of opportunity for disorganization and accumulation
of junk.

I'm going to invite you to
think
of storage areas in your garage like
your silverware drawer...with those little slots for
forks, knives, and
spoons. When you put away your flatware, you don’t have to think about
where things go, do you? They go in their little slots.
Imagine how to organize your garage the same way you see your
silverware drawer:
tools,
garden implements,
sporting equipment, and so on.
- Sort
your things first and group similar items together
- Create a
‘home’ for everything...because if it doesn’t have a home,
it WILL get messy and unorganized fast
- Now you can go out and get
organizers – bins, hanging racks, shelves – whatever you
need to make the space really function well for you.
Now let's take how to organize your garage in bite-sized pieces...
~.~.~.~.~
And when you're ready,
move on to
Organizing
Your Garage: Car Supplies.
For more information about the steps to clear out and
organize your garage:
Organizing
Car
Supplies
Organizing
Gardening
Supplies
Organizing
Trash
and Recycling
Organizing
Holiday
Decorations
Organizing
Bikes,
Helmets, and Gear
Organizing
Sporting
Equipment
Organizing
Painting
Supplies
Organizing
Tools
Organizing
Brooms,
Snow Shovels, and Maintenance
Supplies
Organizing
Camping
and Fishing Gear
Organizing
Miscellanous
"Stuff"
For more information about garage storage:
Garage
Organizing Systems
Garage Wall
Storage
Garage Tool
Box Organizers
Garage Tool
Organizers
Garden
Tool Organizers
Garage Shelves
and Racks
For more information about outdoor storage:
Outdoor
Storage Benches,
Cabinets, and Boxes