Chances are, you don’t clean your garage as much as you clean your home. Now is a great time to organize and clean out your garage. You might need to take a weekend to do this depending on the size and amount of things in your garage. You’ll also want to make sure there won’t be rain during this project, since you will be pulling things out of your garage.
Take everything out: Take everything out of your garage and put in on your lawn or driveway.
Categorize: Put old or unused items in piles of keep, sell, or throw out items. Put your yard equipment, sports equipment, toys, and other items into categories.
Inspect your garage: Now that you have an empty garage, give it an inspection. Look for any cracks in the cement.
Give it a solid sweep: The winter results in a lot of gravel and salt blowing into your garage. Give your garage a deep clean while all the items are out.
Create a plan: Think about where you’re going to put your different categories of items. Create a layout of where your contents will go.
Put things up and off of your floor: The more space in your garage, the better. Consider some shelving units or cabinets to keep things off the floor. Pegboards can work very well for this, and slat walls are great for hanging things.
Use your overhead space: Put seasonal items and leftover building materials in the overhead space of your garage; you can create your own mounted shelving.
And do this…
- Have a locking cabinet for chemicals and sharp items you don’t want your kids to get into.
- Use plastic tubs to ensure your items are protected from the elements.
Not that…
- Don’t store paint in your garage. It’s suppose to be in a mild temperature area, like a storage room inside of your home.
- Don’t keep propane tanks in your garage.
- Don’t stockpile pet food in your garage unless it’s in a sealed container.
Organizing your garage is a hefty project, but it’s very rewarding. You will have an organized system and more space! Is your garage a mess or organized bliss? Let us know!
About the author: Chelsea Hennen is a blogger and digital marketing specialist. She’s a guest writer for Leone’s Building Cleaning Service. As a new homeowner, she is crazy about anything DIY.