6 Tips to Organize Your Garage

Kim Wolinski, MSW
“Dr. DeClutter” www.drdeclutter.com

6 Tips to Organize Your Garage

Even if you’re not having a garage sale, your garage may have become a storage facility, parking everything but your cars from bikes, lumber, trash, recyclables, clothes, garage sale treasures, old fishing and sports equipment, and so many other miscellaneous items. What do you do to take back control of your garage?

Look down your street. An unorganized garage is easy to see from every street in America! The garage is an easy place to toss, throw and bury all kinds of projects, equipment and tools, including it being a place easy not to maintain¾out of sight, out of mind! Making the most of your garage space is worth the effort.

1) Get organized in an organized fashion. Schedule a good one to two hours of uninterrupted time to get started, add on or pre-schedule a weekend. You really want this to get done already, right? Also, ask for help if you have large items to move so that you don’t quit in frustration early on. Stay focused on these five activities from start to finish. Divide, decide/sort, re-store/storage, organize and maintain.

2) Divide into Categories. Group your belongings into different categories: sports equipment, workbench tools, lawn and driveway tools, electric equipment, camping gear, etc. This will give you a better idea of what exactly you have and from there where best to put everything, how much space you’ll need and what kind of hooks and holders you may need to purchase in order to finish the job.

3) Decide section-by-section what you’re going to keep and move out. Stay with one pile/category or section at a time until it’s finished. Recycle, donate or throw away old or useless equipment, broken flowerpots, old paint, etc. Sort through each of the divided piles by category. Finish one before moving onto the next. Reroute items that belong in other areas of the house or to others. Remember to properly dispose of any hazardous materials in accordance with your local laws.

4) Re-store/Storage. Use storage bins and put all your smaller equipment inside them. Make sure to label them before stacking them for easy future access. Put up shelving where needed. Whether attached to the walls or purchasing shelving units¾these can be inexpensive, pretty simple to install and worth the effort. Store smaller things on these shelves in similar groupings and categories. Buy small plastic containers to store tiny items that would get lost in a larger bin and store these containers on the shelves. Again, make sure to label the containers.

Bicycle storage is a must, especially when you don’t ride your bikes often. A popular option is a hanging bike rack, hook, lift, or hoist. There are of course floor bike racks too.

Garden tools, large and small can be hung on walls or placed methodically in garden tool utility carts. If you have unfinished walls a quick way to keep spades, hoes, rakes, pipes, poles, etc. from falling over is to take bungee cords and stretch them between studs, ends hooked on long nails. Overhead, industrial-strength metal hangers for storage of bigger items such as lumber or camping equipment is a good idea. Take the time to make sure that they are installed correctly to ensure safety and that they are secure.

If you have a lot of items you need to store, or a few larger items such as a riding lawnmower and have the room to grow, look to purchasing a shed or some other alternate storage facility so you can keep your car inside the garage when inclement weather arises. The bottom-line is to let go of everything that is old, broken and useless, and items your know you will not use again.

5) Organize. As you are rearranging the garage, section by section, you will find yourself re-organizing as you go. That’s okay. But know that it’s best to get everything “contained” and then make it attractive!

6) Maintenance. Remember: 90% of life is maintenance! Decide how much you want to maintain, like having children… it’s an ongoing issue! When you bring items into the garage make sure they’re put away where they belong, or create a place, a “home,” for them to belong, to “live.” Without a home, our belongings are homeless… they wonder around and get lost!

Life is so much easier when we, and our stuff, are organized. The time you take to get and stay organized will make your time more effective, efficient and free. Free time… it’s a good thing!

If you live on the Front Range of Colorado, I’m here to help you of course. Call today, for a "Dr. DeClutter house (garage) call!" 303-485-5280.

©2005 Kim Wolinski – Dr. DeClutter

Need help getting your space (house, office, barn, backyard – thoughts, mind, time, schedule, priorities, or life) decluttered and re- organized? My new video “BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, AND OTHER ORGANIZING TIPS AND TOOLS FROM DR. DECLUTTER” is a great help. You can find out more or order BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN at http://www.redecisionsinstitute.com/kims_store.html

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