If you’re about to clean and organize your garage, you’ve come to the right place.
Today, we want to offer up a few tips for tackling what many view as the home’s most agonizing task. With a little strategy, it isn’t so bad. And in the end, highly rewarding.
Let’s get right into it.
Make the Time
Depending on the size of your garage, the first thing you’ll want to do is set aside enough time to finish the job. Unlike some jobs, garage cleaning is best done in a day or two, and not stretched out over the course of weeks.
So pick a day, let the thought of a sparkling clean garage motivate you, and get ready to get organized.
Prepare and Clean Up
On a project day, the bane of all do-it-yourself-ers’ existence is the endless back and forth to the home improvement store.
As hard as it is, try to first plan out what you’ll need that you don’t yet have on hand. Of course, cleaning supplies are key – you’ll want large trash bags, brooms, gloves, and the like.
But it’s also smart to plan out any storage equipment you might need. This list can be long, and is highly dependent on your needs, but here are a few common solutions to get you brainstorming:
Storage containers
Shelving
Ceiling hooks and wall racks
Toolboxes
Drawers and smaller compartments
With a plan in hand, now it’s time to clean up.
Pull everything out, throw away or donate what you can, and deep clean the empty garage. As luck would have it, garage cleaning isn’t a very frequent task, so now is the time to really do a thorough job. Scrub, dust, vacuum, polish – you’ll thank yourself later.
Set Up Storage and Create Categories
Before putting everything back into the garage, get your new storage equipment in place.
Whether it’s a large shelving unit, a nice new toolbox, or a peg board wall rack, you’ll want it where it belongs before filling it up.
Outside of the garage, start to categorize your stuff to the best of your ability. Categories could be a number of things, such as lawn care, car maintenance, sporting goods or toys.
No matter your specific categories, you’ll want to have designated locations for particular projects or activities. This makes life much easier in the long run.
Fill it Up
Right now, you have a clean garage, with adequate storage locations – and outside – what’s left of your belongings, all grouped into the categories of your choosing.
Now is the time to map out which category goes into which location.
Start with what’s most important to you. What gets the most use? It may be a good idea to put this category in a more accessible place.
Take a look at your biggest category. Maybe it’s a set of three or four bikes. Do you have a large enough (and convenient) place for those?
Really, there’s no right or wrong way to go about this – you’ll know it when you see it. Just try to be patient, and flexible, as you gradually move your categories back into their new home.
Believe it or not, this is actually the fun part. So hang in there, see it through – and before long – you’ll be standing in a perfectly clean, newly organized garage.