How To Declutter Your Garage
Of course, your garage saves your vehicles from environmental elements. But often they become the place where our tools, cleaning products, footwear, and seasonal gear get dumped without realizing the amount of clutter which makes your garage a place that is full of a lot of unwanted junk accumulated over the years. The most important step at this point is to start decluttering..
But don’t you worry! There are natural ways to clean and declutter the Garage and to make use of the garage space.
WHY KEEP YOUR GARAGE DECLUTTERED
We know that getting your garage organized can seem like a tedious, endless task, but remember that more than just a place to park the car, a garage is a key selling feature, so there’s an excellent reason to keep it decluttered and appealing. Putting the necessary thought into organizing it is an excellent investment of time.
5 QUICK TIPS FOR MAKING IT A WELL-ORGANIZED GARAGE
After living in a home for many years, chances are, little by little, your garage has accumulated a significant amount of clutter. All this clutter easily becomes an inconvenience and a possible risk since you have to walk through your garage every day on your way to your car. That’s when you realize that perhaps it’s time to organize things.
“WHERE TO START”
Today we have some easy tips that are sure to make any garage easier and safer to use and enjoy.
- Setup time and enlist support: set aside a time to tackle the job and enlist support. Many hands work quicker than just two.
- Move everything out: designate space on the driveway or within the garage and divide it into four categories: Items you will donate; those you will sell; things to keep; and, items you will toss.
- Decide what to keep: consider recycling, donating, giving away or selling as many items as possible, you will most probably have lots of items that need to be thrown out. If you happen to come across any broken items, ask what are the chances of getting around to fixing them. Anything else is worth keeping.
- Disposal of items and hazardous materials: ask neighbors or friends if they would have any use of the materials you intend to toss. Donate items that are in good repair to charity. Check, check with your county for solid and hazardous waste disposal programs.
- Storage: If you have exciting new plans for your garage space, you may need to create functional storage spaces for those great items you choose to keep. Consider attaching space-saving systems to walls or even the ceiling. A great idea for this is to use wall-mounted storage racks to raise bicycles, recreation or sports equipment and a range of other possessions up off the ground.
WHEN TO DECLUTTER YOUR GARAGE
Decluttering the garage may seem like an activity that would be better in the winter when the weather is poor. However, if you’re like most, you store much of your patio or deck furniture in your garage during the poor weather months, so trying to reduce the clutter is an impossible task. Instead, if you tackle this project during the summer months, there are fewer items in the way to get to the things that can be gifted or thrown away. Plus, you can use your driveway as a staging area as you clean and de-clutter without being threatened with the elements.
Paints and solvents – do you have small remnants of old paint and solvents cluttering up your garage? Small amounts can be opened and dried out in the sun before disposing of them and they can be put in your garbage can.
Broken items – unless you take something to be fixed on the regular, rid yourself of non-working items stat. They are just cluttering up your space and a more functional item makes more sense. Before you toss it in the garbage though, consider offering it on your buy-nothing site to see if there’s a handy neighbor that might want to take it off your hands.
Tools – whether gardening or power tools, take stock and see what items you actually use. If you pay for yard service, you may find that gifting or selling the yard tools you aren’t using may be a better use of space.
Holiday Stuff – it’s amazing what we’ll store for years, that only gets a little love a few weeks a year. Go through your holiday stuff and if you didn’t use it last year, consider gifting on your buy nothing site to a family that will use it. If you can keep your holiday items to a few color-coded, labeled bins, it will be a great visual cue for pulling out the appropriate items when you want them.
Camping Gear – are you a regular camper or a once-a-year glamper? If the second sounds more like you, consider what items you really need, or if it’s possible to borrow them from a friend for your annual trip. If borrowing is feasible, sell or donate the items you don’t need and free up the room.
An organized garage with only working items will feel great. Be careful not to start a new storage collection with all that freed up space. Before you know it, you’ll be bringing in the patio and deck furniture and you’ll need a designated spot to keep things working smoothly.
By following these useful steps to a clutter-free garage you will definitively accomplish tremendous change within a short period of time. In this way, you can enjoy the benefits of having a neat, clean and nicely organized garage.
