I have had it happen to me and I want to ask you, have you ever walked into your garage, looked around and thought, “How did I get so much junk in here?” We know all about the garage and how it can quickly get filled with everyday life items.

 

With summer comes the best of the best from people in taking care of their homes. Lawns are mowed weekly, flowers are planted, mulch is laid down, gardens are aligned and patio furniture is ready to welcome friends and family for upcoming cookouts and holidays.

 

Summer is also known as the time to kick back and relax, but it’s also the time that you use to prepare your spaces to work for you. When your garage is organized, you can find your gardening tools, beach supplies, bikes and hoses with ease. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of ways to take back your garage and use it for more than storage.

 

It’s the season of organizing. Here are my best tips for organizing your garage this summer.

 

Pick A Beautiful Day To Get Started

 

Take a look at the weather forecast for an upcoming weekend. Sunny and 80 degrees? Perfect. Turn on your favorite music and start the day strong. The best time to get started is early in the morning. You’ll get a majority of your work done before the heat or humidity set in, and you’ll buy time for later in the day for finalizing projects and relaxing with a cold beverage.

 

Move Everything Out And Sweep

 

Grab the trash cans, lawn mower, bikes, bags of mulch from last summer and everything else you have on the floor and move it out of the garage. That goes for your car, too. Once everything is out, give your garage floor a clean sweep. Have a power washer? Power wash for a crisp wash and clean floor.

 

Use Baskets And Bins For Storage

 

Bring everything back in the garage that needs to be there. Sort through items and determine if they are winter things and if they are still in good shape to keep or recycle. Mark all bins with what’s inside them so you can easily find them later. i.e. Christmas lights and decorations

 

If you have kids, you probably have a lot of toys being stored in the garage. You can use your old packing products to store the toys, if you do not have any storage bins already at home. When storing your kids’ toys, you should store them at a level where the kids are not trying to reach them by standing on anything wobbly.

 

Keep summer items in baskets or bins where they are easily accessible. Create a wall storage system. Whether that’s adding storage bins or adding shelves, moving items to a wall of the garage can really clear up that prized floor space.

 

Place like items together:

 

1. Gloves, wiffle balls and bats, volleyball net, and other summer sporting equipment,

2. Sunscreen, swimsuits and beach bags,

3. Garden gloves, spades, hand pruners, etc.

 

Designate An Activity Space

 

Choose an area where you can focus on your favorite summer hobbies; gardening, landscape, painting, building, etc. You’ll want a clean workbench with shelves or cabinets all within reach to keep things organized where you need them.

 

Pick A Shoe Rack

 

 

After you mow the lawn or work in the garden, the last thing you want to do is track mud or grass blades inside the house. Pick up a shoe rack and place right outside your door into the house where you can keep your summer working shoes where they belong outside.

 

Now that you’re ready to organize your garage for the summer, you can spend your time doing what summer was meant to do. Sit back, relax and spend times outside with the ones you love.

 

Do you have any more tips for organizing your garage for the summer? Comment below with your tips.

 

DIY Ceiling Shelves

 

 

Your garage, your space of choice to store items and work. There is one spot in your garage, which is normally wasted space, that we recommend be the solution to all your storage problems…the ceiling.

 

You know the space above your car and above your garage door? This is premium space to take advantage for organizing your storage. Install overhead storage. If you have higher garage ceilings, installing overhead storage can really help clear out the clutter.

 

Save up shelf space by switching out your fluorescent light bulbs for LED lights.  This will keep you from changing the bulbs all the time, and it is more energy efficient in the long run.

 

Tubular Storage Or Lattice Rack

 

When you have items such as fishing poles that take up a lot of space, require separation from items around them, and are long and skinny, you can utilize storage through large tubes or other creative separators that can hang from the ceiling. This storage would be easy to access yet away from the floor for optimization of space.

 

Sliding Storage

 

Garage ceiling storage with sliding bins is a simple and fast DIY project, and a great way to save floor space for long term storage needs.

 

Pivot Drawers

 

When you use pivot drawers on your ceiling, you have easy access to its contents but can store things away without having to see all your out of season items and things you only need every now and then.

 

Hanging Hooks

 

 

Use hanging hooks to hang things from the ceiling; easily accessible through the summer months while saving space for long storage use throughout the winter. If you have enough ceiling space you should install hooks and hang your bicycles on these hooks.

 

By doing this, you are getting the bikes off of the floor, leaving more room for storage space. You can also use these hooks for your gardening tools. They will be easily accessible when you need them and out of the way when you don’t.

 

The next thing to consider is how you are storing your ladder. Ladders can be extremely hazardous when they are leaning vertically against a wall. A ladder standing up can fall over and damage your car or injure a family member, so the best way to store your ladder hang it against the wall horizontally at floor level.

 

Ceiling Garage Door Opener

 

 

 

Clear off the spaces on your garage walls, and upgrade your garage door opener to the space-saving wall mount garage door opener. This sleek, compact wall-mount opener fits most doors and does not require a ceiling-mount rail and trolley.

Do you have any more suggestions for maximizing the ceiling in your garage for storage?

 

Control your garage door from your smartphone. By getting a MyQ enabled garage door opener, you can be assured and in control on-demand wherever you are. Do you need to let someone in your home when you’re not there? Did you hurry out the door and forget to shut the garage door? With MyQ, you can avoid all the, “oh no,” moments with this convenient touch of a button technology. Check price on Amazon right here.

 

Insulate your garage walls. Don’t just enjoy your garage space in the warmer months. By insulating your garage you won’t dread walking out there in the colder months.

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

The other important part about organizing your garage is safety. Garages are usually home to all the chemicals and dangerous tools. Your paint cans, chemicals and pesticides should be stored correctly. If you are keeping them in old food containers or anything other than their original packaging, you are putting you and your family at risk.

 

All of these toxic items can cause fumes, burns, respiratory problems and fire hazards if stored incorrectly. These items should also be kept out or reach from children or in a locked cabinet or on a high shelf. The same goes for pets and the toxic chemicals should be kept in a place where the animals can’t get to them either.

 

Before you even start organizing your garage, you should make a plan for your garage. You should decide where you are going to park your car and where you want to store your stuff. Everything has a place.

 

Thanks For Reading,

 

MyNeatGarage