Garage Organization Tips – How to Organize Your Garage

If your garage serves as an on-site storage unit for everything imaginable EXCEPT for your car or truck, it’s likely that the most pressing question on your mind is how to organize your garage. Learn how to get control over the chaos and declutter and organize your garage in this video.

Here are some garage organization tips:

1. Pull everything out the garage and group like items together (e.g. garden tools, bicycles, toys, holiday decorations). For each group, decide what you will keep, what will go into the trash, what will be given away or donated to charity, and what you will sell.

2. Clean out your now-empty garage thoroughly.

3. For the items you’re keeping, think about how often they’re used and how accessible they need to be. Also, think about the functionality of your garage and how the floor space is used (or how you would like to utilize it). Do you want to set aside space for workshop, laundry area, playroom, or even a man cave? This will help you decide what you will need to organize your garage.

4. Purchase storage solutions that will maximize your garage space. Shelving will get your items off the floor. By storing items vertically, you will increase the storage capacity and open up the floor space in your garage as well as making it a safer and more productive space. While you can certainly use plywood and dimensional lumber and create your own shelving, there are other shelving options to choose from to help you organize your garage:

• Freestanding shelves allow you to store items away from walls and supporting structures. You can also position them to segment the space into a separate workshop or laundry room. Some units have locking-caster wheels that allow you to move them easily and lock them securely in place. Freestanding shelving comes in wire, resin and wood.
• Wall-mounted shelving is designed to hold up to 100 lbs. per linear foot. you can buy heavy-duty wire shelving that is specifically designed for garages. The open wire construction allows air to circulate around stored items and helps reduce mildew and mold in moist climates. Some units have a plastic coating that prevents corrosion and rust and protects the shelves from the sometimes harsh garage environment. As an alternative to buying, you can mount shelves made from plywood and dimensional lumber to the wall by using heavy metal shelving brackets.
• Rafter and wall hangers are a great way to store items like bicycles, hoses and ladders. All that’s needed is to secure the hanger or hook to a wall stud or ceiling rafter.
• Peg hooks can be easily moved around and adjusted as your storage needs change. Peg hooks provide a flexible storage solution.
• Utility cabinets allow you to store items behind doors and out of sight. Cabinets with lockable doors will keep dangerous chemicals and sharp tools away from children. Utility cabinets are available in metal, resin, wood and wood composite materials.

5. Applying a fresh coat of paint to the walls and painting and sealing the floor will improve the appearance of your garage and make it easier to keep clean.

6. Set up your shelving and storage units and organize your garage by strategically placing your items. Anything that is less frequently used should be placed higher up in cabinets or on shelves and further back in the garage. Items you use regularly should be place within easy reach. To make things easier to find, label your boxes, bins and shelves.

Just imagine the satisfaction you will feel when this project is finally done. You will not only be able to park your car in your garage but also able to find anything you want when you need it. By following these garage organization tips and reminding family members (and yourself) to put items back where they got them, you will have a clean and well organized garage.