Drive On In: Organizing Your Garage
You know that satisfying “plink” you hear when you’re sorting metal into jars? Shortly before the shutdown, I was helping one of my clients who had just leased a new car clean out her garage so that she could get the car inside. She told me that the sounds we were generating brought back memories of her childhood.
Her parents, she said, enlisted the whole family when they attacked their annual spring cleaning chores. She was given a choice of whether she wanted to help her mom in the kitchen — that could be organizing the pantry, polishing some silver, or defrosting the freezer (aren’t we glad that this chore all but disappeared!), or she was assigned the task of helping her dad clean out the garage. She chose the garage every time. She told me how she loved the feel of the various sizes of nails, bolts, screws, and hinges and that sound they made as she helped her dad tidy up his garage workshop.
Having a neat and orderly garage feels great. There is nothing like putting your hands right on that screwdriver, old rollerblades, or Dustbuster attachment when you need it. Plus, if you are thinking about getting your house ready to sell, a garage is an area that is often overlooked.
Often, I am asked to help clients reclaim garage space so they could finally get their car inside and protected from the elements. Some are lucky enough to have a two — or even a three — car garage, but even then it’s likely that the part that does not house a car has become filled with clutter.
Follow these simple tasks and your garage will be neat and organized.
First off, your garage (like your attic and basement) should not be a catch-all place for things you don’t want to deal with on a daily basis. If your garage has become the go-to place to store unwanted items, take the time now to decide if someone in the family could use it, or if it is worth selling or donating. If not, take it to the town dump or call a Dial-a-Truck service to remove it. This goes for old lawn mowers, sporting equipment, beach chairs and toys, outgrown bicycles, things you will never get around to fixing, snow shovels that hurt your back to use, and gym equipment.
A good approach is to pick a beautiful day to tackle the project so you can pull everything out of the garage onto the driveway and sort it into piles. You just may be surprised about how many duplicate items you have.
Create broad categories, like things for the beach, the car, sports equipment, tools, home improvement items, holiday items, and things for the lawn. Do you keep your garbage pails in the garage? You will need to create an area for garbage and recycling as well.
Decide what area of the garage will be used to store each category. Use all the vertical space! Create storage areas with peg boards and hooks to hang miscellaneous items. Invest in some strong shelving for paint cans and other heavy items. Look on Pinterest for some great garage storage ideas. And who says it can’t be pretty?
Make sure you finish by sweeping, vacuuming, or using a heavier Shop-Vac for random nails and screws that may be on the floor. Then find a good place to store the Shop-Vac!
Once your garage looks the way you want it to, make a commitment not to let things pile back up. Add the garage to your annual spring cleaning list to make sure it stays in top form.