Organize Your Garage

We know how your garage got so bad.  Lack of storage, pack-rat pile up and being overwhelmed by the amount of work it would be to get it in order.  Well, the time has come to clean it up.  Getting your garage in order can be a lot of work, but it can be done. Give yourself a realistic time frame.  For a general clean-up and organize, most garages take anywhere from two to six hours.  For a major overhaul, installing cabinets, counters and shelves, it usually takes the better part of two days.  Make organizing your garage a weekend project.  Enlist the help of family and friends.  If everyone has a specific job, it can go really fast.  Entice people to help by offering food and refreshments, or motivate them to organize their garages by volunteering your labor.  You could both have great garages in the time that you could do your own yourself.  Plus, it’s a lot more fun if you have someone there the share in your misery and success! For a garage clean-up, you will have to make things look worse before they start looking better.  Simply drag everything out into the driveway.  Rent or buy a canopy cover if you are planning a more than one day overhaul or if the weather is especially hot.  Plug in and use all of the fans that you can to make the job more pleasant in the heat.  Lots of people dread the job simply because of the weather. Now, organize the piles.  Throw out everything that you possibly can.  Many people store things in their garages for decades without getting rid of it.  If it’s something sentimental, like your childhood bed, you may still be willing to part with it if it goes to good use in a family member’s home.  Or, you can take pictures of it and keep the photos along with a story about why it is special. If you have a lot of things like this but would love to have your garage as a work area, consider renting a storage unit or utilizing space in the attic.  With a sheet or two of plywood, your attic can become a great place to store antiques, furniture and things that you simply cannot part with.  Cover them with plastic sheets and staple the edges down to the plywood to keep out moisture and pests.  Cedar chips will also deter pests, absorb moisture and further protect your heirlooms. Okay, back to cleaning.  Once you are rid of trash, sweep out and wipe down the garage.  Take usable items that you rarely use and have a garage sale or donate them to a charity.  Now, all that is left is putting everything back.  You can install shelving, cabinets, work space counter tops or whatever else you think you may need.  A lot of times, people can get away with simply installing large hooks or brackets on the ceiling for boats, bikes, large boxes and more. Now that your garage is clear and organized, feel free to stock it with a few gadgets that will make keeping it clean fun.  Trade your extension cord for an automatic <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.roboreel.com"title="Cord Reel">cord reel</a>.  Exchange your coffee can full of nuts and bolts for a useful organization system.  You can have fun getting everything organized once it is clean.

We know how your garage got so bad.  Lack of storage, pack-rat pile up and being overwhelmed by the amount of work it would be to get it in order.  Well, the time has come to clean it up.  Getting your garage in order can be a lot of work, but it can be done.

Give yourself a realistic time frame.  For a general clean-up and organize, most garages take anywhere from two to six hours.  For a major overhaul, installing cabinets, counters and shelves, it usually takes the better part of two days.  Make organizing your garage a weekend project.  Enlist the help of family and friends.  If everyone has a specific job, it can go really fast.  Entice people to help by offering food and refreshments, or motivate them to organize their garages by volunteering your labor.  You could both have great garages in the time that you could do your own yourself.  Plus, it’s a lot more fun if you have someone there the share in your misery and success!

For a garage clean-up, you will have to make things look worse before they start looking better.  Simply drag everything out into the driveway.  Rent or buy a canopy cover if you are planning a more than one day overhaul or if the weather is especially hot.  Plug in and use all of the fans that you can to make the job more pleasant in the heat.  Lots of people dread the job simply because of the weather.

Now, organize the piles.  Throw out everything that you possibly can.  Many people store things in their garages for decades without getting rid of it.  If it’s something sentimental, like your childhood bed, you may still be willing to part with it if it goes to good use in a family member’s home.  Or, you can take pictures of it and keep the photos along with a story about why it is special.

If you have a lot of things like this but would love to have your garage as a work area, consider renting a storage unit or utilizing space in the attic.  With a sheet or two of plywood, your attic can become a great place to store antiques, furniture and things that you simply cannot part with.  Cover them with plastic sheets and staple the edges down to the plywood to keep out moisture and pests.  Cedar chips will also deter pests, absorb moisture and further protect your heirlooms.

Okay, back to cleaning.  Once you are rid of trash, sweep out and wipe down the garage.  Take usable items that you rarely use and have a garage sale or donate them to a charity.  Now, all that is left is putting everything back.  You can install shelving, cabinets, work space counter tops or whatever else you think you may need.  A lot of times, people can get away with simply installing large hooks or brackets on the ceiling for boats, bikes, large boxes and more.

Now that your garage is clear and organized, feel free to stock it with a few gadgets that will make keeping it clean fun.  Trade your extension cord for an automatic cord reel.  Exchange your coffee can full of nuts and bolts for a useful organization system.  You can have fun getting everything organized once it is clean.