5 Useful Garage Organization Tips to Help You Manage Clutter
August 20, 2019One of the benefits of a garage is the extra storage space. But, this room is also prone to building up clutter. The garage often becomes a dumping ground and a place for storing everything even if it’s not something you use anymore. Before you know it, your garage is full of stuff! Without a good plan for organizing everything, it can quickly get out of hand. Here are a few useful garage organization tips to help you manage clutter:
1. Start by Clearing Things Out
If the clutter in your garage has been left unmanaged and has gotten out of control, it’s important to start by cleaning up the mess and clearing things out. It can be hard to get rid of things you think might be of use later, so it’s important to be honest with yourself as you’re evaluating items.
As you are going through things, think about whether you actually use it or need it. If you haven’t used it for over a year, consider getting rid of it. If it’s broken and you’ve been meaning to fix it for several years, just let it go. Think about whether it needs to go in the trash, can be recycled, could be donated, or even put up for sale in a yard sale.
2. Think About What You Need to Store
After you’ve gone through everything you have, you’ll know what you need to keep and will have a good idea of what you will need to store in your garage. Take some time to think about it and then consider how you might be able to extend the use of the available space you have.
There are plenty of garage organization ideas that can help you maximize the storage space in your garage. Now that you have cleared out some items, do you have space for some shelves or cabinets? Would you consider ceiling storage racks? Depending on what you have to store, there may even be efficient storage racks or systems built specifically for storing those items.
3. Create a Specific Place for Each Item
One of the best garage organization tips is to create a specific place for each item. Clutter often builds up because things just get thrown together at the moment or placed somewhere because it will get organized “later”. This is also a great tip to think about when if you design your own workshop or create a workshop space in your garage.
If each item has a “home” in your garage, it can help you manage clutter and make things easy to find. This is particularly useful for large items or items that are a similar type. Storage racks for bikes keep bikes secure and out of the way while also containing them to a specific area and the same idea applies to tools.
4. Group Items by Type
As you start organizing everything, start grouping items by type. This helps make things easier to find overall and also can help keep clutter under control even as items are added in the future.
If all the tools are located in one area, you know new tools need to go in that area and you can use tool storage ideas to better organize what you have within a specific area. This allows you to manage items as a related group and keep stock of what you have in one area instead of having to manage inventory from all over your garage.
5. Label Everything
How many times have you tried to find something and had to go through several boxes or containers to track it down? Instead of wasting your time searching through box after box, label everything as you organize your garage.
Paper in sheet protectors can be taped to the top and sides of boxes and containers and provide a list of everything in each one. Instead of having to pull down, open, and search for what you need, you can just go to the box or container associated with that group of items and check the list before pulling down the one you need.
Enough space and plenty of storage are garage must-haves and these garage organization tips can help you organize your garage and manage clutter. Whether you are cleaning up clutter in your current home or setting up the garage after moving into your custom home, these tips are useful. If your current home just isn’t cutting it and you’re ready for your own custom home, contact Custom Home Group at 717-284-4090 and make your dream home a reality!