If you have to regularly battle through boxes of old household goods and gardening equipment to try and find something in your garage, we have some good news – you’re not alone. In fact, you’re just one of thousands if not more that have turned their garage into a tipping spot.
This wasn’t by choice of course but just gradually built up over time and now your poor car is parked at the front of your house at night. The good news is there is light at the end of the tunnel. You just need to knock down the mountain of boxes that are currently in the way.
The first step is to designate a day (or maybe even a weekend) and start getting rid of the build up of clutter that has amassed over the years. Some of this may be worth saving but the majority of it is probably destined for the skip or your nearest recycling centre.
Once you have decided that the time has come to get your garage organised, we recommend you follow these tips to getting your garage looking great again.
1. Clear the clutter:
The first step to organising your garage is removing the clutter that has built up. One good way to do this is to remove all the items that are currently stored in your garage and put them at the front of your house or in your driveway or even use your back garden. Your end goal is to have an empty garage space or as close as you can possibly get to one. There may be certain items or bits of furniture that are secured in place.
2. Organise your clutter:
This is the moment of truth. Before you even think about organising your garage you need to organise everything that will be going into it. What do you really need to keep and what is junk that will just gather more dust. Organise two piles – one for staying and one for going. Once you have decided which items are to be kept you can start to plan out the best way to store them to ensure you utilise the space in your garage.
3. Storage:
Start to plan out your storage requirements. It is important that anything going back into your garage can be easily stored. You don’t want to fill your garage again only to have the same problem a few weeks down the line. Use the space within your garage to store items. Use your walls to store gardening tools, bikes and anything else that can be vertically secured. This will free up space around your garage floor. Look into storage solutions including cupboards and shelving to easily and securely store smaller items.
4. Safe storage:
Chemicals can present many hazards in your garage as many people use the garage to store pesticides, paints, oils and gas. Ensure these are stored in a safe manner and are out of the reach of children and pets. It is important that anything spilled during the re-organising of your garage is immediately cleaned up as well. Tools can also present trip hazards so it is important that ladders, gardening equipment, extension leads and anything else that has a trip threat is safely and securely stored above head height. Ladders in particular should be stored horizontally along the wall so that they can’t fall easily and won’t take up much space.
5. Reduce, reuse, recycle:
Before you start throwing out all your old unwanted items, see if there is anything you can reuse to help store items. Using old bins as storage solution or even jars to store nails, screws and bolts can help organise things that bit better in the garage. There may even be some old furniture that you could restore and sell on.
6. Assign areas within your garage:
When organising things to put back into your garage, it may be worth splitting your garage into different areas. If you do a lot of work in your garage and have a workstation then ensure your tools are stored in this area and are easy to get. Likewise, if you use your garage to train in and lift weights in, pick a corner of your garage to easily store and hang all your weights so they don’t take up much room. Whatever you plan to use your garage for, ensure that everything can be easily stored and put away once you have finished.
7. Finally, the floor:
Your floor will take a lot of impact during the organising of your garage and also over time whether through storing vehicles, tools or from the general abuse and wear and tear it will take over the years. Your concrete floor can become damaged and stained so consider protecting your garage floor by installing PVC flooring. You could also just fit the flooring to those areas that are likely to take the most abuse and traffic. PVC tiles can also help you create a showroom look and feel for your new garage that you’ll want to continue to keep looking great.
So when it comes to getting the most out of your garage, remember the importance of being organised and also getting the most out of your garage in terms of storage. Generating space and maintaining space in your garage will allow you to get the most from it on a daily basis.
You may even find that you are able to park your car overnight for the first time in many years. Now that’s got to be worth getting organised for.
Could your garage do with some TLC? Share your before and after shots with us on Facebook and Twitter to see how you have transformed your garage using our simple tips.
Happy cleaning guys…
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