Garages can be a nightmare to organise – and not just because you never know what kind of spiders and other horrors are lurking behind that box of Christmas decorations.
If your garage is filled to the brim with stuff you can never seem to find, it may be time to finally tackle the messiest room in your home and transform it into a tidy and functional space.
Need a little inspiration to get going? Beer might help. But these garage storage and organisation ideas might be a better place to start.
1. Declutter
The first step to giving your garage a much-needed makeover? Cull the clutter!
How many old tins of paint, snorkelling goggles, and empty flower pots does one person need? Get rid of the stuff you don’t use.
Take a leaf out of The Organising Platform’s book and sort through your things, one by one, to determine whether or not they make the cut. In this detailed post, they show the best ways to declutter and organise a garage, sorting their belongings into 4 categories:
- Keep
- Sell
- Donate
- Throw.
We love the idea of turning your trash into someone else’s treasure by selling it online or holding a garage sale. Not only do you get a tidy garage; you also get to pocket some extra cash for your efforts. Ka-ching.
Top tip: Not sure which category your items belong in? Use this quick quiz to make your decluttering journey a little easier.
2. Maximise Your Space
From wall shelves to ceiling racks, they show how to install storage to maximise your space and keep the floor free for your car.
Their post will inspire you with their inventive ideas (hello, shovel and broom rack) and DIY skills.
Top tip: Cubbyhole shelving (pictured above) is great for keeping items of all different sizes organised and in place. Simply alter the size of the cubbyholes to accommodate your large items (e.g. toolbox) and small items (e.g. secret junk food stash).
3. Separate Your Space into Zones
You use your garage for several different purposes, right? So why not create a zone for each purpose?
The garage isn’t always just an empty space for your car and your toolboxes. You might also use it as a workshop, a mudroom, or even a gym. Giving your stuff a dedicated zone based on its purpose will make your garage a more organised and functional space.
Check out how Just a Girl and Her Blog has created zones in her garage in this helpful post, separating clothes, shoes, and backpacks from tools and sporting equipment to make finding things quick and easy.
Just imagine: no more digging deep inside boxes to find the right screwdriver. Clever, isn’t it?
Top tip: Use clear containers to make spotting an item even easier.
Giving everything a home will help you maintain a tidy space and avoid having things go missing.
Top tip: Labels are your best friend. Labelling each shelf, box, container, whatever will make it easy to remember what goes where. Your labels might include ‘nuts and bolts’, ‘batteries’, ‘bike parts’, and ‘crappy finger-paintings that didn’t make the fridge’.
Hey, while you’re at it, you may as well organise the rest of your home with these 35 storage hacks.
Take a shortcut by putting some of that garage stuff in a self-storage unit. Discover our affordable, flexible options here and book today.