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6 Garage Organizing Tips That Really Work
National Clean Out the Garage Day: Here's how to clear the clutter and organize what's left
Garages tend to become dumps for just about everything. Because they are big open spaces, they're easy targets for that suitcase that won't fit in the closet, the rollerblades your daughter doesn't want to throw away yet, the sewing machine you need to give back to your neighbor, and anything else that doesn't have a set place.
National Clean Out Your Garage Day, the Saturday after Labor Day, is a perfect time to roll up your sleeves and dive head first into the clutter. Follow these 6 tips from Houzz users and home professionals to clean your way to a neat and organized garage.
More: 5 Dream Garages
National Clean Out Your Garage Day, the Saturday after Labor Day, is a perfect time to roll up your sleeves and dive head first into the clutter. Follow these 6 tips from Houzz users and home professionals to clean your way to a neat and organized garage.
More: 5 Dream Garages
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| 1. Use as much vertical and ceiling space as possible. This rule is particularly important if you're planning to actually park your car here. Make sure that you'll have room for your car without running into or onto anything. For Houzz user Janet Henry in Illinois, getting everything up and off of the floor was a priority, so getting rid of as much junk as possible was a must. "The biggest challenge was just getting started," she says. After a yard sale, it took her three days to paint the walls, scour the floor, and paint the cabinetry to get the garage spic and span. "I make it a point to sweep it out and wipe things up every week. I want it to stay nice for a long time," she says. |
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| The main goal for Janet was to create a space that was clean, organized, and presentable when the garage door was open. Luckily, she has a shed and a basement where any extra-large equipment can go. This is a great solution for anyone who has a smaller garage; small storage sheds can be built and installed relatively inexpensively. "Just driving into a nice, clean space is great," she says. |
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| Getting as much off of floor as possible was also a big priority for Sarah of the blog Thrifty Decor Chick. Her garage had become like so many others: a place to store every possible bit of clutter. She picked up some holders from the hardware store for brooms, rakes, mops — anything with a handle. Heavy-duty hooks took care of the rest. |
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| Originally, Sarah had bought some simple open-wire shelving for the back of her garage — but the open shelves actually ended up discouraging organization. Everyone would shove things onto the shelves, until they became a mishmash of random belongings. This time around, she decided to invest in a few storage pieces from Target. The simple, closed cabinetry made all the difference. |
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| 2. Before reorganizing, try taking everything out of your garage. Looking at the space you have as a blank canvas can give you a better idea of what you're working with. Houzz user Ivan Prefer of Hillsdale, New Jersey has a vertical storage setup similar to the previous two garages, but has also incorporated a neat and tidy workshop area towards the back. Working with a clean slate can help you decide which areas are best to designate for certain activities. |
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| 3. Decide what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away. When you find yourself questioning a particular item, ask yourself :
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4. Group like items together so they're easy to find. For Chris Carey from Just a Girl, the garage in her Michigan home was a tricky space because it's also the primary way that most people use to enter the home. She decided that even though it was a garage, it didn't necessarily have to look like one.
A few coats of paint, metal shelving and some cute decals for the door completely transformed the space without spending a lot of money. Chris decided to put the items that they'd mostly need for in-house use on the larger wire shelf, including drinks, paper towels and toilet paper, and other cleaning materials.
A few coats of paint, metal shelving and some cute decals for the door completely transformed the space without spending a lot of money. Chris decided to put the items that they'd mostly need for in-house use on the larger wire shelf, including drinks, paper towels and toilet paper, and other cleaning materials.
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| Like Chris, Erin of Sunny Side Up tends to use her garage door as the main entrance for her home — so it often becomes a gathering place for shoes and coats. A neat and tidy shoe and coat rack encourages her children to place their own clothes in the right place and makes it easy when searching for that much-loved pair of pink Velcro sneakers. Storage on the ceiling and walls saves room for larger items, and things that are used on a daily basis. |
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| 5. Decide which area of the garage is going to be used for what purpose. Think carefully about what you want your garage to be used for, and the best possible way that this space can be divided up. For Houzz user Mikki Lesowitz-Soliday of Sherman Oaks, Calif., the priority was to clean out her garage and transform it into a studio where her craft group and classes could meet. However, space still had to be allotted for storage and workout equipment. By dividing up the room into zones, she was able to create a setup that made sense and was still neat and organized. |
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| Mikki's biggest challenge was trying to figure out what to do with the extra-large items, which included four bicycles, lawn equipment and lots of luggage. Instead of attempting to cram every little thing in her space, they built a long, narrow shed for those items along the side of the garage. That left space for two large tables, a sewing station, and plenty of art and craft supplies. "I have loads of storage, which I recognize is a real luxury," she says. "But I'm always purging. Everything from art supplies to my kids' clothes. I think it's the key to staying organized!" |
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6. Label absolutely everything. Another shot from Erin's garage shows how taking the time to label each and every drawer and shelf can make a world of difference. Tired of drawers and bins full of a hodgepodge of nails, screws, and bolts, Erin took the time to organize each individual piece by type and label accordingly. Tedious? Yes. Worth it? Yes.
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| Since sewing involves so many bits and pieces, it's easy for a sewing station to become a tangled mess of thread, pins and needles. Instead of letting the chaos pile up, Mikki decided to prevent it by creating a space for everything. Scissors, pins, fabric, thread spools, and every other sewing necessity has its own labeled and special spot. What's sitting in your garage right now? Do you have plans to tackle the mess? Or have you already sifted through the clutter to create a new space? Share your before and after photos below! More: 5 Dream Garages A New Look for the Overlooked Garage Door Automotive Related Architecture: Modern Garage Doors Dad's Domain: The Garage |
Ideabook updated on Sept. 10, 2011.
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Good luck and happy garage organizing!
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For labels, I find that printing a picture of the item & taping it to the door or drawer front is useful. I can quickly scan an area to find, "Oh! There's the drill." and it helps me to put things back as well.
Both shelves hold mostly my antique car parts - nothing too heavy - just bulky like seats and trim pieces.
We also floored in the attic above the garage. Our house has simple 2x4 trusses so the potential to overload the garage ceiling is there but I've been careful not to put that much weight on the shelves or in the attic. Collectively there is likely the weight of three-four grown men up there and on the shelves and the trusses are certainly able to hold that. The weight is spread around and the heaviest items are near the edges of the attic.
We built another shelf at the opposite end of the garage. Much smaller b/c we had to allow for the door into the house. The shelf is about 36" deep and and about 5 ft wide. It hangs over where the front of your car would go - if we kept a car in our garage. Instead I have a carpentry shop out there with my old VW Westfalia camper stored in the middle. I'm restoring it.
It is a very full 24x24 garage. ;) Big wood projects require the Westfalia to be moved outside.
Our kids' bikes and outside toys reside in the 10x12 shed. I have a second shed - formerly 10x12 now 10x16 that contains the spillover from my restoration project and my 1965 VW Beetle basketcase. I inherited that shed from my grandparents and once in place at my house, I added 4 ft to the back to make it capable of storing the Beetle. Looks like it was meant to be that long. It's all locked up which makes me worth much less than if the car was under an open shed roof (lean-to along side a barn).
It all looks better than it sounds.
In really tight spaces like my garage, put big tools on wheels. I have a wire rack that holds my chainsaw and gallons of house paint that I can move around. It had screw in feet but I found generic wheels off the shelf at Tractor supply that simply screwed in place of the feet. I have a table saw and table sander both on wheels now. Well worth the $7 per wheel cost for "cheap" casters these days.
Another suggestion: build yourself a workbench with a backer to hang all your tools. I inherited a workbench from my grandfather. 4x4 posts, 2x4 framing, 3/4" top covered with 1/8" aluminum. The back is a 1/2" piece of plywood which I sanded and then I screwed tiny L hooks into it to hang my tools. The hooks I got 100 per box from our local Mom 'n Pop hardware store. I modified a generic bolt with a hacksaw to put a slot in the head so I could use my cordless drill to screw them in easily. I used my 100 year old crank drill to put pilot holes everywhere I wanted to put the hooks. Under the workbench are drawers for nuts and bolts and hardware. I raised the workbench up about 3" b/c I'm taller than my grandfather.
For a second workbench I used 6 4x4 posts and 2x4 framing and a 3/4" plywood top all painted white (spare paint already on hand). Under it are two aircooled VW engines, and two aircooled Corvair engines. Easy storage that also weights the workbench to the floor so it doesn't wiggle while I use my vise to hold something that I want to cut. I screwed it all together with 1/4" lag bolts and deck screws.
Over the weekend I did some cleanout. Several things went away - all of them cheap, all of them ignored for long enough, all of them seriously worn. Felt GOOD. Moved some items in the shed closer to the door since I find myself using those items more often.
It's all very simple but I lack the organization gene so for me it feels like a big deal. GRIN! For a decade our stuff levels have grown while our storage capability remained the same. I inherited tools, purchased some big tools (air compressor, welder, table saw, built work benches), and we had kids who generate their own stuff.
Now that everything has a "place" it is much eas