OK. Here’s some irony for you. The messiest room in your house also has the biggest doors. Gaping widely, those garage doors bare all your clutter for the whole street to see. Where’s the justice? When you were a kid, you could hide the mess under your bed, where, you’d hope, no one would ever think to look.

Garages are like that, too, except for grownups. We toss everything and anything into the garage. Stuff too big, too dirty or too rarely used to keep inside the house.

Kids’ toys, bicycles, gardening stuff, camping stuff, your tennis racquet from high school, an inflatable raft, old canning supplies we accepted thinking we’d be aboard the urban pioneer trend, spare boxes left over from when we moved into the place… oh, wait, now there’s no room for the car.

As long as the garage doors are shut, who cares, right? No one can see the mess. Unfortunately, you might have to wade through the flotsam every time you come home, because that’s still the shortest (and driest) way to the kitchen with all those groceries. Even if you park the car on the driveway. Again, where’s the justice!

Here are a few hints to help you reclaim your garage in stages. You don’t even have to dedicate the whole weekend to it, just work on it a bit at a time. And eventually it’ll all organized efficiently so you can at least find the things you need when you want them, and you can have a nice clear walkway. Space for working on projects and moving things around. And, as long as we’re making goals, maybe even parking the car.

1. Prioritize. Figure out the top few things you need to do inside the garage. Do you want to park the car there? Do you need workspace to maintain your bicycles or motorcycle or create a woodshop? Train set? Ping pong table? A place to pack, unpack and clean your camping equipment? Pet area? Laundry? Or just storage?

Write it all down. Then be honest with yourself. Really. A ping pong table and your kid has just graduated from high school? If you have a huge load of camping equipment and haven’t gone camping in three years, do you really need to keep all that?

Golf clubs? Skis? Rock climbing? You can rent high quality equipment inexpensively for that one time every two years you might actually go. And save yourself the storage and maintenance headaches. Plus the technology of gear-intensive sports and hobbies changes so fast, what you’ve been storing for years is hopelessly out of date.

2. Clean. Start small, and start honestly. It’ll be a process, don’t try to clean the whole garage at once. Back your car into your driveway, and fill it just once with things you can get rid of in one stop, say, a load of things to take to Goodwill or similar charity. Or, a load of things you’ve been meaning to take to a friend’s house… the recycler… whatever.

Allot just an hour or so, including your trip to Goodwill or wherever. Do not save the whole carload for “later,” finish this part too. Otherwise, you’ve just moved the mess into your car!

When you start small like this, one task at a time, you make progress and actually finish the task. Once you do this once or twice, it becomes much easier. Pick up something, and think to yourself, “If somebody wanted to give this to me for free, would I want it?”

Repeat the cleaning steps, revisiting your priorities as needed until your garage is more manageable and what’s left are only items you and your family truly use on a regular basis.

3. Categorize. Create piles inside your garage by category, for example, the camping gear goes over there, bikes, here, gardening, tools, etc. Don’t try to keep these piles neat or weed out further at this point, just make sure you keep the piles separate. This way you’ll have a better idea of what (and how much) you’ll need to store neatly later.

Also, if at all possible, don’t be tempted to start these piles outside the garage, except for very easily moved and large things, like bicycles. While you may need to have some stuff outside just to help clear a space inside, this step will be easier if you can finish sorting your categories without moving them again later when you’re in a rush to get started on dinner or go to a soccer game.

While you’re sorting, take mental notes of what things you want in boxes, what has to be hung, what needs to stay on the floor, large bulky items, and so forth.

4. Organize. Now that you have a good idea of how much stuff you need to store, now you can decide how to store it all. The floor is not the answer! Utilizing all that unused vertical wall space will free up your floor for important things like walking and parking cars.

You can go gangbusters and purchase a gorgeous custom garage storage system, almost like kitchen cabinetry but often made of metal, even shiny enameled finishes and diamond plate. You can hire experts like the people at GarageEnvy.com to assess what you have to store and arrange the shelves and cabinets just so.

Or, you can assemble something yourself with modular products like the Craftsman or the Gladiator Garageworks lines available at Sears. Bike racks, lawn tool holders, tool boxes, cabinets, benches, even refrigerators are available in matching finishes. This sure is one way to impress the neighbors when your garage door is wide open!

I like freestanding heavy duty and adjustable industrial-style shelving and large plastic bins. This gives me flexibility and doesn’t cost much.

Places like Home Depot and Target also sell similar shelving units to this Edsal version sold at Sears. Just be sure to know how long your walls are before you bring a bunch of these things home. Plus, you can usually go back later and buy more units in a similar style, as you need them.

Also take note of the largest things you will want to place in a bin and buy multiples of the smallest bin that will fit the largest stuff. Having all your bins in the same color and size makes for a neat appearance, but unless you label the contents or can see through them, you’ll be endlessly pulling lids off to see what’s inside.

5. Put it all together. As you put away each category, set aside broken stuff, old stuff or duplicates. Put away only the useful stuff into your new storage system and get rid of the rest. Keep each category in its own section: Consider one shelf or shelving unit for each category. This will help keep you organized after everything is put away, and you’ll easily be able to grab what you need.

6. Enjoy! A neater garage may keep you from throwing just anything in unless you have a place to store it. And you’ll have one less nagging chore hitting you upside the head every time you open that big ol’ door.

Until next time!

--Elaine Bothe

Resources:

Edsal shelving from Sears, photo is courtesy of Sears.com.

Gladiator Garageworks photo is courtesy of Sears.com

Photo of slatwall and cabinetry is courtesy of Garage Envy.