Organizing Your Garage: Are You Making These Mistakes?

If you have a messy garage, you’re not alone. Many people cannot get their vehicles into the garage because it is overrun with objects, from ladders to the Christmas tree and boxes of miscellaneous items. While that might not bother you most of the year, when the weather gets colder, it can be inconvenient to have to thaw out your car in the driveway because it won’t fit in the garage. To help you organize this space, avoid making these common mistakes:

Getting Overwhelmed by the Project

You might have looked at the garage recently and felt the weight on your shoulders when considering going through the clutter. That feeling alone might have stopped you from even started organizing it. But, thankfully, you don’t have to get the project done in a day or even a week.

To keep things from becoming overwhelming, take small steps toward completing the decluttering project. For example, you might spend a half-hour two evenings a week going through things, deciding what to keep, donate, or toss if it is unusable. When taken together, those small blocks of time can really add up!

Holding onto Too Many Things

It can be hard to part with items. While they may not have much monetary value, some things are close to the heart. They might remind you of someone you lost, hold special memories, or be a family heirloom.

You might also wonder if you might need the object in the future. But, holding onto things in case of possibly finding a use for them one day is only taking up valuable room in the garage. Instead, if you haven’t used the item within the last year (all four seasons), the chances are good that you likely won’t require it this year either. The key here is to keep what you love or use regularly and part with the other things.

Not Making Use of Storage

Once you’ve decided what to keep, the next step is to get the appropriate storage solutions. You might assume that using rubber bins is the best approach, but shelving is even handier.

Putting up shelving makes sense in most garages because it gets things off the floor so that your vehicle can come inside into the warm. Also, you won’t have to lift heavy bins to find what you need at the bottom of the stack. Second-hand shelving is often available at online marketplaces if you have a smaller budget.

Not Creating Zones

Our professional organizers love creating zones in spaces like a garage or basement. Sorting items into categories and storing them together makes knowing where to look for certain items easier and faster.

For example, you might devote one side of the shelves in the garage to your kids’ sports equipment. The other side might be for gardening supplies. Over time, you might find that you want to create a new zone or change where you store things, and that’s totally doable!

Creating A Multipurpose Garage

Imagine having a garage where you can park a vehicle (or two) and store items you love. By serving this dual purpose, the garage is more likely to be a space that brings personal satisfaction rather than a lot of stress to look at day after day.

For help with organizing the garage or another part of your home, reach out to our team today. We have unique insights and help you avoid mistakes like those mentioned above.