How To Organize Your Garage

The garage is so full you can literally no longer open the door to get in it.  Following a frigid cold Minnesota winter, we Midwesterners suffer from an extreme case of 'I-threw-everything-in-the-garage-and-slammed-the-door-as-fast-as-I-could-because-it's-freezing-out-here' syndrome.  It's true!  With it more common than not to find our temperatures plummeting below freezing temperatures (or below zero for that matter), it's impossible to take the time to put each outdoor item back in its proper winter resting spot (cue the heaping pile of winter gear growing bigger by the day).  Our garages take a beating all winter long being the hub of what makes winter bearable in Minnesota (sleds, skis, shovels, skates and snow gear to name a few).  Come the first signs of Spring, the task of de-wintering the garage can be extremely intimidating.

Last week I shared the truth about my ugly garage but found peace with it learning the history of why it is the way that it is.

Today I'm back to talk with you about organizing your garage - tips, tricks and some of my go-to methods for my own garage space.

Set aside the time

The truth is, organizing your garage can be a doozy of a project.  If you haven't ever dedicated time to finding a spot for everything, the project can easily eat up the substantial part of a weekend.  Give yourself an adequate amount of time to do the project right.  If you cut yourself short and only get the project half done, chances are you won't set aside a separate weekend to repeat the steps that got you this far.  When we did our initial organization of our garage, it took a full 5 days to do.  Sounds ridiculous, but it got the job done right the first time and made maintaining it through the years a cinch.

Empty everything out...EVERYTHING!

The first step in organizing your garage should be to empty out every last solitary item that lives there.  Here's a flashback photo to when we did our initial garage organization...

From the smallest bottle of weedkiller to the riding lawn mower you tucked back in the corner for the winter, it all needs to come out.  Give your mind the freedom to see the spaces as something different than they currently are.

Group like items

As I'm emptying out the garage on to the driveway, I like to get the sorting process underway by creating areas on the driveway for like items.  For example, sports gear in one corner, bikes in another, areas for yard and lawn products, tools, winter gear, vehicle maintenance, etc.  By grouping them together outside the garage, you can more easily visualize the amount of space you will need to dedicate to it inside the garage.  This will help for determining where each 'zone' should live and also give you an idea of the best way to store it - in a bin? on a shelf?

Always be purging

Anytime I have an organization project underway, purging is always a part of the process.  Be sure to allocate an area outside your garage for items you are planning to sell or donate.  Don't put them back in the garage with the intention of donating them later, rather leave them in the most obtrusive spot on your driveway to keep you honest in your intention to donate them.

Get cleaning

You've been shooting daggers at this garage space for months while you endured a painfully long winter, don't forgo a thorough cleaning now that you have the space empty.  There are few things that rival the feeling of walking into a dust, dirt, gravel, leaf, salt and sand free garage.  I like to start by sweeping the entire thing out removing any large debris that found its way in.  I follow that up by vacuuming out the edges, corners, windows and doors with a shop vac to remove the layer of dust and cobwebs.  Finally, we spray our entire garage down - ceiling, walls and floor.  Our garage has finished plaster walls that hold up great to moisture.  If your walls are drywall or unfinished, you'll want to avoid wetting them down.  Instead, throw a few buckets of water on to your garage floor and use a stiff bristled broom to loosen caked on dirt.  Rinse with a few more buckets of water and use a squeegee to eliminate extra water.  It's best to clean the garage on a dry, warm day that will keep your drying time brief.

Assess your storage options

The next step is assessing the best way to store the components that make up each zone.  Start with the first grouping you've created and ask yourself the best way to access the items and the best way for them to live in the garage.  Small bottles often don't sit nicely on garage shelving and can result in a domino effect if knocked over, will they better serve you in a bin?  The family pig skin is used daily and needs to be easily accessible for tossing around in the evening.  In my opinion, there are 5 different ways to store items in the garage:

• on a shelf

• on a wall

• from the ceiling

• in a bin

• freestanding

In my own garage, sports equipment like basketballs and footballs live in a bin without a lid where they can easily be grabbed or tossed back in when finished.  Keeping them low to the ground means little ones can get at them without needing help.

Yard tools like rakes, shovels and brooms live on a wall where they are more likely to stay upright and are easier to grab than when they are tangled in a corner or spare garbage can.

Think about the best way to store the contents of your zones keeping in mind you want them to be easily accessible and you want your family members to be able to uphold the responsibility of putting them back.

Plan your layout

Now that you have a better grasp on the number of bins you have, the number of shelves you need, how much wall space you'll use, it's time to layout your garage space.  Decide where your shelving systems will reside, which walls you'll use for hanging storage, which quadrant of your garage for your ceiling storage and where freestanding items will go.

Load your garage

Now that your systems are in place, it's time to load everything back into the garage.  When placing bins and loose items on shelves, group them according to their zone instead of their container type.  For example, rather than having an area for 'bins', have an area for lawn care.  In that area, there may be a bin for bags of grass seed and fertilizer, there may be a bin of gardening gloves and trimming tools.  Alongside those bins might be a fertilizer spreader residing on a shelf or a stack of yard waste bags.  Think more in terms of zones than storage type.  This will keep your tasks more efficient as you are gathering materials to perform them.

I like to consider how one zone relates to another.  The upper shelves of one shelving unit may be for lawn care, which includes watering cans and buckets.  Those same buckets are often used for washing cars which then transitions to vehicle care.  Make the space flow and put the most frequently used zones in the most convenient spot.

Seasonal and other less frequently used items can stay back in those hard to reach areas (or up high in the case of our artificial Christmas tree).

And with that, our garage is cleaned, sorted, purged and organized.

I promise you that taking the leap and accomplishing this big project (for some, perhaps monumental) will make maintenance of your garage a fraction of what it was.  We still need to cover the topic of mudrooms in garages - are you familiar with this?  It's a thing.  More to come on that front, in the meantime, this 'mudroom' area of my garage is currently working hard for my family.

I'll be back with a round up of some of my favorite garage organization systems - ones I'm definitely dreaming of for the new garage.  Speaking of the new garage, I've been pinning inspiration - do you sense a theme?