Is Your Garage Driving You Nuts?

Is your garage so cluttered and disorganized—with boxes and bins stacked everywhere, bikes, skateboards and hockey sticks blocking the door and tools all over the place—that nobody can find anything and the prospect of actually parking a car inside is laughable? It may be time for a garage intervention. We know; the thought of tackling all that mess can be overwhelming, but have no fear—our organization experts have boiled it down to just 4 simple steps. It will take time and effort, but before you know it your garage will be transformed!

Step 1: Empty out your garage

Yes, as in physically removing as much as you can from your garage. We know, it can be a bit nerve-wracking to schlep everything you own out onto the driveway for the whole neighborhood to gawk at. But trust us, the easiest way to clean out and reorganize a space is to start fresh. Maybe wait for a big game day when everyone will be inside, or, if you’re a night owl, do this part in the stealth of night. Once the garage is emptied, clean out all the crunched-up leaves, spider webs, dust bunnies and grease spots so that you have a sparkling fresh palette to work with. 

Step 2: Purge

Okay, seriously. Do you really need those training wheels now that your kids are in high school? Or 12 sets of socket wrenches? Could you outfit the complete cast of South Park with all the coats, hats and gloves you have stashed in your garage? Time to purge. Now, if you have things that are still in good shape that other people can genuinely use, by all means, donate them to your favorite charity (after all, one man’s trash…you know the rest.) Recycle everything that you can. And anything else that you do not have a true and useful purpose for, chuck it. 

Step 3: Organize by category and label  

Congratulations! You have now successfully whittled down the contents of your garage to essentials only. Next step: Get Organized, with a capital O. Separate your stuff into categories: automotive, lawn care, sports, travel, Costco-sized items, etc… Store these items together in labeled bins, boxes or bags, in drawers, or on shelves.

Step 4: Get things up off the floor

If, like many people, you dream of one day actually being able to park your car in the garage, getting things up off the floor will help tremendously. A sports rack is the perfect tool for hanging bikes and scooters and a tool bench will help keep tools organized and out of the way. 

Better yet, a slat wall system with adjustable hooks can serve to hang everything from brooms and shovels to ladders and lawn tools and more. In addition, we have many styles of attractive cabinets to store the above-mentioned bins, boxes and bags to keep essential items easy to find, yet concealed behind closed doors.  

Cleaning out and organizing your garage takes a huge amount of time and sweat equity, for sure! But with the right storage solutions, the results are well worth the effort. And maybe, just maybe it will stay that way this time.

Doug Lestikow is the Vice President at Closet Factory in Denver, Colorado, which has been creating completely personalized and unique storage solutions for clients for 30 years. View their profile or, to set up a design consultation, contact them at 303.690.6901.

Content for this article provided by Closet Factory.

Garage design credit: Cheryl Metzger