Is spring cleaning underway in your household? Garages are one of the easiest spots in a home for clutter to grow and accumulate unattended. Refreshing and reorganizing your garage space to provide maximum storage is crucial to prevent reaccumulation in a year or two. We’ll cover our best ideas on cleaning your garage and then keeping it clean in the future below.
The Benefits of a Well-Organized Garage
With an organized garage, you’ll be able to more effectively make use of the overall space. Beyond just the aesthetic appeal of a clean space, you’ll be able to find stored items more easily.
Organization also lends itself to safety. By having precise storage spots for items like power tools or oil for your car, you can keep these potentially dangerous items out of adventurous children’s hands, or simply guarantee they won’t be in danger of an accident.
Steps to Take in Organizing a Garage
Take reorganization one step at a time—a slow pace allows for more thorough reorganization. Start small with easily-moved objects and then move on to the bigger ones like shelving systems or cabinets.
Removing Small Objects from Your Garage
- Declutter surfaces first, moving things out of the garage as you go. Getting items out of the way makes organizing a less intimidating task.
- If you have boxes or items on the ground, start there. Clear them of any items inside, keeping a large trash bag nearby for any items you know you don’t want to keep, and gather the remaining items in groupings that make sense together. That way you’ll have a head start on reorganization once your garage is ready to be restocked.
Removing Large Objects from Your Garage
- Once smaller items are out of the way, it’s time to tackle the larger objects. If you can remove these items relatively easily, do so. It’s worth it to get them cleaned up thoroughly, since they likely need a good scrub.
- If you have a large shelving unit or other pieces that can’t be removed, clean them where they are. Before you start reorganizing, you want your base objects to be as clean as possible!
Once all larger items are cleaned, it’s time to tackle the floor of your garage. If there are any stains on the floor, an all-purpose cleaner (a half-cup of baking soda mixed with a gallon of warm water works) should help get most of them up. Depending on what your garage floor is made of, you may need to change your cleaning solution accordingly. Tougher stains may require a more stringent cleaning solution as well.
Storage Ideas in Your Garage
Now that your garage is sparkling clean, it’s time to DIY your way to your dream garage.
- Wall-mounted shelves are a cheap and easy way to corral common garage items like tools or outdoor toys off the ground, giving you precious floor space back. Take it to the next level by adding baskets and hooks to these shelves for further organizational opportunities.
- If it can be off the ground and on a shelf or a hook, move it up. Your walls are a valuable asset in your garage—besides the garage door, there are likely three good walls for you to store items on. Hula hoops, bicycles or fishing supplies can all easily be affixed to walls!
- Anything that can’t be stored up on walls will likely fit in boxes. Installing a cabinet with stackable storage boxes can pick up a lot of items that otherwise may take up space sitting on the ground.
- Keep tools well away from items children pick up and use often. Having a layout planned in advance for where you want to store items by usage is a smart idea here.
Keep Your Garage Clean and Organized
Now that you’ve got an idea on what your cleaned-up garage could look like, why not complete the look with a new garage door? Our line of replacement garage doors provides a great upgrade for your home which instantly increases curb appeal. Get in touch today for your free quote on a new door!