How to Organize Your Garage

Barcelona real estate Blog

Thursday, 24 February 2011 09:18

Traditionally the domain of the manly and the clutter-ridden, the garage is even sometimes used to store vehicles! Stop using your garage as a place to stick all of your property. Take control of your garage with the following tips on how to get organized.

1) Toss it

Before you can begin organizing your garage, you’re going to have to go through and toss out all of the things that you know you don’t need to keep. I’m talking about your two year old beer bottle collection and that old musty sofa you keep around “just in case.” Be ruthless. The more you throw away now, the easier the rest of the cleanup process will become.

2) Buy shelves and totes

With the junk cleared out, you can now begin organizing. Making sure to leave enough room for your cars, install deep shelving on all suitable walls. Now you can load up your gear into totes and have a place to put them. Shelves beat stacking any day, as they allow you more vertical space, the safety that comes with not having to worry about stacks of things falling on your head, and the ease of being able to quickly get access to important items.

3) Hang the tools

By installing a peg board and hanging your tools on hooks, you can not only show off all your manliest gadgets, but you will save a ton of space in the process. Creating designated spots for tools has the added benefit of allowing you to keep track of what tools are missing should your nosy neighbor borrow something and “forget” to return it.

4) Get some decent mats

The doorway into your house and the area where you your feet hit the pavement when you get out of your car are prime spots for oil and dirt. Get some decent floor mats and apply them liberally to the dirtiest areas of your garage space. This will not only help keep your garage clean but your house too.

5) Just say not to oil engines

Put a piece of cheap plywood down underneath where your car will sit in the garage. This will help manage any oil that leaks out while parked overnight.

6) Know when to stop

You’ve seen people hang tennis balls from the ceiling of their garage to help them know when to stop while pulling in—that’s because it works. Save yourself the trouble of having to guess how far in is good enough by using the tennis ball method or putting a 2 x 4 on the ground to provide a clear cue that you need to shut the car down.

About the author: Gunter Jameson writes about a number of her interests including shopping, online courses, and traveling.