How to Tackle Your Cluttered Garage
Because the garage is a large, open space, it can easily become a dumping ground for garden tools, sports equipment, that pile of stuff you’ve been meaning to drop off at Goodwill, and anything else that happens to land there. Many garages are so filled with stuff that there’s no room left to even park the car.
It doesn’t have to be this way! If your cluttered garage is responsible for kicking your car to the curb, follow these 3 simple steps for tackling the clutter and organizing your garage.
1. Clear out your garage
Before you can tackle the clutter and organize your garage, you first have to clear it out. Depending on how much stuff has collected there, you might need to set aside a full day (or even an entire weekend) to clear out your cluttered garage. It’s a good idea to enlist a few friends or family members – or hire a St. Louis professional – to help.
As you’re cleaning out the clutter, go ahead and group similar items together. This will give you an idea of what storage solutions you’ll need later to organize your garage. It will also make it easier to get rid of any duplicate items you don’t need.
2. Purge the clutter
Now that you’ve cleaned out your cluttered garage, it’s time for a clutter purge. This is the fun part.
Get rid of anything you don’t love, use, or need. Be ruthless with your clutter purge. Don’t keep anything just because you might need it in the future. And don’t hold on to more than one of a similar item. Only keep the things you absolutely love, currently use, or honestlyneed.
Take a close look at each item you’ve pulled from your garage and decide what you want to do with it:
- Sell it. If an item has a good resale value, list it on eBay, Craigslist, or your area’s buy/sell/trade site. Or if you have several items to sell, you can hold a garage sale.
- Donate it. A generous donation to your local church, women’s shelter, or other charity can help take the sting out of your garage clutter purge. It will feel good to give your unused items to someone in need. Return it.If you come across something that belongs somewhere else – or belongs to someone else – return it to where it belongs.
- Recycle it. Before you throw something out, check to see if it can be recycled or repurposed. Saint Louis County has an extensive list of recycling options for nearly every recyclable imaginable.
- Toss it. Immediately toss any garbage you find. Don’t just bag it up to throw away later.
- Keep it. Be selective with what you decide to keep. Anything you keep that you don’t use, love,or need will just take up in your garage that could be used for something better (like parking your car!).
3. Get organized
Now that you’ve cleared out your cluttered garage and purged everything you don’t need, it’s time to get organized. Take stock of all the items you want to store in your garage, including your car, and map out how you want to store them. Then, decide on what garage organization and storage solutions you’ll need. Designate a place for everything that goes in your garage, and put everything in its proper place.
Having the right garage organization and storage solutions in place will help tremendously in keeping your formerly cluttered garage clutter-free.
If you would like to talk about how to tackle the clutter in your garage and explore your garage organization options, Garage Designs of St .Louis is happy to provide a free in-home estimate. Schedule yours today and receive up to $500 off your next garage organization project.
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