Spring Cleaning For Each Room In Your House: Garage

Most homes have a garage but over half of those garages don’t even have their cars parked in them.

We have stuff, and stuff needs a lot of space.

The garage is where a lot of things, especially over the winter, ends up.

It’s time to get busy spring cleaning the garage and getting all that clutter and mess gone. Because of the size of a garage, plan for a whole day and possibly an entire weekend.

Getting Started

Have boxes or places outside for a good place to put your piles of things.

You need one for trash, donating, selling and keeping. Everything needs to be considered.

Have a plan in place for deciding where it will go. The rule of thumb is if you haven’t used it in a year you probably don’t need it.

Before getting started, think about what you want to do with the space.

Are you going to park cars in it? How much is for storage space? Is it a part-time workshop?

This will help when putting it all back together.

Once you have that in mind, you may want to have totes or shelves ready to put in place for storage.

Pull It All Out

Take things out one by one. Every tool and piece of wire in the garage.

Decide right away in which pile it will go. Be ruthless in your purging. No one needs ten extension cords or old paint cans.

If you haven’t used that paint thinner in three years, you probably need to get rid of it.

You will want to make a pile of this type of item as they cannot just be tossed in the trash. You have to dispose of them properly.

If you have bins of items, go through them as well.

Holiday totes are notorious for accumulating things that are broken, worn out or partially working, like old Christmas lights.

Clean out sports equipment. The kids have probably outgrown outside toys, and sports items, so you can donate them.

Ceiling To Floor

A garage obviously doesn’t need to be cleaned like the inside of your home but now is the time to dust the ceiling and walls.

A broom can do the trick to remove cobwebs and large amounts of dust.

Wipe down doorknobs and wash windows. Then sweep the garage floor.

Now your garage is open and spacey and ready to organize.

Organize It

Now it’s to get it all organized.

Plan where your car is going to go and where you want storage areas to be.

Think outside the box. A pole or beam with hooks can hold tools, bikes, cords, and more.

You can purchase hanging gear that allows you to hang all kinds of items from the ceiling.

Organize things in a practical matter putting items together in a way that makes sense.

Create Some Zones

Put items that are used together, together. Consider having zones in your garage where you put these things.

You might have one for sports, car care, gardening, and sports equipment.

Put bulkier items like lawn mowers off to one side where they can be easily accessed but are out of the way.

Things like Christmas decorations should be stored on shelves or stacked in bins, so they are out of the way. Hang bikes as well.

Things You Use Often

The garage is the perfect place for things that you use often but don’t want in the house.

Create wall spaces to hang things like dog leashes, shopping bags, and sports equipment.

It should be close to the door for handy access.

Chemicals should be kept up on a shelf out of the way of children and pets.

Organize Your Tools

Tools are another thing that should be hung on the wall. It keeps them organized and within reach.

Pegboard is a great resource for walls, and you can buy all sizes and types of pegs and hooks to fit your tools.

Finishing Up

Put everything you are keeping back and in place as outlined above. Box up donation items and drop them off immediately.

Do not put them back in the garage.

Bag up trash and get rid of it.

Now park your car and enjoy your space. Repeat yearly.

YOUR TURN: Which area of the garage are you going to start with: tools, Christmas decorations, sports equipment, bikes, car care, or gardening? Let me know in the comments below!

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