Have you been trying to eliminate clutter in your garage, but it just keeps piling up? Clutter can be a big problem for homeowners, and the best way to get rid of it is by getting organised.
If you’re like many others with a garage you can’t park your car in, decluttering your garage is probably a significant task that’s constantly in the back of your mind.
Now that spring cleaning season is inching ever closer, you’re likely starting to seriously think about how to remove all the clutter in your garage. NOW is a great time to clean out a garage full of junk since it’s finally getting warm outside again.
With a bit of planning and organisation and maybe a bit of muscle, you can do this! So let’s make your dream of a clutter-free, organised garage can become a reality.
Imagine having a garage so organised that you could use it for hobbies, storage, and for its intended purpose: parking a car indoors. Are you getting frustrated by your clutter and garage organisation? Here at Garage Storage Solutions, we offer extensive professional organising and declutter service.
How To Get Rid Of Garage Clutter
Armed with a game plan, a few blocks of time, and some dedication, you could be that person who throws open the garage door with pride. Here are the steps you need to declutter your garage.
Gather Materials Before Decluttering
Before you can start to declutter a garage, you need to make a few preparations. But, first, you’ll need to have a few items handy:
Contractor trash bags are extra-large, thick garbage bags that are usually black. You’re going to need plenty of these for all the stuff that inevitably needs to be thrown away.
Baskets or cardboard boxes will come in handy to hold the items you’ll be setting aside and sorting into different categories during the organisation process.
If you’re cleaning and organising your garage on a tight budget, it’s OK to use what you have on hand. The items listed above make the decluttering process more efficient.
Set Everything To The Side For Sorting
Even though the fastest way to clean a garage would be to pull everything out and chuck it in a dumpster without going through it, that’s not the best method of garage cleaning.
Set aside some space for sorting all the stuff you’ll be going through. This will come in handy later when you get to the garage organisation.
When you begin sorting through the items in your garage, you’ll need to divide them into a few categories.
Putting everything out in an open space and sorting it into categories helps you see how many of one item you may have and how many are broken, unneeded, or not used.
Once you’ve got everything pulled out, you might be surprised by how much stuff you have packed into the garage.
Divide And Conquer
The first step to achieving garage nirvana is separating all the clutter. Give yourself a whole weekend dedicated to this task.
Don’t look at it as a chore. Instead, get the kids involved and make it a game.
You’ll need to make three piles or have three containers for these categories:
- Keep
- Donate or sell.
- Throw away.
If you have an emotional attachment to things, enlist the help of a friend who can help take an objective look at the items.
As you consider which items will go into which pile, ask yourself, “Have I used this in the past year?” If the answer is “no,” then it should go.
Athletic gear for skiing, climbing, or other action sports is probably outdated if you haven’t used it in more than three years.
If you’re hanging onto things you might one day use, think of how you could better use the space they’re taking up. For example, if you have duplicates, keep only the best one and toss the repeats.
If you have expensive items you’re holding onto because of how much you spent, put them in the “sell” pile.
If you plan to host a yard sale, schedule it now. Invite your neighbours to join in, and donate whatever doesn’t sell.
As for the items in your “donate” pile? Don’t wait! Take them to the nearest donation drop off or schedule a pickup now.
Manage Toxic Materials
Batteries, old paint, cleaning products, fertilisers, and waste oil need to be disposed of properly.
Don’t pour anything chemical down your drains! Most counties have drop-off locations for toxic items.
Organise!
This might take you several days, so give yourself the time you need to do it properly. How well you organise your garage will have a lot of bearing on how well you can keep it organised.
First, determine how much space you need for your car, lawnmower, and other large items, and then plan your storage accordingly.
Develop a logical storage system: Break the garage into zones and store categories of things together. For example, keep automotive items in one area, cleaning products in another, and so forth.
If you don’t already have shelving in your garage, install some. Replace cardboard boxes with sturdy, insect- and rodent-proof plastic bins. Label them clearly.
Bicycles and garden tools (shovels, rakes) can hang on a wall. Tuck away rarely used items such as holiday decorations on high shelves.
Frequently used items should be within easy reach. The important thing is to designate a space for every item you’ve decided to keep, preferably off the floor.
You may not have enough room to pull everything out onto the driveway, and that’s OK.
If this is the situation, try to divide the garage into multiple organising areas and get each area organised before moving on to the next one.
A great way to do this is to start with one corner of the garage or pick one type of item.
For example, the boxes of holiday decor you’ve stashed away or the small mountain of sporting equipment you’ve amassed over the years.
Then, declutter a little bit at a time, going from section to section.
While going through all of the clutter in your garage, there will be a few times you’re not sure whether to keep, donate, recycle, or trash an item.
Whenever this happens, ask yourself when the last time was that you used that item.
Or, to borrow from Marie Kondo, whether or not that item sparks joy for you or the family member it belongs to. If you haven’t used it in the last year or it doesn’t “spark joy,” it’s time to let it go.
Get Rid Of The Garage Junk
Another thing to keep in mind while sorting through all your garage clutter is to actively think about the things you put in the “donate” and “recycle” piles.
Items damaged or broken should not be donated, while items made primarily of metal, wood, or glass can likely be recycled.
When it comes to hauling the “donate,” “recycle,” and “trash” items out of your garage and where they need to go, you can have LoadUp do the heavy lifting for you.
Keep It Clutter-free
Once you’ve got your garage in order, you’ll need to develop strong habits for keeping it tidy and clutter-free for the long haul.
Putting things back where they belong reduces clutter, but it also keeps you from buying replacements for tools you already own.
Taking care of your mower by properly winterising each year will stop your garage from turning into a lawnmower graveyard.
Keep the floor space clear, and sweep regularly. Whatever you do, don’t just shove things into the garage to put them out of the way.
Innovative Strategies To Eliminate Your Garage Visual Clutter
Do you ever wonder why even relatively clean and organised areas of your home can still seem like they’re too cluttered?
The reason is probably “visual clutter”. Naturally, regular clutter will make any space look disorganised.
On the other hand, visual clutter can stem from having poorly thought-out arrangements and locations for your storage and organisation systems (or a lack of them).
Wrong decisions with your décor can also contribute to visual clutter, and garage visual clutter is no different. In addition, it can leave a generally off-putting vibe that your garage is just not looking its best. Garage Storage Solutions features an innovative wall storage system with heavy-duty sliding wall components such as hooks, garage shelving and stylish, durable steel cabinets designed to hold your gear securely and neatly in place.
Why Should You Eliminate Garage Visual Clutter?
Here are some examples of visual clutter in the home:
- a fridge front that’s overloaded with photos, memos, notes, and lists
- having too many images or pictures hung on your wall (mismatching frames also add to the visual clutter)
- piles of magazines kept on a coffee table
- an excess of cleaning supplies or auto fluid containers left on your garage floor
Just as it does in the rest of your home, garage visual clutter adds to your stress level. Unfortunately, it also detracts from your enjoyment of the space, in addition to the fact it limits your functionality within it.
Most homeowners use the garage as the main entry and exit point for their home. Therefore, if you have garage visual clutter, it’s almost impossible to avoid.
And if you use your garage as a workspace, workout area, or hobby area, garage visual clutter can also limit your productivity during time spent in the space.
Work on eliminating your garage visual clutter to create a more streamlined, aesthetically pleasing garage environment. Use these strategies to guide you.
Get Your Garage Floor Cleared
Your garage floor can be a clutter magnet, so getting it cleared and keeping it that way will significantly minimise or eliminate garage visual clutter.
Remember, your garage’s most important purpose is for parking vehicles. Floor clutter only makes that more complex, in addition to detracting from your garage’s appearance.
A clear garage floor also allows you to enter and exit vehicles easier, and foot traffic can travel without any obstructions or tripping hazards.
To get things off your floor, look to your garage’s underused wall and vertical space to create more storage room.
Slatwall panels allow everything from bikes to power cords to garden tools to sports equipment to be hung on your walls instead of being left on your floor.
Our various specialty storage racks include tire racks and heavy-duty overhead storage racks. These are great for storing the bulkier and heavier items in your garage that can take up a lot of valuable floor space.
Many of these bulkier items are for seasonal use or are infrequently used, so it makes even more sense to store them elsewhere, so they’re not always in your way.
Eliminate Conflicting Design Elements
Conflicting patterns and colours in your garage can contribute to garage visual clutter. With the addition of Slatwall panels, your garage interior will have a more finished, organised appearance that’s easier on the eyes.
That sleek and clean look can be achieved even if you have light switches, conduit pipes, receptacles, and other wall obstructions.
These can all be accounted for by our installers when they’re cutting the panels. Colour-matched screws and trim for ends, corners and any gaps between panels make up the finishing touches that help create a consistent look.
You’ll also minimise garage visual clutter by choosing colours for your garage upgrades that effectively complement each other.
Your garage’s interior visuals can pop when the right colours of both garage cabinets and Slatwall are matched with the perfect flooring colour.
Create A Singular Focal Point
One way to reduce garage visual clutter is to create a singular focal point within the space. This means that when you enter your garage, your eyes should be drawn to one main wall.
Garage cabinetry can be a great anchor to help you achieve this goal. Garage Living carries various cabinet styles and colours to match your design tastes and establish a showpiece focal point in your garage.
Keep Supplies And Other Belongings Hidden
Along with improving your garage’s look, there are apparent functional benefits to adding garage cabinetry. First, they’ll help you keep many of your belongings better organised.
They also enable you to keep supplies and other belongings hidden and out of sight, which reduces your garage visual clutter.
Tall cabinets, upper cabinetry, lower cabinetry, and drawers work wonders to obscure many of the items kept in your garage.
By having the ability to store items behind doors and in cabinet drawers, you’ll no longer have a constant reminder of everything your garage contains. That makes for a neater, more inviting-looking space.
Keep Similar Items Together To Reduce Garage Visual Clutter
It’s always an excellent organising practice to keep similar items stored together, whether you’re cleaning up a bedroom, a home office, or a garage.
One reason to do this is to make it easy to find specific items without wasting much time.
The other reason to group items is that it simply looks neater and creates a more cohesive look.
Think of how displays in stores are designed. The consistent, uniform look of many similar or identical products on display can be a real eye-catcher.
Some more oversized items in your garage can’t be hidden behind cabinet doors, but you can still store them in a neatly organised manner on your Slatwall.
There are many types of Slatwall accessory hooks, shelves, racks, baskets, and bins available for hanging your belongings.
That means you can configure your Slatwall’s storage layout just about any way you’d like. So keep items like rakes, tools, or many other things grouped, easy to find, and looking satisfyingly orderly.
Use Legible, Consistent-looking Labels
Using labels in your garage is a good idea, as it helps to locate infrequently used items quicker. One of the best examples of this would be bins of holiday decorations, which are ideal for storing in an overhead rack.
Perhaps your garage cabinetry has an option to include utility drawers with organising bins. They’re handy for keeping small screws, nails, and other small bits of hardware organised with the help of labels.
When making labels to identify your things, take the time to create legible and consistent-looking labels.
If you’re using a marker, print neatly, make the writing easy to read from a distance, and stick with the same colour.
If you’re able to, use a handheld label maker or print your labels on the computer. They’ll look nicer and create the desired uniform appearance that doesn’t produce garage visual clutter.
Don’t Forget The Visual Clutter Of Parking In Your Driveway.
You might not have considered it, but parking your vehicles all the time in your driveway is another type of visual clutter for your home’s exterior. That negatively impacts your home’s curb appeal.
And when you consider that our vehicles sit parked 95% of the time, that’s even more reason to take the time to make space in your garage for parking vehicles.
Create A More Inviting Space By Eliminating Garage Visual Clutter
Eliminating your garage visual clutter will transform your space into a more inviting area of your home that you won’t dread entering any longer.
Every time you return home, you’ll appreciate having a clean, clutter-free garage that’s more manageable.
Conclusion
Having a clean garage will make your life easier. You’ll no longer spend hours searching for things, and you’ll be able to park your car inside when it snows.
But remember: Decluttering is an ongoing process. Performing an annual purge of your garage will ensure clutter doesn’t re-accumulate.
If you feel calmer just thinking about all the space, you could reclaim it by clearing out your garage, sit down and make a plan now.
Get rid of your garage clutter and proudly throw open your garage doors. Garage storage wall hooks should form part of any garage makeover as they provide a clean and really easy way to lift anything from your garage floor and have it accessible via your garage wall.