How to Organize a Garage

Parking the car in the garage is a luxury that represents a goal yet to be realized for many people. The garage is a storage catch all to which so many items get relegated simply because there isn't enough room in the house. But despite being home to tools, seasonal items, and unwanted things of all kinds, there is still hope for making sense of all that garage clutter.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Peg boards and hooks
• Shelving units
• Masking tape
• Markers
• Vacuum-seal bags

1. Get rid of any excess "stuff" cluttering your garage. Have a garage sale, donate it, or throw it away. Eliminating anything you don't want or don't need will make your job that much easier.

2. Separate all seasonal items into groups of similar items and put them in sturdy, airtight plastic tubs, including camping and sporting supplies. Store all items of a particular holiday, such as Christmas, together. This keeps various holidays separate. Label each tub clearly and stack them on top of each other.

3. Add shelves to your garage to store tools, paint and any miscellaneous items on.

4. Hang a peg board with hooks on the wall and arrange tools on it.

5. Consolidate handled items such as brooms and rakes in a bucket on the floor or hang them on the wall.

6. Keep paint brushes and other painting-related items together in a tub on a shelf so that they'll all be in one place and easily accessible.

7. Hang your bicycles(s), wheelbarrow and weed eater on the wall, freeing up floor space.

8. Designate a spot for the lawn mower where it will be easy to access but out of the way, and don't block it with other items.

9. Store everything either on one side or to the back of the garage, giving you free space to work in the garage as well as a spot to park your car.

Tips & Warnings

• Preserve clothing and bedding by storing them in vacuum-seal bags, and stack them together on the shelves.
• Utilize ceiling space by hanging shelves designed to suspend from the ceiling. Store rarely used items up there, such as an artificial Christmas tree.
• Bugs and pests love garages. Make sure to leave out pesticides out in corners and dark spaces, but make sure they're out of reach so kids can't get to them.