How to Organize Garage Shelves

The garage can become a collecting point for all that is not wanted. Before you become overwhelmed with a mess, take a day to organize your garage shelves.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garage shelves
• Five tarps
• Five poster boards
• Truck or large trash bin

How to Organize Garage Shelves

1. If your garage doesn't already have shelves, visit your local hardware store or home superstore and purchase a shelving kit. The Contico Ventilated 5-Shelf Unit is the perfect size and easy to assemble, but any system will work.

2. Line the wall of your garage with shelves. Choose the wall that has the most open space around it and is easy to access.

3. Place five tarps on the driveway. Then label your poster boards as follows: Keep; Toss; Undecided; Sell; Special RemovalPut one labeled poster board on each tarp.

4. Pull out absolutely everything in the garage and sort according to the categories on your poster boards. Place each item on the corresponding tarp.

5. Once everything is sorted, load the disposable items on the Toss tarp into the truck to haul away later or into your large trash bin, but don't take the items away just yet. Dispose of any Special Removal tarp items properly. Fold up those two tarps and set aside.

6. Box up everything on the Sell tarp, clearly marking boxes for a future garage sale. Keep this tarp out and place the Toss sign on it.

7. You are now down to Keep and Undecided stacks. Go through each of the Undecided items and put each either on the Keep or Toss stack. Make sure you toss a minimum of half of your Undecided stack. Add the Toss items to the truck and haul them away or to your trash bin for later garbage company pickup.

8. Line up empty storage boxes. Sort the Keep items into a coherent order that works for you. Label all four sides of the box to facilitate easy identification and retrieval. Fill the boxes. Store the heavy items on the lower shelves and lighter items higher up the shelving unit. Keep the top shelf empty until you are finished with the boxes. Load the top shelves with larger or odd shaped items.

9. Stay on top of future garage items by continuing to store items on your shelves and toss what you don't need. When your garage is in order, you will be able to manage your clutter rather than becoming overwhelmed.