Garages make excellent storage spaces when you have too much stuff at home. However, organising the garage is crucial if you want to use it to its full potential and still have room to park. So, if you:
- Lack enough free space at home;
- Have a very messy garage;
- Need ways to fit more stuff and still have room for your car.
Then, read along and learn how to organise your garage.
What you should and should not store in your garage?
Almost everything can go into your garage, but that doesn’t mean it should be there. Some items can get damaged due to humidity and others can attract pests. That’s why you need to become familiar with what should and shouldn’t go into your garage. Let’s start with…
What cannot be stored in the garage?
Do not store the following items in your garage for long periods of time. However, if it’s only for a few days, it’s okay. Just make sure those few days don’t turn into a few months.
Hazardous and flammable materials
- Propane tanks
- Gas
- Oil
- Fertilisers
- Lighter fluid
- Lawn care products
- Paint
Anything that might attract pests
- Pets food
- Bird seeds
- Bedding
- Paper items such as books, papers and cardboard
Fragile electronics and valuable items
- Electronic devices such as old refrigerators, toasters etc.
- Documents
- Family inherited jewellery
What can be stored safely in a garage?
The following items you can safely keep in your garage for however long you choose.
Supplies for your car
- Windshield wiper fluid
- Extra windscreen wipers
- Antifreeze
- Tire inflators
- Roof or bike rack
Gardening tools and supplies
- Shovels
- Hoses
- Lawnmower
- Flower pots
- Outdoor extension cords
- Bags of potting soil
Items you don’t use regularly
- Patio furniture
- Pool accessories
- Bicycles
- Children’s plastic toys
Need more space outside your garage? Learn more about Fantastic Services’ available storage solutions and prices!
How to organise your garage space
You will be surprised how many items you can fit, by just following a few garage organisation tips. Mind you, for these tips to work, you need to declutter your garage in advance. Otherwise, you won’t have that much space to begin with.
It’s important to remember these 4 basic rules when you tidy up your garage:
- Put seasonal and rarely used items in hard-to-reach places;
- Put frequently-used items close to the door;
- Put bulky equipment in corners, so they won’t get bumped by your car;
- Group items together by their use. Example: gardening tools should be close to the lawn mower.
With that in mind…
1. Come up with a plan
Decide on where or what to start from. For example, start from the left side of the garage and work your way towards the middle. Or start by removing the larger items first. The point is to start from somewhere, and not get discouraged by the enormous workload.
Set time boundaries. You don’t have to waste your entire weekend decluttering. Nobody is looking forward to that. Instead, you can spend an hour or two every day and still have time for your other tasks. In a few days, you will be done with this stage of your garage organising.
Get 4 large boxes for sorting different items. It’s important you do this before you start decluttering.
2. Declutter the garage
Start the decluttering stage by discarding all unnecessary items. The following ones can go into the trash bin:
- Dried out paint cans, brushes and rollers;
- Old paper materials such as magazines, newspapers and empty or damaged cardboard boxes;
- Broken items you never got around to fixing;
- Old sports equipment and old outdoor toys.
Afterwards, group the rest of the items by putting each in its respective box. The boxes should be labelled as follows:
- Sell
- Donate
- Recycle
- Re-organise
When you’re done sorting the items in their boxes, get the boxes out of the garage so you can proceed to the next step of the garage organising process.
3. Clean your garage
If ever there was a right time to clean your garage, it’s now when there’s nothing to get in your way.
First thing first, open all windows and garage doors. Proper ventilation is of the essence, but even so, it’s still recommended that you wear a face mask. A lot of dust will become airborne when you wipe down and clean with a broom, plus, you might stumble upon mice droppings or bugs.
Always start from top to bottom, because that’s the direction dust falls in. There’s no point in cleaning your floor twice, instead, leave it for last. Wash down all the walls and don’t forget the corners. Afterwards, use a broom to wipe all the dust from the floor.
Another thing it’s recommended you do before organising all the items in your garage is to repair any cracks. Temperatures in garages can get very harsh in different seasons and the concrete is bound to sustain some damage eventually. And while you’re at it, check your wiring as well. When the decluttering stage is done…
4. Install a bike rack
Today’s market offers a wide variety of bike racks specially designed for tight spaces such as garages. They can be installed on walls and even ceilings, depending on your needs. You can buy an entire rack if each family member has their own bike, or a simple wall mount if you’re only by yourself.
5. Put your tools on your walls
If you love to do DIY projects in your garage, then your tools need to be just above the desk for easy and fast reach and not in the toolbox. You have two options: a magnetic strip and/or a pegboard.
Obviously, with the peg board you will have more space for tools and you can customise it by adding as many pegs as you need. On the other hand, the magnetic strip will be best for holding nails, bolts and other small items as well as metal tools like wrenches.
5. Use the space on the ceiling
The space between your car roof and the garage ceiling can be utilised for hanging rarely used items such as ladders or seasonal sports gear. You can find plenty of storage rack kits as well as hanger hooks which can be drilled into the ceiling.
Mind you, if you plan to drill anything on the ceiling or walls, do it before cleaning the garage. Otherwise, you will have a fresh new mess.
6. Repurpose your old furniture
If you have old furniture in your garage, that you never got around to use, guess what, it’s time. Clean the inside of any cobwebs and dust. Afterwards, decide what items can go inside and how often you will need them.
7. Use open shelves instead of closed ones
Open shelves are less expensive, and you can easily see what’s inside them. Let’s face it, a garage needs practicality, not aesthetics. Another advantage of using open shelves is you can place your plastic containers inside. That way you have easy access to each bin at every time as opposed to when they’re stacked one on top of the other.
Speaking of shelves, you might consider investing in some corner shelves. They will come in handy for small items you use regularly such as car care products.
Need more storage space even after organising the garage?
After organising your garage you may notice that you still require more space, but there’s none left. Not to worry, Fantastic Services can provide you with all the room you require.
Our storage services will provide you with secure space for your belongings. We also offer insurance and pick up and drop off of your items as part of the service.
The minimum booking period is one week and there’s no limit to how long you can keep your belongings stored with us. For members of our Fantastic Club, we also offer special rates. Everyone from tenants to landlords and even students can benefit to have their items kept in a secure place for however long they need.
We can provide you with secure space for your belongings.
Book your storage space easy online!
Takeaways
- Be mindful of what you should and should not put into your garage;
- Ret rid of obsolete items, before sorting the rest;
- Clean your garage before organising;
- Use your walls by installing racks and tool holders;
- Reuse your old furniture in your garage;
- Use open shelves instead of closed ones.
Image source: Gorloff-KV / Shutterstock.com