A garage is a great place to store all those things that don’t have space for inside of your home. At some point, however, the clutter starts to build up in your garage and you may have trouble using the space effectively any longer. There is a fine line between using your garage as a storage space and allowing it to be so filled up with items that it’s hard to put things away and get them back out once again. In this post, we’ll provide some tips to help declutter your garage, so you can make the best use of your space again.
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#1 – An Annual Review
As your garage collects more and more clutter, there are almost certainly items in the garage that you no longer need or want. However, with so much stuff piled up, it can be hard to spot those things so you can get rid of them and open up some space. One way to deal with this ongoing issue is to schedule an annual review of everything you have stored in your garage. Many people opt to do this in the spring, but you can do it any time of year that works for you.
When your annual review comes around, go through each box or individual item stored in your garage and consider whether you want to keep it. As a good rule of thumb, if you haven’t used it or thought about it in the past year – you probably don’t need to keep it around. Once you have a pile of items that are set to go, you can try to sell some of them to make a little money, give them away for free, or just haul them away to the dump.
#2 – Shelves Make a World of Difference
It won’t take long at all for your garage to get cluttered if you simply pile things up on the floor randomly. Adding some shelves to this space can make a huge difference—and you don’t even have to do any construction work in the process. Free-standing storage units are relatively affordable, can usually be customized to suit your needs, and won’t require any holes in the walls. This kind of shelving will give you an easy way to get your garage organized and feeling less cluttered.
#3 – Invest in Cardboard Boxes
You might already have some suitable cardboard boxes around the house from the last time you moved, but it’s worth purchasing some, if not. These boxes are very affordable—often just a couple of dollars or less per box—and they will help gather up the loose items that are littered around your garage. Try to keep like things together and be sure to label each box before you tape it up and put it away in the garage.
#4 – Make Time for Projects
Often, it is supplies for various house projects that wind up being collected in the garage for months—or even years. One good way to get around that problem is simply to make a point of finding time to finish those projects that are on your to-do list. You’ll feel good about cleaning up the garage, and you might feel even better about actually getting those projects completed.
#5 – Evaluate Storage in Your Home
You may have more storage available inside your house than you realize currently. It’s easy to default to just tossing something in the garage when you aren’t sure where to put it, but that can quickly create a mess. Instead, take some time to look at what is being stored in your various closets and see if some of the stuff from the garage might be able to work its way inside.
#6 – Establish a Path
Even if you plan to use your garage as nothing more than a storage unit, it’s still important to maintain a clear path to walk through the space. Organize your storage in the garage so there are a couple of walkways that make it easy to retrieve items or put them back. You might even want to use some tape on the floor to make these paths more formal.
Get More Storage Space
Looking into a cluttered garage can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Like any other big project, the key is to take it one step at a time, making minor improvements until the whole space has been transformed. We hope the tips listed in this article help you declutter your garage.
If you would like to add storage space to your property, consider a new metal garage or storage shed from to American Carports, Inc. Use our Build & Price Tool to experiment with different designs and custom features, so you can order something that is ideal for your needs.
