The garage is that one place where we all seem to love to be
disorganized, however the sooner you get organized, the sooner
you can make better use of that space. Organizing your garage
can be a tiresome task for many homeowners. When you think
about organizing your garage you should keep in mind that this
activity means to find a designated place for everything while
keeping your goods available for everyday use. The following
five steps compromise a simple system for garage organization.
Sort your garage items.
First of all sort and categorize all the items in your garage, for
this you should empty your garage and start sorting everything
into categories. Separate the tools from sporting equipment,
electric tools, etc. You will realize how much stuff you have
and only then you will be able to determine the best ways to
organize and store everything. Misplaced items in your garage
should be returned to their proper place. Also you should sort
the things that should be in the garage from the things that
should actually be in the basement, attic or better, sold at a
garage sale. Remember to recycle everything that you decide to
throw away.
Separate seasonal items and equipment.
A special rack should be installed to hang lawn maintenance
tools and to keep them accessible yet out of the way. If it is
near winter place snow related tools like snow blowers, ice
scrapers, snow shovels and also skis, snowboards and sleds
grouped together. Also the items for warm seasons should be
stored in a special cabinet. Near the beginning of every season
you should plan this activity and rotate the cold and warm
items places in the cabinet. For the other sporting equipment,
shelves and drawers should be designed.
Additional shelving and cabinets.
While organizing you should consider adding additional
garage storage space to help you maintain the organization.
Shelves and cabinets should be mounted on the walls. The
basic principle is to store the items that you use on a regular
basis in a way that makes them accessible every time you need
them.
Create efficient working area.
Installing a bench or a table would be a good choice if you use
your garage as a workshop. A sturdy tool chest and a pegboard
are great in storing your tools and keeping them easily
accessible.
Relocate trash and recycling bins nearby the garage.
To easily dispose unwanted items from your garage a good
idea is to relocate the trash and recycling bins near to your
garage entrance. This way you won’t be tempted to keep
certain items because the trash bins are too far away.
Now would be the time to hire a handyman to have cabinets,
closets and shelves built right into your garage. Invest in some
good storage units as described before and start organizing,
sorting and storing.
One of the most important storage areas of a home is the
garage. Because the space it offers is limited it should be used
efficiently. So the garage is a prime candidate for storage
improvements. Of course you have many options for
improving the storage in your garage.
One of the options is to buy a modular storage kit. This can
have parts and components that you can mix and match
together and can solve many storage problems. Another option
would be to build your own storage solution. If you have too
many items that you keep in your garage maybe a modular
storage kit cannot provide you the needed solution. The
improvements made to your storage may help you reduce
clutter, store seasonal items in a more conveniently way and
improve organization.
Cabinets, shelves, wall-mounted racks and plastic containers
are the most popular types of garage storage and organization
solutions. Cabinets work well for protecting their contents from
moisture and dust. Shelves save space more efficiently but the
most affordable solution are the wall-mounted racks. Clear
plastics containers help you to store several items and allow
you to see the contents.
A garage is the perfect home for all sorts of items and activities
from storing sporting equipment to tools and machines; and
it’s original purpose for car parking to activities like a home-office,
a gym or a workshop. If your garage is only used for storage rather than
other activities it really needs some shelves for organization.
Usually garage shelves can be found in two main forms: site-built
and prefabricated. Site-built shelves are usually less expensive and
allow you to adapt the sizes to the space available. You can find
everything that you need at the local home center, lumber yard,
discount store or hardware store.
One of the basics of the garage shelves is made of a simple piece of
¾” plywood or a length of 1x or 2x lumber on a set of heavy-duty
shelf brackets. This is mounted by attaching the brackets to the
studs directly using long screws then by attaching the shelf to the
brackets. To strengthen the shelf you can add a brace at each stud.
Another type of shelves are the floor-supported ones. One method
is to run vertical 2×4s every 50 inches and resting them on the
floor and attaching them to the rafters or ceiling joists at the top. In
addition, the 2×4s are run horizontally on edge between the
uprights then a particleboard is used to create the shelve. The most
commonly used dimensions are 19-25 inches for depth and the spacing
between 2×4s is usually on 25 inches but of course, these sizes can
be changed to accommodate the size of the items that you are
storing.
For storing small items you should take into consideration the
space between the studs. By attaching a series of 1×2 strips
horizontally to the inside edges of two adjacent studs
approximately 6 inches apart, cutting some 1×4 and 1×6 pieces of
lumber and fitting them between studs and slipping them on top of
the 1×2s you can create some small adjustable shelves. These are
great for jars, cans and bottles and also for other small and light
items. The small shelves are great for organizing and storing screws
and nails.
The best choice when building prefabricated garage shelves is
Steel shelving. Plastic shelving may be enough for storing light
Weight items but in time you may need something more
resistant for storing heavier items. One disadvantage of the steel
shelving is that they cannot be cut to size so they have standard
widths, depths and heights so you have to choose something that
fits within your available space.
Adjustability is another important consideration in prefabricated
shelving. Prefabricated shelves should be adjustable to at least two
different locations within the shelving framework and also the pins
for adjusting should be heavy duty and should have something in place
for preventing them from working loose or becoming accidentally
dislodged.
Another thing to be taken into consideration when opting for
prefabricated shelves, especially those designed for heavy loads,
is that they may require a wall attachment or other support
against tipping.
Imagine a beautiful spring day. You want to go biking, go
fishing or even enjoy a picnic with your family. When you
enter your garage to gather your gear and head to having
fun you have a tremendous surprise: your stuff is all over
the place, on the floor, messed up in corners, misplaced in
various drawers. Organizing your garage is as easy as
figuring out where to start. The first thing is to purchase some
cabinets, some shelves and hammer a series of nails into
the walls.
The storing and sorting goes as follows. Categorize each
object and place it in a place specially designed for it. For
example sporting gear should be placed in a cabinet or on
some shelves, tools should be placed in drawers or hung on
to some peg boards. Be ruthless about throwing away and
don’t think twice before you throw away anything
that you haven’t used recently or anything that’s broken.
If you haven’t repaired it yet, chances are you won’t repair it.
Seasonal gear should also be sorted, boots and out-of-
season coats should be organized in small closets.
After you finish organizing, sorting and throwing away
unwanted items you will be surprised to see your garage
floor and corners again. Maybe your car will fit in the
garage again.
