How to Organize & Transform Your Garage
Do you treat your home’s garage as a life-sized “junk drawer” room? Most American home owners have a garage, but some use it as a dumping ground for unwanted or out-of-place items from their house and it begins to pile up over time. Especially when people use their garage as their main entrance to the home, it’s important to make sure you’re making a good impression to others before they even step into your house. Here are some garage organization tips that can help you transform your garage from a mess to the best.
De-Clutter
If you are starting out with a garage that looks like your home’s “junk drawer” room, go through your belongings and separate items that you are going to keep, donate, sell, or throw away. If the garage is too overwhelming to take on, you can also consider hiring a professional organizer. Depending on the size of your garage and the amount of clutter, you may want to dedicate a full day or weekend to cleaning out the garage of all its clutter. It’s important to get all your stuff out of the way first before you begin to organize and make the most out of your space. Before throwing things completely away, remember you can always donate to your nearest donation center or sell your items at a yard sale or other platforms such as Facebook Marketplace. For the items that you are keeping, start separating those items into groups so you get a better idea of how much you have of what. This will help you determine the best way to organize your garage. A lot of clutter can make any room look small, so if your garage has been riddled with clutter for many years, you may be surprised how much space you actually have to work with.
Storage
Once the garage is clean and extra items are either donated, sold, or thrown away, you will want to decide what is the best shelving and storage option for your garage space. There are free standing storage units, ceiling-mounted shelves, or shelves that are attached to the walls such as a pegboard or garage slats. All of these options come in different sizes and materials, so be sure to check the weight limits of the materials you are using to store your items. While ceiling storage does conserve the most space for your garage, you will most likely need to use a ladder to reach your storage items. Shelving that attaches to the wall like pegboards and slats come in materials such as wood and metal; so, choose accordingly depending on what you want to hang on them. While some like the aesthetic of tools hanging from the walls, visual clutter can be off-putting to others even if its organized on a wall, so to eliminate visual clutter, consider purchasing or building your own garage cabinets, space saving sliding shelves, or corner shelving. Corner shelving is a great way to utilize your space and get additional storage. For a quick and simple fix, two-inch PVC pipes can also be an inexpensive and easy way to build shelving for bins or even overhead storage.
Flooring
There are many different flooring options you can choose from to make your garage look brand new and feel more put together. If you have any cracks on the floor, make sure to fill them in before putting down any flooring. PVC interlocking tiles may be the best option to choose for your garage floor if you’re looking for flooring that is durable, long-lasting, and you want to install it yourself. The installation is straightforward as you are just clicking them into place like a puzzle, and the PVC tiles protect your floor from oil stains, car fluid, or any other debris since it’s so easy to clean. Plus, compared to other flooring options, you are able to remove and replace a tile very inexpensively if there is any damage. If you want to stick with concrete floors, you can use a concrete stain, which will make the concrete have a beautiful marble-like finish. Also adding in vinyl mats will add an extra layer of protection to your floors and help with slip-resistance. For an extra touch, adding in doormats by the entrance and exit will help track dirt and keep your garage clean.
Get Creative
Are you a DIY person and like to get creative? Try these ideas out if they fit for you and your garage. If you are working with a small garage space, building a collapsible work bench is a great idea to save on space. A collapsible work bench allows you to bring the table up and down whenever you want, and when not in use, it lays flat on the wall and out of the way. There are also companies that make these as well for you to purchase. Hooks can be used in lieu of pegboards or slat walls. You can use a variation of different size hooks for holding different items such as ladders, bikes, kayaks, lawn chairs, wires, and so much more. If you have a lot of sports balls rolling around your garage, you can build a sports ball holder using some scrap wood and bungee ropes. The bungees keep the balls contained while also being super easy to grab a ball and go. PVC pipes can also be used creatively to hold garden tools, and when secured to wood, can be used as a container to hold pencils and paintbrushes. The possibilities are endless to make your garage more functional and organized.
