It is very easy to fall into having a cluttered garage, and it can be extremely difficult to escape this scenario. Once a garage has been taken over by spare bits of furniture, suitcases, tools, or whatever you find taking up this space, it can be a daunting task to try and recover your once pristine room. This list will give you some worthwhile pointers on how to take back your space; here are five tips for decluttering your garage.
Have a clear out every now and then
The easiest way to declutter your garage is to remove said clutter. When you find yourself barely able to move in and around your garage it is definitely time to go through and think about what needs to stay, and what needs to go. Have a frank discussion with yourself and ask if the old broken chair you have in the corner is still worth keeping, or if the endless stacks of newspapers will ever come in handy, once you start asking these questions you will notice a lot more free space starting to appear.
Buy some new storage
Once you have removed what does not need to stay in your garage, it is now time to organise what does need to stay. Installing new storage units offers you so many new options to declutter and free up some much-needed space. Some simple shelves would go very far in providing you with some extra leg room round the garage, or if you want to bring a nice clean finish to the place you could treat yourself to some more stylish storage pieces.
Utilise overhead space
An often-neglected aspect of most homes and garages, overhead space is just waiting for you to come and take advantage of what it has to offer. You could simply install some racks coming down from your roof, or go so far as to install an extension that gives you a little more crawl space above your car and workbench, either way there is a lot of potential hidden above you so make sure to make the most of it.
Compartmentalise your stuff
Zoning out your garage into clearly defined areas for specific things is a useful tool for both keeping you on top of where everything is, but also managing the clutter as you train yourself to use and keep items in a certain spot. Have all your tools hug up and boxed by the back wall, have your bikes leaning against the wall by the door, only paint things next to your outdoor sink, all these little rules you make for yourself gives you a healthy routine to work within, and once your zones and habits are established you will find it a lot harder to clutter up the place and ruin your routines.
Be selective with what you put in your garage
Now that all the other steps have been accomplished and your garage is a little tidier, you now have to make it your goal to maintain this high standard and not fall back into bad habits. Make sure you only fill your garage with items that need to be in there, if you want to put something in there but have no space maybe think about getting rid of something that does not need to be in there anymore. There is a finite amount of space in there so the more you ram into each and every corner the less room you are going to have to work in there, so be selective and make sure you only keep what is essential in your garage.