Ideally your garage can offer your cars a reprieve from the weather and store other necessary items. However, if your garage is a junk magnet, this post is for you. It’s not unusual for garages to collect everything from tools of all kinds, bins of old clothes, boxes of holiday décor and more. It’s also common to hear from clients that their garage has taken on a mind of its own. So, while the weather is cooperating, now is a good time of year to reevaluate what you’re storing and/or improve how it’s stored so that you can find things when you need them.

Here are the steps we suggest for getting your garage organized:

1. Basic cleaning – start with the broom and sweep the floor. Look for any areas where insects or other pests may have gathered and show them the door. Identify any issues with items that you’re storing, like leaks in products, and toss anything that’s in need of obvious removal. Once you’ve done with that, move on to step two.
2. Create piles – we like to use three tarps in the driveway to make our piles. One for tossing, one for keeping, one for donating. This should help you get a good idea of what you have before moving onto step three.
3. Zone it up – these are instrumental for setting up your garage organization system. Depending on your hobbies/lifestyle, you may want to create zones for hobbies, sports (summer and winter), tools, and outdoor yard equipment. More information on zones can be found here. Then:
4. Maintain – honestly, this may be the hardest part once you get your garage organized because it’s so easy to slip back into old habits. Be diligent in honoring our zones and managing the clutter as it comes.