Clutter Conversions

Spring and Summer is the best time of the year to get your garage back in shape.   Remember how you felt when your first bought your home, how excited you were to have a garage to park your vehicle in?  Well somehow, over time, it has become a mini-storage for all kinds of ”stuff” and your vehicle gradually lost its home.  Now is the time to take back control of your garage and give your vehicle its “home” back.

1)  Plan on at least two days to complete the project (the more help you have, the quicker it will go).

2)  Check to make sure it is not calling for bad weather.  You should plan to store the items you will be keeping on a porch or under a canopy if you cannot get it returned into the garage before nightfall.

3) Pull everything out of the garage and divide it into categories (lawn equipment, sports equipment, tools, chemicals, toys, household repair items).  If you find things that have mysteriously ended up in the garage that actually belong in the house or to your neighbor, now is the time to return it.

You will also need to have a designated spot for donations, yard sale, trash and recyclables.

4) After you have completed the sorting and purging process, you have a realistic view of how much “stuff” you are going to be keeping that will need a home in the garage.  Take inventory of the items left and decide where and how you are going to store them.  This is the point that you decide if you need to purchase hooks, racks, cabinets, shelving units and/or plastic tubs and bins. Measure the space you plan on putting the items to make sure you have enough room to use a shelf, cabinet or bin before purchasing them or take the measurements with you to the store so you know what size you need to get.

5) Install the storage units, place the items in their new home and label each one!  If you do not label them, they do not have a home.  You will not know where to find the item you are looking for and will not remember where to replace it when you are finished (neither will anyone else).  Take a look in the photo gallery section of this website under garages for some before and after pictures.

**** The people at GarageTek specialize in garage organizing products that include flooring, hanging ceiling systems, cabinets, shelves and lighting, as well as, workshop solutions and accessory racks.  You can contact them at (804) 354-5353 or (757) 888-8200 or visit their website at www.garagetek.com.