If you’re fortunate to have a garage, the chances are that it’s the one place that isn’t regularly cleaned, but one of the rooms in your home that’s used daily, especially if it houses your vehicle. It’s inevitable that over time, your garage becomes full of things that you don’t want in your actual home, whether it’s because it’s dangerous or even dirty.
The day will eventually come, and it’ll hit you that you’ve no more room in your garage. You’ll look around it, not knowing quite where to begin to start sorting through things. You may even regret not attempting it sooner. If this sounds like you, or if you’re dangerously close to getting to this stage, here are some brilliant garage organization ideas you may like.
Overhead Garage Storage Solutions
What we see can’t hurt us, as the saying goes, and this also applies to some of our belongings that we only use once in a while, depending upon the season, but are much needed and are expensive to buy, as well. Stuff like this could include fishing, camping, or hunting equipment. Why not consider storing these types of items overhead?
Aside from being out of the way and reducing clutter, your possessions are kept safe from rust, water damage, and mold, amongst many other things as mentioned by a garage storage company in Tucson, AZ. Even overhead storage racks can hold totes of varying sizes, which could free up space in your garage, making it less cluttered and safer, too. As this type of storage is overhead, your garage will automatically look a lot clearer because you’re not looking up at the ceiling most of the time you’re in there.
Wall Tracking System
You’re bound to have items that are difficult to store, like brooms, ropes, water hose, and rake, for example. By purchasing the tracks, the next thing you’ll need are the hooks to hold up your items, and once you’ve constructed this, your items are off the floor and out of your way. Depending on the size of your lawnmower, you may be even able to put that up on your track system.
Hooks, Hooks, and more Hooks
The use of these cannot be underestimated, and as long as you have the right size and a secure fitting for them to attach to, they’re fairly easy to use. They’re great for keeping bulky items off of your garage floor, like cycles, any sports equipment, work bag, uniform, wellies – you name it, you’ll be able to use hooks for it. The only problem you’ll have is not having enough room for all the things you’ll possibly want to use hooks for.
Metal Shelving Units
There may be some instances where you’re unable to use the walls to put anything on, and if this is the case, then the next alternative would be to invest in some sturdy metal shelving units. These are free-standing but are much better than plastic shelving units because they can take more weight and are less prone to warping over time.
To be honest, your garage won’t be using shelves to hold photos, ornaments, or dishes, like shelving units would in your home. Garage shelving units are more likely to bear the brunt of some of your heaviest possessions, like tools, gardening equipment, and paint, for instance. Consequently, they need to be able to be strong enough to withstand this weight over time. Therefore, if you’re considering this type of storage equipment, consider it an investment.
Tool Kits
Yes, you may have one or two lying around, but what we’re talking about here is organizing your toolboxes specifically according to the tool and the equipment required for it to work. Labeling the tools boxes, or even having different colored ones to distinguish between one another, will make your life easier when it comes to repairing or doing DIY.
It’s a chore when you have to hunt for items, and when you do find them, you either don’t have enough or they’re rusty. By organizing your toolboxes, you’re able to do an inventory of items you have and items you need. Some toolboxes may require smaller storage containers in which things like screws and fuses can go in, just so they’re kept all together and don’t spill out all over the place when you, or someone else, opens it. Additionally, get into the habit of using one, replace one, as a minimum. It’ll save you peace of mind in the long run.
Also, having a general toolbox with the staple items a household needs is a great idea, especially if everyone knows where it is and what’s in it. For example, keeping a torch, batteries, spanner, screwdriver, and other essential tools in it could be a lifesaver, especially in an emergency.
Labeling and Organizing Boxes
There’s no point in putting everything away in boxes, whether they’re overhead, on the wall, or against it, if you don’t remember where you’ve put things. This is why if you put common things together, like sports equipment, for example, and then label the box accordingly, you’re less likely to waste time trying to find things.
Using labeling also helps others find what they’re looking for, instead of them rummaging around and making a mess trying to do so. It can also help avoid accidents, especially if boxes are labeled with the equipment they know they should leave alone, like hunting equipment, for instance.
It would also make sense for you to put boxes that have similar equipment together instead of in disarray. So, all sports equipment, even if they’re in different boxes, by putting them all together in one area means that people know where to go to look for sports equipment. If you want your work gear in one place, then no one else, apart from you, needs to go to those boxes. Additionally, anything that’s potentially dangerous, like hunting equipment, could be put in boxes that are higher up, or out of the reach of most people.
We hope these ideas have inspired you to make your garage your next big project. Investing time to sort it now will avoid the inevitable at a later date: when there’s so much stuff to go through that it’ll take days. However, it’s also potentially a safety issue, and it’s so easy for us to become complacent, especially over a space that we’re in, perhaps, for less than 30 minutes per day, if that. But it will still require cleaning and tidying, at some point, regardless. By critically looking at what you have, and deciding how you want to utilize your space, you’re on your way to ending a nightmare before it’s begun.
