Garages are notoriously one of the most cluttered spaces in the average American home. It’s more of a storage space than a living space as it houses cars or tools and sports equipment you don’t use every day. Because it’s so easily out of sight, out of mind, it can quickly fill up with items you no longer use or have forgotten about entirely. If it’s difficult to walk around your garage or just find the one tool you need, it’s time for a garage declutter.
Starting Your Garage Declutter
Depending on the volume of clutter, set aside a day or two for your garage declutter. Choose a nice sunny day so you can utilize the space in your driveway if needed. Be aware this time probably won’t include implementing storage systems. You’ll have to go through what you have, get rid of what you don’t need, and see what’s left in order to determine the best storage solutions for your garage.
Supplies You’ll Need for Your Garage Declutter:
- Heavy duty trash bags or bins
- Broom and dust pan or shop vac
- Large bin
Throw Out Trash and Sweep
Because every garage is unique in shape, size, and what it stores, there’s no correct place to start your decluttering. Just start where it makes the most sense for you and work your way around the garage from there. Make sure you complete decluttering the section you started in before moving on to the next. Throw out trash and anything broken or unusable. When throwing away sharp objects, make sure you do so carefully. You can put nails and screws in a plastic container you were already planning on throwing away. This prevents them from poking through the trash bag and/or falling out
As you go around your garage, dust anything that needs dusting and sweep any bits of sawdust or other small debris onto the floor. Then sweep or vacuum up before moving on to the next step. Don’t try to sweep or vacuum before you dust off cabinets or tables; you’ll only end up with a mess on the floor to clean up again after you’ve already swept.
Sort Everything Into Categories
Once you’ve thrown out the trash and swept, it’s time to sort your items. Spread everything out on the floor of your garage or in the driveway so you can get a better visual or what you have and more easily sort into categories. You’ll probably end up with categories like tools, gardening equipment, wood working supplies, car repair, and sports equipment. Evaluate your items and designate categories that make sense for what you have. If you come across items you don’t use but can be donated, place them in a separate pile to donate later.
If you come across any items that don’t belong in the garage, put them in your large bin. Once you’ve completed your garage decluttering for the day, walk around your home with the bin, putting away everything as you go.
Organize Your Garage
Now that you have your categories, it’s time to decide how to best store them and where. Keep it simple. Designate a section of your garage for each category. Before committing to and purchasing any storage products, think about how you use what you’re organizing and find a solution that will facilitate its use. Do you have a work bench for woodworking and medium/large projects? Attach a peg board above your work table to hang up tools and keep your work space clutter free. Do you take care of most of your own car maintenance? Perhaps a rolling tool cabinet would be best to move closer to your vehicle while you work. Utilize vertical space, basic shelving, and affordable cabinets to your advantage.
To avoid giving up entire weekends to future garage declutters, do a general sweep every now and then. Commit to a short 15 minute burst of tidying every couple of weeks, either before or after work or on Saturday morning. Put everything in its place, throw out any trash, and give your future self more time to relax.
Now that you know how to declutter your garage, you’ve probably realized you’ll end up with a little bit of a mess to get rid of once you’ve finished. You might have a pile of wood debris or bags upon bags up items that need to be thrown out or donated. Before trying to find some way to get rid of these large pieces, give Moving U & Junk U a call. Our junk removal crews provide friendly, professional removal services. We’ll make your junk disappear and take care of all the heavy lifting for you.
3 Steps For Quick & Easy Junk Removal:
Get Your Price
Our all inclusive pricing is volume based. We’ll give you an estimate for your removal ahead of time so you know what to expect on the day of your pick up.
Schedule Your Junk Removal
We know you probably want this junk removed as soon as possible, so we’ll always try to accommodate with same or next day service. But even if you’re planning removal for a month from now, give us a call, text, or email. We’ll schedule your junk removal so you don’t have to worry about it.
Say Goodbye To Your Old Junk
Our friendly Junk Removal crew will give you a call half an hour before your arrival window to let you know what time you should expect them. They’re also trained movers, so they can safely remove the junk from your home. Wherever it is–basement, living room, loft–we’ll remove it from there. You won’t have to lift a finger (except maybe to show us where the junk is located).
Bonus Step:
While we’re there, if you have anything else you need removed like a sofa, mattress, TV, old paint, appliance, weight bench, treadmill, or piano, we can haul that away with the junk as well.
