Can I just make a confession here?
Cleaning out the garage has never been one of my strengths.
We would do it multiple times a year and in a few weeks it would get unorganized again.
Things would get thrown in there and clutter would accumulate. (Can you relate?)
I have definitely learned a few things, and while my garage is not perfect, it is still 100% better than it was before.
With spending more time at home we decided to clean out our garage in the early spring.
Here is what we did a long with a few helpful tips:
- Pull everything you can out to empty your garage as needed. When you see how empty it is you will be hesitant to drag everything back in there.
- Go through everything and see what you can throw out. This is key–stop trying to move your stuff around and reorder it. The best thing is to give away what you don’t need. Space is VALUABLE. I tried to be pretty ruthless when we got rid of items. It wasn’t easy but needed to be done. Once I gained back all the space it felt amazing!
- Return items but have a home for everything. We have an area for dad’s tools, home decor, holiday, garden, luggage, sentimental items, lawn care, etc. Teach your children where these things go so that they can help!
Another important thing we changed was that I had my garage set up to work from a plan I had 10 years ago when I had little children. For example, I kept several bins of clothing to pass down to the next child when they were younger-that made sense at the time. But now I had mostly teens and we needed a change and for our garage to suit our needs now. They no longer used hand me downs because they all had jobs and bought their own clothes. So that whole system had to go!
We now always have a ton of our teens friends over frequently so we decided set up an area with this in mind so that we can reach all the outdoor games, balls, volleyball net, tent, canopy, and pool items easily. We also set up an area to work out including a weight lifting area and boxing bag. We even repaired our foosball table and it is easily accessible to pull out now for some quick fun!
There are still a few more thing we can do in there, like I said it is not perfect. But for now we have been practicing maintaining it when we see it start getting out of order. A quick ten minute pickup session helps to keep everything where it needs to be!
I hope that this post inspired you to work on your garage!
What tips would add?
Please share them in the comments!
*Note: this is not my garage pictured above, just a stock photo for inspiration!
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