Parking Wars: How to Attack Garage Clutter and Take Back Your Parking Space

Nobody actually plans to use their garage as a home for years and years of accumulated stuff: it just happens. Every day garages everywhere are being taken over by unused, unneeded and unwanted items.  When a family first moves into their home, the car is parked in the empty garage and only a few carefully selected items like recycling and garbage bins are given a spot of honor in the tidy garage. Frequently the words "and we`re going to keep it this way" are used.

Within a six month period, it is getting hard to pull the car in without driving over a skateboard  or running into a set of golf clubs that were leaning at a precarious angle after the last time they were nudged with the car bumper. After a year, the car is parked in the driveway, because it was no longer safe to even try to pull into the garage.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, then it is time to declare war on the clutter in your garage and take back your  parking space.

Eliminating the Clutter

The fist step in de-cluttering  is to sort through and take inventory of everything that you have in the garage and decide what you should keep and what you should get rid of. Whether you sell these items, give them away or throw them in the trash, getting rid of personal belongings is never a nice job, but it must be done.

• Be realistic about things. Chances are, if an item has been buried under a mountain of junk for years, you don`t need it and you won`t miss it.
• Sorting through unused and abandoned items is not the time to start feeling nostalgic.  Are things worth keeping just because they bring back a fond memory? Of course not or nothing would ever get thrown out or given away.
• Sort and box up the items that you will be getting rid of and take them to their destination.

Sort Before You Stash

Luckily, garages have vast amounts of wall space that is perfect for hanging shelves and cabinets, because after eliminating what was probably a good portion of the clutter from your garage, you are still going to be left with a lot of things that will need to be stored in an orderly manner. Sorting things into categories will allow you to visualize how the garage space can best best utilized to house your belongings. It will also give you a better idea as to what kinds of shelving, cabinets or hangers you will need.

Sort items into categories like: Sports equipment, Lawn and Garden, Camping equipment, Hardware, Automotive, Toys etc...

After you have sorted and categorized what needs to be stored and you have decided what type of storage units would be most suitable for your needs, it is time to think about cost. There are storage units and compartments commercially available that are specifically designed for garages. Some are plain metal or plastic and others are stylish enough to give your garage that Martha Stewart look and feel. But just because you want a tidy, well organized garage doesn`t mean that you have to go in to debt to have it. There are many budget friendly ways to get the storage you need.

• Build a mezzanine. A mezzanine is a partial upper floor that either hangs from the ceiling or is built like a tall platform on the ground and accessed via stairs or a ladder.
• Look for second hand kitchen cabinets that can be used as garage storage. The uppers can be wall mounted and the base units can be covered with plywood and serve as a work bench and storage.
• If you can`t afford an adequate amount of cabinets, purchase a couple of sturdy plastic or metal shelf units and stock up on large clear plastic totes. They stack well and you can see their contents through the plastic.
• Old gym lockers are great for storing sports equipment.
• If your garage doubles as a workshop, consider installing a fold down work bench that can be stored flat against the wall when it isn`t being used.
• Utilize wall space by hanging things like folding sawhorses or step ladders on spikes or hooks.
• Hanging tools from a peg board is an ideal way to store them in plain view.

Adding On

Lawn and garden equipment can take up a large amount of space even in the tidiest garage. If you have a lot of large items such as mowers, weed eaters, snow blowers and wheelbarrows you may want to consider constructing a small shed type room for them off the back or the side of the garage to free up some space inside the garage. Depending on the size that you want, you may not even need a permit to build.

Keeping it Organized

A clean space is an efficient space, and your garage is no exception. Alhtough there is no specific plan  that one must follow to create a well organized space, there is a plan that must be followed to keep it this way and it is a very simple one. Maintenance.  Keeping your garage organized and efficient requires maintenance. If each member of the family makes a conscious effort to retun things to their proper location when they are finished using them, clutter will not be allowed to accumulate and you will have won the parking war.