A few months ago, I wrote an article on how to de-clutter your garage by remembering these three things: to keep, to throw or to sell. Simply dividing your items into these categories will help to make your life easier. De-cluttering is an ongoing process. Don’t wait, start now! You can find your things easier and you may be able to park your vehicle more easily away from prying eyes.
Having a garage can help keep your car cleaner, frost-free and safer overnight. It can also help drive down car insurance costs, especially for car cannibals and car theft is so common these days. If you prefer to use your garage space for storage, let me show you how to use these clever garage storage to maximise your storage space.
Before I jump into the list of items, it is best to give your garage a clean first and a lick of paint. It can help to make the space look so much brighter and will help you organise your thoughts. Take everything out of your garage first. You can either hire a tent to place your items in there or store it inside your house, while you clean the garage.
Get out your vacuum cleaner and vacuum every corner of the room. At the same time, you can also check if there is any pipe work or flooring you need to repair or fix.
Painting your flooring is a fantastic way to completely transform your garage floor into a clean, durable and bright environment. We did paint our garage floor when we first moved in and it has proved to be easier to maintain. More recently, we chose to use interlocking foam floor tiles for the whole garage as it provides a safe anti-slip surface whilst also providing a layer of insulation from cold concrete floors.
Paint your garage wall using water-based paint. Garage walls are typically not painted initially because the builder can save some money that way. Also, most people wouldn’t consider garages as living spaces and they tend to get dirty quickly, hence people tend to overlook the space. By painting the walls, it will make the inside of your garage look brighter and you can clean it more easily.
There are so many things you could do to maximise your storage space, some of these additions may even add some value to your home, which is always a bonus!
Shelving
It is important to choose shelving that is strong and sturdy. They are a quick way to move items off the floor, organize them, and display them for easier access.
Plastic Storage Boxes
To help you to organise, it is best to use clear plastic storage boxes rather than coloured boxes. They will help protect your items from moisture, heat, and anything else that might cause damage and the clear boxes will allow you to see what’s inside. If you do have those coloured storage boxes, it is worth putting a label or a list of items on the outside of the box. It will help you to find things more easily.
Overhead Storage
Not all garage ceilings are perfect places to store items, but if you have a sturdy ceiling, it is worth investing in a ceiling garage storage system. They can create more walking areas by simply lifting everything to the top. This type of storage system is great to store light and medium-weight seasonal items. Or maybe use heavy-duty overhead racks or ceiling-mounted garage storage hooks for heavier items.
Garage Hoist
Overhead storage is great, but the idea of bringing a ladder each time you want to access the item might put you off. Using a hoist will expel this idea. You can hoist it down using the pulley system. It is that simple.
Hooks
Storage hooks are a great solution to help declutter items like your garden tools or work tools. If you are a keen cyclist, it is worth getting them to free up the floor space.
Pegboard
A pegboard is great for organizing tools. Instead of installing a lot of individual storage hooks, invest in metal, plastic or wood pegboard for the wall. You can easily organise the tools by reconfiguring the hooks via the pegboard.
Pallets
If you have any leftover pallets hanging around, they are great for storing gardening tools. We don’t have a clear empty wall as we have a long gas pipe and a big boiler running through the whole wall! Due to the design of the existing plan, we were unable to put items on the wall. Using a pallet helps to organise most of our garden tools. The pallet falls just below those gas pipes and I’ve been able to place them neatly.
Ball Storages
Balls can be a nuisance to store! Use bungee cords to store balls vertically on a wall. Or nylon bags or even a hammock can save a lot of space. Check out this Pinterest link to find out more.
Organizing a garage isn’t a one-size-fits-all project, but I hope these tips will help you to find ways to make your garage more organized and better to use.
Disclosure: This is a featured post.