In the average home the garage seems to be the “drop zone” for anything that doesn’t have a place inside. If this sounds like your garage the easiest way to prevent this is to stay organized. I’m sure you’re thinking…”yeah if only it were that simple.”. Well here is a secret; it really can be simple if you have a plan in place and act on it. The tips below are a great way to get started!

Get Rid of Clutter:

Getting rid of clutter in your garage doesn’t have to be a hard thing to do. If you are a go-getter, decluttering your garage all in one day may be the best solution for you. However, for those of us who are overwhelmed or too busy to spend all day on one project try designating a week to decluttering the garage. Take a different section each day to tidy up. I suggest splitting your items into three categories: Donate, Trash, and Recycle. This will help you know where all of your items go and they won’t be in ten different piles, just three.

Maximize Space:

Space is normally the biggest issue people have in their garage. Believe it or not this can actually be an easy problem to fix. Whether its hoisting bikes up out of the way with a bike rack, using shelving or hooks to organize your gardening tools, or using overhead storage racks to put totes and boxes up out of the way, the main goal is to get everything off of your floor. When you use your wall space, you maximize your garage space.

Safety First!:

Safety is something we are normally very aware of especially in our homes. However, in the garage there are common items such as old paint, cleaning supplies, car accessories, and gardening products that can be considered hazardous if not taken care of properly.

Before you store something potentially hazardous, ask yourself if you are actually going to use it again. If you most likely won’t, try finding a friend or co-worker who needs it. If you have old products and you need to dispose of them make sure that it is done properly. Some household hazardous wastes are capable of harming people if they are disposed of incorrectly.