Top 5 Tips for Decluttering Your Garage

Guest Post by Dewan Farhana

I am excited to share this post by Dewan today. She shares some very useful tips on clearing clutter and organizing your garage!

April showers bring…organized garages? It’s the season of spring cleaning, and with it comes the room we all put off until the last possible second—cleaning out the clutter we’ve let accumulate in our garages all winter long. The skeletons used to be hiding in our closets, but they’ve started overflowing into our garages.

But tackling your garage doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may feel. With a few tips and tricks, that mini concrete jungle will be gleaming in no time.

Top 5 Tips for Decluttering Your Garage

Photo credit: Before and After from Betternest.co

Photo credit: Before and After from Betternest.co

Tip 1: Prioritize

Before heading into any project, it’s best to roll up your sleeves and come up with a good plan and take the time to figure out the best way to organize for YOU. Meaning, what are the things you actually need and will use versus what are the things that are just taking up unwanted space and need to GO. The first question you may need to ask yourself is, “Can my car actually fit in this garage?” If the answer is no because you have too much stuff, you may need to start pairing things down a bit.

Create categories for everything you have. Section off all the tools, all the kids’ outdoor toys, etc., and then figure out what can stay and what you can donate. If you have a bunch of items you never use—and know you never will—toss them into that donate pile.

Tip 2: Create a Flow for Your Space

Now that you’ve cleaned everything out and categorized, it’s easy to walk away from those piles and just throw it all away, right? Not so fast. Organizing your space with a strategic flow will do wonders not only for your feng shui, but for your sanity too. For example, set up a shoe rack by the door where you enter your house. That way, you and the kids can always take off muddy shoes before you even step foot on those clean tiles, and having that rack positioned by the door creates ease and saves time rather than having to trek across the garage floor each and every time.

Everything you spent time categorizing should find a home by each other in your newly cleaned garage. It wouldn’t make sense to have a bike in every corner, would it? Keep all items that are alike housed together so you know where to find them. Store away any items that are out of season until it’s time to pull them out again.

Tip 3: Invest in Good Storage

Piggy backing off of tip 2, any organized garage needs a good storage system in place. This can be anything: tool racks, shelves that house drawers and boxes, etc. You can even make a DIY project out of the whole thing and put those tools to good use by building your own storage system. Not feeling like Chip and Joanna? No worries. There are tons of cost-effective storage systems you can implement. The big thing to keep in mind is when you have adequate storage in place, you’re freeing up space. Gone are the days when you’re trying to walk through the maze of your garage without spilling your coffee just to get into your car every morning. Having things picked up and organized will help you start your day feeling a little more put together and not so frazzled.

Tip 4: Hire an Organization Specialist

We all know what we like when we see it, right? But sometimes making that vision become a reality is harder than we think. Hire someone who specializes in organization to come in and take a peek at your space. They can consult and give ideas for what will work with what you have or even help you complete the project from beginning to end. If you’re unsure of where to start or what to look for in a home organizer, there are platforms like Betternest that can connect you to certified and non-judgemental organizers who are happy to work together with you, to help you declutter and make your space functional and beautiful.

Tip 5: Create a Weekly Checklist to Maintain Your Accomplishment

Create a checklist you can refer to each week to make sure you’re keeping your space as organized as it was on day one. It’s easy to let things slip and think, “Eh, I’ll pick it up later.” But we’re all guilty of letting later linger until before we know it, it’s another season, and we have another big project on our hands. Holding ourselves accountable and taking a few minutes every week to make sure we’ve picked up after ourselves will save us time and energy in the long run.

Just like that, your car is in the garage hiding from all the spring pollen, and your house, even that dreaded garage, is a spring cleaning victory. Happy organizing!

About the Author

Dewan Farhana is the Founder and CEO of Betternest, a platform that connects you to professional and certified home organizers that declutter, tidy-up and make spaces functional for productivity.