There’s a reason garages get loaded up with all the stuff we don’t want in the house and that reason is that no one looks in there when you have dinner parties. So we feel free to cram it to the gills with everything under the sun. I am going to give you the tools you need to not only park the cars in there but know where everything is when you need it.

Step One: Everybody out!
The best way to organize any area is to get everything out of it so you can see what you are working with. Luckily it’s summer so a day of having stuff in your lawn isn’t the end of the world. Start by the garage door with a large garbage bin and a couple of large Rubbermaid totes. Label your totes with signs saying “Donate” and stick a few signs on the lawn (or the driveway) that suit your style (ie “sporting goods”, “winter items”, “kids toys” etc). Now just pick up a piece and put it in the appropriate pile. Throw away broken items or trash, donate things you can’t use anymore but are in good enough condition that someone else can get some use out of them, and sort through the golf clubs, the skis, and the soccer balls.

Step Two: Evaluate the Situation.
Now that the whole place is cleared out look at your beautifully empty garage. Take some measurements and see where your windows are, your furnace, or whatever obstacles are in the way and note them. Look at the floor and the walls to see if they needs to be cleaned or painted. Now that you have the measurements you can figure out how much paint you would need if you were to do either of those things. When in doubt ask your friendly orange-aproned paint mixer just how much you are going to need. Painting the floor is a great way for it to be sealed and will make it easier to be cleaned later on. Garage floor paint is an inexpensive way to cover up those oil spills and it’s very easy to do. You simply clean the floor, roll on a coat or two of the paint and while it’s still wet (you do this as you go) sprinkle on these little rubber bits that help to make it slip resistant (sold at most home improvement stores).

Step Three: What Goes Where?
Once everything is in little piles in the front of the house you can see exactly what you have and what you need to house that stuff. Invest in a few key pieces like heavy duty plastic totes for some long term storage items like the camping gear that gets used a couple of times a year and the winter gear that you don’t need because it’s 80 degrees out. And a shelf system like the Rubbermaid Fast Track which not only allows you to have re-positionable shelves but hooks for tools and bicycles and baskets for golf balls and the like. If you have open rafters or trusses in your garage buy a few sheets of plywood to place on the lower horizontal 2X4 to get maximum storage for things you don’t need access to but can’t part with (as in baby memorabilia from the 80′s)

Step Four: Put it Away
Take your new storage finds out to the lawn and start putting your things in to them. Long term storage items go in the totes to be placed on shelves (like your Christmas lights) and things you need better access to goes on hooks, pegs, and in baskets (like your gardening things and tools). Labeling your totes; “Christmas Decor”, “Halloween Costumes”, “Life Jackets and Water Toys”, “Snow Gear” etc will help you to know exactly what is in each one. I like to use space saver bags to not only save space but to help keep my mittens and hats from getting damp or bugs from crawling on them. You’ll find you can get more in the totes this way and not have to use as many. Give each family member their own little space, dad gets a tool bench, mom gets a planting station, and little Tommy and Susie get their own shelf and/or bin for their balls and squirt guns.

Step Five: Sit back and enjoy!
Take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back. You did great work and now you have a space that you can not only be proud of but find whatever you need quickly and efficiently. It will also help tremendously when or if you go to sell the house because chances are the next homeowner will need some ideas how to keep their garage as clutter free and organized as yours is!

For help and tools to have other nice rooms in your house please visit Your Organized House

Author: Danielle Trapp
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable Multi-cooker

Garage organizers come in many shapes and sizes. There are specialty racks, shelves, and cabinets. There are hoist systems, overhead platforms, and other ingenious ideas that people have come up with to help organize stuff. Sometimes “garage organizers” even refers to a type of person, as in people who organize garages. Usually it just refers to ways and means of making sense of life’s various things that tend to clutter up our garages and homes. Lets take a closer look at this last area. A good place to start is to break down the things that you and your family members use on both a regular and an occasional basis.

You and your kid’s bikes are probably things you use often. These things can be stored with specialty racks that make it possible for you to access your bikes easily and quickly. without having them lying all over the floor. Picture how nice it would be to not have to deal with bikes flopping all over the place, or tripping on them when you try to navigate your way past them to try to get to something else. All in all, garage organizers for bikes is a wonderful idea.

Other things you use frequently that really benefits from garage organizers is sports equipment. Soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, golf clubs, roller blades, and all sorts of other things can be safely and neatly stored in bins and on hooks designed just for such things. This sure beats the normal dump-it-on-the-floor-and-run routine that most kids use. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you ask them to put their things away, they somehow just end up all over the garage floor. If the kids know that there is a specific rack or bin for their stuff, it makes it more likely that they will use it.

Things that you use infrequently would be things like fishing gear. Garage organizers help make sense of this stuff too. Chances are you have fishing poles, reels, nets, and other fishing stuff that only gets used every once in awhile, but mostly just sits in a jumbled mess. Instead of piling all that stuff up willy-nilly in a corner of the garage somewhere, why not organize it neatly. Next time you get ready to go fishing, loading up will be a snap. Plus, you’ll save yourself the frustration of dealing with rods and reels that are a mess.

Probably my most favorite garage organizers are garage storage cabinets. These can be left on the floor on rollers, or mounted on the wall, or even situated on a table top. Many are lockable, and most have adjustable shelves. Paints, stains, sandpapers, miscellaneous hand tools, and other items that can really turn your tool boxes into jumbled messes go great in these sorts of cabinets. Like all garage organizers, these cabinets make our lives easier because the frustration of dealing with things out of place goes away. Instead, we create an environment where we can think clearly, access things we need easily, and just create a more relaxing vibe in our day to day lives.

Garage organizers come in all shapes and sizes, and I recommend them highly if you are interested in simplifying both the frequently, and infrequently, used items in your life. Do an inventory and decide to take action. Get the organizers you need and smile.

Garage storage space often becomes more and more limited over time as the humble garage becomes a dumping ground for all of the items that aren’t needed anymore but for some reason, just don’t seem to be able to reach the bin.

The original purpose for most garages is to store vehicles and they do excel at this.  Keeping your car locked away in a garage shields it from the weather, passers-by who may scratch or lean on it and of course safe guard it from thieves.  These are all beneficial to car owners, can save money on car repairs and maintenance bills and with some insurance companies even reduce your car insurance premium.

In times of financial struggle any which way to reduce outgoings needs consideration and it’s possible that the garage isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.  Clearing your garage of clutter can release space to store valuable possessions such as cars and motorcycles, especially older or classic vehicles that are prone to the dreadded rust!

Implementing a storage solution in a garage can also provide space to securely store tools and other valuable items such as golf clubs or bikes.  Having a dedicated area to lock such items away means that they are out of the house, but easily accessible and most importantly secure.

There are also in-direct benefits of making your garage a secure and weatherproof area for storage.  One such example is for those who like to store packaging, it’s not unusual to keep the box for a computer or television as it’s well known that if  the time ever came to sell it, a much better price can be achieved if the original packaging is still in a uasble state.

Unleash the storage potential of your garage and the opportunity to save some money at the same time.