How to Keep Your Garage Tidy – Infographic

We build our garages with the best intention; to store our vehicle safely off the street, reducing the likelihood of accidents, damage or theft. However, more often than not, once our homes start bursting at the seams, our garages end up being a handy dumping ground for boxes of bric-a-brac. Sound familiar?

If so, don’t worry, we have some helpful hints and tricks to help you keep your garage neat and tidy – and easier to use!

Work out how much free space you actually have

This is crucial. Before you can start re-organising your cluttered garage, you’ll need to work out how much free space you actually have! The best way to do this is to take your car out of the garage (if it still fits in!) and start clearing out all the boxes, tools, bikes and any other items you may have accumulated. As you’re clearing out your garage, take this opportunity to throw out or donate any things you no longer need. Go on, you know you want to…

Next, measure the length and breadth of the walls so you know how much space for shelving and wall storage you have. It’s a good idea to re-park your car in the garage and measure the space from the walls to the car (leave a few inches either side so you have enough space to park safely) so you can see how far out your shelves, cupboards and belongings can protrude. We’d also recommend that you measure from the top of your car to the ceiling; you’ll understand why later!

Spruce the place up

Now your garage is empty, why not take this chance to give it a good sprucing? Clean out the cobwebs, vacuum or sweep the floors and tackle any stains around the room.

To take things a step further, paint your walls. If you have concrete flooring, you can stain it. Not only will this make the floor more attractive, it will offer some protection against spills and stains.

The cleaner and more pleasant your garage feels, the more likely you are to try and keep it clean.

Organise your items

Now that you’ve ditched some of the junk and have (hopefully) reduced your ‘keep’ pile to just the necessities, now is the time to begin organising your possessions. Begin by grouping similar items together – tools, garden equipment, sports equipment, etc – and then think about how often you’ll need access to these items. If you’re going to be in and out of your tool box every week or so, you’ll know to keep it handy, whereas if you’re only going to be digging your skis out once a year, they can probably be put somewhere out of the way.

Map it out

Before you start repacking all of your belongings into your garage, take some time to map out where you’re going to put things. Items that aren’t frequently used should be put to the back corners of the garage or put into ceiling storage, which we’ll talk about later, to save the floor space you have.

Generally speaking, big, bulky items that can’t be hung up or packed out of the way should be prioritised for floor space while smaller items can be boxed up – in transparent cases, to make spotting things easier – and stacked. Small items such as gardening tools can be hung on walls for easy access and to save piling up too many items in the floor space.

Think about the most practical use of the space in relation to how you use your garage, and sketch a quick idea of how you’d like to store things. You’ll more than likely find that you have to rejig things a few times to get everything right, and this is much easier done on paper than in real life!

Label everything

Trust us, you’ll thank us for this tip later! If you’re going to have boxes or shelves full of miscellaneous items, finding what you need in a hurry can be stressful, even if the boxes are transparent! Label each box, shelf or hook with what items are meant to be there – it can be as simple as ‘ski jackets’ or as specific as ‘wrench size ¾’, whatever makes it easiest for you!

Not only will labeling your items save you time finding your belongings, it will also make tidying up simpler too, as each item will have its own dedicated space!

Make the most out of vertical space

The walls of your garage present a lot of unused space that can be utilised for storage. By adding shelves, hooks and pinboards, you can really maximise the storage space within your garage. Hang up all of your mechanical tools, garden shears and the like on a pegboard – you can even outline the shapes of the tools you’ve hung up so you can easily identify which tool belongs where – and install some hooks to hang up bags, sports equipment, coats, ladders etc. You can also fix in some storage racks to keep little bits and bobs like pens, spray paints, brushes and cleaning products out of the way.

On your largest free wall, install some rows of shelving, making sure to stay out of the range of your vehicle (here’s where those measurements come in handy!). Choose a strong, sturdy structure that can take a good amount of weight, pack your belongings into some clear storage boxes and then place them on the shelves. You’ll be amazed at how much neater and more spacious your garage feels with your belongings around the walls rather than in piles in the corners of the room!

Ceiling storage can be a real space saver

If you have space above your car to store items, there are a tonne of things that can be stored up and out of the way. Bikes can be hung up, for example, or holders can be installed to hold up big storage boxes. Not only does this save space, but it keeps your items protected and out of immediate notice of potential thieves.

Bear in mind that ceiling storage may not be feasible with your current garage door, many of which take up a lot of valuable space within the roof recess. A roller garage door is the simple solution to this problem, so if you don’t already have a roller door, it may be a worthwhile investment to consider.

For high quality and durable roller doors, look no further than Rollerdor Ltd. We have years of experience in the manufacture and installation of made-to-measure roller garage doors up and down the country. For more information on any of our doors or services, get in contact today by calling 0800 030 6004 and we’ll be happy to help you further.