Your garage can be a wonderful addition to your home. Your garage keeps your vehicle protected from the elements and it is a storage area for items that just don’t fit in the house. But as most homeowners know, the garage can also become a black hole where junk is stored, pests call it home and there is no room for any type of vehicle.
Your garage is the last thing you see as you head off to work in the morning and it is the first thing you see when you come home in the evening. An organized garage looks great and if there is enough room, it is the perfect space to do some work.
According to the United States Department of Energy, 25% of people who have a two-car garage don’t have enough room to park a car. Worse still, 32% of people with a two-car garage can only park one car.
If this sounds all too familiar, perhaps you need to organize your garage. Really, it isn’t as difficult as you might think. Besides, you don’t want your garage to fall into the hands, er, paws of pests and other critters.
Earthwise Pest Management, your pest control service in Sacramento, offers tips to organize your garage.
The Purge
If you are like most homeowners, your garage is probably full of things that you will never use again. In fact, you will probably be surprised by all of the junk in your garage. For example, that snowboard you bought eight years ago is never going to get used again. And we are willing to bet that you have car parts left over from a vehicle you sold years ago.
You need to start this task of organizing your garage with a purge. You need to get rid of the items you just don’t need anymore. You can donate the bikes your kids outgrew six years ago, you can toss all of those expired flavored waters you forgot about and you can sell the dirt bike that you don’t ride anymore.
This will help you begin with a clean slate.
Treat Your Garage Like Any Other Room
All too often, you use your garage as a catch-all for things that need to be stored. You do this in certain rooms in the house as well, only you actually manage to put things away in a closet or under the bed.
You need to do the same thing in the garage. Instead of just tossing things in there, you need to find a place for things to be stored. This way, you keep a clean garage and it doesn’t start piling up with junk.
Create a Game Plan
Now that you have purged, you should have much more space to work with. At this point, sit down and figure out a game plan.
You can divide your garage into sections and organize them by zone. For example, you could have a sports section where all of your sporting goods are kept. This is where you will keep your basketballs, skateboards and pickleball gear. Another section of your garage can be used to store your lawn and garden supplies and so forth.
It is a good idea to sketch out the plan. And don’t get frustrated if your first few plans aren’t perfect or don’t work out. Keep in mind that this is a work in progress.
Start Small
Organizing your garage is going to take some time. It took years for your garage to reach its current state and you can’t expect to have it all cleaned up in an hour or two, or a day or two for that matter.
You might be full of gumption and ready to tackle this huge task, but in all likelihood, you will get tired and stretch out the project over several days. It will be a lot of work, so it is fine to go at a slower pace.
Go Up
Your garage is a space with endless possibilities. Stand in the center of your garage and look up, there is a lot of space up there that is being wasted. You can build shelves or place hooks up there and it can become valuable storage space.
You can go on the internet and find ways that other people have organized their garages. There are a lot of great ideas out there. For example, you can hang bikes to save floor space.
Get Hooked Up
Hooks in your garage can be a huge game-changer. Hooks enable you to use space that would otherwise be wasted. Consider hanging your beach chairs, bikes and garden tools instead of having them strung out all over the floor or leaned up against a wall.
Take Inventory
Once you get to the point of organizing your garage, take inventory of what you have. Create a photo folder on your smartphone or make a list in a notebook of everything that is now stored in the garage. This way, you know what you have and where you have it stored. This also comes in handy when a family member needs to find something.
Add Light
If you are like most homeowners, your garage is lit with a single bulb. Dark corners of your garage are scary places that accumulate junk and cobwebs over time. Make your garage a bright and happy space by adding lights. They don’t have to be fancy, a few shop lights will do just fine. You can even utilize a few clip lights if you so desire.
The idea here is to illuminate those dark corners so they don’t get cluttered. A well-lit garage is a garage that is easier to navigate and you are less likely to trip and fall.
Bin Storage
If you are planning on organizing your garage, you need to invest in some bin storage. For an organization system that is attractive and functional, buy a few or a bunch of plastic storage bins. You can label them with the contents and they stack up real nice.
Pegboard Wall
A pegboard wall has endless possibilities. This is the place where you can hang your tools, step stool and wire bins.
Get Help
Organizing the garage is a rather cumbersome task, it would be in your best interest to ask for help. After all, you aren’t the only family member who uses the garage. And when the task of organizing the garage is complete, you can count on family members to help keep it organized, clean and free from rodents and other pests.
If you do discover that you have an infestation in your garage, give Earthwise Pest Management a call.