5 Organization Tips to Open up Space in Your Garage

Even larger garages tend to get cluttered up and stuffed with all kinds of items, limiting the available space inside. Garage storage space is always a problem, especially if that is where you store things like gardening tools, old bikes, DIY equipment, and, of course, cars. However, there are creative garage storage ideas that should open up the interior and allow for more convenient storage.

These tips are nothing too complicated, nor will they require you to make extensive modifications to your garage. There are many more ways to organize garage storage, but these are just a few of them that are a great place to start. So, use these as inspiration and see what interesting ideas you can come up with yourself and turn your garage into an organized space for all your extra items. With just a few of these organization and storage tips, you will find a clean, organized garage waiting for you every time you park the car. 

1. Don’t Use the Floor As Storage

How Avoiding Floor Storage Can Declutter Your Garage

It’s basically an impulse to store things in the garage by simply throwing them onto the floor and forgetting about them. Then, when you want to store more things in your garage, you kick aside that previous item and throw something else in its place. This kind of attitude will persist for a while until you realize you have no room to move around in the garage.

To keep this from happening, make it a rule not to put anything on the garage floor. This is a great habit as it conditions you to keep the entire garage floor clear of clutter and junk instead of relying on furniture, vertical surfaces, and the ceiling for storage. Make it a rule for yourself and the rest of the household that nothing will be stored on the garage floor beside the car.

2. Wall Mounting Rail and Hooks

How Mounts and Hooks Make Your Garage More Ergonomic

Speaking of vertical spaces — there are a lot of ways you can utilize your walls for vertical storage that declutters the floor and opens up plenty of space. Instead of purchasing heavy cabinets or installing wide shelves onto the walls, which could limit the space in their own way, use wall-mounted storage units that attach to the walls themselves.

Consider purchasing a vertical storage kit, which comes with hooks of various sizes and mounting rails that can be attached to the wall and allow for the hooks to be slid into them. You can then store all your items on these hooks, keeping them off the floor and organizing them neatly onto the walls. These hooks can handle quite a lot of weight, depending on the types you purchase and the material they are made of. Many homeowners prefer hanging garden tools in the garage as this not only makes them easier to store but also makes them more accessible. So get rid of those bulky cabinets and replace them with something that is more ergonomic, like wall-mounted storage brackets and hooks. 

3. Dedicated Space for Various Uses

How to Dedicate Space In Your Garage

One reason clutter occurs is that not only are your items unorganized, but so is the whole interior space. Organization is not solely about each individual item but also about the space in your garage as a whole. Make use of the different areas in the garage and dedicate them to certain activities, hobbies, and uses. For example, if you have some wall hangers, a tool cabinet, and other similar kinds of equipment, you can dedicate one corner of your garage to DIY.

You can create an entertainment center in this area if you have a little wall that can fit a TV and a sofa set. Another area you can dedicate solely to storing winter clothing, other areas for gardening tools, and leave some room for bikes and sports equipment. Some extra room near the garage door when it opens? A mini art studio could work so long as it does not get in the way of your parking. Plan out the space in your garage and organizing the storage in your garage should also be much easier.

4. Create an Organization Plan

The Benefits of Having Organization Planned On Paper

Aside from dividing the room into separate areas or zones depending on their uses, you can create a plan on paper to cement this idea of organization in your garage. Once you have an organization plan on paper, it will be much easier to follow. For example, if one corner of your garage is dedicated to holiday decorations, you know where to store your string lights and ornaments after the winter holidays.

If you store winter clothing in your garage, you can also mark that on your organization plan as well, so next spring, when you’re putting away the coats and jackets, you know where they need to go. It’s another way to condition yourself to be more organized with your garage storage. You can also have dedicated storage units for specific kinds of items you store in the garage, such as a little donation box for old toys and clothes. Instead of throwing these away, organize them into this little storage unit and send them to a local orphanage, homeless shelter, or any other organization that would use your old belongings.

5. Get Rid of Old Junk

How to Find and Get Rid of Excess Junk In the Garage

You don’t have to be a hoarder to keep old, useless junk in your garage. It may be an old piece of furniture that you have a hard time getting rid of, holiday decor that brings back pleasant memories, or just some stuff you left lying around the place that you don’t need at all. Regardless of what the reason may be, junk is junk, and you need to get rid of it. An important element of successful decluttering is looking for items that you know you’re never going to use. That old, non-functioning CRT TV that sits in the corner is not doing you any good, and that old fridge is certainly not the best way to store tools in the garage.

A good way place to start with getting rid of junk is to put all the things you’re storing in the garage into one big pile and go through them one by one, organizing them into categories. You should separate them into categories of “needed,” as in items you use or will definitely be using in the future, and “can keep,” as in items that may not have an immediate use but are too sentimental to get rid of, and “junk,” which are the things that carry no practical or sentimental value whatsoever.

Once you’ve sifted through everything, go ahead and throw away, sell, or better yet, donate the “junk” pile. You will visually notice how much more open space there is when you declutter the garage and get rid of useless junk that you’re never going to need.