Declutter Your Garage in 5 Easy Steps

How to Declutter Your Garage

This blog will step you through how to declutter your garage. So you can gain more floor space and create an organised and efficient garage area. 

Garages are designed to house cars. However, they are often also an overflow area and dumping ground, where all that accumulated “extra stuff” ends up (out of sight and out of mind in a cluttered garage). Garages are often so full of stuff that there is only enough floor space for one car or the car ends up being parked outside.

Here are some effective strategies to help you turn that big, messy collection of random stuff and underutilized storage area in your garage into a functional space for your car, work and hobbies. 

 

5 Simple Steps to Getting Organised

According to the experts, there are 5 simple steps in the decluttering process that will let you reclaim the space in your garage and make life easier:

1. Declutter
2. Sort everything you are keeping into broad categories
3. Plan out the best way to store your collection
4. Invest in additional storage shelves, cabinets and containers
5. Maintain your clutter free garage

 

Start Decluttering

Take a day or a weekend to completely empty the garage and go through absolutely everything (including those boxes you didn’t unpack when you moved in).

Make three piles: 1) Keep, 2) Sell/ hold a yard sale/ donate and 3) Throw Out. Then get rid of those things you don’t ever use and will never need.

Sort Everything You Are Keeping Into Broad Categories

Go through the things you are going to keep and group similar items together. Place lawn tools with lawn tools and so on. You may end up with categories like: auto supplies, tools, hardware, toys, exercise equipment, boxes of old clothes, books, sporting equipment, camping gear, gardening tools, seasonal stuff, holiday decorations, power tools, spare and seasonal tyres etc.

Grouping like items together will make them easier to find in the garage and will also give you an idea of the space needed to store each category of items.

Clean Garage

Getting everything out of the garage will also give you a chance to give the space a quick clean and spruce up.

Plan Out the Best Way to Store Your Collection

Sketch Out a Plan of the Garage Space

Sketch out the floor-plan and walls of the garage and mark in the main roller door, plus the other garage doors and access points. Now, calculate how much floor space your car will take. Then allow some additional floor space for access and movement via the doors/ garage door and around the car.

You can then begin to plan out how and where you want to store your various categories of items in the available space remaining.

This approach will ensure easy access and enable you to create the optimal layout and means of storage for the specific items that you have in your garage (an organised haven).

Design Your Layout Based on These Two Principles

There are two main principles to follow, when determining the best garage layout:

1) Maximise Vertical Space

Use as much of the vertical space in the garage as possible. So think about using all the available wall space by utilising: high shelving, garage storage cabinets (shallow and tall), wall hooks for hanging items up, rafters for storing long items, and over-bonnet storage to maximize space utilisation.

2) Create Zones for Each Item Category

Create separate zones for each of the major categories in your collection of items. For example, store garden tools in one area, sports gear in another. Once you have the major zones in place, you can work on from there.

Garage Storage Ideas and Tips

Here are some tips to think about, when you are creating your garage storage plan:

 

• If your collection contains large equipment, such as mowers, leaf blowers etc, then make this the first storage zone you confirm. Ideally, put your bulky equipment in a corner, so it’s out of the way and not taking up prime real estate
• Locate frequently used items near to an access door/ the garage door. Similarly, locate rarely used items in the hardest to reach spots. 
• Locate items you use together close to one another. For example, hang tools on a pegboard next to a workbench for the diy enthusiast
• Make sure you have easy access via the entryways and garage door. Also ensure there is enough space for you to work and move around once the car is parked inside
• Utilise pegboards and slatwall organizers to hang items on the wall. For example, you can hang tools, ladders and bikes on the wall
• Make sure dangerous items (chemicals, tools) are stored in a locked storage cabinet, so they are not a safety hazard, when children are in the house
• Keep things off the garage floor. So you can free up room and make it easy to clean underneath things
• Consider a clothes rack for umbrellas, raincoats and wetsuits etc
• Overhead storage in the garage ceiling is good for long items or those things you only need at certain times of the year.
• Storage bins, tubs and baskets are useful for storing loose and seasonal items. They also let you dispose of packaging. Use a marker/ label maker, so you know what each one contains without needing to look inside.
• Use a rolling or portable storage system to help maximize space utilisation
• Consider repurposing old furniture and trunks for use in the garage

Invest in Garage Storage Solutions

When planning out your garage, use whatever storage you already have and then invest in some complementary shelving, storage cabinets, storage hooks, hanging devices and storage containers.

Consider adding some basic items like: longspan shelving, tyre racking, tubs, hooks, a garage cabinet and a bench for weekend tinkering. Importantly, choose storage solutions that make sense for your unique collection of items. These basic items can transform how your garage looks and functions. 

Maintain Your Decluttered Garage

Once it's decluttered and organised, plan on spending some time maintaining your garage that way. This will ensure it remains tidy year round and for the long haul.

 

How Our Range of Shelving Can Help you Get Organised

We have a broad range of longspan shelving, workbenches and tyre racking that are ideally suited to garage reorganisation.

Longspan Shelving

Longspan shelving is perfect for organising your garage and keeping it decluttered. The shelves are open, so it’s easy to see what’s there. It’s also efficient in terms of access and space utilization, as there aren’t any doors to open.

Garage Storage Ideas

Longspan is ideal for storing:

• Plastic tubs, pots, buckets, cardboard boxes and archive boxes
• Car, roof-top luggage-boxes
• Sports equipment and fitness gear
• Camping gear
• Toys
• Car repair and maintenance gear
• Beach and surf gear
• Spare and seasonal tyres
• Power tools and spare parts
• Garden tools and maintenance equipment
• Miscellaneous heavy items of irregular size and shape

Standard Duty Longspan

 

Our Standard Duty range is powder coated in white and comes in two sizes:

 

• 1.5mWx0.5mDx2.0mH, 120Kg/ level
• 2.0mWx0.6mDx2.0mH, 200Kg/ level

These shelves are designed for light to medium duty storage and are popular for storing cartons, tubs and miscellaneous items.

Heavy Duty Longspan

 

Our Heavy Duty range is tri-coloured (orange/ white/ blue) and is rated to 300Kg/ level. It comes in a comprehensive range of sizes, as shown in the table below. So you can mix-n-match units to fit any sized space.

 

Width	2.0m High	2.4m High	2.7m High
1.0m	✔	✔	✔
1.5m	✔	✔	✔
2.0m	✔	✔	✔
2.5m	✔	✔	✔

These shelves are built for heavy duty use and will handle just about anything you are likely to store in a garage, apart from the heaviest engine components.

We also have two lower rated units in the heavy duty range (see below):

• 1.0mWx0.5mDx2.0mH, 150Kg/L
• 1.5mWx0.5mDx2.0mH, 150Kg/L

They complement the 300Kg units and are often used for lighter storage situations. 

Work Bench

Our workbenches are made from all steel and are part of our 300Kg/L, Heavy Duty range. As such, you can use them separately or connect them into a row with other workbenches or with other longspan shelving units in the range.

The workbenches are 0.95m high and come in widths of 1.0m, 1.5m, 2.0m and 2.5m.

Tyre Racking

Our tyre racks are also part of our 300Kg/L, Heavy Duty range and they come in all the same sizes. Use them for your spare or seasonal tyres.

Benefits

Durable So Your Investment Will Last

Our shelving, tyre racks and workbenches are made from quality steel and powder coated for long-term durability and long lasting resistance to rust. So your shelving will continue to look clean and professional into the future.

A Range of Sizes to Match Your Needs

They come in a range of different sizes, load ratings and finishes to match the look and needs of your storage space. So you can easily customize your storage system to suit your requirements.

Sturdy Design

Our shelving units are designed for strength and ease of assembly. The side supports or uprights come as a single, pre-welded piece for extra rigidity and strength. Additionally, the shelves or decks are braced underneath for extra strength.

No Tools Required for Assembly

Assembly doesn't require any tools. The cross beams simply slot into “butterfly-shaped” grooves on the outside of the uprights. The shelving decks then simply slide onto a grooved ledge on the inside of the beams. So the shelves are easy to setup and adjust up and down. They are also easy to dismantle, if you need to move them to a new location.

Fasten Units to the Garage Floor for Increased Safety

All our units are generally stable on a flat, even surface. However, for increased safety, they come with footplates that have predrilled holes in them. So you can fasten the units to the floor. This is especially useful if the floor is uneven, or the shelves are located in high traffic areas or when you are storing heavy items high off the ground.

Buy Additional Components as Required

Our range of shelving can change as your needs change. If you need some addon units to extend your row of shelving or some extra beams or an additional upright that’s not a problem. We sell extra shelf kits and individual component parts as well as our standard 4-shelf units. Think of our shelving like a construction set and build whatever you need – a single unit with two shelves or 5+ tiers in a long row - it’s easy.

3 Year Warranty

Falcon Shelving offers a three year replacement warranty for manufacturing or material defects in any of its products. However, we don’t usually hear from our clients unless they are looking to buy extra shelves or extra units.

Shop Our Range of Storage Products

 You can shop our extensive range here for products to help declutter your garage.