I am frequently amazed when driving through a plan or subdivision where the average home has a 2 or 3-car garage and the garage door is opened. Some garages are very orderly while others contain so many items there is barely room to walk. For readers who struggle with organizing the contents of their garages, Shaelyn Rich at Immaculate Garage has advice and a helpful product line. Aim High Organizing can help clients maximize the efficiency of this system once installed.
One major part of keeping your home organized is also keeping your garage organized. Have you ever wanted to park your car in the garage? Seems like a simple desire, right? However, 1 in 4 Americans has a hard time completing that simple task. We want to share how to overcome this and make your life easier.
Here is the best way we have found to make your garage clean, neat, and functional:
Separate long and short-term storage.
This is the difference between having an organized garage and not having one. You can have all the cabinets, shelves, and overhead racks in the world, but if you don’t purposefully place your items, your garage will inevitably end up a mess.
Long term storage includes items you don’t use on a regular basis. These items generally consist of seasonal items (like holiday decorations), camping gear, childhood trinkets, etc.
Short term storage are items you use often and should have easy access to. These items could be kids’ sports equipment, a little extra food storage, a few tools, etc.
We put items into these two categories because they should be kept in different places of the garage. Take a look at your garage and notice the prime storage locations . . . and the not so prime locations.
Short term storage gets the prime, close to reach spots. Close to the door and along the wall are the easiest places to get to. There are really not many other places where your things can go. You may want to consider installing overhead ceiling racks for your long-term storage items. This way, it is still accessible but up and out of the way, and your garage floor does not become cluttered with rarely used items.
This rule can go for any room your home as well. Identify what you use regularly and put those things in your prime locations.
Organizing your home and garage does not have to be some huge, daunting project you do all at one time. Start with one room, do it piece by piece, and before you know it, it will look beautiful and organized.
This post was written by Shaelyn Rich at Immaculate Garage. Immaculate Garage is an authorized Monkey Bar Storage dealer serving homeowners in the Pittsburgh area.