5 Easy Steps to Declutter Your Garage

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 being stored (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.

This blog will step you through how to declutter your garage and gain more floor space. So you will be able to turn that big, messy collection of random stuff and underutilized storage in your garage into a functional space for your car, work and hobbies.

 

How to Declutter Your Garage

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 items 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. Mark the main roller door plus the other garage doors/ access points and then begin to plan out how you want to store your various categories of items. Calculate how much floor space your car will take. Allow some additional floor space for access and movement via the doors/ garage door and around the car. Then plan your organizational system in the space remaining. In this way you can promote easier access and create the perfect layout and means of storage for the specific items that you have in your garage.

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. Think about using all the available wall space by incorporating: high shelving, shallow, tall, garage storage cabinets, 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, garden tools in one area, sports gear in another and tools hung on a pegboard next to a workbench etc. Once you have the major zones in place, you can work out 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 e.g. mowers/ leaf blowers etc, then make this the first zone you confirm
• Locate frequently used items near to an access door/ the garage door and locate rarely used items in the hardest to reach spots. Consider putting bulky equipment in a corner, so it’s out of the way and not taking up prime real estate.
• Locate items you use together close to one another.
• Make sure you have easy access via the entryways/ garage door and 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
• Tools, ladders and bikes can be hung 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 – it frees up room and makes it easy to clean underneath
• Consider a clothes rack for umbrellas, raincoats and wetsuits etc
• Overhead storage in the garage ceiling is good for long items or those you only need at certain times of the year.
• Storage bins, tubs and baskets are useful for storing loose and seasonal items and let you dispose of the packaging. A marker/ label maker is useful for labeling the bins/ tubs, so you know what each one contains without needing to look inside.
• Rolling or portable storage can be useful to help maximize space utilisation
• Consider repurposing old furniture and trunks for use in the garage

Invest in additional storage and containers

When planning out your storage, use what you have and invest in some additional shelving, storage cabinets, hanging devices and storage containers. Some basic items like a mix of longspan shelving, tyre racking, tubs, hooks, a cabinet and a bench for weekend tinkering can transform how your garage looks and functions. Choosing the storage solutions that make sense for your unique requirements is the key.

Maintain Your Decluttered Garage

Plan to spend some time maintaining the organisation in your garage, so that it will remain 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 garage storage. 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 the units can be mix-n-matched 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. They are similarly tri-coloured, so they can be easily co-ordinated with the 300kg/L units

Work Bench

Our workbenches are made from all steel and are part of our 300Kg/L, Heavy Duty range. They can be used separately or connected 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. They are a great addition if you have a set of 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. The powder coating provides long lasting resistance to rust, so your shelving will continue to look clean and professional.

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 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. The shelves or decks are also braced underneath for extra strength.

No Tools Required for Assemly

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.

Can Be Fastened 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. This allows the units to be fastened to the floor. It’s 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+ shelves 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 range of storage products here.