Helpful Tips to Maximize Garage Space Inexpensively

Maximize Your Garage Storage

Your garage can easily become a catchall for everything that is overflowing from your house. I know in our family everyone puts things in the garage but I find that it’s myself that is constantly organizing it so I can find and work on things. Your garage can easily become crowded and a disorganized mess so fast! I don’t know about anyone else, but I love being able to find things easily in my garage and be able to work on projects efficiently with the tools and supplies I know I can find in my garage. We share some helpful tips today on how to maximize garage space inexpensively!

I never knew that the vast majority of people don’t store their cars in their garages because there isn’t enough room. So, we offer some easy, simple, and inexpensive ideas for creating more space in your garage and keeping it organized easily! Organizing your garage is a great winter project when it’s raining and snowing.

Where to Start with Organizing Your Garage

I want you to start with a plan of how you would like the interior of your garage to look, what you need to access how often, and what only needs to be accessed seasonally. The best part of the project is the planning starts in the warmth of your home at your desk or dining room table. So, we are going to have you start drafting a plan of how you want your garage laid out. Optimally think of how often you use certain items and what items need to be used on a regular basis. A good example is camping equipment is generally only used in the summer, but getting access to your chest freezer in the garage is something that happens weekly.

A really good planning idea is to list everything that is in your garage and then have two columns on your planning sheet; weekly or daily access and seasonal access. This will help you so much when we get to the segregating process which comes next.

• Items that are used for the same tasks be sure to group together, like gardening tools, compost amendment, and vegetable tags.
• Bulky equipment should go in corners so it doesn’t block access or can get bumped by your car.
• We have put our bikes on bike hooks so they take up less space.
• Our seasonal camping equipment is on an overhead pully system that also stores our roof box when not in use for our SUV.

As much as possible keep things off the garage floor. It will make keeping your garage organized that much easier.

What Should You Keep & What Should Be Donated?

You might need a full day or weekend to get this task completed. The whole idea is to get rid of what you no longer need and free up space, to begin with before we start with a new layout for the interior of your garage. Depending on how crowded and messy your garage currently is this could be a couple of weekend projects, but it will make all the next steps that much easier.

• Schedule enough time to get the job done and not hurry. If like us, you came across a lot of family mementos, it does lengthen the process.
• Make it a family project and invite a few friends over to help. Some of your toss-it items may find a new home. More people with a game plan make this whole process go faster.
• Go through absolutely everything, you may find your children’s old school photos and projects, don’t rush, just be clear about what is a keeper and what will be donated or put out for garbage collection or a dump run.
• The general rule, if you haven’t used the items in the last two years, they could probably be donated, sold, or tossed. The exception to this is repair tools and items that you have on hand that is only used on an occasional basis when the need arises.
• Your sell or donate pile should be things you no longer need, your children have outgrown, and duplicates of items. A great place to sell things that are still very usable is Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.
• Toys or equipment that are broken beyond repair, expired household chemicals, old paint, should be disposed of properly.
• Sort the items you wish to keep into different categories that make sense to you; sports equipment, recreational equipment, bikes, hand tools, building supplies, etc.

You will end up with three areas: keep, donate or sell, and garbage. We laid out tarps on our driveway for the three different piles. Once we got into the project it went pretty quickly. We had a large donation pile, some that went to the dump, and a pretty good size group of items that we posted to Facebook Marketplace.

We netted donation write-offs and also some cash from our found treasures that found a new home. If you live in a suburban area a garage sale is a quick way to move usable items and net some cash. Also, if you don’t want to take your donation into town Amazon has their Give Back Box, just use a box and print the label on their site and take it to a drop-off mailing site or have your box picked up at your home.

Our Best-Loved Organizing Tools & Systems

Everyone has their best-loved organizing tools and systems and we share the ones that have saved us time and money below. Our criteria for our choices for organizing our garage, the tool or system must be reasonably priced, and have good longevity.

• Stackable clear plastic container with well-fitting lids.
• We use Rubbermaid Commercial Brute Locking Lid garbage cans in the garage for pet food. We never had any problems in 20 years.
• We prefer open shelves to cabinets, so we can see what we have at a glance.
• We have heavy-duty hooks for our bikes so they can hang from the garage ceiling.
• I love our pegboard and it keeps my most used tools and supplies right above my workbench, making it simple to work on projects and see what I have.
• We installed a pully system in the garage for our seldom used and bulky items, such as camping equipment, sleeping bags, and our roof rack box for our SUV.
• I love my workbench, it’s large and can accommodate big projects. If I built it again, I would add casters to the bottom to make it a portable workbench.
• Workbenches with built-in tool drawers tend to be pricey, but if it’s in your budget, they are great.
• If space is super limited a fold-down workbench is a good way to get workspace without sacrificing space.

Good Garage Lighting

Garage lighting is a must and can make or break keeping things organized and also how easy it is to work on projects. We have overhead fluorescent lighting in the garage and over my workbench. If I had to do it again, I would definitely add garage door windows, both because they add curb appeal, but more importantly, they let light naturally into your garage.  Shed Windows and More has a wonderful selection of garage door windows to choose from that will enhance the look of your garage while letting light into your garage area also.

One of my favorite things I just added to my workbench is a high-intensity telescoping light that can be mounted to the wall or in my case it is attached to the workbench with a C-clamp. This has been a wonderful addition for small precision work making the task so much easier and enjoyable. Be sure to send us photos of before and after of your garage organization, some of our best ideas for new products come from our customer’s suggestions or questions.