How to Organize Your Garage Like a Professional

Why do people store $50,000 cars in their driveways – exposed to all the elements 24/7?

Because their garages are filled with junk they can’t bear to part with.

And while this may sound like yet another Zen riddle, it’s sadly the truth for the majority of us. Okay, so maybe your car isn’t worth $50,000. But then all the accumulated junk in your garage isn’t worth nearly half of what your car is. So just where is the logic?

You can see this coming, can’t you? Here’s another yardstick to measure the toss or not toss question by. If it’s been sitting in your garage for three years without being used, please, please toss it. Donate it to charity, sell it at a yard sale or simply put it out with the garbage, depending on what “it” is and what “it’s” condition is.

The goal of this exercise is to get that poor car, which has been sitting out in the cold, rain and sun back into its rightful home – the garage.

What is the MAPP method for garage organizing?

Whether you want to un-muck your garage because you want to create a more inviting chi energy to flow through your home or you just want to walk through your garage without tripping, it’s important you have a plan of attack or as I like to explain, you need to MAPP out your strategy beforehand.

Some experts claim that the average American spends one entire year of his life just searching for misplaced objects. As a professional organizer, I can attest that some individuals spend much more of their time in this quest!

As you might have already guessed, MAPP is an acronym for the four crucial steps to making “Operation Garage Organization” a success.

MAPP stands for: Motivation, Assessment, Preparation and Planning.

Now, don’t shrug off the fact that MAPP is spelled with two “p’s”. There is definitely a difference between “preparation” and “planning.” And I’ll explain the difference shortly.

Motivation: why do you want to clear your garage?

But first, let’s look at the first why you want to clear your garage or your “motivation” for your actions.

Is it for yourself? Or your spouse?

Would you like to clear the clutter so your children won’t learn to accept it as normal?

Or are you just plain tired of tripping over things you never use?

Whatever your motivation, be clear about it. And be sure to accept the reasons you’re doing it as your own. After all, if you’re only clearing your house out because your mother-in-law is nagging you, that reason might not be strong enough.

To effectively execute “Operation DeClutter” you need to truly believe in your intentions.

Assessment: where do you begin?

There you stand, amidst a sea of clutter in your garage. It overwhelms you, doesn’t it. I know. You have all the best of intentions, but let’s face it, the clutter certainly outnumbers you. (Makes you feel like clutter is plotting to take over the world!)

The most efficient approach, and the one with the longest lasting effects, involves a little forethought on your part. (But not so much that you end up procrastinating on this de-mucking process altogether.) Ask yourself these questions as you approach your task.

Preparation: how do you get ready for garage day?

Clearing a garage is not for the weakhearted. If you are going to do this without the help of a professional, you need to clear out the entire weekend and have a plan, which I will talk about in a minute.

To prepare follow these steps:

Block the entire weekend for this project. Keep track of time as you go. Start early and have a place for closure at the end of each day. The last thing you want is to run out of time and shove everything back into the garage because it is nighttime.

Eat your wheaties – make sure you get a good night sleep with energy to begin, snacks at hand for during the process and loads of water.

Make sure all of your garbage bins are empty and ready for processing.

Have empty boxes and bags ready to fill up with either donations or recycle.

Call your local waste company to see when and how they can help you dispose of your chemicals. Some companies will pick up everything you want to get rid of for a flat fee, others will require you making a trip to the dump.

When you hire a board certified professional organizer like myself to get your garage organized, your decluttering project is typically finished within 8 hours. 8 hours is a long day, for sure, but we get you to completion so you can move onto other activities that weekend!

Planning: what will your garage be used for?

Planning for your de-mucking involves how exactly you plan on attacking the stuff to sort the clutter from the usable. This is a very personal decision, but here are some hints. Once you start thinking along these lines, I’m sure you’ll come up with some ideas of your own.

Ask yourself: what is the ultimate purpose this garage will serve? It is so important for you to know how you want to use the space inside your garage and for what purposes. Garages typically have at least 3-4 zones, and once you are clear about what you want to use this space for, it helps you make decisions about what to keep there long term.

I had a client, in fact, who kept so much paperwork that it filled her entire garage. Her gorgeous brand new Audi never saw the inside of her garage for 4 years. This poor car lived in Florida and unfortunately became sun faded before she made the decision to get rid of her papers.

The unfortunate thing was when she did need that vital piece of paper, she couldn’t find it. She usually wasted close to an hour looking for it. Once she was able to master her papers and give her car a nice home, she never had to spend time retrieving a piece of paper from her garage again!

Short of marching through your garage, discovering what needs tossed and what you should keep, I can help you with some all- purpose advice.

Knowing in advance what purposes you want your garage to serve will make it soooo much easier when you are looking at what to toss and what to keep.

What should you get rid of in the garage?

Need some help in deciding exactly what should be tossed? Here’s a quick checklist of some of the more popular items people think they have to hang on to.

Old paint

We all have at least one can, and we all know better! But for some unknown reason we keep it. Get rid of it, especially if it’s in that custom-mixed color partially ripened melon. Where in the world are you ever going to use that color again? You painted your daughter’s room that color more than 10 years ago. Even if you didn’t repaint her room “Truer than True Black” during her Goth stage, you couldn’t match that other color with anything even if you tried.

Broken sports gear

Sports junk that’s broken. No one is going to play badminton with that broken racket. The same thing goes for that tennis racket. Just toss them. Even the thrift store can’t use them.

Touch-up paint for cars you no longer own

We’re talking about touch up paint for the 1985 Pacer that you sold some 10 years ago. Do you really still need that can of paint?

The rickety ladder

You know the ladder I’m talking about. Anytime anyone ever brings this ladder out of the garage you jump out of your chair, waving your hands and yelling, “No, don’t use that ladder, you’ll kill yourself.”

Bikes and toys beyond repair

Bicycles, tricycles and other recreational vehicles that are either hopelessly beyond your capability of repairing or your children have totally outgrown. If you can’t repair the bike or (and this is usually the case) you can’t find the bike for all the rust, toss it.

There comes a point when keeping an item because of its potential worth to someone, somewhere in the great unknown of this world just isn’t really reasonable nor practical. I think you’ve hit that point with that bike right there!

Tools without a home

Or you should have heard my friend the other day. She ranted about her husband’s tools. And rightly so. She bought him an early Christmas present – a large tool chest. The type that professional mechanics use. And when he was done installing a small gas burning stove in the basement, where did he stash his tools.

Bingo! In the box that the stove came in. Oh yes, he had a good excuse. But part of the purpose of buying that tool box was to help clear the muck from the garage. Even the best of intended de-mucking plans go awry without the cooperation of every family member. (And in the husband’s defense, he did have a very good excuse. . . )

My Dad used the old fashioned method to store many of his tools. He simply bought pegboard to hang in the garage. He then bought hooks. He hung the most used tools closest to his work bench. From there he branched out to those that he used with less frequency.

Things you might need someday

This is the simplest – yet the hardest. We’ve all experienced it. We finally throw out that widget that we haven’t used in literally years. The very next day someone needs it.

And that’s the horror story we recall every time we reach for an article and begin to pitch it. My counter-argument to this: suck it up and get over it.

If you haven’t used it in a year – or more – the odds are that it’s just not that important in your life. If you find yourself tripping over it more than using it, then it’s probably serving no useful purpose.

And if you just discovered it in a box in your garage with other “stuff” you haven’t unpacked from your move five years ago . . . guess what? Odds are you can live without it quite nicely! After all, you have been up until now, haven’t you?

How do you store what you keep?

“Efficient storage” means nothing less than placing the objects you do intend to use in the most accessible places. This is why in most garages, you will see holiday decor stored up high and out of the way.

Do you have your objects stored in bins? Instead of opening them every time you want to view what’s in there, why not just label them?

Bins with the holiday decorations can be labelled as such or wrapped with holiday themed tape. That way when you’re looking for that Halloween costume from three years ago, you don’t have to go through those particular bins.

In fact, labeling bins can help you pinpoint with amazing accuracy exactly where the item you’re looking for is really hiding!

Don’t limit this labeling system only to bins, though. Look through your garage. Should certain tools or garden equipment be in specific locations? Don’t be shy about putting a sign on the spot.

If you have tools hanging on pegboard, label the space that you hang your hammer as “hammer.” If you have to (and for some family members this might work even better) outline the shape of a hammer in this spot! Most kids will love to do this for you! This way every member of your family knows where to hang that rake. No excuses.

What about things you paid good money for?

“Don’t make me get rid of this… I paid good money for this… whatever you call it.”

Ah, yes. The “since-I-paid-good-money-for-this-thing” argument. I’ve used it . . . I mean I’ve heard it many times before.

You know if you paid good money for that thing –whatever it is -and you’re not using it, I have one suggestion for you. Get rid of it! That’s right!

Why put yourself through the agony of reminding yourself that you did, indeed, actually spend your money on whatever you choose to name that thing? Just get rid of it and don’t relive your mistakes!

If it’s not serving any useful purpose right now . . . and hasn’t for the past year . . . well? You know the rest of the story!

I hope this article helps you get going and creating a garage that serves you and your car instead of serving as a dumping ground for unwanted things in your life.

Organizing your business, too? A Business Logjam Session with Kathi finds what is slowing you down and clears it.