September: A Good Time to Clean Your Garage, Professional Organizers Say

Depending on what the climate is like where you live, professional organizers say that now might be a good time to clean out your garage. Most residential garages are not heated or air conditioned -- so the cool temperatures of fall can provide an ideal climate for pulling garage gear out into the driveway and reorganizing. Be ready to get rid of some things, store others, and organize the rest. One afternoon of garage cleaning could make the rest of the winter much more bearable, especially for people who live in states that have cold, snowy winters.

According to the National Association of Professional Organizers, about half of homeowners say that the most disorganized part of their home is the garage. But organizing your garage can be easier than it looks, if you have a plan.

The first step, organizers say, is to decide how you want to use the space in the garage and how you want it to look. Decide what items need to be located in the garage, and what items are simply sitting there because there is no place else to put them. Choose which things can be thrown away, given away, or recycled. Some things, such as lawnmowers and other seasonal equipment used only in the summer, can go into storage so that you have more space to work with in the winter. On the other hand, if you keep a snowblower, sleds, and winter sports gear in a self storage unit, now may be the time to pull those things out of storage and put them back in your garage.

“The biggest mistake people make is that they don’t do the first step of making sure that everything they have in the garage are things they want to keep,” says organizer Lisa Engel of ClosetMaid in last Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle. “The garage should be an extension of your house, with a combination of open and closed storage. The open storage is meant to give you quick access to the items you use on a more frequent basis.”

The next step is to decide where you plan to put the things that are staying in the garage. Ellen Delap, the owner of ProfessionalOrganizer.com, recommends that homeowners designate which part of the garage should hold which kind of gear.

“Be very decisive about what to keep,” Delap said in the Sept. 3 Houston Chronicle. She recommends that the garage have storage zones, special areas designated for certain items such as gardening tools, kids’ toys, and sports equipment.

Yard tools should go closer to the door so that you can maneuver them out into the driveway and the yard. Tools that need to charge, however, need to go near an electrical outlet. Engel advises homeowners to consider using a system of vinyl-coated wire hooks and baskets to provide ventilated, easily visible storage for frequently used items. Things that are not used frequently can be stored higher up or in other hard to reach places. If you have a recycling center in your garage, you may want to place that near the door to the kitchen for easy access.

Be sure to consider the climatic conditions in your garage as you store things. Wendy Mitchell, author of Wilton Patch’s The Weekend Wendy column, advises readers to use airtight containers to store items that could be damaged by heat, moisture, or insects. If you are concerned about damage to some items if they remain in the garage, you may want to store those things in a location that has better climate control, such as a closet, cupboard, or a self storage unit.

Sources used:

Huber, Kathy. “Time for a picker-upper at home.” The Houston Chronicle. Sept. 3, 2010.

Matteuci, Jeannie. “Organize your stuff to declutter your garage.” The San Francisco Chronicle. Sept. 12, 2010.

Mitchell, Wendy. “The Weekend Wendy: clutter cutters.” Wilton Patch. Aug. 28, 2010.

National Association of Professional Organizers.