Your Guide to Family-Friendly Garage Organization

If you have a family, you probably have more belongings in your house than you realize. Your garage is probably suffering the most, since a lot of belongings tend to get dumped there. Without custom garage organization, your items will quickly take over your garage, leaving no room to work or store important items like tools, sporting equipment or holiday decorations. Plus, when your space lacks organization, it can be difficult to find things you know you have, but just can't seem to find. So what's a family to do? Look for ways to organize your garage and decrease clutter. 

Declutter, declutter, declutter!

The first step in garage organization is to get rid of belongings you don’t need anymore. Don't hold onto items that you'll never use or have outgrown. Instead, organize a yard sale or donate items to a thrift store or charitable organization. There's simply no reason to stack tubs of clothes your kids have outgrown in the garage. Those toys that your kids don't play with anymore? Chances are, another little boy or girls would love to have them. And the floral-patterned sofa your great aunt gave you but you'll never use? Sentimental value isn't a reason to keep some things. 

Find new areas for storage

Next, don't rely so heavily on the garage for storage. The garage shouldn’t be the only place to store your belongings. If you have items you just can't part with or will truly need at some point in the future, find somewhere else to store it. Attics, sheds, basements or even commercial mini-storage units are great places to stash items until you need them again.

Hang it up

Once you've determined what items are appropriate to be kept in the garage, look for garage storage solutions that actually work. Use slatboards and hooks or hanging bars to instantly create space. Hooks are budget friendly and highly effective ways to give some items a temporary "home." Think about it. A hook can efficiently stow your child's water table until summer when it returns to its rightful place in the backyard. Or use hooks to corral Christmas wreaths after the holiday season. Hooks are also great for bicycles, ride-on toys and lawn equipment like spreaders and trimmers.