You invest a lot of your time and energy into keeping your home as neat and tidy as possible. However, do you pay the same amount of interest and attention to other spaces – such as your garage? Attached or freestanding garages can provide useful storage space for everything from vehicles to kids’ toys and seasonal decorations. However, if a garage is not clean and organized, it will never be fully utilized. Getting your garage in order, and then implementing a cleaning and organization action plan will prove beneficial.
Firstly, Have a Deep Clean
To kick off your efforts you need to have a deep clean. Getting rid of unwanted items, and decluttering will help you feel better. It will also allow you to see how much space you actually have to work with. When you are having a deep clean, you may well wish to give the walls a coat of protective paint to keep them looking (and smelling fresh). To make your deep clean easier try and sort out the contents of your garage into several more manageable piles. For instance, have a pile of items to donate, one to sell, and then another to keep.
Install New Low-Maintenance Flooring
After having a deep clean and starting the decluttering process, it is then time to install new flooring. Concrete flooring in garages can be hard to maintain and clean as it can attract dust and muck. Low-maintenance flooring such as rubber matting can make organizing and cleaning your garage a lot quicker and easier, as pads can be brushed and even mopped for speed. It is vital that you start looking at Garage flooring companies to establish what type of low-maintenance flooring you want and how much you will need to purchase. The sooner you start shopping around, then the sooner you can make a decision about what to purchase and why.
Install Functional Systems for Organizing
Once the floor is clean and more functional, you then have to focus on shelving and other racking systems for sorting and organizing. If your garage does not have systems in place for organizing and racking items you will find that you will quickly end up with piles of stuff again. Systems for organizing can allow you to use every space within your garage, and they can help you see (with ease) what you have, and what you can keep or get rid of. Without a system, in place, you will find that bad storing habits will once again creep in.
Use the Roof
If you have strong roof trusses in your garage, then why not use the roof for storage? From homemade pallet racking systems to suspended storage you have additional space to make use of. You will find that you can free up a lot of floor space or counter space by using the roof area. Having extra storage space in the roof area means that floors and counters are easier to have a clean and organized garage.