How to organize your garage in 3 steps (even though it’s not your space)

Instead of waiting until your husband has time to organize the garage you can manage it with 3 steps that you put on repeat until the job is done.

Here I share why you should organize the garage even if it’s not your space and how to make it happen.

WHY YOU SHOULD ORGANIZE THE GARAGE

When you dive into organizing someone else’s space, like the garage, they’ll be likely to come help out of fear that you’ll throw out all of their important stuff. 

You’ll feel proud that you tackled something so big and out of your element.

It will be easier to keep organized going forward and it’ll be something you can delegate to someone else… like your husband! Most of all, and I think this is the most important one, YOU will have a feeling of peace as soon as YOU drive into the garage.

HOW TO ORGANIZE THE GARAGE

Organizing the garage really is like any other space you organize. It is a much bigger space that has a lot of stuff spread all over and it doesn’t really have easily definable areas.

STEP 1 - BREAK IT DOWN

Breakdown the garage into bite size spaces. The key to finishing is starting strong and building momentum along the way. Garages usually have some type of logical breakdown by use. For our garage we have some storage, but mostly it’s where we park our cars and where the pets have their outside homes. Our cat, Patches, has a bed and his food up on a large storage shelf right next to the door to the house. He is messy! In thinking about this, his area could really just be an extension of the mud room going into the house. That’s something I’ll have to think about and make some changes to so his space gets cleaned more often. And by someone other than me!

OK, back to the task at hand. You’re organizing your garage, starting by breaking it down into bite size spaces. Start with a small space. Perhaps a shelf within a cabinet. Just pick one to get started. This isn’t a task of dissecting the entire garage. You pick your space as step one of three and then put them on repeat as you move through your garage. This works because you’re able to learn from what you are doing and deciding and move forward from there mimicking the things you’ve already done. This will become more clear as we talk through the next steps.

STEP 2 - SORT AND ORGANIZE

You’ve selected the space you’re going to tackle. Now you are going to sort and organize it. You are reviewing what is there. Obvious things that can go in the trash you’re going to throw away. I usually roll in the garbage dumpster from outside into the garage for ease of use and to reduce taking time to walk back and forth. Basically you’ll shift the things around on the shelf so that like items are grouped together, paints, insect killer, tools and such. Perhaps you have a tool chest. Move the tools to the tool chest. If there are spaces where things belong and they are in the garage, move them to where they belong. If they are outside of the garage start a ‘MOVE’ pile so that you don’t get interrupted or distracted by taking the item to where it belongs in the house. So, does that make sense? You’ve sorted through the things in the small space you started with, thrown garbage away, moved things to where they belonged and tidied up the shelf. That shelf is as it should be, right and now you can move onto the next small space, right? Wrong. There’s one more step in this process and it’s the one that will help you sustain the work you’re doing today.

STEP 3 - SUSTAIN

This is the step that is often missed in the organizing world. In order to stop the hamster wheel of home organizing where you organize the same spaces over and over again you have to document your expectations and what needs to happen in order to keep it the way it is or better! So, step 3 is SUSTAIN. Get out a notebook or use your phone to make note of what you want to see going forward. For example - you could label the shelf so that the things get put back in the right place. Don’t overcomplicate it. Use masking tape or something like that as a label. You’re expecting people to put things where they belong - including you! Next, if you want the space CLEANED regularly then you have to write down what needs to happen. If I go back to my cat and his space on the shelf, I’m expecting this area to be swept off and wiped down once a week. If that’s not on the chores list - which it’s not - it isn't’ going to get done or it’ll get done by me at some point but not weekly that’s for sure!

Did you know that when you dive into these steps, you’re really able to follow them throughout your home organizing journey? I share all of the details and support you along the way in my course Home Organizing for Beginners.

This is where you learn to create a solid foundation of home organizing.

One that you can build on over time as your seasons of life change. I can say that when kids shoes go from toddler sizes to adult sizes seemingly overnight, your storage method for their shoes needs to change.

Home Organizing for Beginners teaches you how to get started, get organized and ultimately stay organized.