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Cleaning Out and Organizing the
Garage
by Martha Matthews
The garage is a great place to put things that just don't belong in the
house. It's the place that we store bicycles, the kiddie pool, gardening
supplies, tools, sports equipment, the lawn mower and of course the car.
Sometimes, though, the garage becomes a dumping ground for things we
don't know what to do with. We tend to stash things there thinking that
we will eventually find a good place for them. The sad thing is that
unless the garage is organized, once something ends up there, it tends
to stay there, never to be seen again. Many time there is so much stuff
in the garage that we have to park our car on the street. If this is how
your garage looks, it's time to grab a broom and follow these easy steps
to cleaning and organizing your garage.
SUPPLIES
Garbage bags for garbage, several boxes for "give away" items and a
broom.
STEPS
1. Remove everything that is on the floor (including the car).
2. Sweep out the garage. Don't forget to clean any cob webs from the
windows.
3. Next, sort through everything. As you go through each item, decide if
you need to throw it away, give it away or store it.
If it is broken, worn out, used up or useless, toss it in a garbage bag.
If it is a "give away" item put it in a box. One way to decide whether
you need to keep something is to ask yourself if you used it at least
once last year. If you didn't, give it a new home. Don't be sentimental.
Only keep what you are really going to use. Note: Emergency items such
as jumper cables don't apply to this rule.
If you are storing items to be reused at a later date such as baby
clothes, then you might want to consider relocating them to an indoor
location that is dry, such as the attic.
Put all the items you want to keep in a separate area of the garage.
When you are finished with this step, put the "give away" items in your
car to be take to the nearest donation center. Put the garbage bags in
the trash.
5. Getting Organized. This is the part where you put everything back.
The only difference is that this time you will be organizing the garage
into functional sections.
Organize like items into the following zones:
ZONES
Gardening and Paint
Make sure that children do not have access to weed killers, pesticides
and other toxic chemicals locking them up or storing them up high.
Discard any old paint, pesticides, and fertilizers. Call your refuse
company or county for locations that take paint and other toxic
materials.
Store small gardening tools on peg boards.
Store potting soil in a five-gallon plastic bucket with a lid.
Store pots, grouped by size on shelves.
Fill a large plastic garbage can 1/3 full with sand mixed with one quart
of clean car oil. Place the metal end of your shovel, hoe and pitch fork
in this container. The oil will keep them from rusting. Keep a wire
brush nearby for cleaning off stubborn dirt.
Secure the lids to paint cans then store them upside down to prevent the
paint from drying out. Clearly label them with the color name and a dab
of the paint color.
Tools
Hang up as many tools as possible on a peg board. The more you get off
the floor the more room you will have.
If you have a work bench but not enough space to hold tools, consider
mounting your tools on a peg board just above you work bench. You can
also install a shelf above your work bench to hold drills, and other
small equipment. To store very small items try nailing the lids to jars
under the shelf and screwing the jars into the lids. These make great
places to store nails, screws, nut, bolts, washers, tacks, and staples.
Wall mounted paper towel holders are a great way to store rolls of tape.
Just place your tape on the dowel and put the dowel into the holder .
Place car care items and miscellaneous items on shelves in clearly
labeled boxes or bins.
Equipment
This area is where you store your lawn mower, weed trimmer, hand tiller
and other pieces of equipment. Use peg boards with heavy duty hooks and
bike racks to hang smaller equipment and ladders.
Sports Equipment
Store skis, golf clubs, and other tall pieces of equipment in a tall
plastic trash container or hang horizontally on the wall.
Put balls in a mesh bag and hang on the wall.
Some tips for sprucing up your garage
1. If you have the room and the funds, purchase a utility shelving unit.
2. Consider painting your garage floor with garage floor paint for an
easy to clean surface. Additives are available that prevent the surface
from being slippery when wet.
About the author
Martha Matthews is a wife, mother, home manager and the Executive
Director of Christian-Homemaking.com,
a web site with resources devoted to helping Christian Homemakers Manage
their home. She also has a popular free monthly newsletter for Christian
Homemakers called The Christian Homemaking Newsletter. To subscribe visit
www.christian-homemaking.com/newsletter.html
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