Organising the space in your garage or shed wisely

**Collaborative post**

If you’ve postponed cleaning your garage, now is a good time to do it. Cleaning and organising your garage or garden shed doesn’t have to be a long and difficult process. If you follow a few simple steps, you can easily transform your garage into a clean space with some excellent organisation that would also be easy to maintain over the years.

The biggest problem with garages/sheds is that they are used for storing all sorts of things, and as clutter builds up, it becomes harder and harder to keep that space clean. However with proper shelving and storage solutions, you can store all your extras such as the Christmas decorations, hoovers and larger items easily and tidily too, it just takes a little initial organisation – and if you use clear plastic storage boxes which are clearly labelled you will soon be able to locate your items when you need them without having to pull the whole place apart. 

Cleaning your storage area

The first step is always the hardest. In this case, you can’t move forward until you actually take everything out of the space. Don’t sort anything at this point, just take it all out in the garden. The space needs to be completely empty so that the cleaning process can be effective. In order to clean your garage, you have to make sure that there are no pests and then clean the walls and the floor.

Pest control is very important for hygiene, and garages & sheds, especially cluttered ones, are exposed to pests, particularly rats. Once you’ve removed everything and the space is clear, it’s time to get rid of possible pests. 

In the meantime, you can sort all the stuff you’ve taken out of the garage into three main piles. One would be for the things you want to keep, one for the things you want to throw away, and the last one would include things that you could donate. By doing this, you will already significantly reduce the clutter in your garage. Only keep what you really use and need, hire a skip if it makes it easier to sort out.

For the actual cleaning process, it’s advisable to wear protective gloves and even a face mask because you will be dealing not only with a lot of dust but with mould also. After you’ve taken everything out and gotten rid of rats and other pests, it’s time for a good vacuuming. Vacuum carefully and be careful not to miss any spider webs.

If you find areas with mould, use a mixture of water and oxygen bleach, then wipe them off with a brush. Make sure to protect your face while you are doing this. Use a different sponge and a regular cleaning solution to clean all the garage walls, then finish off with a clean sponge and plain hot water. This will get rid of any dirt and prevent the mould from spreading.

After vacuuming or sweeping the floor, check for any old stains and try to get rid of them with regular detergent. If you find any cracks, it’s good to seal them to prevent further damage, you could even lay some new vinyl garage flooring to make it even easier to sweep and keep tidy.  Lastly, don’t forget to clean and fix your garage door.

Organising your garage

Once you know which things you want to keep, you need to sort them into things that belong in the garage and the ones that don’t. Certain materials or substances should not be exposed to variations of temperature, for example, while other things attract rats or ants, therefore they should not be kept in the garage. 

The golden rule of organising is to keep the floor space as clear as possible and, instead, to use walls and cabinets for storage. Garage shelving is a perfect way to keep everything off of the floor as well as neat and tidy.  Piling up stuff on your garage floor will only make it look very messy, it makes it harder to find something when you need it, and it’s not hygienic. Therefore, take advantage of the walls and use shelves and cabinets, these ideally should be made of wood or metal materials to make them weatherproof and hard-wearing, metal is especially good for these spaces as can be easily cleaned down if needed.

Containers of all sorts, such as bins, trays, and boxes, are also essential for organising your garage. If you want to keep your garage organised from now on, things need to be categorised. Store them in bins according to the same category and place the bins on specific shelves. You can even use labels to make sure you will know where everything is.

Certain objects, such as gardening tools, can be mounted directly on the garage walls for better organising.