Improve Your Garage Organization in Preparation for the Holidays

Take Inventory and Purge

Any time you’re trying to improve your garage organization – or really, the organization system in any space – one of the first things you should do is take inventory of what you have and figure out what you can eliminate. You should do this first because any further organization you do is going to be much easier if you get unnecessary items out of the way.

One thing that you can probably count on is that over the holiday season, you’ll add to the number of items that will be stored in the garage. You’ll pick up new holiday decorations that will need to be stored with the old ones at the end of the season. You may get gifts like toolboxes or sports equipment that will naturally be stored in the garage. You may get gifts that you don’t want that can be stored away for future re-gifting. There are many reasons you might gain more garage items during the holiday season. Look around at what you have, decide what can be thrown away or given away, and take care of that first.

Add Shelves and Cabinets

If your floor and surfaces spaces are still cluttered, you may need more storage space. Adding shelves and garage cabinets is a simple way to achieve this.

Garage cabinets make a great place to store some holiday presents or surprises, as long as they’re safe in garage temperatures. You can even add a lock on the door to keep your holiday secrets more secure. If you’re planning to use the garage as a gathering place, you need to get rid of floor and surface clutter; additional shelves let you move things out of the way but leave them easily accessible later.

Use Walls and Ceilings

There isn’t always a lot of extra space in the garage for storage, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to make the most of what you have. Your empty walls and your garage ceilings are both potential storage spaces, and if you’re not using them, you should. A garage wall organizer made of Slatwall racks allows you to attach all different kinds of holders, baskets, racks, and hooks, so you can store a wide variety of things on the wall. This is perfect if you’re trying to get the tools and lawn equipment cleaned up so that you can stage a winter tableau inside your garage with your decorations.

Overhead storage racks put your ceilings to work as functional storage space. This is a good way for you to store your holiday decorations when they’re not in use. If you’re just putting up overhead storage racks now, you can put your decorations up there when the current holiday is over, and you won’t have to think about them for another year. 

Choose the Right Bins

Plastic bins are the perfect choice for a lot of items, including most holiday decorations. It’s important to choose the right ones for your storage needs. Some people like to use clear bins so that it’s always easy to tell which items are in which bins. On the other hand, some types of items, like fake snow on artificial wreaths and trees, can turn yellow when exposed to too much light for too long. Other items will fade. It may be better to choose solid color bins for that reason. Just label them so you don’t grab the wrong one.

Another thing to keep in mind is the weight of the items you’re storing. As The Spruce explains, people forget how heavy an empty plastic container can become once you fill it, so it’s important to keep the fill weight of the container in mind. That means choosing bins only as large as you can easily move and carry when filled with a particular item. Keep this in mind when storing your holiday decorations.

Conclusion

The garage plays an important role in your holiday plans whether it’s just as storage or you’re putting it to other work. Either way, make sure that your garage is ready with the right organization plan.

Source

https://www.thespruce.com/before-you-buy-plastic-storage-containers-1900775