It’s finally Spring – and now is the best time of year to (finally!) tackle a home organization project many families love putting off: cleaning out and organizing your garage.

Luckily, with a simple-to-follow strategy in place, it can be easy to get your garage looking beautiful in just one weekend. Here at Modular Closets we love helping homeowners find the solutions that help make cleaning and organization easy, so that you can have the beautiful home you’ve always wanted – garage included.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to help you finally clean and organize your garage:

1. Remove everything (yes, everything!) from your garage

Your first step is to take everything out of the garage. We recommend parking your vehicle on the street if possible so that you can use your driveway as a space to sort through everything else you take out of the garage.

Once the garage is empty, now is your opportunity to clean the walls, floor, and any windows. You may even want to do a power wash for a deep clean and a paint job for a fresh new look.

2. What should go back in your garage

Everyone’s garage needs will be different, but generally speaking you will want to keep those items that you will actually use. This may include:
• Gardening and home improvement tools that get frequent use.
• Patio furniture for the warm weather months.
• Equipment for any sports you play each year.
• Bicycles and other outdoor toys that can be passed down to younger children as they grow.

3. What you should probably toss or donate

If you haven’t used an item in the past year and have no definite plans to use it in the foreseeable future, then it’s probably time to get rid of it. It’s also a good idea to get rid of anything that’s broken or expired. This may include:
• Any tool or piece of equipment that “you keep meaning to repair,” but haven’t actually repaired or used for months or maybe even years now.
• Expired food or gardening matter.
• Supplies that you’ve been thinking of turning into a “fun project,” but instead they’ve just been taking up space in the garage.
• Patio furniture that is broken or warped from long-time use and/or extreme weather conditions.

4. What should NEVER go in a garage

Many people keep items in their garages that actually shouldn’t be stored there. Make sure none of these end up in your garage:
• Paint or other chemicals, which should be kept in a space where temperatures are controlled.
• Leather and paper goods, which can be ruined by moisture.
• Any food that can attract insects, mice, or other unwanted pests.

5. Time to get organized!

Now that you know what you’re keeping and putting back in your garage, it’s time to come up with an organizational plan.

One pro tip for keeping your garage clean with plenty of room for your vehicle is: keep your belongings of the ground.

A system of shelves combined with hooks and bins can make it easy to store all your belongings in a way that keeps everything organized and easy to find.

If you’re interested in a quality custom storage solution for your garage, check out our affordable closet systems at Modular Closets. We even offer a free closet design, click here!