What to Purge in Your Messy Garage

Has your garage become a messy “graveyard” of broken toys, spillover from the kitchen pantry and dozens of half-finished craft projects you can’t seem to find the time for?

Treating your garage like a catchall is not the best way to use this important space; you will have difficulty finding what you need and there won’t be enough space to protect important large possessions such as your cars, garden equipment and home tools.

That’s why it’s time to clean and organize your garage! The first order of business is understanding which items should be stored there and which items should be stored elsewhere or purged

Once you’ve done this, you’ll have a better idea of how much garage storage cabinetry, slatwalls and shelving you’ll need to put everything in its place.

What to keep and what should go:

What to Store

• Car

• Car maintenance supplies

• Tools and workbenches

• Gardening tools

• Bikes

• Sporting equipment

• Holiday decorations

• Camping and beach equipment

• Trash cans and recycling bins

• Off-season outdoor furniture

• Snow removal equipment

Use these categories as a guide to create “zones” in your garage. Once you begin the cleaning and organizing process group related items together then decide what area in the garage would be the best place, or zone, for them.

What to Remove

• Extra clothes and bedding

• Broken items

• Valuables (includes personal mementos, photos, letters, etc. that are best kept in a climate-controlled environment)

• Books

• Files and papers

• Furniture with indoor upholstery

• Unfinished craft projects

• Perishable food

• Paint (can degrade in extreme temperatures)