Garage organization plan

 Methods that get results

 turn this neglected space into usable, organized storage

Having a plan before investing money in any garage organization products is imperative. Garage storage equipment is becoming increasingly more expensive, and you need to be certain that what need what you are buying.

Without a plan you'll likley never fit all the items that need to be stored let alone any possibility of the family vehicle.

Modern day garages are used for a wide range of different purposes. Any organization effort starts with drawing up a plan before deciding on what to store, where, and in what. There is a wide variety of storage and garage organizing equipment on the market and you could waste good money shopping for these items without a plan to work from, and some idea of what you want to store where.

The easiest way to draw up a plan is not necessarily with pencil and paper, but with a stick of chalk. Measure the dimensions of your car, and mark that area down on the floor. Now measure out how much space you want around it, and everything outside that chalk line is usable space.

Now comes the paper and pencil. Write down a list of everything that you think you want to store in the garage. Note those items that could fit into cupboards or organizers, and those such as bicycles and skis that will fit best overhead. Chalk out areas for items that have to sit on the floor, such as a freezer and worktable. Note any available space under benches, tables or shelves that will be available for storage. You will then be able to see what floor space is left for your organizer tubs and containers.

Many garages have some rafter space which should not be overlooked. Taken to the ultimate, you can secure plywood sheets to the tops of the rafters to make a floor. A well organized rafter space can include crawl space a to reach and move the boxes you're looking for. You could even build in a fold away / fold down ladder leading to the crawl space - wouldn't that make fetching and storing seasonal decorations a breeze.

If you have a workbench in your garage you'll want to leverage this space to its fullest advantage for the necessary tools and materials you most often use - a pegboard or shadow board for tools gets these things out of the way, and makes use of wall space if it's available. Some bicycle racks might also free up a great deal of floor space.

While drawing up your plan you should bear in mind that garage organization products have improved a lot recently. There are many options available that will make the best use of every inch of space you have available in every corner of your garage.

If you plan properly, you should ultimately have a garage organization plan that will meet all of your needs without you overspending on needless equipment that seemed a good idea at the time. Thankfully, there are some excellent and inexpensive garage organization books available that are able to cover this subject in far greater detail than an article.