How To Spring Clean Your Garage

This means that your garage shouldn’t be ignored as a space that deserves some love and attention. Some honest homeowners will even admit that their garages are so full they can no longer even park their cars in there. A simple spring clean of your garage could end up doing wonders for your home life, whether it’s by reclaiming your garage or reorganising it for greater efficiency.

While it may initially seem like a rather daunting task, spring cleaning your garage doesn’t need to be difficult. Following some key tips will get you well on your way to turning your garage into one of your favourite rooms.

Create some space for yourself

The first step when attempting a spring clean of your garage is to make some space for yourself. The best way to do this is usually to empty the contents of your garage onto your driveway. If you can’t manage this due to space or weather, then putting everything to one side is the next big thing. By creating some space, it gives you a somewhat blank canvas to work with, and provides some mental space so that you can rethink how to best organise and use your garage.

Start sorting

This is one of the most important steps and should never be rushed. Create categories in which to sort everything so that you can orderly plan how and where to store it all. For example, have a pile for tools, sporting goods and toys, old clothes, stationery and office stuff, gardening products, and so on. Work your way through the contents of your garage and allocate them to the relevant sorting pile. This way you’ll also get to know every single item that is in your garage, and throw away what’s not necessary.

Get cleaning

Once everything has found a pile, pull out the broom, mop, duster, and anything else you’ll need to get the garage looking spick and span again. Give it a good scrub and clean, as this is something you’ll rarely have the opportunity to do while the garage is fully empty. Clean the garage, breathe new life to it, and notice the difference. Also take this opportunity to repaint any sections, fix any roller doors, and do some general maintenance on anything else you may have been putting off.

Declutter

The buildup of clutter generally comes from not being prepared to make decisions on the spot. For example, that old hose and reel that never gets used anymore but you’re holding on to just in case you might want to use it in the future - get rid of it once and for all. Work your way through each pile and be brutally honest and tough with each decision. It’s important to be realistic here, asking yourself when you last used something. If it’s been over six months, chances are you’re just not going to use it again. By decluttering at this stage rather than later on, you’ll be well on your way to a clean and clutter-free garage!

Purge with purpose

As you declutter and find things that are just taking up unnecessary space, the hard part is finally purging them. Industrial rubbish bags are one of the greatest inventions out there, and it’s vital that you use them. Start filling them up with things that need to be thrown out. You might also wish to have an extra bag for things that can be donated or sold, still in usable condition. The feeling of purging unused items will be tough but liberating, and this is when everything starts to become real. You’re now well on your way to spring cleaning your garage.

Plan your space

Now that your garage is clean and you can see your separate categorised piles - now only consisting of necessary items - you can take a step back and look at your garage as a clean slate. Think about storage options for each category (refer to our previous blog post on organisation hacks for ideas). Use this as an opportunity to properly plan out your garage space, keeping frequently used items at the front, and stacking everything else up high and out of the way.

Move back in

This is the fun part. It’s now time to put everything - neatly - back into the garage, now that you have a purpose and plan. The satisfaction that will come from looking at your new garage is truly worth the hard work you’ve put in so far. If you did everything (including the purge) correctly, you should immediately notice how much better and bigger your garage looks, and how efficient the use of space has become.

With these simple steps, you can reclaim your garage and take the opportunity to spruce it up. By splitting up a potentially daunting task into structured steps, spring cleaning your garage is simply a matter of choosing a day and getting it done. Now that the hard work is done, ensure that you maintain the garage space by keeping it tidy, putting things back where they belong, and resisting the temptation to hoard new things. Check out our blog post on organisation hacks to best keep your items organised.