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Our garage was a cluttered mess and we wanted to work on de-cluttering the garage as a Father’s day gift for my husband!
organizing the garage
Four kids, two grown-ups and now a dog = a LOT of stuff.  Where does it all go?  Into the garage!  Bikes, sports equipment, winter clothes, my husband’s mustang (that would probably be safer outside of the garage, since the kids’ bikes are in there!)

Honestly- this was the best Father’s Day gift that he has ever had – a gift card to Sears with a note attached that said “GOOD FOR ONE GARAGE MAKEOVER!” Sears fathers day
We ended up making our garage organizing plan together, because the worst part of our garage (before the makeover) was that we will spend a full afternoon organizing it, but we never made a habit of putting things in a certain place, so it gets right back to disaster in no time.  Now we were going to have a place for everything.

So… how do you go about de-cluttering it?
1- Make a game plan.
Lay it out on a sheet of paper before you get started.   Where are you going to put your things?   My husband and I went online to Sears and we looked through all of their garage storage items.  We made a plan of what we would use.    He ordered a workbench that sits on drawers.  He ordered shelves and cabinets.   He even ordered a giant cabinet that locks to keep the kids out.   They had so much to pick from and this was his Father’s day gift from us – an organized garage!   What more could he want, right? (that sounds like a joke, but I’m pretty series!)

garage 3

2- You need to “declutter it” not just “organize it”
A clean garage looks like this: piles of things, the middle area cleared, stuff pushed to corners & walls.
An organized garage looks like this: A place for everything, surfaces clear, wall space being utilized.

We did this by We are doing this in three-days because I want you to break your garage into three zones: (Wall one, Wall two, Wall three). The open garage door doesn’t count, so we just have to worry about three. Each day follow these steps with one of the zones. You will have an organized garage in three days! Think about how great it will look and feel when you walk out there!

garage 5

3- What do you need?   Zone by Zone. 
We separated our garage into our zones and started to declutter and sort.   Sports (bikes, helmets, baseball gloves), tools (tools, extension cords, air compressor),  home (Christmas decor, baby clothes), car (pretty self explanatory here, but let me lay it out for you… my husband has a mustang that can never see the rush of traffic, never feel the drops of rain, never be brushed by the hand of a toddler… we could call it a car- or we could just call it his crazy ‘trophy’ that is way to hard to keep around when you have 4 kids under the age of 8.  Call it what you want~ Totally up to you.).
First we made three piles (like we did when we organized our kitchen cabinets):  Keep, donate, trash (you could have a SELL pile, too)

organizing the garage

4- Put up your “walls”.
Once we had our piles ready in the center of the garage, we started to assemble the walls of the garage.   My husband just started opening his new Sears items.    He assembled each piece (this took him about 3 days to complete all of it, but it is WELL WORTH IT.   Our garage looks a million times better!   He just picked it up at Sears & brought it home & got to work.   He said that it was really convenient to be able to order it online & pick it up at the store.   (Because he could make a plan on paper & then use the paper to just order online)
ps- he put up pegboard behind it to make it easier to hang things.  Its a cheap solution for hanging and organizing tools.

garage1

5- Organize your piles. Take your trash pile and either put it into the garbage can (if it will fit) or put it in your car to take to the dump the NEXT TIME THAT YOU ARE OUT (don’t let this just sit around!)  Put it in your car and either take it now or do it tomorrow.
Put your donate pile into your trunk to take to a charity or call a local charity to pick it up (Inspire Outreach picks up my donations).
When you are down to your third pile, start putting it into your new Sears storage cabinets and drawers.

garage 4

Step 6- Remember that if you get it out, put it back.  
This has to be your rule or you will be right back where you started.

Ps- you know that I love a good deal!
Here is one for you: 
deals

Hi there!

I’m Becky, a former elementary school teacher turned certified child development therapist and blogger. I work at home with my husband and together we are raising (and partially homeschooling) our four children in the Carolinas. I love diet coke, ice cream, and spending time with my family.

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