Garage Organizing- Step 1: Identify Uses
The first thing to do when organizing your garage, or any space for that matter, is to decide what you want to use the space for. This might depend on how large the space is. If you have room for 3 cars, but only have 2 cars, of course you will want to use that extra space for something.
The garage used to be the place to park your car, but more and more frequently, the car is being parked in the driveway and the garage has just essentially become another room of the house. They are turned into playrooms, entertainment rooms, exercise rooms, or just a place for storage. Some people use their garage for a hybrid of uses – parking their car, storage and a kids craft area for instance.
However you use your garage, you do want it to be functional and not just a catch-all area for stuff you can’t decide what to do with or will never actually use. All too often, it becomes a mess of old furniture, boxes of who know’s what, children’s toys, and extra supplies. The trouble with that is, if it is such a mess, or has so much stuff in it, the useful things get overshadowed and forgotten.
Typical uses:
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Parking your car
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Storing seasonal decorations
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Storing gardening supplies
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Storing household repair items and tools
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Archiving files
Items to avoid storing outside:
- Vinyl records
- Video cassette tapes
- Other electronic media
- Photos
- Clothes
- Bedding
- Wine
Anything that will be affected by damp or large temperature changes really should be stored in the house.