Today, please welcome my newest guest blogger, Joan Concilio. I first met Joan when she became a frequent commenter here on Virtually Organized. Her efforts even won her a $50 gift certificate to the Container Store when I held my site warming contest last January! Turns out, Joan and I both live right here in York, Pennsylvania! In addition to working for The York Daily Record as the Editor of inyork.com, the Weekly Record and Your News, Joan also runs the Only in York County blog, where she’s been known to include tales of her own organizational prowess. Today Joan shares with us her ideas on organizing your garage . . . 

Winter will soon be here. Think about it: Mornings of ice scrapers, defrosters, cold hands, and the inevitable “Well, I cleared about 6 inches off the windshield. I’ll just slide down in my seat and look through that little space because I don’t have time to wait for the rest of it to clear!”
 
For those who are lucky enough to have a garage, why not make this the year that you actually put your car inside and avoid all that, at least on the coldest and snowiest of nights?
 
Please note that while I’m describing garage organization, the same techniques can be applied to outdoor storage sheds, basements, or any other area where you tend to accumulate lawn and garden items, tools, paint and more.
 
 Like any other organizing project, there are three basic steps.
 
 1. Declutter and clean
Our family’s recent garage makeover began when we decided to epoxy-coat the floor. I can’t say enough about how great this process is if you have pets or very dirty things coming into and out of the garage — spills or messes wipe right up, and don’t sink in and stain your concrete. Ours was done by a local handyman, but you can buy do-it-yourself kits at local home-improvement stores.
 
I mention this because we were forced into our own “Clean Sweep” when we decided to use epoxy. Everything had to get OUT of the garage for 24 to 48 hours in order for the epoxy to set. And knowing that my garage’s contents were going to be sitting in my driveway was GREAT motivation to get rid of as much as possible!
 
You can use the same strategy even if you’re not redoing the floor of your garage. As the garage is a place that often collects real dirt — sometimes in the form of cobwebs or gardening debris — the first step to your project will be to get rid of anything you don’t need, to remove the rest from the room temporarily, and to give it a thorough cleaning. Wipe down any shelves; clean the floor and walls, and so on. You don’t want to put your things back neatly on top of three years’ worth of dust!
 
When deciding what to get rid of, stay in touch with your municipal office and with your trash company. In many areas, for example, latex paint can now be thrown away with regular trash. In others, though, it must be taken to a hazardous-waste collection. A quick call will help you make sure you’re getting rid of things like paint, old tires, construction debris and yard waste properly.
 
 2. Sort
 A garage, like any other space, has to have “a place for everything.” As you decluttered, you probably noticed certain categories of items you wanted to keep. In our garage, we have the following storage needs:

 A. Our tools
 B. Our extra drinks and paper products (because the garage is right off the kitchen and has a spare fridge)
 C. The cats’ litter and food area
 D. Gardening supplies (potting soil, flower pots)
 E. Home-improvement supplies/paint
 F. Outdoor supplies (tents, coolers, air mattresses)
 G. Large tools (shovels, mowers)
 H. Trash cans and recycling bin
 I. Extra kitchen small appliances (bread maker, etc.)
 
When you’ve got all the items out of your garage, perhaps sitting in your driveway, you can do a quick sort and keep like items together.
 
If you come up with a set of items that just don’t seem “right” for the garage, consider other locations. For instance, while doing our big garage makeover, we found a lot of sporting equipment that really wasn’t being used because it was too hard for my daughter to access. Instead of putting those items back in the garage, we bought a large, sealed deck box and put them there.
 
Once you’ve ruled out what doesn’t need to go back in, determining the purposes of your garage will guide you in the last step of the project.
 
 3. Replace items
 We’re very lucky, because the two-car garage in our home came with a lot of built-in shelving. If you’re not so lucky, consider the use of inexpensive boxes or shelving units, at least to get yourself started. One word of warning – don’t use cardboard boxes sitting directly on the floor. Should you get water in the garage, it would be disastrous!
 
Like any other room, consider what you use most often when reorganizing. Don’t put the extra paper towels back in the corner on a top shelf that only one person can reach. And don’t put the air mattress that comes out once a year right by the door.
 
If your goal is truly to be able to park a car in the garage, of course it makes sense to arrange your items accordingly. You might even want to pull your car into the garage before you put its contents back; it’s easy to stand in a wide-open garage and think, “Sure, there’s plenty of room in here,” only to find that, once you put a huge vehicle in that space, you can only open the doors on your passenger side!
 
 
Finally, to keep the garage looking its best, consider some easy routines in the future to keep dirt out. For instance, hose off your mower before returning it to the garage. Wash your shovel after repotting plants. Sweep or vacuum the floor and pull down any cobwebs every week or two as part of your regular cleaning. If you treat your garage with the same care you give other living areas, it can become a valuable extra room in your home instead of a “junk graveyard!”
 

Thanks so much for sharing, Joan! To check out more, be sure to visit Only in York!

Related posts:

1. Making the Most of Your Laundry Room
2. School’s Out . . . NOW What? Organizing for Summer
3. It’s National Clean Off Your Desk Day!
4. Maintaining an Organized Life