Our garage is like our front door. We park in the driveway, open the garage door and walk through it to get into our home. We do this everyday and every time I walk through it I get anxiety because of the mess and clutter that we’ve accumulated. After watching the documentary “Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things“, I was convicted that I was holding onto things that didn’t matter. These things have piled up in our garage and literally have become a trigger for anxiety. Last week I had two student athlete movers from Meathead Movers (Carlos and Anthony) help me rearrange and organize our garage. I was slightly embarrassed to open this mess up to the movers and a little overwhelmed to start a project of this size, but Carlos calmed me down immediately. He explained the process and laid out a plan for how we would tackle the job. In 4 hours we accomplished more than I could in a full weekend of balancing life, kids, and weekend projects. We now have a play area for the boys and access to all our storage bins and fun stuff like bikes, surfboards, and Christmas decorations! Here are some steps to take to organize your own garage or storage space.
- Hire help like Meathead Movers and separate piles of items to keep, donate and store.
- Plan out sections of your garage for play, storage, and work areas. Focus on these areas one at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.
- Hide eyes sores and ugly storage bins with a curtain.
- When storing items that are in site, like laundry detergent and car washing equipment, use decorative bins to create a cohesive and stylish look.
- Hang up gardening tools, bikes, strollers, surfboards or other equipment to save space.
It’s important to donate and purge items on a regular basis to keep from accumulating clutter. I’m learning that I don’t having to hold onto everything to be happy. The opposite is true, when you let go of unused items you create space for more in your life. The more I eliminate unnecessary items that take up space the better and lighter I feel walking into my home. Here are some before and after photos from our garage makeover.
Before:
During:
After:
