Week 8 - Organizing the Garage

Week EIGHT!! We made it to the very end.  I hope I still have at least SOME of you with me! How did you do on your total home organization over the past eight weeks?  This week we are ending with organizing the garage.   I did most of the work in my garage last fall when the weather was a little better.   We were preparing for a garage sale at the time so there were huge piles of junk in the garage.  But you can also see how the storage we had at the time was really not working for us at all.

After lots and lots of measuring and researching, I decided to order three sets of these shelving units made by Sterilite.  I ordered them from Wal-Mart - a great way to get something large and bulky delivered for free without the hassle of trying to fit it all in your car to bring home from the store.   I do think a disclaimer is in order here - all the junk sitting on hubby's side of the garage was just placed there for a yard sale we were about to have.   We sold almost every bit of it - and what didn't go went away on the donation truck I had scheduled to come pick everything up the following Monday.  The white bags that look like trash are just old clothes and shoes and stuff for donation that I wasn't going to bother to try and sell at the yard sale. 

 And now the AFTER PICTURE!!!!

 TA-DAAAA!!!  Sooo much better.

 I also ordered this set of drawers from the same line as the shelving units.  In here we keep all the snow boots, sporting shoes, etc that are too bulky for the mudroom. I LOVE THIS!! It's been great to keep all the clutter off the floor.   We had a different system for recycling before - but now we don't have to sort it, it can all go out together, so these blue bins right by the door make it easy just to toss the recycle in.  Also - having a regular trash can in the garage has been the KEY to keeping a clean car.  I always make the kids take their trash out right away, and with the trash right there, it's easy.

 The girls wear these boots quite a bit, to the horse barn, or just to play outside when it's wet, or to go wading in the creek in the woods out back, more so lately for the snow - so I left them on top for easy access.

 Here's a little bit of crazy for ya' - my husbands tools used to live on the floor of my linen closet.  That's right - crazy!! In what world does that make any sense at all?  After spending several hours sorting out and organizing all his tools they now have a happy little home in the garage - where they BELONG! After seeing pounds and pounds of screws, nails and such all loose in the bottom on the box they used to be in, I ran to Home Depot and picked up this organizer for only $14.99.  Sorting all that stuff was probably the most tedious part of this whole job.

 I love how it's all behind closed doors and now looks so neat and clean.

The other cabinets are for kids toys and sporting goods, and one is for lawn care and yard maintenance.

I love this umbrella hanger that I found at Homegoods.  Well, I guess you could hang anything on it, but I was looking for something for umbrellas just outside the garage door - and this was perfect for the four of us.  College girl doesn't get a hook :)  Plus, I think it just looks pretty.

 Phase two of the garage makeover/organization will include painting the floor, the entrance door and the steps - I'm thinking of "Naval" by Sherwin Williams for the door, which is a light-ish navy blue.  Adding a little white "Welcome" decal will be the perfect touch - which I already have waiting.  That will have to wait until warmer weather though - which I'm convinced will never arrive.  I know it's only February, but I am SO READY FOR SPRING!! Can you tell by the wreath that I stubbornly hung on the door in the middle of winter?  Southern girls have to do whatever they can to survive mid-Atlantic east coast winters. 

 One more look at the organized clean garage! 

Happy Organizing! 

Follow me on Instagram here and post your pictures using the hashtag #organizeeverything - You can follow along and catch up on all the organizing in the links below.  It's not too late to get started! 

MAIN LIVING AREAS - WEEK ONE 

Creating and Organizing A Mudroom 

Organizing Main Living Areas

Storing Christmas Decorations

How to Keep Your House Clean Everyday

 THE KITCHEN - WEEK TWO 

Organizing The Kitchen
Three Steps to Organize Your Pantry

 THE BEDROOM AND CLOSET - WEEK THREE

Organizing the Bedroom and Closet

A Simple Sock Organization

THE BATHROOM - WEEK FOUR

Organizing the Bathroom

KIDS ROOMS - WEEK FIVE

Cleaning and Organizing Kid's Rooms
Toy Organization 

Organizing American Girl Dolls
Craft Desk Organization

LINEN CLOSETS - WEEK SIX

Organizing the Linen Closet 

LAUNDRY ROOM - WEEK SEVEN

Organizing the Laundry Room