When out showing homes I am amazed at the condition of some garages. Garages tend to get crowded with junk, with little to no room for cars. Somehow, we’ve turned a garage’s original purpose of temporary car storage into permanent junk storage, storing all kinds of stuff inside, including things we don't use anymore or no longer need!
Here are a few ideas to help free your garage of junk and win the clutter battle.
Pick and Choose
Start going through everything that is in your garage, putting everything into one of three categories:
1. stuff you must keep,
2. things you can throw out and
3. items you can sell.
Purchase plastic tubs to store the things you want to keep and plan on disposing of everything else.
Garage Sale
Everything that you plan to sell should be reserved for a garage sale. Clearing out your garage is step one so you will have room in the garage to have your sale!
After the sale, avoid putting anything back in the garage that remained unsold. Contact charities that would be willing to take your stuff and either drop everything off or schedule a pickup. Get a receipt for your donation and put in your file for your this year’s tax return that you’ll be filing next year.
Toss It
Not everything in your garage can be sold or donated. A broken item should be trashed, but if that item is particularly large or odd-sized, then your regular trash pickup may not take it.
Some communities will pick up your outsized trash and dispose it for a fee. Contact your city Department of Public Works and learn how your item(s) can be removed. You may need to put it at the curb the day before its scheduled pickup.
Clean and Organize
With your garage now free of clutter, you’ll need to put everything else in its place. Garage organizers such as shelves are a good start. If you are storing bicycles, consider a lift hoist to move your bikes up and out of the way. Peg boards, tool towers and storage bins can help free up space too.
Sweep or blow out the garage, removing all debris. If you have a concrete floor, consider power washing the concrete to restore to your garage’s floor original condition.
Remember a Buyer will want to have enough room for a car to fit inside the garage or perhaps convert the garage into a living space so being clutter free will help the Buyer envision the garage space!
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