Before you quickly shut the proverbial garage door on the clutter (don’t worry, we’re all guilty!) now could be the perfect time to address the accumulating piles of mess that just won’t disappear. You just have to know where to start.
Cleaning and de-cluttering the garage is an easier task to tackle than you think Picture: Ross Campbell
Here’s Chelsea’s simple strategy on how to declutter, clean and organise your garage space in a few easy steps.
1. Set aside the time
Depending on the scale of clean-up necessary this task may take a number of hours or a couple of days. Consider setting aside working blocks of around three or four hours at a time so you don’t lose motivation.
Don’t forget, it always helps to get your other family members involved, especially when it’s their clutter. These times can serve as important lessons for kids in reducing waste, recycling and generally being responsible for what we bring into the house.
2. Planning
Ask yourself how you want the space to look and feel and be realistic. If you need to install storage or extra cupboards be sure to work within your budget.
Think in zones and consider realistically what will fit in the available space. How much space is required for each zone, i.e. car park, workshop or storage area?
If you know that you are going to be throwing away a lot of junk, consider hiring a skip bin or pre-booking a hard rubbish collection through the council.
Planning how you want the space to work is an important first step. Picture: Ross Campbell
3. Declutter
Using the four boxes method, start by sorting each item into categories. These should be something like: ‘Keep’, ‘Sell’, ‘Donate’ and ‘Throw’.
Sort everything into groups, for example, store all your tools or camping gear together.
Start by removing everything you don’t need anymore. Picture: Ross Campbell
4. Cleaning
Be sure to clean as you go. Trust us it’s easier to take the opportunity to clean your space as you go. By breaking it down into more manageable chunks it won’t seem like such a big task.
Clean each item before putting it back into storage. Picture: Ross Campbell
Try using eco-friendly products when cleaning, like the ecostore Multi-purpose Cleaner, which is great to remove grime and dust build-up.
A good multi-purpose cleaner will keep your items from getting grimy. Picture: Ross Campbell
5. Storage
Start packing these items away into smaller boxes, tubs, bins or whatever you have decided will work best for your space.
Label each of your containers to make life easier when you are looking for something specific.
Store like items together in their own box that’s easy to access when needed. Picture: Ross Campbell