Most people equate getting ready for spring by getting their yard all cleaned up from the aftermath of the harsh winter months, but your garage can really have a toll taken on it in the winter as well. The biggest thing to do for your garage is to get it organized now that the hustle of the holidays is long over and you are hoping for some warmer days ahead. Here are some tips for spring cleaning your garage.
Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Garage
First of all, you will need to figure out what needs to stay and what needs to go. This is a good time to decide if you have enough stuff to do a yard sale or not. Plant to spend an entire day going through storage and boxes in your garage in order to get more organized.
Go through drawers if you have them. Make sure to round up small pieces like drill bits, nails, screws and staples and put them into separate small containers. Pasta jars work great for this, as do baby food jars if you have them.
Consider painting any cupboards you have with chalkboard paint. This is a great way to get organized in your home, too. You can put important reminders you will need to see as you leave your home.
After going through all your items in storage, make sure to label each box with it's contents. This way, when you go through the boxes again, you will have a better idea of what you are looking at and the job won't take as long next time. If you need shelving to place your box and other items on, you can build garage shelves with this tutorial.
If you keep an extra freezer in your garage, now is the time to clean it out and go through it. Throw out any stale or freezer burnt food. If you hunt and have leftover game meat you won't use, look on craigslist for someone who wants it. Many people will take it off your hands (some will even buy it) to feed to their dogs even if it is freezer burnt.
Put away winter gear. Make sure everything is in good repair, but as soon as you won't be needing it any more in favor of warmer weather, put away any winter gear in a place that won't be in the way for the rest of the warm season. Get creative and hang things!
“A place for everything and everything in it's place”. When the warm weather hits, you don't want to be fumbling around looking for your favorite gardening tools, so this is the time to dedicate spaces for everything. Labels are a must as are storage containers. Make sure like items are paired together.
Throw out anything that is old or past it's prime. Go through all of your paint, weed killers, any car liquids and so on and properly dispose of them if they are too old to be used. Check with your local area on how to properly get rid of these items and never throw them down the drain.
Finally, look at your floor. It has probably taken a beating from rock salt on the icy winter roads as well as all the grime from the year. Now is the time to start fresh by cleaning up any oil spills, sweeping up any messes and getting your final touches done so you can start the new season off with a sense of renewal!
What is your first order of business when it comes to tackling your garage? Tell me about it in the comments!
Ellen Delap says
Love the chalk paint idea for the doors!
Tatyana says
Oh, the garage organization… It never ends! We use lots of shelving and hooks and (maybe sadly) turned our garage into an extended mud room. The cars don’t come there.