Four Tips to Regain Control of Your Out of Control Garage

It is many a household that faces an out of control garage. Hobbies that require big pieces of equipment, unfinished projects, gardening and yard-work tools, automotive paraphernalia and the general flotsam and jetsam of life can quickly build up. If left unattended an out of control garage can even lose its original purpose as protected parking. Here are some tips for taking back and preventing an out of control garage.

1) A place for everything and everything in its place. If the secondary purpose of your garage is to store stuff then you need to deliberately decide what and where it will be stored. Want to keep your rakes and shovels in the garage? Fine, hang hooks specifically for the tools you have and keep them there.

2) Never use the garage for "temporary" storage. If you ever find yourself placing something in your garage "for now" stop. Ask yourself where this thing should be permanently stored. If the answer is indeed in the garage then find the right place and make that spot its home. Otherwise take it where it belongs. All too often temporary storage becomes permanent and you have given up that much space almost by accident.

3) When cleaning or organizing your garage ask yourself of each item: have I used this at any time during the past five years? This is an adaptation of the one-year rule of indoors closets. Sometimes the tools we store in our garages are only used seasonally or less so one year is a little too demanding but if you have not used something in your garage for five years or more chances are you do not need to waste the space storing it.

4) Contain small or loose items. One of the biggest causes of clutter is, well, clutter. Little items like hand tools, flower gardening tools, and children's toys can quickly pile up and get in the way of even the most organized garage. Get plastic tubs or install shelving for these items.

The key to an organized garage is to decide on a plan and stick to it. Make sure that your family understands your organization and that you have left them plenty of room for their stuff. Working together you can take back control of your out of control garage.

Ray Eddings is a freelance writer. This article was written on behalf of TheBasketBallbin.com. For more information about these innovative plastic storage boxes and sports equipment please visit http://thebasketballbin.com.