Mark your calendars, Sunday Sept 7th is National Clean Out Your Garage Day! The perfect start to the Fall. If the photo below makes you cringe and reminiscent of a garage you know, don’t worry, we are here to help. 
For most families, the garage’s primary purpose, a home for your car, naturally serves double-duty as a workshop, tool shed, storage for holiday décor, leftover paint, outgrown kids clothing, and a lot of stuff that you probably don’t or want to remember. Over half of you of you store dangerous equipment such as saws and powertools, flammable liquids, toxic cleaning supplies, and lawn care in your garage. Whereas it’s the “safest” place to store these items, it may not be safely stored in your garage. Let’s take this opportunity to remind you on some safety and organizational tips for your beloved garage. Here are three quick tips.
1. Proper Storage
Start by investing in a heavy-duty storage system in your garage that comes with sturdy shelves, lockable cabinets, and heavy duty hooks of multiple sizes or use slatwalls. Think vertical and maximize your storage space by building shelves up to the ceiling. Storing mementos, outgrown kids clothes and toys or items that are not accessed regularly can be stored on these shelves as it’s harder to reach and away from any potential water damage. Lockable cabinets are a place where you can store hazardous chemicals including paint thinner, bug killers, tools, or items pose risk to young children. Lastly, hooks and slatwalls are a great way to store brooms, rakes, bikes and skis. Check out your local hardware store for ideas, or call in the professionals to design your space. A great place to start is Garage Guru.
2. De-clutter and Donate
Before putting your items into place, think about the stuff. Do you really need it? How many rainy days have you been saving it for? Is it worth storing? Do I really need 8 bikes? If you haven’t thought of it for over a year, then chances you won’t miss it. Start fresh and de-clutter. Benefit others by donating your gently used items. DDA has a home-pick up service, all you do is pick up the phone and we will do the rest. Call 604 -273- 4DDDA, or find a donation bin in your neighbourhood on our website.
3. Categorize
Once you have determined what you need or like to keep, sort your items and categorize them according to coloured plastic bins. Invest in plastic bins that are durable, waterproof, and stackable. For example, clothing can be in the blue bins stored, and holiday decor can be in red. Label each bin (Christmas decor, Halloween decor, etc). It would save a lot of time in future when you are looking for something, and putting things back. Don’t have a label maker? It’s okay, just use plain paper, and cover the the entire area with clear packing tape. Treat your stuff in your garage like you would in your kitchen, give every bin a “home” that they return to.
Finally, we would like to wish you a happy national clean out your garage day. Happy Cleaning! Share your garage cleaning tips with us in the comments section!
