I have a few rules for garage organization. In my case, it can only store things that don’t need temperature control, items that are used outside, or materials for the main structure of the house.
Additionally, tools that I need seasonal access to for yard work or clearing snow are critical to have easily accessible to doorways, and yet I need even easier access around my car. I also store my bicycle in the garage as there isn’t a practical way to store it indoors.
I have found the beginning of fall to be a great time to reorganize the garage and before my bug treatment is best so I have easier access to the walls.
Zoning:
Zoning is a great way to handle a garage and many people will overlook it as it often doesn’t allow you to maximize the space because of the size of certain tools stored such as lawn mowers. There may only be one place you could keep an item. For me, this is the snowblower. Maybe there is a way to hang it, and it is light, but this especially isn’t practical during the season when I use it often.
My garage zones:
- Home repair supplies
- Cleaning supplies/Ladder
- Lawn and garden implements
- Bicycle/sports
- Snow removal/deicer/ice scrapers/snow shovel
None of these categories include seeds or chemicals as my garage is detached and not well sealed. In fact, the bottom edge appears to have been eaten by mice and slapped vinyl siding over. The concrete pulls water up and into it from the edges, but the roof hasn’t leaked yet (crossing your fingers is hard to do while typing).
My zones are mostly practically located. There are only about 1 1/2 feet all around the car so I barely have room for anything. The ladder leans up against the side wall one section over from the door as there is nothing it would block there. The brooms hang on nails on either side. The ladder is heavy so having it by the door is very helpful.
The bicycle actually got home pretty early. It is raised up to about as high as I can lift it without going over my shoulders. It would be considered a cruiser, it’s not super light. It’s high enough that the car door can open to its first stopping point without hitting the bike and I can pull things in and out of the car without tangling my hair in the bike. You can find that here. Not that it hasn’t grabbed a bag or two for me!
The third zone is lawn and garden implements and they are located along one wall ranging from the EGO lawn mower that I can store vertically (love that feature) all the way to the EGO snowblower that has to be stored in the corner furthest from the door. If I keep the space tidy it’s a straight shot out the walk-in door which lets me clear my first path between the house and garage door, then I can keep going around to the front, or my usual path would have me clearing at least a walking path down my driveway.
The lawn care wall contains a hose and sprayer, leave rake, flat rake, shovel, and a high tree branch clipper. I keep my gloves, the chemicals, and the handheld clippers inside to keep them clean, safe, and effective.
The home repair items were placed for me when I moved in. I did have to pull items down as some small ants were destroying a door. I also found some missing items that the selling agent didn’t think existed anymore such as the handrail to the basement and half the blinds for the sliding door. It’s a practical place to store these long and large items and it’s been very useful to have a few spare pieces of vinyl siding and such on hand.
The snowblower is the transition piece where we move from lawn and garden into winter items. There are a few shelves built in at the front of the garage where I pull out deicer, ice scrapers, and other winter-specific car items. This is the only chemical storage exception as I would never remember I had it if I didn’t keep it with the ice scrapers.
Basic Maintenance:
I made it my mission not to let things sit on the concrete as I knew in the first year I had water issues. While progress has been made, it’s easier to clean up and keep bugs away if everything is up off the concrete so the only things that touch the ground are the lawn mower and the snowblower. In the windy time of year, I will also pull the lawn chairs in at the front of the garage and park a bit further back.
Reviewing items stored above the car during good weather and making sure items aren’t shifting is important.
Review lighting and garage seal. I recently replaced my garage door seal to help prevent the water that runs out of the side drain from coming back in. It required a bit more creativity to do alone and getting the old one out wasn’t as easy since it was completely rigid.
Treating bugs is also important and knocking down spiderwebs as you find them. Inspecting for muddobbers and wasps as well as any bird or bat activity is important as well. It’s always easier to discourage them from making a home earlier rather than breaking that habit later.
What not to store in the garage:
Some things that you may traditionally think to store in the garage that you really shouldn’t.
- Grains and seeds. This could be feed for an animal or grass seeds or other plant seeds. Especially in a case like mine where water is an issue, but in other cases too. You don’t want to store these items if they won’t be used regularly. They may draw rodents or grow mold. Seeds might even sprout in the bag.
- Paints. It’s common to throw some leftover house paint in the garage, but the shift in temperature and moisture is not ideal for paint either. If you want to be able to come back to it in a few years, you better not store it in the garage. A better place would be the basement of your house.
- Chemicals. Not all chemicals are as susceptible to temperature or moisture but many household chemicals are activated by water, so this location is not ideal either. Additionally, rodents may get into them and spread the chemicals around a bit or chew through one and die off in a corner. Car chemicals as well as ice chemicals fall into this list. I had some concrete salt in a bucket in the garage and small ants spread it all over the floor and then proceeded to kill an entire colony across the floor. The great ant massacre of 2019. They were later flushed out with polyfill but how they didn’t learn their lesson sooner, I’ll never know.
- Cloth. I’m guilty here too. However, anything…even Nylon…is fair game for rodents and it’s not always easy to spot. If you are going to store cloth items such as gloves or tents in your garage, make sure they are in a sealed container first. Not only will they chew it up just because, but it will also make very nice bedding for them and encourage them to stick around. I keep as little fabric as I can and try to move those items around regularly. Cushions for my lawn furniture come to mind. The furniture is meant to be in there only during windy times but sometimes the wind is persistent for months.
I’m amazed that people are sometimes able to get away with storing extra canned foods and toilet paper in a garage but typically this is not where people will store them for long and they keep them in containers that won’t attract mice. Be very careful about food items stored in a garage as they don’t handle temperature fluctuations well either, even canned items. I’d recommend avoiding it. Also, if you do have a deep freeze or spare fridge in your garage recognize that the area around the fridge or freezer is hotter than the rest of the air so keep items away from large appliances like these.
Keeping the garage from being the location of procrastinated decisions is so important. This is how people end up not being able to use their garages and a garage can easily add $20k to the cost of your house, so you want to be able to use it, especially if it’s attached.
Defining zones also helps you limit how many items you can keep. There are so many creative ways to store most things that you should be able to find a way to store anything in the zone that you want it in.
Do not use your garage for stockpiling things that won’t be used within a 12-month rotation.
