Slide-Lok's Garage Blog

5 Steps For Organizing Your Garage & Adding Storage Space

6/1/2018

Slide-Lok's 5 Steps For Organizing Your Garage

If your garage looks like the one above where boxes, bins, and miscellaneous clutter is taking up that much space you’re probably ready to tackle this ugly problem. Seeing the image above everyday gets old quick! We understand that taking that initial leap into organizing your garage can be hard, but you’re more than capable of it and we have a few steps to help you out. Lucky for you, we’ve been in this business since 1977 and know a thing or two about garage organization. Over the past 40+ years we’ve seen it all in the garage industry and have some tips to help you get the biggest bang for your buck in the garage. Slide-Lok is truly the one stop shop for garage makeovers with many amazing storage and organization systems to help make this project a little less stressful.

1. It’s a good idea to obtain a general scope of how much stuff you have sitting in your garage. This is important to know so you can determine which garage organization units you need. Based on how many items and what type of items you have. Your garage storage options range from slat wall organizers, overhead storage racks, wall shelving and garage cabinets or any combination of these to suit your storage needs. So go out into your garage and get a basic idea for what you’ve got and what kind of storage space you might need. If this is a little too stressful for you to handle on your own contact us and we’ll put you in touch with one of our local dealers near you. They provide free no-hassle estimates and would be happy to assist you in sizing and picking garage storage options based on your needs.
   
   
2. Now that you’ve gotten a good idea for the size of your clutter and items you plan to store it’s time to act on this. Set a realistic budget for yourself based on how much storage you need. Then order the storage systems you can install yourself or work with our local dealer and setup a time when they can install them for you. Before you or the dealer can start installing anything you have to clear most of the garage areas where these storage systems are going to be installed.
   
   
3. While you wait on the storage products to be shipped to you or before the local dealer shows up to install your storage systems you should’ve started moving items out of the garage. Focus on clearing most of the garage or a large area around the areas you plan to install storage systems. While clearing the area try to organize the items and throw out or recycle everything you don’t need. This will save you time and help you start organizing your stuff into your new storage systems after they’re installed. Examples include arts and crafts materials, Christmas lights and supplies, Halloween decorations, clothes from the ‘90s (probably time to recycle or toss these). There is nothing worse than taking the time to store something you have no use for -- Get rid of it before you waste more time thinking about it!
   
   
4. Finally all your storage products have arrived or the dealer has just shown up with a truck carrying your new garage. It’s time to break out the tools or the lawn chair (depending on your situation), though to be fair no one likes being watched while they work so maybe leave the lawn chair inside – Haha. If you broke out the tools and are preparing to DIY this project you’re in luck if you bought Slide-Lok products. All of Slide-Lok’s products assemble very easily, our cabinets especially are known for their slide-lok (hence our name) dovetail joints that allow them to literally slide together! And no matter how clear instructions can be, we all get hot headed sometimes when things just don’t go to plan -- so take a break and get a glass of lemonade to cool down. And in a few hours your garage could be all setup with new storage cabinets, slatwall, shelving and overhead racks.
   
   
5. It’s time to finally organize and store all of your stuff! What you already started in step 3 will save you time now as you should have a general idea of what you have and where you’d best like to store it.
   • Separate and sort items (if you haven’t already) based on where you want to put them. For example that golf bag can go on the slat wall organizer or a tall pantry cabinet, and that pile of boxes and bins will fit on the overhead storage rack or the plenty of cabinet space you probably have now.
   • Try to store items based on the frequency in which you plan to use or access them. If you need your art supplies every weekend then putting them on the overhead rack is probably not the best place for them, the cabinet next to the house door is probably a better choice.
   • With all of the rest of your items that aren’t going up on the slat wall or overhead storage rack, sort those items by categories as you are going to want organization within your cabinets as well. Some suggestions for categories include: sporting goods, outdoor toys, lawn equipment, etc.

If you follow through with these 5 steps your garage storage problem should hopefully be under control. Just remember that this project won’t happen in one day, plan to separate these tasks over a period of time to help you stay on track and get the job done. Let us know if you need our help, call us at 1-800-835-1759 to talk about your storage needs.

After Installing Garage Storage Cabinets and Organizing the Garage

Wow! This garage looks brand new and you would never have guessed it was so ugly and disorganized before. These photos really show just how great your garage could look if you followed our 5 steps for organizing your garage and adding some storage space.

Keywords: how, to, organize, your, garage, organization, storage, cabinets

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