Garage storage solutions start with decluttering, organizing
Mess to Bliss owner, based in Glenmont, gives tips on how to best utilize the garage for your storage needs.
Taylor Rao
Jan. 12, 2023
Garages are intended to function as multipurpose spaces. While designed to park and protect a vehicle or two, some homeowners have high hopes for garages to also act as workshops, pantries, sheds and storage units. But what happens behind those large doors can often lead to a garage becoming a space that doesn’t function at all, especially when clutter piles up.
Experts say there are many benefits for a homeowner to make use of the additional square footage, and to create space that can house items to help improve the function of the rest of the house’s interior.
“People tend to toss seasonal items like outdoor furniture or holiday decorations in the garage and say they’ll get to it later,” Liz Halvorsen, owner of Mess to Bliss, a professional organization service based in Glenmont, said. “But I often find that ‘later’ never comes and people eventually realize they might need some help.”
In 2018, Halvorsen transitioned from a career as a high school counselor to a professional organizer. Today, she helps individuals and families create systems and storage solutions that allow for a cleaner, more functional home. After meeting with a prospective client, she will either tackle their spaces solo, or have them work alongside her.
“Most people I work with are not messy people,” Halvorsen said. “They generally look neat and tidy but struggle with organizing spaces easily hidden behind a door, like a closet, basement or garage.”
A contributing factor to overall disorganization in a home is the buildup of unusable or unnecessary items, Halvorsen said. These things are often the first to end up in the garage without a plan.
Part of Halvorsen’s services include the free removal of such items. “A lot of times, clients have a hard time letting things go on their own,” said Halverson, who uses her skills as a counselor when working with a client in need of support during this part of the process.
She offers to take what’s deemed “garbage” for her clients, such as extra household appliances and electronics to furniture, and donates them to local nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity ReStore or Things of My Very Own.
“I always have their best interest in mind, and if I can alleviate the pressure of getting unnecessary things out of their garage – and their life – I am happy to do it,” Halvorsen said.
Tips & tricks
Once the garage is cleared out, Halvorsen recommends setting goals for the space and understanding exactly how many things will need to be stored inside. The garage, unlike other areas of the home, is essentially a blank shell, especially if no pre-existing shelving, cabinets or pegboards exist. Through what she calls a “zone” system, Halvorsen helps it become an area that feels and acts personal despite its functional nature.
“When I work in a garage, I approach the space like hands on a clock,” she said. “We start at the top and walk around, designating each section of the garage as a particular zone where we’ll place all items within a certain category in one spot.”
The zone system is easy for her clients to maintain moving forward once they know there is a permanent place for things like lawn care, sports equipment, additional food or pantry items, or cleaning supplies and tools.
For items that a homeowner does not need to access frequently, such as seasonal decorations, an elevated storage system can help prevent items from piling up on the floor, allowing for more space to store vehicles in the winter, or create a workshop.
Halvorsen recommends making use of the vertical space in a garage and installing shelving or a rail-track system higher than eye level. There are also overhead storage options where a homeowner can gain additional space by attaching the mount to the ceiling of the garage, accessible via ladder when needed. She suggests the Rubbermaid FastTrack system (ranging in price from $40 to $200), which can include hooks, baskets and shelving that is customizable for different storage needs.
A cost-effective solution for storing tools is a pegboard system, which can easily be installed to a wall and can hold items from paintbrushes and wrenches to children’s toys. In Halvorsen’s own home, she uses a pegboard system to organize her son’s Nerf Gun toys so they are all in one spot and easily accessible. A solid wood or steel pegboard can range from $30 to $60.
Though a garage isn’t meant to be the most visually pleasing, using durable storage totes of all the same size, brand or color can help make the space look better and allow for easier stacking and organizing, Halvorsen said. When using solid-color storage totes, a label maker can come in handy, particularly when using the zone system. (And plastic containers, rather than cardboard boxes, can help protect items – particularly clothing or sentimental items that can’t be stored elsewhere.)
A work in progress
Halvorsen recently worked on a project in North Adams, Mass., with a couple who enlisted her help to organize a detached garage space. Sonora Thomas is a busy working professional and reached out in the hopes Halvorsen could assist in decluttering after she had accumulated a surplus of “stuff” from several moves and a death in the family.
“While working full-time and traveling often, it was overwhelming to sort through everything and I just didn’t know where to start,” Thomas said. “I also didn’t want to spend what little free time I had on the weekends cleaning out my garage.”
After the death of her mother, Thomas said it was an emotional experience to revisit the items that were left to her, many of which ended up in the garage after unpacking a U-Haul truck filled with memories.
“Liz was able to help me create ‘yes,’ ‘no’ and ‘maybe’ piles and taught me to keep a handful of special items while letting go of the rest,” Thomas said. “She was so kind, calm and positive and always kept me focused when there was a lot to do.”
Thomas and her husband collaborated with Halvorsen while cleaning out their garage, taking a few days off of work to immerse themselves in the organization process. They started by completely emptying out the space and getting rid of anything they no longer wanted or needed. They then designated specific areas for gardening tools, bicycle gear and their lawnmower.
“When you work with Liz, she's the manager, and you're the worker bee,” Thomas said. “She's there helping you but is also keeping track of the big picture, which we loved.”
Halvorsen said home organization is constantly evolving, along with the lifestyle and needs of homeowners. Ongoing maintenance is important to stay on top of spaces, and she recommends tackling the garage every season to keep the zone system in place and to repeat the process of decluttering.
“Kids grow up, parents downsize, it's all about using the space for what you need now,” Halvorsen said.
Thomas said she has mostly maintained the systems in place to keep her garage clean since hiring Halvorsen. However, she abides by the phrase, “life happens” as the couple continues to accumulate new things while no longer needing others, which might throw the space off track now and again.
“So, if I have to hire Liz in a year or two to get us sorted out again, I don't see it as a failure, but simply a part of our ongoing care for our home.”