no more hoarder garage

13 January 2011

Here it is one year ago: remember hoarder garage??

Here it is after our purge (in the bitter wind and snow!)
january 2011 002 1


My husband had 2 requests for the home, the rest of the design decisions he pretty much gives me free reign, so of course I’m going to do everything possible to grant his 2 whole wishes:
* A big tv downstairs in the family room
* BOTH cars in the garage. He thinks if we can’t get both cars in, we have too much stuff.
He was right.
That’s why I need him.
I had the spray paint downstairs, but I spray out here, so I moved them up.january 2011 009 1
recycling center right outside the back entryway:january 2011 004 1
january 2011 007 1
A few things:
This is our Goodwill crate. Anything we need to get rid of goes in here, when it’s full, we take it down to donate.january 2011 003 1 
If you can, put some old carpet remnants leading up to the doorway to help get as much stuff off of shoes as possible. (or to protect the floor for a quick spray paint job)january 2011 005 1
Hang everything that you can with hooks or nails, etc. january 2011 006 1   january 2011 012 1
Hang a ball so when your windshield touches the ball, you know to stop the car. Then you won’t go crashing into bikes, the freezer, the lawnmower, etc. (not that this has ever happened to me…)january 2011 013 1
Put a strip of duct tape down so the kids know that their bikes need to be on that side of the line, otherwise they get ran over. january 2011 014 1
The holiday decor bins are up in the attic. In our last home, my garage walls were lined with them.
Now, of course the million dollar question: Can we keep it this way??
What are your best tips for organizing a garage?

37 comments

  1. It looks fab, Im not even game to venture into mine yet, I need to finish the house first!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks very organized, great job bet you like the look.

    Are you available for hire?

    ReplyDelete
  3. My husband will LOVE this post. Just fwd to him! (We are trying to get our own garage organized.)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, how I wish my garage looked like this! The goodwill bin is such a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just re-organized our garage it serves as a workout room and storage we can put one car in there but we are happy with that. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks great! I need to do that to my basement! Its a wreck.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great job! The tennis ball is a great idea. I so wish I had a garage, although I know it would be filled with junk too. I like that lampshade in the goodwill bin! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. If you were here, I'd give it to you :)

    Allyson: you can bet when we begin on the kitchen painting the garage will be turned into a painting/sanding workshop and no, two cars won't be in there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Is it strange that I am envious of all your spray paint cans?? So many pretty colors...I just have standard white, black, and frost.

    LOVE the duct tape tip. I'm going to have to remember that in case we ever (!) move to a home with a garage. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. hang it on a hook, hang it on a hook, hang it on a hook! That's my tip. And it would be good if I EVER get my coffee table out of my garage. Maybe this year :) Even though I am the 'collector' of pretties. I refuse to "not" park in my garage.
    Nice Job!
    Our is a mess and I actually said to myself today as we came in that I am excited about cleaning and organizing it. I love that kinda stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  11. My garage is one of the big projects upcoming. I'm excited to do it just looking at your garage! Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think you did a great job organizing. Now if I only had an attached garage. I dream of that. Isn't that insane? I dream of an attached garage or a breezeway. :) If I had an attached garage, I'd do just what you're doing. You can keep it that way!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Um, my garage still looks like your hoarder garage, so I'm probably not worth asking for advice.

    BUT, everytime I go on a hunt for something I think, "If I would put it away I would know where it is right now!" So, I guess putting stuff away would be my tip. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Looks great! Want to give a hand with my closet?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm jealous....I guess it's time for me to venture out and start organizing our messy garage.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, I'm impressed...and inspired!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm with Erin! Don't ask me about organizing. I bought necklaces for every female member in my extended family for Christmas last June thinking I was getting ahead of shopping..... only problem I put them somewhere "SAFE", darn if I can remember where that one place is in this house. I've looked where I thought I might put them and I can't find them. :) Oh one day I'll have a good laugh over this when I find them, I *hope*!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Did that furniture make it into the house, Melissa? You had some great pictures in that before picture. I'd love a wide open empty garage, but between hubby setting up a folding table for his projects and the other side filled with boxes I packed up the first time we went on the market, that dream will have to wait for the next home!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great work on the garage! A few years ago, we went through ours and organized and hung and installed shelving, etc. Still though every spring we have to go through it to toss/donate, etc. It just collects in there in the winter months.

    I think my biggest tip is refusing to park outside. In the absence of a large job (staining interior doors for our entire upstairs over a few days) I refuse to park outside... just won't! It helps that for several years I drove a Jeep Wrangler and I preferred the top down...can't leave that out!

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a transformation! We used to have the "hoarder" look going on also, and have made lots of progress, but now I'm inspired to get out there (despite the cold weather!), and take it all the way! :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow Melissa! looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  22. that looks awesome! i especially like the duct tape on the ground thing for the bikes.

    we keep our garage organized by not having one. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. My husband insists on parking in the garage. The gray tape is genius!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Awesome! Mine looks like a prop house! My husband has the exact same wishes too - large flat screen for the fam room and a clean garage... and also to get rid of our storage unit - ay yay yay!

    ReplyDelete
  25. haha I just did a post about my "hoarder" office! We're tackling our garage on Monday, I hope it turns out as organized as yours!

    ReplyDelete
  26. You are so organized! Isn't it so refreshing to do that to a space you use every day? (even in the cold weather?) I just did the mudroom that is part of our garage yesterday and just want to go out there and look at it. I'm loving it so very much. If only my beloved family members could possibly hang things up out there! I did add a seasonal rubbermaid bin to the garage - right now it has skates in it, in the spring it will be for cleats and shinpads, etc. I love that system as everyone can find their stuff when needed rather than saying "MOM!! Where are my xyz???" :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love it!! Looks like a lot of work. We also have the tennis ball hanging for parking. I love your idea for the line of tape for the bikes. I think I will use it but kick it up a bit by using yellow tape and making it more like parking spaces for each kid. Great ideas! keep them coming.

    ReplyDelete
  28. YAY!!! I'm so jealous of the completely cleaned out garage! Alas, mine looks a LOT like hoarder garage. *shutter* But, you give me hope that we, too, CAN DO IT!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Bring on the warm weather so I can de-clutter my garage. Last summer it got so wrecked w/ all the furniture and "stuff" that accumulated in there.

    ReplyDelete
  30. My hubby is after me to get our garage cleaned up so that he can park his vehicle in there too..thinking that he won't help w/any more house projects if I don't get this done..thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I see you are taking one of my guest room lamps to the Goodwill. Too bad I don'tlive closer - I'd go buy it :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. great post! my husband hates garage clutter. yours looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  33. My favorite idea is the Goodwill bin. I have two things that have been sitting in my back hall for about 3 weeks that I want to take to the charity shop so to have a "permanent" bin for it in the garage would work very well. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  34. 2 Things:

    1) I have 2 lamps with the same shaped lampshades (without the design in it).
    2) My husband hung a fishing lure (plastic gummy worm looking thing) as my visual for where to stop. It's head just recently fell off...LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  35. While our garage is always relatively clean and organized, it is because our basement is the dumping zone!! I am ready to clear it out.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I did ours last fall and it was so liberating! Now there's a ton of stuff in there again. I just need it to get to 40 so I can work on it and get rid of stuff the kids have forgotten about this winter!!!

    http://houseography.blogspot.com/2010/09/meet-our-garage.html

    ReplyDelete
  37. I gave up on our garage long ago even though I made a couple of attempts to sort through the random stuff piling in all the corners. I always have to deal with one dilemma: I need to decide what I truly need and what can be thrown out. Somehow I always end up with the decision that I should keep everything ... just in case.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a note!