How to Do A Garage Cleanout

Is your garage overflowing with clutter, making it impossible to find what you need or even park your car? It’s time to reclaim that valuable space with a garage cleanout. While the thought of tackling the mess may seem overwhelming, with the right plan and a bit of determination, you can transform your garage into an organized and functional space. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of how to do a garage cleanout.

Welcome to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Each day we do a daily task based on the room we are working on. Today, our task is to start decluttering your clutter in your garage. If you prefer watching videos, check out my youtube channel here. Today, we’ll look at some tips for decluttering sports equipment in your garage.

The best way to develop a new habit is by slowly and daily application. We will begin a new daily declutter habit starting with the 2nd bathroom. In the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, we will declutter 30 minutes a day, five days a week on weekdays. Sign up to receive daily encouragement and motivation.

Plus, you’ll learn your specific daily task to work toward completing the goal of a Year Long Thorough Declutter where you will declutter every space and learn how to start to purge your house. Are you ready to finally get organized? If so, will you join us? Leave a comment below to subscribe.

If you are new to the blog, welcome! I blog about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. You can find my free printables to help you get organized in the drop down menu under the Printables category.

Currently we are working on decluttering the Garage. The daily task for today, Sept. 13, 2023, is to begin decluttering your sports equipment in your garage. Remember, we are focusing on just the garage area, so don’t declutter your whole house. We will cover each room separately.

How to Do A Garage Cleanout

1. Set Clear Goals

Before you start pulling everything out of your garage, take a moment to set clear goals for the cleanout. Decide what you want to achieve with the space. Do you want to create a workshop, a home gym, or just have room to park your car? Having a clear vision will help you stay motivated and focused throughout the process.

2. Gather Your Supplies

To tackle a garage cleanout effectively, you’ll need the right tools and supplies:

Trash bags: For items that are beyond saving.
Storage bins and shelves: To organize and store your belongings.
Cleaning supplies: Broom, mop, cleaning solutions, and rags.
Labeling materials: To identify what goes where.

3. Sort and Categorize

Start by emptying the entire contents of your garage. This may seem like a daunting task, but it’s essential to see what you’re working with. As you remove items, sort them into categories:

Keep: Items you want to keep in the garage.
Donate: Items in good condition that you no longer need but can be useful to others.
Sell: Valuable items that you can sell or repurpose.
Dispose: Broken or unusable items that need to be thrown away.

4. Declutter and Downsize

Now comes the challenging part – making decisions about what to keep and what to let go. Ask yourself:

Do I use it? If you haven’t used an item in a year or more, it’s likely time to part with it.
Is it in good condition? If it’s broken beyond repair, it’s time to say goodbye.
Do I have duplicates? Keep only one of each item, and consider selling or donating the rest.
Is it sentimental? While sentimental items are important, try to limit them to a small, designated space in your garage.

5. Clean and Repair

With your garage now emptier, it’s time to give it a thorough cleaning. Sweep the floors, dust off shelves, and wipe down surfaces. This is also an excellent opportunity to tackle any repairs or maintenance tasks that have been on your to-do list.

6. Organize and Maximize Space

As you put items back into the garage, focus on organization:

Use shelves and storage bins: Invest in sturdy shelves and storage bins to keep your belongings off the floor and organized.
Label everything: Labeling your bins and shelves will make it easier to find items when you need them.
Vertical storage: Take advantage of wall space by installing hooks and hangers for tools, bicycles, and other items.

7. Maintain Regularly

A clean, organized garage is an ongoing project. To keep it in top shape, commit to regular maintenance. Sweep and tidy up periodically, and be mindful of what you bring into the space. Avoid the temptation to let clutter accumulate again.

8. Celebrate Your Success

Once your garage cleanout is complete, take a moment to appreciate your hard work. You’ve transformed a chaotic space into a functional and organized one. Use and enjoy your newfound space, and remember that maintaining it is key to preventing future clutter.

In conclusion, a garage cleanout can be a daunting task, but with the right plan and determination, it’s achievable. Set clear goals, declutter ruthlessly, and organize efficiently to create a garage that enhances your home’s functionality and value. With a well-maintained garage, you’ll wonder why you didn’t tackle this project sooner!

I personally have a bad habit of placing items that need to be donated in the laundry room behind the door. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. Delaying decisions means we still need to declutter.

Maybe you have a habit of delaying decisions, too. Let’s decide today where your decluttered items need to go. Do they need to be donated? Disposed of? Don’t delay that decision any longer. If they need to be donated, sort and put them in your vehicle. Then, make a note in your calendar to drop them off at your favorite charity.

As you are decluttering your items, I want you to try not to just move them to another room. You may be tempted to do that. However, resist the urge to keep everything. Decluttering means we actually part with these items. Otherwise, assign those items a permanent home where you can best utilize them.

Declutter Steps for How to Do A Garage Cleanout

1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.

2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.

3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina. This is one of the most useful declutter motivation tips. Listen to your body and work at decluttering when you feel the most alert and energized.

4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. This is one specific way for How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering.

5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. The goal is to purge the dead weight. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later. Read on for more declutter motivation tips and my room specific deep clean checklist, though, as you will begin cleaning after your declutter.

High Impact Decluttering Tips for How to Do A Garage Cleanout

Supplies Needed:

1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)

2. sturdy trash bags

3. marker/pen to label boxes

Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.

Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.

I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.

How to Do A Garage Cleanout

1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag

2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have

3.Get rid of items that don’t work or that work poorly, expired items, anything you don’t love, anything that you’ll never use again

4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest

5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option

How Do You Declutter Your Entire House (and get it deep clean?): Need to deep clean?

First, My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

Second, My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

Third, My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

Fourth, My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

Fifth, My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Check out the link above to see a sample page of what you’ll get in my printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3: How do you remove clutter? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.

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