Welcome to the first post of my 4 part blog series – all about Garage Organization. Many of you have shared stories about your lack of “garage” organization and stated that you needed major help. I hope today I can inspire you to get out there and finally get it organized. (I’m talking to you too husbands!) I’m going to start off the series by talking about “STORAGE”. Everything needs a place or there will be garage chaos & setting up a “system of organization” is the key! I will be highlighting the 4 most important points that will help you to finally get your garage in order. But before I begin, I would like to thank The Container Store for sponsoring this project. I’m grateful to be able to share it with my readers.
4 STEPS TO STORAGE
- Shelving
- Drawers
- Labeling
- Containers
SHELVING
The first challenge that you need to address is figuring out where you are going to put everything? Do you have a designated shelf? In my garage, I try to keep everything up off of the floor. My husband and I agreed that quality was very important to the longevity of our organization, so we went with Elfa Shelving from The Container Store. They’re super sturdy, high quality and worth every single penny. FYI, these shelves are on sale for 25% off right now!! When choosing your shelving, make sure to measure. You want your bins to fit!
DRAWERS
The next challenge you need to address is – where are you going to put your most often used items? Things like batteries, flash lights, trash bags, and outdoor play toys need to be easily accessible. The perfect solution for this problem is to use drawers. I chose to use the Elfa Mesh Drawer System. Love, love, love it! It’s my favorite part of the garage organization. Everything is so convenient now. Again, this system is on sale for one more week – 25% off! (I love a good sale). You can also use something like this or this. Really any type of drawer system will work well. 🙂
COVERING MESH DRAWERS
I didn’t like that you could see everything that was inside of my drawers, so I came up with a creative solution. I covered them with black gingham fabric (from JoAnns). I made a template out of cardboard then cut 18 pieces to fit the drawers. I adhered the fabric to the drawers with spray adhesive. I sprayed the front of the fabric (not the drawer). Finally, I stuck the fabric (front side forward) on the drawer & smoothed it out. Worked like a charm.
LABELING
The third challenge you need to address is – How are you going to know what’s in each container or drawer? Simple answer – Label each one.
- For the drawers, I used the Elfa Label Holders. These holders slide right down onto the drawer so they should work with any drawer system if it’s thin. I created the tags on my computer and printed them out on brown kraft card stock paper.
- For the large white containers, I used a Cricut Machine, but you can also use a label maker, blank stickers or even an index card taped to the box.
Our Drawer Categories:
- Table Cloths
- Detailing
- Hardware (drawer knobs, hooks, etc)
- Extension Cords
- Trash Bags
- Outdoor Fun (Chalk, Bubbles, jump ropes, etc)
- Drop Cloths
- Paint
- Spray Paint
- Paint Supplies
- Bike Accessories
- Auto
- Outdoor (faucet covers, hose sprayers, etc)
- Gardening
- Light Bulbs
- Straps (& Bungee Cords)
- Caulking & Adhesive
CONTAINERS
Finally, the last challenge you need to address is – where are you going to store the rest of your things? The large, out of season, & holiday items need a place. We went with the 18 Gallon White Tote Boxes from The Container Store. They are large, sturdy and look great! Best of all, they do the job well.
OUR CONTAINER CATEGORIES:
- Wreaths
- Fall
- Travel
- Emergency Kits (3)
- Beach
- Spring
- Sports
- Tile Saw
- Garland
- Camping
- Electrical
- Jeep Tarp
- Christmas Lights
- Christmas
- Christmas Ornaments
- Summer
- Coolers
- Tow Hitch
ORGANIZING ON A BUDGET
Organizing can get quite expensive, but don’t let cost hinder you from getting your life in order. Living an organized life is for all budgets. If you cannot afford an Elfa system, you can find many other systems to choose from – for all budgets. Don’t have any money to spend? Use cardboard boxes and cover them with contact paper. Then label them with index cards. Or you can repurpose an old dresser that you’re no longer using and paint it to give it new life. Then label each drawer. Use your imagination. The sky is the limit with organizing.
DID SOMEONE SAY SALE?
The Elfa System is on sale at The Container Store for one more week (Ends 10/19). They also have 25% off installation & you can speak to a design expert for free, to help you figure out a plan. Designing mine was seamless. We don’t have a Container Store near us so they shipped it to us & we installed it ourselves (It took about 2 hours, from start to finish) For your reference, my shelving is 12 feet wide (3 of the 4ft sections were used for each shelf).
BEFORE THE INSTALLATION
If you’re new to my blog, you probably haven’t seen what my garage looked like before. HERE it is. Huge improvement. I will be sharing more of my garage organization tips on the blog in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!
HAPPY ORGANIZING!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by The Container Store. All opinions are my own & I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe my readers will enjoy. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Please click here for full disclaimer.
Tags: garage, garage organization, organize, our home
Blog, container store, decluttering, Garage, labeling, labels, October 2014, Organize, Review Posted in
34 comments
34 comments on “Garage Organization: Part 1”
Thanks for finally writing about >Garage Organization | <Loved it!
i love the container store! Oh how I would love Elfa for my closet and home! Even with 25% off it is still pretty pricey. Maybe next year
I Love, Love, Love
I love this shelving system, especially the mesh ones. Trying to figure out what wall in our garage this would work the best on.
It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!! You are such an inspiration!!!
Garage envy! What a lovely organized space!!
All I can say is WOW WOW WOW. That is so clean and all items are carefully categorized. I am most impressed!!!
Love the bins you used. But for the ones of us that do not or can not afford this system – what can we do on a budget? To organize?
scour craigslist for shelving units for free or cheap; use an old dresser, simple shelves can be super cheap with a bracket system. If worse comes to worse, stacking bin neatly can be a temporary fix. You can substitute cardboard boxes for the plastic bins. Use what what you have. Look around your space and get creative!
Who knew a garage could look this good?! Don’t you just want to hang out there now? I would just sit there and stare.
Great job!
~ Maria
🙂 I love it.
Toni, How tall is your system?
Sorry, but I have another question. What fonts did you use for the containers and the labels?
I think the font on the drawers is kravitz, but I don’t know what the circuit cartridge was 🙂
Oh. My. Gaaaaawwwwddd!!!
Toni.
I love this so much there aren’t even words to describe! LOVE!!!!
I can’t wait to do something like this in my own garage … it will look a whole lot like this thanks to your inspiration!
xoxo,
Sam
How tall is your garage? What fonts did you use for the containers and the drawers?
Just when I thought your before garage was AMAZING you make it even MORE Amazing!!! It looks INCREDIBLE!!! I LOVE that everything is off the floor. Having it up off the ground makes it look even cleaner!
I absolutely love your garage! How do you keep roaches, spiders/spiderwebs, and other critters out of the stuff? I have to start on mine soon, and I know I’ll run into this problem. P.S. I know I’m late, but I’m starting the 31-Day Purge! I love when you do these! Thanks so much!
Great ideas! My problem with the budget part is when I start a “system” then go back to get more to finish, they have changed their products! I started using these great containers, great price and now they don’t carry them anymore??
This is one of the best idea I’ve ever heard about storage! I have so many things in my garage that I don’t know where to put them, so this is good solution. Thanks!
My garage is such a mess! I have old furniture and books. Thanks a lot for these tips! I think that with a little work my garage will be tidy again.
LOVE this wall…but what did you do with all your bigger things (bikes, boogie boards, gardening equipment)? We have the bin things down pat over here, but I have no idea what to do with all the kids ride on toys, bikes, and the big stuff that doesn’t fit in bins! I would love to hear (and see) how you tackled those during your garage organization. Thanks!
(This is Toni). If you have larger items, there isn’t a whole lot else you can do with them. We do hang all of our bikes on the ceiling, and the kids bikes on the side wall. The boogie boards go in a large wicker basket (standing up) and I don’t keep toys in my garage. I hang as much as I can and only keep the basics. Don’t go overboard. 🙂 I hope this helps.
That looks fantastic, a system like that would cost a lot & I couldn’t justify spending so much for the garage, but the idea is great!
I just love this post…. quite frankly- I love all of your posts! I just wanted to let you know that I shared this post on my New Years post on 10 ways to simplify your life this morning! Hoping my crowd, if they don’t already, get introduced to your blog! Its awesome!
http://www.bowlfullofblessings.com
What was the final price tag once all was said and done?
If we did this in our garage, 98% of the containers would be labeled “BOOKS” 🙂 #myhusbandisabibliophile
bibliophile… that’s fantastic!
Gorgeous! It’s too pretty to park a car in there.
But I have to say that your “before” was pretty good too.
I was just at the Container Store the other day – the Elfa shelving is impressive with lots of flexibility with layout options. It seems that you can really customize it to fit your own stuff.
can you tell me exactly the parts you bought I want mine to look just like yours.
What are the dimensions of the large white bins? What is the depth of the shelves they are on?
Looks fab.u.lous!!!!