With the cold winter months just around the corner, a clean and organized garage is becoming seemingly more and more like a spring job. The junk is piling up and you just don’t know where to start! It’s one of those things that you dread doing for months on end, but once completed you’ll find yourself relieved and wondering why you didn’t just tackle it sooner. Everything you need will be easy to find, the junk will be gone, and even your car will have a home on those brisk winter mornings! Take (and use!) these 5 simple steps to a junk-free, organized garage.

1) Get it all out! Take EVERYTHING out of the garage and put it on the driveway. This could be an overwhelming site at first, but by seeing everything outside of the garage you’ll really be able to get an idea of what you need and what hasn’t been used in years.

2) Deep clean the entire garage. This won’t be fun, but when you’re putting everything back in its spot you’ll be happy you did it. Sweep the floors, dust the cabinets, getting every last nook and cranny clean. If you’re going to do something, do it right!

3) Separate the items on the driveway into organized piles. Tools (basic tools like drills and hammers as well as gardening tools), summer items (lawn mower, trimmer, boogie board, lawn chairs), fun stuff ( bicycles, skateboard, roller blades, outdoor kids toys), and miscellaneous items should all be separated. Things you know you won’t be needing until springtime will be put away first, to the harder to get to spots of the garage. You know what you’ll need and what you won’t, so use your best digression on this part.

4) Get rid of the JUNK! There’s a few ways to go about this part.
a. Get it done quick and call a local junk removal service like Music City Removal. Just let us know what you need gone and we’ll load it up for you and dispose of it by either donating to local charities or recycling at some of our favorite spots around Nashville.
b. Call local donation spots like Goodwill and have them pick up useable items. They will send some guys and a truck to sort through your items and take what they can use. Doing this you not only can feel great about donating to a good cause, but you can use your donation as a tax write-off as well!
c. Sell, sell, sell! Use marketplaces like Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook, or Offer Up to sell any of your unwanted items. These platforms have made it super easy to sell things quickly and safely. And plus, who doesn’t need a little extra cash for the holiday season?

5) The final, most important stage: ORGANIZATION. If you fail to take your time and do this part right, steps 1-4 will go almost completely to waste. You need to be thoughtful on where you place items, how easy it is to get to them, and the overall organization of the garage. If you can’t get to the cordless drill when you need it most, what’s the point of cleaning out the garage anyways? Utilize racks, drawers, and boxes to make the most of your space. If you want to outsource this part of the job, there are tons of organization companies that will turn your average garage into a storage warrior.

There you go! Now that wasn’t so bad, was it? Your garage is clean and organized, allowing you to use it to its full capabilities. No longer are the days of tripping over cords to get to what you need. On those cold winter mornings, you’ll be happy to get into a (semi) warm car! A clean, junk free garage shouldn’t be a scary job to tackle, especially with these 5 easy steps. If you can follow these 5 steps (no skipping #2!), you’ll be happy you did and your future self will thank you!