One of the year’s lesser-known holidays is “National Clean Out Your Garage Day,” officially set for the Saturday after Labor Day. You can mark your calendar if you like, but why wait? There’s really no time like the present for organizing your garage and reclaiming some space.

Out with the Old

It may seem like a monumental undertaking, but organizing your garage starts with emptying your garage — completely! This serves a dual purpose. You can assess all the contents and divide into piles: one filled with stuff destined for a yard sale or eBay, one for things you’ll return to the garage, one for things you’ll store elsewhere, etc. Fortunately, many Las Vegas neighborhoods host regular community garage sales, offering a great opportunity to make some quick cash on the stuff you’ve evicted from your garage.

Now you can also hose out the garage, as well as install any desired shelving or cabinetry. If you plan on doing an epoxy floor coating, or some other type of flooring, this is the ideal time. Applying fresh paint to the walls is also a good idea at this time.

Storage Systems

Your garage may contain a water-softening system, and many Las Vegas residences also need to reserve a spot for trash cans — homeowners associations, which are common in the Valley, don’t generally allow trash outside the house in public view. That means you’ll have to work around these occupied spots.

After taking those into account, you can design a shelving plan. If you so desire, do your own installations. Your local home store sells all the necessary accoutrements, such as overhead racks, vertical shelving, cabinets, and bike hooks. Or you can hire a local company like RaxMasters, which specializes in overhead racks that bear loads of up to 1,000 pounds, as well as bike racks and hooks. Or, Southwest Garage Cabinets specializes in cabinetry, which provides further storage opportunities. Storage cabinets are generally constructed of melamine and can be ordered in any number of configurations to suit your needs. 

Flooring

Although not crucial for organizing your garage, an epoxy floor coating is worth consideration. Epoxy systems are popular and practical for Las Vegas homeowners looking to better clean the desert dust from their garages. It protects the concrete from inevitable oil and grease stains, as well.

The coating is not that difficult to apply. Simply roll it on, as with a paint roller application. A neutral base coat is then infused with a contrasting flake, and there are several palettes of base colors and flakes. The final result is easy to clean, and so attractive that you’ll look for any excuse to leave the garage door open and show off to the neighbors. As with racks and cabinets, epoxy coating is a feasible DIY project, or you can always hire a professional such as local company Infinity Epoxy.

Organizing

Now that you’ve prepared the garage space, you’re ready to organize the items you’ll store there. Group like-items together in your new cabinets and shelving. Stow seldom-used stuff on the overhead racks (holiday decorations, luggage, etc). If you add a workbench to your layout, you’ll have a place to keep all the tools and hardware for your weekend projects. Best of all, your car should now fit in there with room to spare!

Image Source: Flickr

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