cleaning up my garage?

[cheapshot]

Everything has been tossed or given to Salvation Army, Just waiting for after the holidays for my brother and my sister to come pick up there things.



After this is done, it`s just a matter of consolidating and organizing everything. Any Ideas?



I have paint cans, spackling equip, all kinds of carpentry tools, misc, bolts, screws, flooring stuff, Holiday decorations, luggage, snowboards, etc.



should I organize smaller stuff in 5 gallon buckets?, buy a gang box? or maybe plastic tubs at target?



I over estimated the size of my garage due to built in shelving, and a wall built out for electric box and plumbing.(taking up some width) Also a closet built half for washer and dryer and half for storage.(taking up some length)



I only have 10`8"x 17`6" usable space. Is this enough space to work around a car?

[Accumulator]

cheapshot- well, it`s the room you have, so I *hope* it`s enough! Sounds kinda tight to me but I`m used to lots of room.



For organization, I`d start by figuring out what stuff you`re gonna want to access regularly as opposed to the stuff you`ll hardly ever want to get to.



What about those storage racks that hang from the ceiling. I dunno if that`d kill your lighting, but it could be a solution for seasonal stuff that you generally don`t need access to.



I`m a big fan of RubberMaid containers. Just getting stuff into containers that can be labeled and stacked in a neat manner can make for a good start towards managing clutter. I find their Rough Totes (sp?) handy...it`s easy to grab/manipulate them so they end up *re* stacked and orderly after you need to root around in them for something. A lot of systems *look* really good, but once you start using them they turn out to be a PIA and it`s tempting to say you`ll put things back in order later (which doesn`t always happen ).



While there are some good systems based on 5 gallon buckets (google "bucketboss", IIRC that`s the name :think: ), I was never a big fan of the buckets. It always seemed harder to use in a workable/functional way than I`d expected. That`s just IME though. Note that the buckets will need lids if you want to stack them and that if you use layered bucket inserts (to hold small stuff) you have to take the top layers out to access (or even *see*) the bottom layers.

[cheapshot]

I think Home Depot is having a 20% off sale right now on Rubbermaid and closet stuff, I`ll Have to check it out if I get a chance. They are prob all sold out. I`ll have to measure the shelving and buy Rubbermaid containers that`s will not hang off shelving.

[Accumulator]

Yeah, there should be a lot of sales around this time of year :xyxthumbs