We moved to a new house this past spring and are still trying to get organized. One area that is in need of some help is the garage. When we moved, we used our garage as a sort of staging area for a lot of our boxes. Now, we have to finish putting away those boxes (and furniture), and organize the whole thing. Our goal is to me able to fit the family car in the garage by wintertime. It would be really nice to be able to load the kids up in the car while it is still in garage, rather than exposing them to the elements, once the bad weather sets in.
So, we’ll be working on the garage as one of our many house projects.
One of the zones for our garage will be for tools. My sister-in-law jokingly calls this section “the man stuff.” Of course, I don’t call it that, since I rummage around in that section quite often.
One of the issues we have had with the tool organization is finding a place for long-handled tools, especially those we use for outdoor work, such as the rakes, shovels, push brooms and regular brooms. Sure there are elaborate systems for organizing a garage, but hey, we are being frugal, right? Well, I found a couple of great ways to keep those tools in check. They are organized, available and they look neat.
I tool an old golf bag to use as a caddy for these tools. The bag can stand by itself, or be placed on a hook. This is a great idea to use in a garden shed, too.
Another idea for long-handled tool storage is to use a long plastic wastebasket. My husband came up with this one. He added all of the umbrellas, fishing poles, etc. to the basket. The basket can easily be tucked away in a little space right near the garage door, for easy access.
Do you have any frugal tips for organizing a garage? I’d love some help with my project.
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.
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