Spring is in the air and with it comes inspiration to clean and organize various areas of your home. Because spring is known for heavy rainstorms, it is important to get these de-clutter projects done in early spring – especially the task of cleaning out the garage.

Your garage is an extension of your home provides shelter for all kinds of different needs. Some people use their garage as a place to park their car, others use their garage as a laundry and storage room, and some people do both! In either case, it is important that your garage be clean and organized.

Here are some things that you can do to get your garage organized this spring:

Start early on a day when the weather is going to be sunny. Take a look around your garage and assess what needs to be done. Think about how you would like your garage to look or, how it could be organized to best support the ways that you use it. Then, make a plan for how you are going to begin the project. For instance, you might make a pile in the front yard for keep, recycling, garbage, donate, and yard sale. This will provide you with a staging area for anything that you pull out of the garage. As you are going through the things you have stored in the garage, think about the last time that you used each one and decide if you really need to keep it. Ideally, your “keep” pile will be the smallest of all of the piles in the yard.

Install shelves. Adding shelving to your garage can add a significant amount of storage space. You can put items into rubber tubs and label them, then stack them on the shelves. You can organize the shelves by season so that camping gear is not under five tubs of winter clothing. Shelving is relatively inexpensive and yet adds a great amount of value to your garage space.

Consolidate. If you have several of the same item all over the garage and in a variety of different containers, consolidate things all together. For instance, put all of your tools in a large rolling toolbox so there is one place to go for any kind of tool. Hang your garden tools on one wall of the garage so you can always find your clippers or gloves.

Use these first few weeks of spring weather to get your garage organized and ready for summer projects. When you go looking for a hammer or, the kids summer water toys – you’ll be glad you did!