The term ‘minimalism’ is usually associated with boring white walls, but the truth is, minimalism is more than just the way something is designed. In fact, the core principle of minimalism is cleaning the junk out. It is, in other words, an unburdening, a means of achieving freedom, especially for those who have been feeling anxious with the clutter in their living and working spaces.
One of the spaces in one’s home that tends to get so cluttered is the garage. It is, after all, a space that’s home to your car, the tools and supplies needed to keep the car in shape, tools and supplies needed to keep the garden in shape, old holiday decorations, cooking and baking tools, and so much more.
The reason for all this clutter obviously has to do with the fact that the garage is a space dedicated to storage. But clutter does not have to be a word associate with the garage. Highlighted below are some steps to achieve minimalism in your own garage.
Sort through all the clutter in the area
The very first thing that you must do, regardless of the room you are giving minimalism a try, is to remove all the junk. Junk removal involves going through all of the things that are stored in the garage and removing things you do not use that often and those you don’t really need. When doing this, honesty is paramount. You won’t need pruners if you have not been gardening for five years already. You also won’t need duplicate items.
One of the worst things to go through is the number of old, untouched boxes in the garage. Because of this, if you have not taken anything from any of those boxes, you might as well get rid of their contents.
Get things off the floor
The next thing you need to do is to give all of the things you own a house. That said, it makes the most sense that you invest in garage organizers that work best for you. Once you have done this, assign certain shelves or cabinets for certain groups of items. For example, power tools can be set in one area, and holiday decorations set in another. An entire cabinet may be designated for pool cleaning supplies, while wall storage may be designated just for sports gear.
All out-of-season items should be stored in high locations
Once items of all categories have been given their respective homes, the next thing you need to do is to pare down even further what has been hanging around in your garage. The best approach to going about this involves treating the garage like you would the closet, and remove everything that isn’t used during a specific season. These things can be stored in the attic, another room, or in an other higher compartment—your call.
Use labels
Here’s one last thing to remember when it comes to achieving minimalism in the garage: the use of labels. Label every cabinet, shelf, and drawer in the garage. This not only makes it easier to find things that will be needed one day, it also makes it easier to assign any new gear a home.
Bonus: connect garage plumbing to a rainwater storage tank
It was mentioned above that the whole point of minimalism is to rid yourself of junk. By junk, this not only refers to material junk that can accumulate in your home if you’re not careful, but also stressors like the high bills that need to be paid each month.
As such, it follows that another way to achieve minimalism in your garage is to connect all garage plumbing to a rainwater storage tank. Better yet, connect the plumbing of your entire house to a rainwater storage tank, thus making it your only source of water. It can be difficult to pull off, especially if there are many of you in the household, so before making that decision, make sure to know the different factors to consider in making tank water the only water source at home.