If you can't park in your garage, you're in good company. It's one of the most common things we hear from homeowners around the Valley. Arizona houses rarely have a basement, closets fill up fast, and the garage quietly becomes the place where everything goes "for now." A few years later, "for now" has a car parked in the driveway in 115-degree heat.
The good news: a garage clean-out is a one-weekend project if you go in with a plan. Here's the one we recommend.
Before you start: pick a cool morning and gather supplies
Don't try this on a July afternoon. Start early, keep water handy, and have everything ready before the first box comes out:
- Heavy-duty trash bags and a few empty boxes for donations
- Matching plastic totes with snap lids (one size, so they stack)
- Painter's tape and a marker for labels
- Work gloves, a broom and a shop vac
- A tarp on the driveway, so sorted piles stay off the ground
Use the one-year test
Pick up each item and ask one question: have I used this in the last year? If the answer is yes, or it's something seasonal like holiday décor, it stays. If not, it goes. Be honest about the "someday" projects and duplicate tools. Work one corner at a time so the garage never looks worse than when you started.
Have a plan for everything that leaves
- Donate anything that still works. Many local charities will schedule a pickup for furniture and larger items.
- Sell only what's worth the hassle, and give yourself one week. If it doesn't sell, donate it.
- Take old paint, solvents, pool chemicals, motor oil and batteries to your city's household hazardous waste drop-off. They can't go in the trash can.
- For the rest, we can help. Our deep cleaning and junk haul-away service clears out garages, sheds and storage rooms.
Clean and inspect while it's empty
An empty garage is the best chance you'll get to fix the little things. Sweep and vacuum out the corners, degrease oil stains, and look for signs of pests. Check the bottom seal on the garage door and the weatherstripping on the door into the house. If you can see daylight, dust and heat are getting in too, and new weatherstripping is a quick fix.
Decide where things live by how often you use them
The easiest way to keep a garage organized is to store things based on how often you reach for them:
- Every week: on the wall at arm's reach. Hooks for yard tools, a shelf for sports gear, a spot for the dog leash. We install wall shelving, cabinets and racks anchored to the studs.
- A few times a year: overhead, out of the way. Holiday décor, camping gear, coolers and luggage.
- Never or almost never: it probably went in the donate pile.
- The floor: for the car.
Don't forget the ceiling
Look up. Most garages have a strip of empty space above the cars that runs the whole length of the room. Overhead storage turns that space into room for a dozen or more totes. There are two main options:
- A fixed ceiling rack hangs a steel platform a couple of feet below the ceiling. It holds the most for the money, but you'll need a ladder to get things down.
- A storage lift lowers the whole platform to the floor so you can load it standing up, then raises it back out of the way. No ladder, no lifting heavy totes over your head.
We're an official install partner for CeilingSAM™, the American-made brand behind the Storage Elevator™ lift and the 1,000 lb Heavy-Duty Pro rack. See all the options on our garage storage systems page.
One Arizona rule: keep the heat-sensitive stuff inside
Heat rises, so the space up by your garage ceiling is the hottest spot in a garage that's already brutal in summer. Overhead storage is great for tough, seasonal things. Leave these in the house instead:
- Family photos, documents and anything irreplaceable
- Candles and anything that can melt
- Electronics, batteries and printer ink
- Canned goods, bottled water and wine
- Paint, aerosols and chemicals
Make it stick
Label every tote on the end you can see from the floor. Adopt a one-in, one-out rule for anything new. Then take ten minutes on the first Saturday of every month to put strays back where they belong. That's all it takes to keep the car inside for good.
Want help?
From the haul-away to the hooks to a full overhead storage system, we can handle as much or as little of your garage as you want. Request a free quote or call or text 480-264-0012.
