How do you guys do it?!?!

[duallypilot]

I've been a member for a couple of weeks now and it baffles me how everyone keeps their shops clutter free. How do you all do it? I've attached photo's of my shop. The first one is what it looked like on the 15th of July when I brought our new mill/lathe combo home and then the rest of them are as the area is today. It seems when I get through one pile, another crops up.... I sure could use some insight here.
Jerrald

 

[burnitwithfire]

I think most people who can keep their shop/garage clutter free either have a shed, use the basement or have more than one garage on their property.

 

[motodavid2000]

I think most people who can keep their shop/garage clutter free either have a shed, use the basement or have more than one garage on their property.

BINGO !! We have a winner.

 

[Falcon67]

How dare you insinuate that my shop is clutter free

 

[e-tek]

Looking at you pics, you have too much stuff in a small space, it's not organized very well, there aren't a lot of shelves/storage and you have lotsa stuff that should be in a shed. Everything on wheels REALLY helps.

I do the above and I clean up after I use stuff. I always wind-down after doing stuff by cleaning up. I just hate to work with tools and dirt on the floor and **** everywhere!

LOTS GOING ON - NOTHING ON THE FLOOR!

 

[duallypilot]

I also forgot to add that in the picture where it looks like a huge empty wall space is where our new CNC mill is going to sit.
Thanks for the input so far, guys.

 

[fergus]

I always thought a garage that gets used was supposed to look like organized chaos. That's how it was growing up. That's how my garages have been since then. But I do get ticked off when I've got to work on something RIGHT NOW and my bench is covered with **** from last month. Maybe I'll try to change...some of these dudes are seriously organized around here.

 

[NRChopshop]

organization is key.

 

[NASTYZEN]

I've been a member for a couple of weeks now and it baffles me how everyone keeps their shops clutter free. How do you all do it? I've attached photo's of my shop. The first one is what it looked like on the 15th of July when I brought our new mill/lathe combo home and then the rest of them are as the area is today. It seems when I get through one pile, another crops up.... I sure could use some insight here.
Jerrald

Do the guys with immaculate showroom garages actually do any serious work in them?I always wonder how they keep from setting those pretty posters on fire when grinding or mig welding.Or knocking those expensive lit neon signs off the wall with a driveshaft or something!LOL

 

[tdkkart]

LOTS GOING ON - NOTHING ON THE FLOOR!

Now wait a minute, there's several vehicles missing from this shot, where are they while you're working??

 

[Gottspd]

It's all what you're looking for. I don't weld, but I'll change the brakes, do oil changes, etc. in my garage. I'm not a mechanic, a builder, a welder, etc. I just want to have a nice garage (and mine is no where near what some of the folks on here have), but I want my cars to have a nice place to rest and I want a place that looks cool when I step into it.

 

[larry_g]

Most of us with garages like yours do not post pictures of the mess. You are not alone in your mess, I just don't post pictures of it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[regguy1]

You shouldn't have to stumble over stuff everyday that you only use once a year. (good starting point)

Let's hear more "organizational ideas" that would be a good use of this thread.

I always liked the Chinese proverb "every man has a good idea"

I'm listening..............................

 

[cooliorz]

I can't work in a cluttered environment.
I use my work in the garage everyday. I keep my garage clean because it's is so small. My garage is 10 x 19 with no room to expand. It really helps to stay organized.

 

[Cage]

Have you seen my garage ?! It looks like a bomb went off in there, my wife is afraid to step foot in there, which means it`ll be a disaster area for a long time to come. But on a serious note, I`m in the middle of a budget rebuild of my garage, it`s in bad shape so at least I have an excuse.

 

[ITSANSS]

Looking at you pics, you have too much stuff in a small space, it's not organized very well, there aren't a lot of shelves/storage and you have lotsa stuff that should be in a shed. Everything on wheels REALLY helps.

I agree. Really need more space if at all possible.

Also, I am a FIRM believer of shelves. Getting things up off the floor is a huge move in the "right" direction.

Also, the garages with painted floors, neon sings, vintage and rare posters, etc. are generally more show than go I would imagine. To be kept in that nice of condition and that uncluttered, it would have to be not used. Haha

 

[Jack Olsen]

I take the pictures of mine when it's clean. I was welding in it today and it's pretty cluttered up right now.

But a good, simple organizational idea is to not let anything sit on the floor (except a car). Clean it really well and organize everything once, and you'll know where everything goes from that point forward.

Until you add something.

 

[DzNuts]

How dare you insinuate that my shop is clutter free

^That is funny stuff right there!^

 

[JCQuick]

Like others have said shelves are your best friend.
My garage is not anywhere near most on here but i do try to keep it organized and somewhat clean. but its a costant battle

 

[Dragster Racer]

Have you seen a picture of my shop? Exactly. Too embarassed. Will get the shelves up by winter and maybe some more wall covering. Then maybe the camera.

 

[Red Green]

I would be happy if my shop was as clean as yours is Duallypilot.

 

[Wanna Ride]

I've been a member for a couple of weeks now and it baffles me how everyone keeps their shops clutter free. How do you all do it? I've attached photo's of my shop. The first one is what it looked like on the 15th of July when I brought our new mill/lathe combo home and then the rest of them are as the area is today. It seems when I get through one pile, another crops up.... I sure could use some insight here.
Jerrald

Look... it's not going to be easy, but you have to start somewhere. And I'm more than willing to help. The first thing you have to do, is gut the garage. Throw it all away, or better yet, have someone you don't know (hint:me!) come over and haul it all away. Everything.

And then start over. I'll even bring you some shelf boards and brackets, but I'll need you to help me load everything up before I leave. OK?

Don't mention it... anything to help out a GJ member!

 

[ket-tek]

Alot of the great spaces here are new builds, so it's done and pretty before move in, just like a house. Insulate, sheetrock, paint, floor, lights, benches, shelves, set equipment, then move in the tools, cars, and projects.

It's hard for most people with existing garages to get to that point, because you already have years of stuff you have to pull absolutly everything out for a few days/weeks to do the inside right, and it may rain/snow/get stolen/etc..

I built a new shop with a new house in 07, I did the structure right but had to be moved in before I had time to finish it out. So luckily it was sheetrocked and insulated, but it was not painted, lighted, floored, etc.. So I'm still shuffling stuff that doesn't belong in the garage from on bay over to another to get to work on stuff. My plan was a picture perfect space to 'start' working out of that would 'show wear' over time from fixing/building, I've gotten some done painted most of it, done the lighting, and built most cabinets. But sometimes just Life, Wife, Family, Etc may 'interfere' a bit with my objective, but it is what it is.

Best I can say, as I have recently gotten some good housecleaning done in the garage, is: PURGE. I've took a few trailer loads of STUFF to the dump that I've drug from home to home I've lived in, thinking I may use this again, or for this project, or it has ebay value. PURGING felt so damn good the day after I dumped it all. Floorspace and less clutter really feels so much better than having lots of stuff, lots of it I hadn't touched in many years.


I recall at some point Bmwpower getting asked about not doing real work in his sweet lista cabinet/stainless steel garage, and later seeing pics of torn apart engines and greasy parts covering the entire floor and benches.

And surely Madcow's garage is so sick, down the individual tool drawers with foam cutouts for each wrench. But he builds/maintains a race car in there.

 

[A29]

not that I don't have clutter but having small cars helps

 

[Dan_inthewind]

Few things I follow strictly

If you put it in the garage till you can find a place for it,,,,probably don't need it.

If you take it out to use it, put it away WHEN your done with it, not later.

I cleaned it, don't you mess it.

Any job will be done better, faster and with less headache in a cleanwork place.

My garage is only 21X21 so I do have a smaller shed maybe 8X12 but the stuff in my shed would take up 16X16 for sure if it were in the garage. It forces you to stay organized.

I do a lot in my garage. Car repairs, bike repairs, lawnmowers, snowblowers. I do a lot of remodel jobs and painting. I have things stored in a "job" fashion rather than in a "where do I have room for this" fashion. Just makes each job easier.

No job is finished till the garage is cleaned up!

When I moved here I had way to much stuff. I had to stand back and take a good hard look at things.
If Iwas saving it just because then how long had I saved it. The stuff I couldnt justify I gave away. If you give it away they will never deny you using it.
I thought of my main uses for the garage and put things into those piles, car stuff, woodworking stuff, painting stuff and on and on.
I cheated, I looked at pictures and drew out on paper what I thought would work and went with that. You can always make changes, part of the fun of ownership.



To the OP, take your time, Organize your thoughts and mind before your garage. Things will work out for you. Setting up your garage is part of the fun and satisfaction. Good luck with it!

Dan

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

"A place for everything and everything in it's place".

It doesn't matter if you have a shed, a giant garage, or a 2nd garage - if you don't have a place where everything goes the additional space is just going to be a mess too.

NOT saying all our garages are always clean - they aren't. Mine is currently a mess because I'm building/installing some big cabinet doors...but I'm not taking pictures that I'm going to post. I'll take pictures AFTER I paint the doors and clean everything up.

Step #1
Take EVERYTHING out of the garage. Throw away or donate everything you haven't touched in a year - you aren't likely to need it in the next year either; you know it you just can't make yourself accept it.

Step #2
Put all seasonal and rarely used stuff in the overhead.

Step #3
With what remains, group like things together. Your space is small, consider hanging pegboard on all walls and hang everything you can logically and neatly.

Then?
PUT EVERYTHING AWAY EVERY TIME YOU'RE DONE USING IT.

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

One idea I stole from a neighbour was to build a shelf over the top of the up-and-over garage door which just clears when it's open. It's wasted space and I massively over-engineered mine so that it's about 7' deep but it'll easily take my weight so if I need to get something from the back I can crawl in and get it. The space between the shelf and the ceiling is about 2' so I gained a massive amount of storage space in a standard UK single garage.

I'll post a pic when I get home.

 

[ol55]

I have a hot rod garage party every spring. That forces me to clean the garage at least once a year.

 

[RobSmith]

I've found that deep cupboards or shelves can result in "digging" for stuff. you know you take out four things to get to the thing you want. I'm in the process of planing my new shed and this one is a priority. Shallow shelves and cupboards so you can see and access all my bits without "digging". My old shed has a wall of 1ft wide shelves, 1 foot above each other...I'll be fitting this in the new shad.

 

[duallypilot]

WOW! Thanks for all the input everyone. This is one of the things that impressed me about this forum over others, loads of information that everyone is willing to share.
I will have to confess that a year ago, my shop was a storage area for a S-10 project that the city told me couldn't sit outside. It got to the point that if something needed to be out of the way, it got piled on top of the truck. Once the truck was gone, all the stuff on top of and around got thrown in the middle of the space. So I've been fighting that as well.
As for expanding.. That's out of the question. We've all ready got his and hers garages as well as a 14X36 pad beside mine that our 5th wheel is parked on. The shed idea is another story. Our house all ready had a 14X14 shed in the backyard when we moved in and it's filled to the brim with 11 years of STUFF! That is my next project - To clean it out and turn it into my woodworking shop. This will eliminate a LOT of stuff out of the garage.
Thanks again for everyone's advice, And I like the idea of using this thread for more organizational ideas. Keep them coming!

 

[ersatzs2]

it baffles me how everyone keeps their shops clutter free. How do you all do it?

Growing up, my dad had (still has) a major tool fetish. By the time I went to college, he could pour you a concrete floor, build a hardwood china cabinet with dovetails and rabbet joints, rebuild your engine, survey and dig a foundation, machine compression fittings for the faucet etc etc, all without leaving the yard. His hardware assortment rivaled any store.
However, he couldn't bear to spend a dime on anything that wasn't a tool. The resulting clutter just became unmanageable, to the point where he'd get so frustrated not being able to find something that he'd go buy/rent another.
So I made it my goal to match storage with tool purchases about 1:1. No I don't have as much stuff as dad. But I can locate, maintain, and use what I have.
Last night's major triumph: getting the water hose off the floor and out of the way. Very satisfying.

 

[LocoCoco]

I have a hot rod garage party every spring. That forces me to clean the garage at least once a year.

I end up hosting a "garage party" about once a month so that inspires me more than anything to clean it up. The time in between parties though it gradually gets messier and messier. However, earlier in the year a pretty big, spontaneous garage party started up one night and the garage looked like a landfill. Before and after the alcohol-effect I was so embarrassed that now I try to keep it relatively tidy all the time.

In fact, having a garage party this Saturday. Anyone stop by if you're in Sudbury.



LC.

 

[Boiler]

It is very difficult to keep a garage clutter free if you save everything. Some guys have a really hard time throwing anything out. Like a chunk of dryer vent hose. Do you have an old hose on your dryer? Do you plan on moving it? Plan on installing dryers for others soon? If you answered no to these questions, THROW IT OUT. Same goes for wood scraps. Keep a box on the shelf for shimming or whatever, but you don't have to save every scrap unless you've got unlimited room.

I've got a bolt bin / organizer for odds and ends left over from around the house repairs that I hate to throw out. I go through it every year or two and dump the junk.

My biggest problem right now is that I have no space and that I have TONS of cardboard boxes in there. I just received shipment from Uline of an assortment of boxes for my purposes, which fits much more cleanly under my workbench, and now I can torch the boxes...

 

[Firefighter315]

I agree with both Dan's above. Everything has a place and the job isn't done until everything is back in its place. As far as creating a place for everything, gut the garage, get rid of what you haven't used in the past year or so (tools do not apply here ) and then get creative in how you store things. Things that don't see much use, but need to stay, put them somewhere it may take an extra minute to get to. Everyday stuff up front and easily accessed. Shelving is great, platforms either mounted to or hoisted to the ceiling are great for less used items. Ladder storage, no brainer. A cool idea I've seen for exposed joists overhead is to build boxes that will fit flush in between them, mount one end with a pivot bolt through the joists and then use a pivoting cleat to hold the other end up when lifted up between the joists. The side of the box that pivots down is four sided or has some type of retaining bar across it to keep the contents put while the box is in its "lowered" position.

All that said, you are definitely in the right spot to find organization ideas! Of course, a little touch of OCD always helps in my situation. Can't stand to leave the garage if anything is unorganized or out of place.

 

[bilko1]

e-tek
Is that a home groan budy turning thingee???

 

[mpire]

I agree with most of the posters. I have a pretty small 20x30 garage and its the cleanest room in the house. It gets very messy, and eventually I get out there and clean it up. I just don't take pictures of my garage when its messy. I tend to take photos right AFTER I have just cleaned it up.

1) Have a nice floor. It brightens the area up and makes it feel like a room, not a garage. Also you think twice about leaving stuff on the floor. You want to be able to see your pretty floor. Thats why I stack all my **** on my workbench.

2) I am notorious for not putting tools away. Because my workbench becomes a pile o tools and ****, I have to pull out the folding tables, spread everything out, and then put it away when it gets too high to keep from falling on the floor. Designate an area for putting stuff that isn't away. Then you only have one pile to clean up, not the whole garage.

3) Get some music out there. Wire in a stereo. Makes time in the garage more pleasant. I used an old surround sound system so I have 5.1 digital surround sound and a TV/DVD setup. A must have.

4) Storage is important. I made my own cabinets, but you can also buy them if you are desperate. I also have lots of clear storage bins in small sizes that I have labeled. Lots of bins are just junk, random screws and bolts, etc. But at least its out of sight.

5) I have a condo I rent out downtown, and I don't rent the garage. I truck everything that is junk to the garage and if I don't use it in a year, I give it to AmVets. That applies to clothing and shoes, old stereo equipment, etc. You could do this in a shed as well, but you get the point.

6) Get the lawn equipment out of the garage. I have one of those rubber-maid plastic storage sheds that are waist height. It holds the trimmer, mower, and gas cans just fine. It also keeps the fumes and fertilizer out of my garage.

7) Have lots of parties and invite people who like garages. That will definitely give you incentive to one-up your friends. Ever notice how car projects never get done until a car show is on the calender next week? Gotta get it done in time. Urgency is a good thing.

8) Keep the wife out of the garage. She put some Christmas decorations in a box in my garage, so I put a 6 foot muffler on her side of the bed. She caught on really fast. She gets to park in the garage, thats more than enough.

9) Is it art, or is it junk? I have a carbon fiber hood hanging on the wall in my living room 10 feet up. I bet you could pass lots of stuff off as art if you hang it on the wall. It was wasted space, and she can't reach it.

10) I still haven't gotten my garage walls painted, so I still have projects to get done. I think I need to have a garage party next month sometime.

 

[duallypilot]

Well guys, I got more cleaning done today. The clutter is getting under control. I'm going to build a "loft" of sorts over the main door to store things like my workmate and folding saw horses.
to answer some of mpire's bullet points, Painting the floor never was my cup of tea. I'd be afraid of walking on a bright shiny gloss floor. I don't store my lawn equipment inside as it is. I am about to drag my old John Deere rider in and overhaul the motor though. It has a blade attachment to push snow with and will sit in the front corner of the shop so it's ready when the snow flies (shoveling a 4 car wide driveway is for young people). I've all ready got the stereo installed. It's our old house unit and I've got a cable hooked to the CD input so I can run my I-Pod through it (Internet radio stations are great). I also have a laptop set up out on one bench so I have access to the web when I want a break.
I'm going to keep plugging at it, it may never be a "show" shop but at least I'm not walking through isles to get to things.

 

[duallypilot]

oh yeah... The wife has her own garage that her car sits in as well as houses her glass studio. She has never attempted to venture into my side!!

 

[regguy1]

Dan In Pasedena Said:

Step #1
Take EVERYTHING out of the garage. Throw away or donate everything you haven't touched in a year - you aren't likely to need it in the next year either; you know it you just can't make yourself accept it.

Step #2
Put all seasonal and rarely used stuff in the overhead.

Step #3
With what remains, group like things together. Your space is small, consider hanging pegboard on all walls and hang everything you can logically and neatly.

Then?
PUT EVERYTHING AWAY EVERY TIME YOU'RE DONE USING IT.

Good Points !! A lot of good ideas from everyone
Here's my pegboard and overhead storage ideas, maybe you can use some part of the ideas:

I built my workbench so it has drawers and storage capacity yet nothing shows, looks much neater than open bench.....also more time to build Even my little "desk" where the computer sits is a tool cabinet that provides some nice hidden storage.

Link to overhead storage project:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65557

 

[rustyfords]

For the last 5 years (and for the next 2 or 3) I've been stuck with a basic two-car garage, and I fight the clutter ALL of the time.

I've kept it relatively clutter-free by following a few simple rules:

- If I haven't used it in the last year, it leaves my garage, and either gets sold or finds another place to "live" on my property. I follow this rule religiously with only a couple of little exceptions (heirloom tools of my grandads, and misc. junk-drawer type stuff used for building and fabrication, like bits of sheet metal, bins of nuts and bolts, etc, etc). Sometimes this is a bit painful, but it really clears out some space.

- I have a small shed for my lawn equipment and other non-automotive things.

- I insist that the garage not be used as a dumping ground or temporary storage place for household items that my wife wants to be out of the way.