Sampson

My New Years Resolution this year is to get organized. I have a 20 x 20 attached 2 car garage and a 24 x 24 detached 2 bay workshop. The detached garage is split between woodworking and cars. Presently the car side is so piled up I can hardly move around in there much less get a car in there to work on. The problem is, I do not want to throw anything away. I have spent the past 2 days going through every nut and bolt and scrap of wood in the garage agonizing over if I should keep it or throw it away. It is painful. I might need it someday. The reality is, going through some of this stuff "I may need someday" I found stuff I forgot I had.
Rule # 1
If you have forgotten you have it, it needs to be thrown away.
Rule # 2
If it doesn't work and you will probably never fix it throw it away. iE: I had 2 cheap floor jacks taking up space for several years that no longer worked. why was I keeping them?
Rule #3
If it is a permanent piece of equipment for the shop it needs a designated permanent spot. IE: creepers, jackstands, jacks, etc need a spot of ther own when not in use.
As of today I have hauled off 2 pickup truck loads of crap to the dump. I would love to hear about some of your suggestions to get organized.

Tedd Thompson

You have just hauled away something you will need next week and the price of the new one will be three times what you paid for the one you are throwing away..... Trust me it will happen. You need a bigger storage area not less stuff....Tedd

oldcutlass

Sometimes one just needs to clean up. It usually happens at my place when we decide to move. I throw or give away a bunch of stuff I don't think I need. Then after we move I buy the stuff I just got rid of before we moved.

oldstata

X2 on above, I have a tough time throwing things out. I have been stock piling bed frames from DI bought them for a few bucks or less some were free from people throwing them out . I plan to cut them up and build some racks just need to cut and weld to size . But I do understand cleaning house once in awhile but man every time I do I threw something out that I need and can't find or have to wait to get it replaced.

Sampson

I hear you guys, but I may be WAY too OCD about throwing things away. On the woodworking side I had every scrap cutoff piece of wood from every project from the last 20 years. Eric, that is coincidentally, when we moved here. And Ted, I agree I may need some of that crap tomorrow. But if I didn't even remember I had it I would have probably just gone out and purchased another anyway.
Here is a shot of the cabinets I purchased from Habitat for Humanity Restore last year for the attached garage. I repainted them and probably have $200.00 bucks invested. They really helped me get that space organized. I am hoping to do something similar to the detached garage now that I have a lot of the junk out of the way.
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don71

I've read the experts say to get rid of anything if it hasn't been used in a year. The exception would be sentimental items like grand dads tool box.

Speaking of tool boxes, I've found they are nice to store the specialty tools. Nothing fancy even the cheap plastic ones are fine. I have one just for plumbing, one for drywall chores etc. Others are delegated for brake bleeding and one just for gear and steering wheel pullers.

When organizing the work shop I put the tools used most often with in close reach. Others less used will get the bottom drawers or even up high. I like things off the floor. Fishing poles store nicely at the ceiling, as does a ladder.

I've discovered one piece of clutter acts like a magnet and attracts other things. This holds true with those wall wart transformers, you know the chargers. I have a tool box full of them. I can't seem to throw them away.

steverw

I hear ya Sampson. I dont think im OCD but its CDO if you want to keep the letters in order

Steve

m371961

Once a year I go through this. Sometimes I get carried away in the moment.Yes, I find later there are things I regret tossing, but I never regret all that I toss. Cheaper then another building. Years ago I got rid of some older tools, gave away a dwell/tach multimeter and said I'll never fool with points again. I have been more careful since.

FMB42

Organization is the name of the game. And I'm getting serious about it this year. Last year I bought three 2' x 4' sheets of pegboard and scored another 2 sheets (free) from a generous carpenter. But then I wasted a bunch of time trying to find all of the many peg board hooks I'd gathered during the last decades. Now All I need is a couple of 4' x 8' sheets and I'll finally be able to make some head room...or rear end room in my case. Losing weight is the next thing on my New Year's do list.

Octania

I am the worst at saving useless crap. It is better to have space and be able to find what you need.

One thing I would suggest- rather than take everything to "the dump" let folks come get the steel and metal stuff- jobless or scrap haulers will take it for recycling or repair or re-use. Craigslist curb alert maybe- it'll be here for one day, come get what you can use- then you have a smaller pile and somebody maybe gets some benefit from the landfill fodder. I put the old vacuum cleaner on CL xmas day and within 20m a guy came and took all three old semi usable vacuums. Of course 2 days later I needed a 20 ft 2-wire electrical cord for an extension to work on intake conversions.

Gary M

I put some smaller parts (carbs, bolts, brackets, etc.) in a Rubbermaid bin and cataloged everything inside on a paper attached to the top of the bin. Saves digging. If I take anything out I scratch it off the list.

springbryan

I have 2 car a 1 car garage on the house. A 30x30 heated shop. A 36x54 pole barn. A 22x34 garden barn. You can have to much space I find nothing is in the building you are in so now you buy a 4 wheeler to go between barns. Something else to store yes what I am saying is more space more stuff they are all cluttered not bad but all need work. I am one that if it has been here to long it goes.