May 31, 2010
J. Breckenridge

So, let's get started. The first thing you need, obviously, is a plan - and with a plan, you also need a timeframe. Since, the first thing you'll have to do is pull all that stuff out of the garage and let it see the sunlight - while you sort it out into 'thrash' and keep piles, you'll need a sunlit day - as opposed to a rainy day. But, before you pull all your 'treasures' out of your 'vault', you must estimate whether you'll have enough sunlit hours to move, sort and restore the keepables to the garage in an organized fashion - without having to leave them to the elements overnight.

And speaking of organization, when your keepables go back into the garage, it would be prudent to have a system of shelves, cabinets, etc. to put your garage-dwellers in a state where everything has its place. If, after you've organized your garage, you find that you still have to move one item out of the way to get to another item, your organized garage may soon fall into disarray again.

The idea is to do the job well enough so that you may not have to do it again - which brings us back to pre-planning. At the risk of stating the obvious, you must think about what you plan to do with your garage space once you re-obtain it. Understand that you'll be able to do much more than just store your car in it.

So now, if you have thought about the project thoroughly, you've no doubt come to the conclusion that you'll need a temporary place to store your stuff separately from the garage until you finish your modifications and/or improvements. A good choice for this may be a rented container delivered right to your driveway which can be carried away in the same manner once you finish with it. Also if the 'thrash' pile threatens to be sufficiently large, it may be a good idea to have a dumpster delivered to your driveway as well, which also can be picked up when the project is finished.

(Editor's note: If you want easy access to your secured items, consider self storage units!)