Operation Garage Cleanup + Before Pictures

Here’s my gameplan for cleaning and organizing my messy, cluttered two-car garage while staying on a budget and shopping mostly at Walmart.

I have spent my entire life perfecting my organizing skills, but you wouldn’t believe that for a second if you saw my garage. We’ve been renovating our house for the last two years, and the garage has been the dumping ground for all the leftover building supplies, donation items, and homeless decor.

But it’s gotten to the point now that I can’t actually get to my tools to do those renovations. So I finally decided to take a quick pause from room makeovers and tackle this garage once and for all. Here’s my gameplan of how I’ll pull it off in three weeks or less. Get ready for some bad before pictures!

Step One: Clean & Declutter

I really wanted to pull everything out of the garage and power wash the floors. Our house was built in the ’70s and the floors really show their age. But the weather had other plans for me. During the first week of my garage cleanup project, it rained, no, it poured, every single day. I didn’t want to get behind because I have other projects coming up, so I’ll have to put off the floor cleaning for now.

I am still cleaning constantly, and getting it as clean and fresh-feeling as possible. My wet/dry vac has been my BFF because the floor attachment works like a regular home vacuum. Every time I pull out a shelf or box, I find mouse poop, sawdust, and random unidentified objects, and I can just suck them right up.

As I’m cleaning, I’m decluttering like a madwoman. Anything I don’t need, don’t want, don’t love, or don’t have a place for is either getting sold or donated. The garage has been so full for so long, that I really just want to get rid of 75% of what’s in there. I’m on track to hit that number right now as I wait for the last few Marketplace buyers to pick up their purchases.

Step Two: Organization & Storage

My garage holds a mishmash of a bunch of different categories. From tools and building supplies to lawn equipment, home renovation materials to games and sports equipment, grilling supplies to holiday decor, and even a huge stash of my childhood Beanie Baby collection, there’s a lot going on.

My goal is to create zones so everything is easy to find and feels cohesive, no matter how different the items stored next to each other are. I’m using a combination of deep storage shelves and wall rail systems to get as much off the floor as possible.

And I’m swapping out the multitude of random containers for uniform clear bins with simple and easy-to-read labels. Everything will look like it matches, which will make the garage instantly look cleaner and neater. My only downfall is that I picked out this container that’s very in-demand. I’ve been shopping over 6 Walmarts to get the amount that I need, and even have friends and Instagram followers helping me scout them locally.

Step Three: Upgrades & Customization

This will be the fun part (if I ever make it here) because I get to do what I love—DIYs! I plan on tinting the windows of my garage doors, doing some fun paint techniques, and even making a custom Organized-ish logo sign for my workshop area. There’s so much potential for this garage, especially in the future as my budget gets replenished, and the possibilities are endless.

I’ve been loading down my Garage Cleanup Planner with all kinds of ideas I can implement later on down the road. That planner has been my saving grace throughout this whole project so far. It keeps me focused and helps me avoid getting overwhelmed. I can just look at my list, do what’s next, and trust that the plan I created will work.

Watch The Entire Project On Instagram

Want to watch the garage project in realtime? I’m sharing my daily vlog of the whole process in my Instagram Stories @lelaburris and saved them all to a highlight in case you missed a day. I’ve gotten so many messages from people saying how motivating and inspiring it is to watch the whole thing go down.

I’m sharing the good, the bad, the boring, and the ugly so you know exactly what you’re in for when you get ready to tackle your own garage. We’re in this together, so I’ll see you over on IG!