How To Hide Junk in a Garage (5 Easy Ways)

It’s stressful seeing your garage full of junk. It may seem helpless to hide everything, but it isn’t! Often, you only need some resolve, time, and a bit of organization to turn your cluttered parking space into an organized garage.

Here are 5 easy ways to hide junk in your garage:

1. Organize your junk.
2. Keep the floor clear.
3. Make use of vertical space.
4. Install cabinets and drawers.
5. Opt for covered storage.

Hiding your junk and cleaning your garage is easy, especially if you have friends or family to help. The rest of this article will go over the easy ways to hide junk in your garage in more detail, so keep reading!

1. Organize Your Junk

Often, your garage space looks messy and cluttered not just because you have a lot of junk, but also because they’re very disorganized.

A cluttered garage could significantly impact you and your family’s mental health as the sight of the mess could contribute to stress.

Once you sift through the mess, keep what needs to be kept, and let go of what needs to be let go. After this, hiding your clutter will be easier to manage.

Keep, Donate, Sell, Recycle, and Throw

The system “keep, donate, sell, recycle, and throw” helps make garage organization much easier. If done efficiently, you’ll be left with less junk to hide, which would make the job easier and the garage neater.

Here’s how the system works:

• Keep. There’s no need to throw all of your stuff away, especially if it’s used regularly, can still be used, or has sentimental value. However, in choosing which items to keep, try to be rational to avoid clinging to them.
• Donate. Donating stuff in good condition is a great idea, especially if you don’t think you’ll ever use them again. In this way, you can help others while freeing up space! 
• Sell. Sell items that are valuable and in good condition. If you have a lot of them, consider setting up a garage sale.
• Recycle. You can also recycle items that are no longer good for their old function, but can still be used for other purposes. This way, you can help reduce waste and aid Mother Earth.
• Throw. Throw away everything that would not fit into any of the categories above. Garbage, moldy papers, year-old wrappers – you get the gist. Throw anything that isn’t valuable to you or anyone.

If there’s tons of junk to go through, you can always enlist the help of friends and family. Orient them properly on the system, so nothing gets sorted into the wrong category.

Use Storage Bins or Buckets

While going through all your junk, it’s a great idea to have storage containers nearby, either bins, buckets, or boxes.

Those you won’t keep can be packed into boxes for donation or selling. Meanwhile, everything you’d throw can be placed in garbage bags for disposal.

As for the junk you’d keep, they can go into the storage bins and buckets.

Label Your Junk

While you’re at it, label your junk. Labeling makes looking for specific items easier and faster.

To do that, you first need to group similar items. For instance, gardening tools can be grouped in one bin. Then, tools like screwdrivers and screws can also go in another.

Grouping together items is a great way to make your garage neater and hide your junk, as your stuff will begin to look more cohesive and less cluttered (source).

2. Keep the Floor Clear

Once everything’s been sorted and packed into bins, don’t place them on the floor.

It’s very tempting to set your items on the floor. However, that’ll make them look cluttered, and the junk will be emphasized. Moreover, items all over the floor can cause you and others to trip and make parking harder.

Thus, keep the floor free as much as possible for everyone’s safety and peace of mind.

3. Make Use of Vertical Space

Instead of setting items on the floor, take advantage of your vertical space. Ladders, ropes, and wires can be hung up properly.

Here are ways to organize using vertical space:

• Slatwall panels. These are wall panels with horizontal grooves on which you can attach hooks for bins or shelves. Some may even come with a set of hooks, such as this Crownwall 6″ Basic Bundle (link to Amazon).
• Pegboards. You can insert hooks or dowels into the holes of the pegboard. The hooks can hold items, while panels can be placed on dowels for support.
• Shelves. Shelves can be closed or open, depending on your needs.
• Magnetic tool holders. These are great ways to keep your tools in one place for easy access, such as this HMmagnets Heavy-Duty Magnetic Tool Holder (link to Amazon).

4. Install Cabinets and Drawers

Cabinets and drawers are always a great way to organize items, even junk. However, don’t just dump everything inside without arranging or organizing them.

Just as I’ve said before, keep all similar items in the same cabinet, drawer, or space. Prioritize things that need to be protected from elements or kept out of kids’ reach.

Besides these storage devices, you can also use racks. These may even be sold with storage bins, like the King’s Rack Bin Steel Storage (link to Amazon). This storage device includes 12 bins and can be installed within minutes.

5. Opt for Covered Storage

While some may argue that relying on covered storage would make you more lenient and clean your garage less, I think for hiding junk, they’re necessary.

Covered storage doesn’t just help in keeping things from becoming an eyesore, but they also help protect against elements like dust. However, be disciplined and don’t let things go in disarray behind closed doors.

Some cabinets, drawers, and shelves are already closed, and you won’t have to look for ways to cover them. But, if you have open shelves or racks, a curtain is also a great way to cover it up.

Final Thoughts

A messy garage can bother you, but it’s easy to turn the place around. However, it’s not always as simple as hiding the junk. If you keep hiding without cleaning and optimizing your space, the problem will come back again. 

Therefore, organizing your junk, keeping the floor clear, and making use of vertical space will all work to hide junk in your garage. Additionally, installing cabinets or using covered storage will keep the junk hidden and make the space look way less cluttered.