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Clearing your garage: a step-by-step plan to win back space
For many people the garage is the home's black hole: old moving boxes, a bike with a flat tyre, half-finished projects and things kept "for someday". Until the car no longer fits. This guide gives a clear step-by-step plan to clear your garage — including smart wall storage, safely disposing of chemical waste, and making room for your car or a workspace.
Making spaceExternal storage
Decluttering & Organising
June 24, 2026
Luuk Kamman
6 min
Clearing your garage: a step-by-step plan to win back space
For many people the garage is the home's black hole: old moving boxes, a bike with a flat tyre, half-finished projects and things kept "for someday". Until the car no longer fits. This guide gives a clear step-by-step plan to clear your garage — including smart wall storage, safely disposing of chemical waste, and making room for your car or a workspace.
Making space
External storage
Decluttering & Organising
June 24, 2026Luuk Kamman
CLEARING YOUR GARAGE: HOW TO TACKLE IT
Short answer: take everything out, sort by category and decide per item: keep, bin, sell or maybe. Clean the empty garage thoroughly and then set it up with fixed zones. Rule of thumb: if you haven't used something in a year, it can usually go. The full method is in our home decluttering guide; here we zoom in on the garage-specific steps.
📅 Pick a dry day; park the car outside the night before as a sorting zone
📦 Get ready: sturdy bags, boxes or bins, labels and a marker
🧤 Work safely: gloves, sturdy shoes and ventilation
🗂️ Work with four bins: keep / bin / sell / maybe
1. TAKE EVERYTHING OUT
Empty the garage completely — really everything, including the shelving. Put it on the driveway or in another room so you get an overview and can clean the floor. No space or bad weather? Then push everything to one side and work through the garage side by side.
2. SORT BY CATEGORY
Group by category — you quickly spot the duplicates. Similar to clearing your attic, but with different categories:
- Tools + DIY gear
- Garden things + bikes + sports
- Seasonal and holiday decorations
- Car items + chemical leftovers (keep separate)
- How many rolls of tape or half-empty bottles do you really need?
3. CLEAN UP
Now the garage is empty: cobwebs away, vacuum the concrete floor, wipe walls, mop with soapy water. Let everything dry well before putting things back. A clean, dry floor instantly makes it a nicer space to work in.
4. SET UP IN ZONES
Give each category a fixed spot — that's how it stays usable.
- DIY corner with workbench and tool wall
- Garden zone (hoe, rake, shears, hose)
- Sports + bikes on the wall — floor free for car
- Seasonal storage separate in labelled bins up top
SMART STORAGE: GO UP THE WALLS
Keep the floor as clear as possible for your car and bikes, and use the height. Hang tools, broom, rake and garden hose on wall hooks, fit wall racks or shelves, and hang your bike with a mount. Use sturdy, transparent bins and label them anyway — 'full is full' naturally limits the collecting.
By Bram Jansen — Lead Storage Advisor at Inbox Storage. Updated: June 2026.
Garage clear for the car? Calculate your price in 60 seconds at Inbox Storage.
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HAZARDOUS MATERIALS & WHAT YOU GET RID OF
Almost every garage has chemical leftovers: paint, petrol, gas bottles, batteries or motor oil. Those don't belong in the regular bin — or in (external) storage. Below is how to dispose of them safely, and what to do with the rest of your things.
⚠️ Paint, petrol, gas bottles and batteries: to the chemical-waste depot, not the bin or drain
🚫 Hazardous or flammable materials are not allowed in (external) storage
♻️ Broken tools, old electronics and building leftovers to the recycling centre
📦 Store: what you keep but have no room for right now
SMALL CHEMICAL WASTE
Small chemical waste is handed in free at your municipality's depot. Never in the regular bin or down the drain. The Dutch Milieu Centraal has the full list. What definitely belongs there:
- Paint + paint residue, thinner, spray cans
- Petrol + motor oil + other fuels
- Gas bottles, batteries + car batteries
- Transport leak-free in a bin lined with newspaper
GIVE AWAY, SELL OR RECYCLE
Usable tools and items get a second life.
- [Charity shop] or Marktplaats — with a deadline
- Broken tools + old electronics → recycling centre
- Building leftovers → recycling centre (bulky waste)
- Only genuine residual waste for the general bin
THE MAYBE-BOX
Can't decide — often something sentimental? Maybe-box + date. If you don't miss it after a few months, you can take the box to the charity shop unopened. A photo of a cherished object preserves the memory just as well.
KEEP IT TIDY
Stop the garage filling up again. Every category a fixed spot, put things back immediately, a short check each quarter. Apply the rule 'something out before something comes in' — that's how your car keeps fitting. See also our guide on the pitfalls that make clutter come back.
ROOM FOR THE CAR OR A WORKSPACE
Want your car back inside and dry, or to use the garage as a workspace? Things you keep but rarely use — seasonal gear, camping and winter equipment, spare furniture — can be stored externally instead of thrown away. We pick them up at your door and keep them climate-controlled in our secure hub in Gouda. Hazardous materials of course stay out of storage — see what's not allowed in storage.
Empty, clean and smartly arranged — that's how your garage is yours again (and your car's).
Calculate your storage price in 60 seconds at Inbox Storage.
Garage clear, belongings safely stored
What you keep but have no room for, we pick up at your door and store dry and climate-controlled.
- Throughout NL and Belgium
- Picked up & returned to your door
- Climate-controlled, secure storage
- From 1 month onwards