For many of us, our garage quickly ceases being a place to park your car and instead becomes a huge storage area – an extension, if you like, to the storage within the main house.
Unfortunately, it can become a bit of a dumping ground and things can end up being stored badly, especially paper items that can easily be damaged by damp and humidity. So how do you bring order to the chaos, and how can you improve the way paper items are stored in your garage.
Clear out the clutter
If you are considering using your garage as a storage area, it is likely because of lack of storage in the main house. It is therefore a great start to have a good clear out of some of those full to busting cupboards in the house, so any essential paper items can be stored in there, where temperature extremes are far less and there is less chance of anything being exposed to damp.
There are plenty of tips online to help you sort and clear your clutter, and even how to deal with sentimental clutter, such as this article in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/14/how-to-declutter-your-life-marie-kondo-spark-joy.
Also tackle the garage itself, giving it a good sort out. Only keep items you really need, and establish exactly how much you need to store in the garage and work out what garage shelving systems or storage will best suit your needs.
Getting organised
Now you know exactly what and how much you need to store in your garage, you can look at what type of storage you require and how best to store things.
There are many places to purchase all kinds of storage solutions, both on the high-street or online, such as https://www.garage-shelving.co.uk/.
Best ways with paper
Firstly, remove any paperclips and staples, as the metal will be badly affected by damp and moisture and will damage any paper they are in contact with. The same goes for rubber bands, as these will simply rot.
Airtight plastic storage boxes can be a big help for keeping out damp and insects, but are best stored off the floor on shelving.
Other ideas are the use of a dehumidifier or even creating a climate controlled section, but these are both expensive and probably not worth the expense for garage storage.