Your garage is an important extension of your home.  It is used to house your vehicle vehicles.  For many, the cars and trucks get parked in the driveway because the garage has become a glorified storage area.  Instead or your cars, it hold, boxes of junk, toys, bikes, strollers, tools, lawn equipment and so on and so forth.  Many garages have only a narrow path for walking through to get in the house.  If this sounds like your garage, here are 6 easy steps to help you take control of your garage again.

1. Remove everything from the garage.  You will need to sort everything so place each item in a category.  For example: Place all the tools together,  toys together, decorations together etc.  If you have things that are broken, out of date, or not in use you will need to trash it, donate it or sell it in a garage sale.
2. Have the proper organizational tools.  After you have categorized everything, determine what tools can help you organize these items.  For example, you may need to purchase storage bins, shelving systems, cabinet systems, tool chests, peg boards, hanging ceiling systems, hanging bike racks, etc. 
3. Clean. Once your garage is empty you will need to take a few minutes to sweep or mop out all the loose debris, remove cobwebs and layers of dust.  You will appreciate having a clean garage. It will be that much less dirt and grime that will get tracked into the house as well.
4. Décor.  I'm not saying you need to go out and get things to decorate the walls or make it a new living room.  But if a new coat of paint would make it brighter then now is the time to tackle that as well. What about the floor?  Many people like to paint and seal the floor of the garage to protect it from spills and make clean up easy.  Changing the wall or floor surfaces can have a huge impact on the feel of the garage. 
5. Organize.  Once your garage is clean (floor and walls) now you need  to put everything back.  The items that get used the most need to be placed accordingly. So put them where they will be easily accessible.  Place items less frequently used further back in the garage or higher up on shelving systems or within cabinets. Label the outside of bins, drawers and cabinets to spare yourself the trouble of hunting something down.  Putting labels on shelving or even peg boards can help remind you where things should be put away too.
6. Lastly, make rules and implement them. Rules such as, "Put everything back where you got it from," should be strictly followed to help maintain the organization of your garage. 

These 6 steps to decluttering your garage will help you achieve a clean and          well organized garage in a very short amount of time.  You will appreciate having everything in its place protected from mother nature.  You will no longer be embarrassed to open your garage when your neighbors are outside.  And most of all you will enjoy and spend less time looking for the things you need.  Best of luck to you!