I can honestly say that I was dreading this job. It was the first garage that I had done and it was simply overwhelming. But, like anything, you have to start and start we did. We removed items to the driveway so that we had room to think and plan out the space. With two of us working, and at times a third, we sorted through it all in about three hours. Even I was amazed at what we accomplished!

We did it! Hard to believe, isn't it? As always, items were grouped together for donation and we filled up a few garbage bags of, well, garbage. Plus, we removed a number of items into a second garden shed. I still can't believe that the floor is visible!
I don't think we could have cleaned up the garage without these shelves. As soon as we had cleared space along the wall we assembled the shelves and started putting things on them. And guess what? They were salvaged from an old department store. Remember, there are lots of options besides buying "brand new"...
In addition to the shelves, plastic trays and cardboard boxes allowed smaller items to be grouped together.

Hooks make a huge difference when it comes to keeping stuff up off the floor and encouraging kids to put things away.