15 Garage Items to Toss for a Stress Free Place and a Garage Organization DIY Project

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We walk into the garage, probably daily. Placing items in there to get them "out of the house." The piles and piles get larger while the garage (affiliate) gets smaller and smaller. But where do we begin when clearing out the garage (affiliate)? The list below will guide and motivate you to clear the clutter and make a stress-free garage (affiliate). The items can be removed immediately to help clear out the garage (affiliate). Now is the time to get started.

15 Garage Items to Toss RIGHT NOW for a Stress-Free Garage

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Broken appliances.
Broken patio furniture.
Old unneeded paints.
Unused sports equipment/fitness equipment.
Rusted broken and unused garden tools.
Old tires.
Old bike equipment.
Unused spray paint.
Old boxes of stuff.
Donations that need to go to charities.
Unfinished projects.
Expired spray cleaners/chemicals.
Unused holiday decorations.
Old newspapers and magazines.
Fertilizer with Pesticides and Herbicides over 4 years old
2025: An Example of an Easy DIY Garage Organization Project
What is the cost of organizing this garage?
Supplies Used
Before the garage organization project
How to organize a garage?
Reveal:
Organizing a Garage Tips
The Complete Organizing Kids Sports Equipment Guide
How To Make An Effective Garage Organization
17 Creative Ways To Use Carabiners to Organize Your Home
4 Areas of Your Garage to Keep Safe and Organized

Broken appliances.

How many refrigerators do you have in your garage (affiliate)? If you're unsure about where to dispose of your broken appliances, check with your electric company. The one in our area will give you money to get rid of these items. Peco Energy in the Philadelphia area offers a Fridge and Freezer Recycling program.

Broken patio furniture.

Can these items be repaired? Will they be used? If not, get rid of them. The Salvation Army family stores will come and pick up your unwanted stuff and furniture (affiliate).

Old unneeded paints.

If you paint your rooms, odds are you have several cans of paint - both interior and exterior - and disposing of paint since it is toxic needs to be done properly. Visit our Recycling Locations and Shredder event page for details on hazardous waste in the area.

Unused sports equipment/fitness equipment.

Are your kids grown? Do you have broken sports equipment? Are you not using your fitness equipment anymore? These items can be donated as well if they are in working order.

Rusted broken and unused garden tools.

Garden tools (affiliate) need maintenance. If you didn't take care of yours and now want to, check out this post by Bob Villa.

Old tires.

If you have extra tires in your garage (affiliate), it's time to get rid of them. When you're ready to donate, visit the Earth911 page here.

Old bike equipment.

Recently, we got rid of one of my old bikes. No one wanted it, and I didn't want to give it away because the bike was over 20 years old. I had replaced it a few years ago and gave it to my daughter. She never rode it. So, now she is away at college, we figured we could get rid of it. Feel free to check out this post about bicycle recycling.

Unused spray paint.

I created a DIY spray bottle organizers if you want to organize them neatly. If you don't want to keep them, you can recycle them at a hazardous waste event in your area.

Old boxes of stuff.

Solid colored boxes (affiliate) can hide things quickly, which makes it harder for one to know what to do with it. So, going through these items a little at a time will help you weed through the stuff.

Donations that need to go to charities.

Many people use their garage as a catchall for their donation items. Now it's time to get rid of them and bring them to your local charity.

Unfinished projects.

Do you have a table you were going to upcycle? An item you needed to repair? Decide if you are going to get rid of them or determine a deadline on when to finish them.

Expired spray cleaners/chemicals.

Some cleaners and chemicals expire, so if they are expired, take them to a hazardous waste event in your area. Here's an article about recycling household cleaning items.

Unused holiday decorations.

If you change your decorations each year, you most likely have decor that you will never use again. Go through them and donate those in good condition to a charity. I found a Give Back Box event at Balsam Hill. You can send the item to them by mailing them.

Old newspapers and magazines.

Do you have magazines or publications that you are collecting that need to be recycled?

Fertilizer with Pesticides and Herbicides over 4 years old

And the final garage items you need to get rid of are fertilizer with pesticides and herbicides over four years old. Dry fertilizer can last indefinitely, but if there are a pesticide and herbicides in the fertilizer, it has a limited time.

15 Items to Toss for a Stress Free Garage

Well, there you have it! I hope this list helps you create a stress-free garage space.

2025: An Example of an Easy DIY Garage Organization Project

That's a lot of things to get rid of. Now, I want to show you how I organized my garage in just a few hours. It took two of us to do this project. It took us time to determine what type of shelving (affiliate) we wanted that would look similar to the other unit we had brought from our other home. But, it was so worth getting something similar to the existing unit. Now, it looks very organized and neat. Take a look at how we transformed our garage in our other home.

What is the cost of organizing this garage?

It cost us about $150.00. The shelving (affiliate) that we bought was only $129.00 at Walmart, and we were able to pick it up right away. We got a few bins also to help us organize the small things. What was great about these shelving (affiliate) units is that they had liners, so you didn't need to worry about things falling through the metal openings.

after and before image square image - shows both shelf units with the stuff on it organized - square image with title at the top center

Supplies Used

1- Hyper Tough 6-Tier Wire Storage Shelves with Liners, 48" W x 18" D x 72" H, 3600 lb Load Capacity, Chrome at Walmart
A reused wire storage shelf with casters that we had from our other house.
Rubber malet
Large Totes (affiliate)
Sharpie (affiliate) Marker
Packing Tape (clear)

Before the garage organization project

Below is the before image of the garage organization project. We only had one unit, and none of the totes (affiliate) were being appropriately used. There was stuff everywhere on the floor. It was a mess!

before image square - messy and stuff everywhere and on the floor

How to organize a garage?

Below are the steps we took to organize our garage in just a few hours.

First, we took off all the items and sorted them into groups. Below are some of the groups we used. You may have more.

gardening
moving supplies
extra filters
Small appliance and electronic boxes (affiliate)
Traveling bags

stuff on the floor sorted by item, bags, planting pots, etc.. .square image

Next, we purchased the shelving (affiliate) unit and some extra totes (affiliate) for items that were in the house but didn't need to be there.

Now, it was time to assemble the shelving (affiliate) unit. We laid down the shelving (affiliate) unit and started adding the shelves (affiliate) from the bottom up, using the black clips to affix them around the poles. No glue necessary. We also added feet to the bottom of the poles.

Evenly placing the shelves (affiliate) was enough for what we were looking to add to the unit. We selected the tallest items that would be on the shelves (affiliate) and measured their height by placing the item between the shelves (affiliate).

shelving laying on the floor - square image - we were assembling it.

Now, when we raise the shelving unit, we use a mallet to secure the shelves (affiliate) to the poles. When only a little of the black is showing, it is secure.

Using the rubber mallet and securing the shelves square image

Then, we add the liners to the shelves (affiliate). They just lay right on top.

A man adding liner to shelves that are upright now. - square image

Then, we added extra boxes (affiliate) on top with the small appliance boxes (affiliate), the blower, and organized totes (affiliate) containing extra organizing supplies, moving supplies, luggage (affiliate), and other gardening items on the shelves. Additionally, some donation items need to be placed on the next shelf later on.

Since I didn't have my label maker (affiliate) with me, I used packing tape for the box front and wrote on it with a permanent marker (affiliate) for each tote, indicating what was inside.

Reveal:

And here is what the garage looked like when we finished. We are so happy that the items are off the floor.

Both shelving units with stuff on the shelves - labeled totes and grouped items -square image

Organizing a Garage Tips

Now that you have purged your garage, visit these posts for tips on how to organize it. We have tons of tips and tricks to help you organize your garage space.

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How To Make An Effective Garage Organization

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17 Creative Ways To Use Carabiners to Organize Your Home

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4 Areas of Your Garage to Keep Safe and Organized

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