Imagine walking into your clean, organized garage. Everything is neatly stored—even your car! These steps will help turn that dream into reality.

1. MAKE A PLAN

Before you start chucking things into the driveway, decide what you want the end result to be. Do you want a workshop? Holiday storage? Room to park a car? What kind of storage options do you need to get to that place? When can you set aside time to make it happen? Remember: failing to plan is planning to fail.

2. GET IT ALL OUT

Organize as you go into keep, sell, donate, or trash piles. This Old House suggests laying out “dedicated tarps or mark off areas of your driveway with chalk and place them there.” Don’t think about it too hard at this stage; go with your first instinct. You can look at your things one more time before they leave permanently.

3. DO A CLEAN SWEEP

Literally. Sweep and mop the floor, wipe down the walls and ceiling, clean any windows. Don’t forget to wash the garage door and surrounds. Once you’re done, you’ll have a nice, fresh canvas to work with.

4. ORGANIZE YOUR “KEEP” PILE

Storing like things together to make them easier to find. The Spruce likes the idea of zones: “Think of zones like departments in a store, such as the garden area, the tools section, and so on. That way you know where each item ‘lives.’” Put things you don’t use as often in out-of-the-way places, like corners or up high. Be sure any chemicals or tools are out of reach of little fingers.

5. RE-STORE YOUR STUFF

Use vertical space as much as you can. There are countless wall shelving options available (the one in the picture is from Flow Wall) plus there’s all that space overhead just waiting to be used. Family Handyman has some great DIY garage storage tips (check out the one that uses concrete forming tubes!).

6. GET RID OF YOUR UNWANTED ITEMS

Like, right now. If you wait, they’ll just end up back in the garage. Schedule that garage sale. (See some great garage sale tips.) Take your donations to your favorite charity and your trash to the bin or the dump. If you need help with that, you can hire a teenager or get professionals from a service like Dolly.com.

It will take some thought, time, and elbow grease, but every time you open the door to your beautifully organized garage you’ll know it was worth it.