The holidays have a way of filling up the garage. Guests need somewhere to park, the decorations need to come down from the rafters, and the car needs to fit inside before the snow sticks around. If your garage has turned into the place where things go to wait, the weeks before the holidays are a good time to deal with it.

Here’s a plain checklist for getting it done, whether you tackle it in one weekend or a little at a time.

Before You Start

• Pick a dry day and block it off. A full garage usually takes most of a day, and you’ll be staging things on the driveway.
• Grab supplies. Heavy-duty trash bags, a few boxes, painter’s tape and a marker for labeling, work gloves, and a broom.
• Clear a staging area. Pull the car out and use the driveway as your sorting floor.

Sort Into Four Groups

Everything that comes out of the garage goes into one of four groups. Label each area with tape so nobody gets confused halfway through.

1. Keep. Things you use and want back in the garage.
2. Donate. Things in usable shape you don’t need anymore.
3. Haul away. Broken items, worn-out furniture, old appliances, scrap, and anything else that’s just taking up room.
4. Set aside. Items that need special handling (more on that below).

A simple rule helps: if you haven’t used it in the last year and it isn’t seasonal, it probably doesn’t need a spot in the garage.

Set Aside the Tricky Stuff

Garages collect things that shouldn’t go in a trash cart or a junk pile without a second look. Pull these out and keep them together:

• Old paint, stains, and solvents
• Pesticides, fertilizers, and pool chemicals
• Motor oil, antifreeze, and car batteries
• Propane tanks
• Old TVs and electronics

The City of Longmont has guidance for household hazardous waste and hard-to-recycle items on its Waste Services pages, and its Waste Wizard tool lets you look up a specific item. If any of these are mixed in with what you want hauled, mention them when you text us photos so we can talk it through before we come.

Go Through the Holiday Boxes

Since the decorations are coming down anyway, sort them as you go:

• Plug in light strings and toss the ones that don’t work.
• Pull out broken ornaments, cracked storage tubs, and decorations you haven’t hung in years.
• Consolidate what’s left into fewer, labeled bins.

The city also runs holiday recycling services in late December and January for things like lights and packing foam, and Christmas tree recycling is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 4. Check the city’s site for details closer to the date.

Deal With Old Paperwork

Garages tend to hold boxes of old files, tax papers, and bank statements. Don’t just toss them. The City of Longmont is holding free document shredding events on Saturday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1801 Boston Ave. Confirm the details on the city’s website before you go.

Don’t Overload the Trash Cart

It’s tempting to stuff your curbside cart with garage leftovers. Longmont’s rules now say cart lids must close completely, so an overflowing cart can be a problem. Bulky items, furniture, and appliances won’t fit in a cart anyway. That’s what the haul-away pile is for.

Handle the Haul-Away Pile

Once you’ve sorted, look at what’s left in the haul-away group. If it’s more than you want to load into a car or truck yourself, this is where we come in. Alpine Junk Removal does garage cleanouts, appliance and furniture haul-off, and light demolition debris, like old shelving or a workbench you tore out.

Here’s how it works:

1. Take photos of the haul-away pile. A wide shot plus a few close-ups is plenty.
2. Text them to us and we’ll send a firm price.
3. If it works for you, we come the next business day.
4. Every load gets sorted, and we donate and recycle whatever we can.

If you’d rather not do the sorting yourself, that’s fine too. Send photos of the garage as it is and tell us what’s staying.

Put It Back With a Plan

Before the keep pile goes back in, sweep the floor, put the things you use most near the door, and get what you can onto shelves or hooks. Leave room for the car. That’s the whole point.

Quick Checklist

• Dry day picked, supplies ready
• Driveway cleared for sorting
• Keep, donate, haul away, and set-aside areas labeled
• Hazardous items pulled out and grouped
• Holiday decorations tested and thinned out
• Old papers boxed for shredding
• Haul-away pile photographed
• Keep items put back with room for the car

Got your haul-away pile ready?

Text photos to 720-698-6617 for a price.