Natural Disasters: The Garage

Did you know that over 82 million homes in the United States have a garage? Originally designed to store a car, over the years they have become a room to accommodate so much more.

Fun facts:

• With real estate prices rising, garages have been re-purposed into extensions of the house.  It is commonly converted into craft rooms, playrooms, with 40% of American homes having a “Man Cave”.
• Several successful corporations began in garages, such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Google, and the Walt Disney Company.
  
• Some of the most world-famous bands – Nirvana, the Beatles, and Metallica – all began in a garage.
• The least surprising statistic is that of storage. More than half of every homeowner uses their garage for storage space.

Making Storage in the Garage functional

The issue with using the garage for storage can be tricky because it is not often an insulated room. This means items that are temperature sensitive, such as artwork (oil paintings mostly), vinyl records, food, and musical instruments can be threatened by the changes from extreme hot to extreme cold. Therefore it is not recommended these items are stored there for long periods of time; especially if you live in a region with varying climates (which, most people do).

What’s more, many objects stored that could be considered non-household items: the lawnmower, power tools, bicycles, etc, are bulky and do not always fit in compact storage spaces. It is easy for the garage to become a place for mounds of clutter that do not belong in the house. It can become a devastating site of neglect and naturally develop into a downright disaster, to the point of no longer having room for a vehicle (What the garage is intended for)!

Cabinet Systems

First, begin by sorting smaller items into categories. For example, a landscaping and gardening pile, a pile for holiday decorations, a pile for sports gear. If it is easier, organize this outside of the garage to separate items that are sorted from the ones that are waiting to be sorted. This is also the proper time to downsize and get unused and unwanted items out of the way.

Let Cabinet Systems help you by installing quality shelves and cabinets to accommodate your lifestyle and your families needs. This will create a place for everything and free up space for items needing to be easily accessed.

Shelving

Once your supplies have been organized according to type, and have been arranged in your cabinet complimentary to size, you can insure the space provided will be fully utilized. If there are still leftover items that are bulky and do not appear to fit anywhere, place them in storage bins, label, and stack on shelves next to the cabinets. This option is especially helpful for objects that are not utilized year-round; for example, decorations, camping supplies, and even clothes that are out of season (i.e., storing summer clothes during winter months). You do not want to store any objects in here that are more commonly used, as having to unstack, remove the lid, and dig, can get frustrating after awhile.

Hang It Up

Bicycles, snowboards, fishing poles, and the like can all be hung by attachable hooks from the ceiling or protruding from the wall.  If a garage has rafters, this can also be an excellent space to utilize without the use of hooks. For the workbench area, install smaller hooks for easy-to-access tools. This can be simpler and feel more open than constantly rummaging through a toolbox.

Re-purpose

Reuse items like buckets, or an old filing cabinet turned on its side with the drawers removed to store rakes, brooms, shovels, and more. It saves the precarious struggle of trying to balance them in a corner somewhere or up against a wall.

For more organization tips and a cabinet system that best fits your garage, contact Cabinet Suites for an in-home consultation. Using these tips and Cabinet Suites to help, it can transform a disastrous garage into a functional and tidy room to be proud of.