Ideas so that you can park in your garage

The majority of homeowners live with a landfill attached to their homes. Lucky to nudge a car into the garage and luckier still to emerge from the car once it is parked; homeowners wrestle through the jungle of disorganization on a daily basis.

Clutter rules in the garage, and now it is time to rule out clutter.

Consider some basic objectives, and create a vision beyond the clutter that has littered garages during the last 100 years:

When in doubt, throw it out- Eliminate clutter-buildup that has overtaken the garage. Have a garage sale, give to charity, take a trip to the real landfill, and take a deep breath and get rid of all the excess that not only blocks entry into the home but the clutter that blocks energy too.

If it's on the floor, it's time to store - A basic premise in garage organizing is to free up floor space. But how does one deal with the lawn mower, wheel barrow, snow blower, bicycles, and other large items? There are many ways this can be done, a storage shed, overhead storage and wall storage.
Organize to visualize. If you can see it, you can find it - The easiest method is to create a wall storage solution. Many solutions exist such a hooks, racks, custom-made cabinets, and yes, the lowly nail is a solution, but none offer a flexible solution.

Some say Pegboard is out and wallboard is in. Visit a retail store that displays merchandise on the wall, and these same grooved panels offer the most flexible storage solution for the garage that is available today.

Wallboards are made by many manufactures. Made with a durable finish, these products need no painting or maintenance. Drill drywall screws into the grooves of the panels into the studwall in the garage to install. You can find many accessories so a variety of objects can be placed anywhere there is a wall. These pieces fit in the grooves making placement a snap.
Storage requirements change over time. Having the flexibility of lifting a hook from the grooved panel enables one to change or add items stored on the wall for as needed. And once a folding chair or lawn implement can be seen, it is very easy to find. Once the wallboard is attached to the garage wall, there are no holes to drill or nails to hammer; simply arrange or rearrange the hooks.

Storage cabinets are also made by many manufactures varying in affordability and look. There is nothing to paint and nothing to maintain. Cabinets allow one to categorize items to be stored and used routinely. Place lawn and garden items such as smaller tools, plant food, and pots in a cabinet. Then place automotive products such as motor oil, antifreeze, and other lubricants in another cabinet.

Plan to simplify, and simplify the plan - Once storage needs have been identified, one can create the required shelving, cabinet, and wall-storage system.

As society becomes more complicated, the need for greater organization and simplification occurs. The basic concepts outlined above are a step in that direction. Outer space requires rocket science, but garage space requires no science at all. Build fun into creating usable space in the garage with a bit of ingenuity and planning.

"Mudderbear is a garage enthusiast and you too can park in a TotalGarage"
www.totalgarage.ca

I'm Guilty. I've been trying to go up. But then more just fills in below it. Or I'll get organized and then have to find something, and its like an explosion. I'm in a one car garage.

Uh...I guess it's your company or you're a salesman?

Thanks Martha!

I did this... Cleaned out the garage. It feels so good to de-clutter the garage. In fact, I am going back again the thin it some more becuase once I let go of it I didn't miss it at all.

By the way, my garage is the talk of the neighborhood. Alot of the guys have been dropping by for a look... a few of the guys walked over with the wife! Took me a month to clear, clean, paint, epoxy, decorate, and thin again before placing the good stuff back in the garage.

.
Err,A, I didn't catch it, what is your commission again?

You can usually make a post when a special product of particular interest is available and your company happens to carry it. However seeing some of the other posts by this member it's starting to look a lot like SPAM.

Do you want to come over and clean mine ??? ... I would love that !!!!

In response to the sales pitch at the top of this thread....

Here's how I park in my garage...I open the garage door, pull my car in, turn off the engine and close the garage door. Here's how my wife parks in the garage...She opens her garage door, pulls her car in, turns the engine off and closes the door.

I have about $200 into my renavation, and for the most part I'm done. That $200 was for insulation, drywall and paint. I didn't do anything with the floor. The previous owner sealed it, and I can't be bothered with it anyway. Some of the drywall joints cracked when my roof was done, and I'll fix them...eventually.

As for the rest of the stuff in my garage... My wall cabinets are trash picked. My toolbox came from craigslist. My bandsaw was donated by a neighbor. I converted it to cut metal for about $50 with parts from ebay, napa and a home center. I have about $40 in materials in my workbench. 2X4 frame and 1.5 inch plywood top with 6 coats of poly. My riding mower, all of my yard tools, compressor, shop vac, power washer, two trash cans, recycle containers, kids bike and bin full of various athletic equipment is all in my garage. It's a 2.5 car garage.

The moral of this story? Everything has it's place and everything in it's place. You don't need no stinkin' fancy pants cabinets. Wait for a contractor to show up at a neighbors house and then introuduce yourself. Ask them to let you know when they have a kitchen job, then throw a few bucks at them when they call with some cabinets that are being replaced.

My approach is just that, my approach, and I know that it won't work for everyone. It works for me. We've been in our house for 9 years. There was ONE summer that I wasn't able to pull my car in. That was because there were just too many driveway toys when my son was younger. I have a lot of stuff in my garage - not as much as some though, but it's organized and all accessible. My garage is a working garage. I can't remember the last time that I had to pay someone to fix my car.

And I say BULL SH!T about pegboard being 'out'. In fact, I have a whole wall of pegboard right behind my compressor that was trash picked. All of the 'specialty' tools (ie steering wheel puller, lock plate remover, etc) are hanging on the pegboard. IT WORKS! Might not be within arm's reach, but how often do you need those specialty tools???

Maybe I'm just cheap, but I'd rather spend my money on the stuff that goes in the cheapo tool box or in the trash picked wall cabinets than on the cabinets.

Matt

I have to agree with maa139's approach.

As much as I would like to have room in my budget for some of the garages I see on this site - I don't.

I downsized to a small 1 car garage recently and I am still working things out. I only park my motorcycle in it and do some welding, woodworking and wrenching so I will make do with it. Better than a carport anyday.

We are refacing our cabinets in the kitchen so I will build some boxes to hang the doors from and then I will have cheap cabinets that look decent. I will put up some "recovered" bi-fold doors to cover the shelves I have on the side of the garage to keep the dust out (and a place then to hang some garage art).

If I find slot wall for free some where I will put it up but if I find pegboard first it will be installed with no regrets.

I find a lot of the high end garages on this site give me ideas that I can use (with some modifications) in mine.

and to MudderBear - there are appropriate ways to introduce yourself on the site - until you do I won't be buying anything from your spammin ***.

Kong

[Monty Python]spam spam spam baked beans and spam [Python off]

a long winded very carefully worded advertisement, spam none the less. IMHO.

Well let's just be glad that he's not selling tupperware!

73super said:

Well let's just be glad that he's not selling tupperware!

Click to expand...

He's a she.

"Uh...I guess it's your company or you're a salesman?"


Of course he is. He says it very clearly in his very first post.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9602

Hey guys...thanks for the comments. No where on my thread did I tell you to go to my website and buy anything. If youre nosey and want to check it out of course Im for it. Just thought I would pass on some organizational tips. I actually get free advertising from another forum to do the exact same thing.

mudderbear65 said:

Hey guys...thanks for the comments. No where on my thread did I tell you to go to my website and buy anything. If youre nosey and want to check it out of course Im for it. Just thought I would pass on some organizational tips.

Click to expand...

Yet, a spammer with an attitude, most members have to work up to that. Should be good for some credibility points here.

I actually get free advertising from another forum to do the exact same thing.

Click to expand...

Then you can save it for there and no one will mind.

Im sorry I've ruffled your feathers. I really didn't think adding some organizational tips was going to be a big deal.

I've been in the custom garage business since 1995 and have been a part of some nice projects over the years. Some of the people on this list probably have more experience than you and their own personal garages are far more creative and useful than anything I see on your site. Your post did come across as preaching or spam.

If you want to stand apart from your competition, try to think beyond the notion of a garage as simply a "big closet for cars and household effects". Storage is important but so is utility!

Steve D