The Exact Garage

[rsuarez]

Hi everyone. I guess its been a year since I started to visit this great place. I live in Mexico City and over the last year I built my house... shop included.

I guess its like the fifth time I log on willing to post about the end result but get stuck reading about some truly great shops and wonder whats the point on posting something like my pettit shop.

Well, came to the conclusions that small shops also have their charm and they represent a true challenge to the designer since the most valuable asset of a shop is in limited quantity... space.

I spend 80% of the time in the design process of the shop, looking at my stuff and my needs and returning to the design table searching for a solution. At the beginning, when I saw the empty room, I got really demoralized since I was sure the space was too small. After modeling and measuring and measuring and measuring again I got to this.

One of the rewarding things about the project is that the 3D modeling got very accurate to the end result. Here we go.

All in all I am extremely happy with the result. Of course it could be bigger, but its exact, not a single inch to spare not a single inch to miss.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Ramon

 

[SteveL]

Very nice! No need to be shy about posting pics of that! Curious where you got the upper cabinets with the glass doors? Like the look!

 

[rsuarez]

Thanks Steve.

Everything, but the very obvious thinks, are designed by me and custom made for the shop. I spent hours searching for metal cabinets but nothing was exactly the dimensions I needed.

Saludos.

 

[jmlcolorado]

Honestly, I love your shop! I like that everything has a place!
I've been trying to figure out a way to make my 2 car that well put together, but reality is, I have too much ****!

More info on the cabs! Can you post some photos of the door setup with hinges?
I love the look of them, and they go very well in a shop. Flat panels, easy to clean, don't collect as much dust.
Well done!

 

[rsuarez]

Thanks. You would not believe how much **** I had to throw away when I moved into this shop. Honestly 99% of it was stuff I had just in case some day I would need it. We all know that all that stuff can spend 40 years on a shelf without being used. Its somehow a benefit from a small shop, you really have to think if things will be really used.

About the cabs, I also did a lot of thinking about their looks. To me, many of todays shops look too much like a kitchen or an office. I wanted cabinets that looked like shop cabinets. Here are some more pictures. Every module hold 3 hinged doors and modules are connected inside to allocate long stuff. Sometimes I find myself staring at them wondering if they will hold all the weight they have inside... I guess that eventually I will find out.

 

[MPOWERD]

Nice garage! Love the layout and the efficiency of your design. You did a great job maximizing your space!

 

[EMC2]

Very nice and tidy use of the space. Well done!

 

[Modern Jess]

Very well done. You should not be afraid to show that off with pride.

We always want more space. Personally, though, I really prefer browsing the smaller spaces here to get clever ideas for making the most of the space I have.

 

[Modern Jess]

Oh, one other thing: I can see you already have a lift table, but if you want to save even more space, there's one made by Kendon that folds up and then stands up vertically. It's not quite as convenient as a full lift table, but it packs up much smaller.

Unfortunately, I don't know how hard it is to get in Mexico.

http://www.kendonusa.com/sportlift.html

 

[lmb]

Looks really nice. Great use of space. Don't worry about the size of it - often it is the smaller shops that have the cleverest ideas of how to maximise the space that everyone else can see and learn from - I know when I was pushed for space I got more ingenious about how everything could fit in around each other, but I did it by 'trial and error' rather than doing much planning first! I'm amazed how close the final result looks to your original 3D modelling - shows how useful that up-front planning was to give you something that really works!

 

[dubber]

I love your creation. Great use of the small space you have and your commentary was spot on. The first thing that hit me was the garage door, very unique (to me at least).
What are the dimensions of your shop, 9' x 18 approx?

One of my challenges was with cabinetry door openings, with the way they were facing. I like how you did the top row oriented one way and then directly below that you oriented them the other way. Very cool!

EDIT: Now that i look at it i think i used almost the same grey, in my garage on my "accent" wall and trim above my garage door.

 

[canam]

Looks good....like the bikes too

 

[mwbailey]

More than half the fun is in the planning . . . , maybe. Nice job of planning and implementing!

 

[HSpencer]

Super Job all the way around!! I love it.

 

[Thruxton]

Outstanding! I found planning solved a lot of problems ahead of time- it is time well spent.

 

[kyle@hcb]

Great use of the available space. I love those cabinets!

 

[expatriated]

I too love the cabinets. On the floor, are those gigantic porcelain tiles or what?

 

[24X26]

Well done. Looks great! But where's the woman in the green shirt that was in the drawing?

 

[rsuarez]

Thanks everybody for the kind words, but most off all to those that posted pictures and ideas. Some might find, for instance, that the painting is from another shop posted here, but thats the evident stuff, you would not believe how many things came out of this forum. This is a legitimate son of Garage Journal!

Oh, one other thing: I can see you already have a lift table, but if you want to save even more space, there's one made by Kendon that folds up and then stands up vertically. It's not quite as convenient as a full lift table, but it packs up much smaller.

Unfortunately, I don't know how hard it is to get in Mexico.

http://www.kendonusa.com/sportlift.html

Oh, yes I analyzed the Kendon and was very close in my decision process. Really like it and I could have flown it down here, but at the end I thought that the big lift would also work well as a center working table. I modified it a little to make it higher and works well.

I too love the cabinets. On the floor, are those gigantic porcelain tiles or what?

Its concrete with wax finish. The lines you see are grooves made to stop cracks.

Well done. Looks great! But where's the woman in the green shirt that was in the drawing?

In the bedroom of course!

 

[Bogdan M.]

Very cool!
Very efficient use of space!
Congrats!

 

[Modern Jess]

Oh, yes I analyzed the Kendon and was very close in my decision process. Really like it and I could have flown it down here, but at the end I thought that the big lift would also work well as a center working table. I modified it a little to make it higher and works well.

That ended up being a critical factor for me as well, and so I went with a traditional table-type lift. Unfortunately, mine is stuck in the middle of the shop, too heavy to move to the side except under extreme circumstances. It makes a good work surface, though.

 

[Kevin54]

I think your place looks great!!! What do you have on the floor? Is it tile or something else? Whatever it is looks nice.

As far as the cabinets, how are you holding the glass in? Is it just put in with caulking or do you have some sort of trim wood holding it in?

But anyways.....Welcome to Garage Journal and don't be shy about posting anything. Some of the single car or small two car garages have way more character than the huge 16 car, three story garages. And yours has a LOT of character

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Ole', Ole'!