Tiny garage, big dreams

[kennyj]

Just bought my first house in Orlando with a smallish 2-car garage and now that I can finally think about setting something permanent up, I'm losing my mind! I stumbled here looking through Google for information on storage systems, and now I'm getting hooked.

Barely enough room to park two cars and walk around them... somehow I have to also store the garbage and recycling cans in here, which barely fit in a corner, and you can't squeeze past. I also have a workbench, shop vac, tool chests, and miscellaneous tools and supplies that are piling up against every available wall. I want to get to where everything is accessible, easy to put away, and eventually have it be less painful to actually use the space.

 

[PhantomEB]

Overhead storage and Toolbox workbenches will be your best friend.

Absolutely nowhere else to put the bins?

 

[mepstein]

shed out back for garbage and stuff.

 

[kennyj]

Absolutely nowhere else to put the bins?

Not unless we want to fence in the side yards. Restrictive HOA rules. I'd like to do that as well, but SHMBO hates the idea.

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to the Forum and may you enjoy a Healthy and Prosperous New Year from South Western California.

 

[tulowd]

I've had very good success building fold down workbenches permanently anchored to the wall as well as using the 45 liter flip top totes(with attached lids) on shelving; everything built around the totes so they can be swapped out as the season determines.

Garbage recycling, lawn stuff etc has no place in a garage. Stinks, attracts critters and wastes valuable real estate lol.

Hope some of this is helpful.

 

[Trapps]

There are a ton of small space threads here to look to for inspiration and ways you might efficiently use a small space. Above, beside, under and on are all keys. Movable, portable and modular help too. As others have said, anything you can relocate out of the garage helps footprint utilization.

God luck!

 

[purpurite]

I'm right with you. And struggling every day.

I've been in a new-to-us house for 2 years trying to organize efficiently. My 2-car garage is a 19' x 21' with a small 7' x 8" cove in the back, which has become my "workshop" space. We're finally putting down roots, so this is a long-term permanent build-up. We bought the best house we could afford in a wonderful neighborhood with top-in-the-state schools. I made the sacrifice for garage size and amenities. When we moved in, the garage had one electrical outlet and one lightbulb fixture for lighting.

Our HOA does not allow fences or sheds, and we also have two large wheeled garbage bins in the garage, which I have to move my car out of the garage to bring in and out. My snowblower (EGO electric) lives in the basement half of the year to conserve garage space, as does my lawnmower. In the summer, my car sits outside so that I can get my Yamaha R3 in and out of the garage. My wife's XC90 barely fits in the garage, and you can barely walk around it to get in and out with groceries or a work bag (I want a smaller vehicle for her so badly). I also am building a CB175 vintage race bike.

This photo was my "cave" from early last summer...

I have since put in a 72" hardwood topped workbench with provisions to put storage underneath, moved the 2 28" Craftsman boxes to the same wall (to be soon replaced by a 44" HF bottom box with a 14" side box), and started planning for hanging wall cabinets above everything to get more usable floor area back. With the vehicles in so tightly in the space, like PhantomEB said, storage up high is the key to making things work without knocking everything over every time you walk through the garage.

I have had a handful of wire shelves for parts storage and organization of my detailing supplies, but I have been systematically moving those to the basement, too. I need to get things in cabinets up off of the floor. I think it's the only way to make a 2-car garage this small work efficiently.

I'm interested in watching where you take yours, but the way I look at it, is that anyone can build a spectacular garage with a ton of space and money—it will take some serious thought and smarts to do it with limited amounts of both.


Good luck with your journey.


Doug

 

[kennyj]

Here’s what I’m working with (wide angle lens). And SWMBO is asking why I haven’t “just picked something and done it” yet. It’s gonna be fun.

Did I mention there’s also a water heater and furnace each taking up a good chunk of each corner? This garage was basically designed to be an afterthought.

 

[purpurite]

You've got a flat floor done, so that's a head start. Bonus. But you lose points for cinder block walls, which will be difficult but not impossible to mount anything to. You're starting from a good place, though, and you live in Florida, so you don't have to deal with cold, snow and salt in your garage like I do.

I have found that most people don't pay attention to the garage, and they are afterthoughts for most homeowners. Hell, most people in my neighborhood have 3-car garages either completely filled with house overflow **** or completely empty (who are these people?).

Hang everything. Go up whenever possible. Storage shelves and cabinets around the ceiling perimeter will be your biggest help.