Maximizing Your Garage Space for 2016
18
Dec 2015
The garage is one of a home’s most important rooms, and the one that is often the most improperly utilized. In addition to keeping your cars safe, clean, and dry, a garage has the potential to expand your usable living space, providing storage for your essentials and creating space for workshops, tool benches, and other essentials.
When space is an issue, however, it’s time to make some changes. Your garage may be the catch-all for anything that doesn’t have a better home, but staying organized can be the key to transforming your garage from a messy storage space to an organized, streamlined addition to your home’s living area.
Dump the Clutter
Despite their main purpose, garages tend to be full of all possessions that don’t have a spot within the home. Over the years, clutter accumulates, filling all of the spare space until there’s no room for the things that matter. Most of the goods that end up in the garage, however, are put there only because they are not important enough to actually be kept inside, leaving you with a large room full of odds and ends that you probably don’t need.
If available space is an issue in your garage, the first step should be to get rid of things you no longer need. Even if you’re good getting rid of junk, your garage is likely home to some items you could do without. Take a weekend and go through everything in your garage, throwing away anything you do not use and creating an organizational system for what you do.
Keep Things Organized
In a tight space, organization is essential, and this includes the garage. Rather than piling your possessions in whatever empty space you can find, you can maximize the space available by creating an organizational system.
Every garage is different, which means there are virtually limitless possibilities for keeping your possessions in good order. Shelving units are always a good tool, providing additional space for the contents of your garage without using up too much of the floor. Consider installing shelves in numerous sizes, shapes, and lengths, making sure there’s room for everything you have now as well as what you may acquire in the future. Large plastic containers with lids can help you keep like items contained while eliminating the jumbled, cluttered look so common to most garages.
Maximize Vertical Space
Available space in in your garage isn’t limited to the floor along the walls. Using all of the storage space means thinking outside the box and creating innovative solutions in order to make the most of your extra living areas.
While unconventional, the walls and ceilings in your garage can be used for additional storage. Seasonal items that are not used year round are perfect for atypical storage ideas, freeing up easily-accessible shelves and counters for things you use frequently. Anything large and flat that can be hooked is a great candidate for wall storage, like bikes, rakes, or sleds. Ceiling storage units cannot interfere with your garage door, of course, but are easy to install and can be a great way to expand your garage’s possibilities.
Create More Storage
Sometimes, no matter how good you are at organization, there’s no way to store everything you need in your garage without putting one of your cars outside in the cold. Rather than exposing your vehicle to the elements year-round, create more storage space to help keep your garage clutter-free.
When the goods in your garage truly become too much to bear, it’s time to consider a self-storage unit. Affordable to rent and convenient to access, self-storage spaces can take the burden off of your garage while maximizing the space available in your home. Anything that hasn’t been used more than once or twice in the last year can be easily moved off site, freeing up more space for the items you actually do use on a regular basis.
Making the most of your garage may require a change from the way you normally do things, but it can be a valuable investment in your home. Clearing out the clutter, implementing an organizational system, using all available space, and creating more storage if necessary can breathe new life into a tired, cluttered room, giving you more living space, storage space, and a better way to keep track of your possessions.