Do you have so much stuff in your garage that there’s no room for your car? Then it is time to organize your garage.
The first thing to do is to throw out absolutely everything you don’t really need. If you don’t want to throw it out, then have a yard sale and make some money. You’d be surprised what people will buy. My grandmother was right, ‘what’s junk for one is a treasure for another’. Finally, you can always give some of the extra stuff to a charity. But make certain it is in decent shape. Charities don’t like junk either.
Now you have whittled it down to what you need. The next thing to do is to organize things according to type. Automotive products in one place, tools in another, lawn care things in still another, and so on. This will give you an idea of how much material you need to organize and will determine how much space you need for storage and organization.
The organizing systems are almost non-ending. Perhaps the most basic are two by fours. You can cut two by four pieces of wood and put them between the vertical wall studs if they are exposed. These can be arranged at various heights. They can be attached to the vertical studs with nails or screws driven through the vertical studs into the two by four shelves. This works well for small items, but not for large items.
Another way is to purchase shelf brackets that can be attached to the vertical wall studs. These brackets create a horizontal plane and you can lay pieces of wood across the brackets creating shelves. The brackets come in a variety of depths so you can create shelves in a variety of depths. You can also do the same thing with brackets and metal shelves systems. In this style you have to make certain that once the shelves are installed there is still room to navigate between the shelves and whatever it is you park in your garage.
If you have the room you can also purchase pre-made shelf systems. The most common and the cheapest are metal rectangular frames. They usually come with room for two or three shelves. The nice thing about these is that the shelves are easy to assemble and they usually are wider than traditional shelves, making it possible to store more or larger things. Usually you have to provide the wood for the shelves. Make certain you get a good solid thick wood. Wood not thick enough will bow, bend and even break over time. You can attach the wood with screws, bolts or nails. Most of the metal frames come with predrilled holes for the fasteners. Over time this type of metal organizing can also wrack and bend if the metal is poor quality or too thin. Again you have to make certain there is room between the shelves and your garaged vehicle.
There is a similar style of shelving with wood framing. These are usually rectangular end pieces. You buy two and then purchase wood to attach to the end pieces as shelves. Attach shelves to the end pieces with screws or nails. The rectangular end pieces come in various widths providing for a variety of shelf widths. Again, select good quality, thick wood or it will bend and bow.
And then there is also the cheap college dorm style – cement blocks and two by fours. The downfall of this style is obvious. They are not very secure because the two by fours sit unsecured on the blocks. God forbid something should fall and scratch that new car. The two by four shelves also limit the size of the storage.
Now let’s move on to the more sophisticated systems. One way is to purchase plastic or metal storage bins. These can be found in almost any home improvement store. These come in a variety of shapes. Some look like big ice chests. Some look like stand up armoires or bureaus. Some are chest of drawers. Perhaps the nicest thing about all of these is that they come with drawers and doors. These can usually be locked, which is a nice thing if you have children and want to keep them out of dangerous things. This locking style can also help deter theft. As always measure your space before you purchase these items. Make certain they will fit and there is room between the storage and the garaged vehicle.
Using these same items you can also purchase garage storage kit systems. These are a collection of various shaped and sized cabinets. Make certain the kit includes shapes and sizes you can use and fit into your space.
Perhaps the newest system consists of plastic walls. These are attached to the vertical wall studs. The plastic wall includes a variety of horizontal slots into which you can insert shelf brackets that come with the system. Work benches can also be attached to the wall in a similar fashion. These systems also provide cabinets.
Finally, if you don’t want to do any of this work yourself, there are a variety of companies who will come in and organize your garage and create the storage for you.
