When you own a garage, the number one thing you try to do is fill it up. That may not be your intention, of course, but that is what will happen. Having that convenient extra space “for storage” will eat up every bit of your garage space before you even know what happened. While I can do nothing about your wife not understanding the meaning of the word “garage”, I certainly can help you with some space saving ideas for the part of it that is still yours. Here are some great space saving ideas for your garage that are very easy to do, and high impact once they are finished:
1. The first thing to save space in the garage is to reclaim it. This one is tricky, and may or may not yield results. It usually involves long talks with the wife and neighbor about why a garage is meant to be used for the car, and mechanical type things. If it has no engine, or does not work on an engine, then you should attempt to move it out of your garage and take back your space.
2. Utilize that wall space. The power of a garage is in the wall storage. Build racks on the walls, or if you have an unfinished basement, put some two by fours horizontally to the wall frame. You can then place all types of tools and storage behind these makeshift racks.
3. Build a fold down table on the wall. These fold down workbenches are rather easy to build, and require only some strong hinges and table legs that fold down. Make certain the table folds down and not up so that you do not have to worry about it pulling loose from the wall and denting your car.
4. Harness the power of the hook in your garage. Screwing some hooks into the walls of your garage will be a huge DIY step towards space saving. Take the time to really place them in the right places, and you can literally store everything from car parts to croquet sticks. Hooks are priceless when it comes to garage storage.
5. Think about getting some cabinets installed to take advantage of overhead storage. Cabinets can make all the difference in the world, and help your garage to get organized quickly. These can be found rather cheaply, and install easily into most garages. The one area of a garage that does not usually get used is the ceiling and upper areas. Install cabinets at eye level to maximize your garage space and storage.
6. Consider putting in some overhead storage. This can be a series of wires or bars, or even a custom built overhead storage. This is the one area of the garage that goes to waste most of the time. Of course you need to have a good sized garage for this to work and look good. Also, do not forget to consider the garage door if it folds back and up into the ceiling area.
While these are some of the more popular space saving ways to clean up the garage, they are far from the only ways. The number one space saver is to realize that your garage is not meant to be everyone’s storage shed. Using the garage for what it was intended will cut back on the vast majority of clutter. If you keep the garage tidy and organized, that will also help to cut back on clutter. If you notice, the vast majority of space saving ideas for your garage have to do with helping you to get organized anyway.
