Now is the time. It’s back to school season and time to get your household and garage in order. Even though 82% of people think the garage is one of the most important factors in buying a new home, a huge percentage of garages everywhere are not being used in the best way possible. Many people cannot fit their cars into their garages and even though they use the garage very frequently, there is always clutter everywhere. Have you ever just wanted to organize your entire garage so that it can be efficient and easy-to-use? Were you ever looking for garage storage systems that actually work?
The good news is that you can use the following tips and tricks to conquer clutter in your garage in just one weekend!
Getting Prepared and Evaluating Your Space
The first thing you will need to think about is how much space you have. You may have space for wall shelves on the side of your garage or not. You may have space for two cars or just one. Try not to worry too much about the clutter at this stage; what you need to find out is how much actual, physical space you have to play with so you can make your plans in the best way possible.
Do not forget that many people often skip over the vertical space they have. You will need to figure out how much garage overhead space there is.
When you have your plan with all your measurements you will be able to quickly see where the most space is and where you can comfortably exploit that space by converting it to shelving. The most common scenario that people find is that there is a lot of vertical space above their garage doors, above the car and above the entry door to their home located in the garage. These are perfect locations for garage overhead storage racks.
Deciding Just Where the New Overhead Racks Will Go
Making the decision of where you will install your new overhead racks will come down to a bit of forethought. Think: will you need access to the items you are storing when the car is in the garage? Will you be happy having access to them only during the day when the garage is empty? If you need items at all hours, then the best place for your overhead shelves is actually directly above the place for the car. This way, even when the car is parked inside the garage, you will be able to move next to it and reach any items on the shelves above.
But if you have only one car and two garage spots, then you do not need to keep your storage space directly above the car. In this case you can afford to have it by the walls, so there is more room to move around in.
Also keep in mind that you should leave at least a few inches of space between the bottom of the shelf and the height of the tallest person likely to come into your garage! It can be very inconvenient (and even painful!) for people to have to bend over to prevent banging their heads.
Deciding on the Type of Overhead Storage
Deciding on your needs will depend a lot on your situation. Also remember that you can complement your storage space with accessories such as deck hooks, rail hooks, and sport/utility hooks. Think about the answers to the following questions to decide:
- Are you going to store lightweight objects?
- Are you going to store heavy items?
- Are you storing items that need air circulation?
- Do you live in an earthquake prone area? Add safety nets
These are just some of the many questions you can ask yourself when deciding on which type of shelving you want.
Also consider the people that will need access to the storage area and the frequency that they will be using that access. If you are rarely using the items or if they are not too heavy, then you might want to consider a step-ladder. But if the items are very heavy or need to be accessed on a regular basis it can be worth having a staircase installed with a loft space rather than storage shelves.
Now Pick a Sunny Weekend
The next step of course is to actually go and conquer the clutter in your garage! What you want to do is to pick a weekend where the weather is going to be good, because you will need to get everything outside the garage.
Here is how you will complete this in one weekend:
a) Order all the components you need well in advance online from SafeRacks
b) When everything has arrived and you are ready to go, advertise that you are having a garage sale on the upcoming Sunday
c) On Saturday, remove everything from the garage and place it on the driveway in front; remove furniture, tools; pretty much everything
d) Sort or have your family sort everything on the driveway into two groups by moving items from one side of the driveway to the other; “For sale” on one side, “Keep” on the other
e) When this has been done, or while your family is doing this, install your new SafeRacks, safety nets, ladders, deck hooks, rail hooks, sport/utility hooks etc.
f) Once everything has been installed, put everything in the “Keep” pile onto the new shelves.
g) Park your car(s)! Make sure you can open your car doors without hassle
h) Use a tarp to cover everything in the “For sale” pile (just in case it rains anyway) and have a good night’s rest
i) Wake up the next morning and sell everything in your driveway; if at the end of the day there are still things there, call the city to have it removed the following day
Conquering the clutter in your garage in just one weekend is really not that difficult of a task. If you do not know what you need or how you should go about planning any of this, then you should speak to one of the professional staff members at SafeRacks. You can buy anything you need for your garage renovation online and install it yourself at home, or SafeRacks can dispatch a professional installer in your area to do the installation for you.
Remember, It’s Your Garage, Take It Back!
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