Your home garage provides room for parking vehicles and organized storage. Some people use it as a hobby space or a home gym.
A home garage should be able to do all of these things. Does yours?
Unfortunately, excess clutter in many unfinished garages makes this impossible. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to improve your home in some way, start with transforming your garage.
According to a Wall Street Journal survey, only 11% of homeowners don’t want to improve their garage in some way. Owning a home with an organized garage is something most homeowners want. They just never get around to making it happen.
Begin the new year by getting organized, starting with your garage. Here are several ways to transform your garage into a usable space that you can be proud of.
Get rid of the junk
If your garage is filled with junk, you might be among the 24% of homeowners who are embarrassed to leave their garage doors open, according to an Impulse Research survey.
A cluttered and unfinished garage is a common sight in many homes.
Why do we let the valuable space in our garage fill up with worthless junk? Most of us would prefer to park our vehicles in the garage instead of the driveway.
Clutter multiplies quickly. Before long, it is out of control. Try following the “one year rule” when you tidy up your garage. If something hasn’t been used in the last year, do you really need it?
Get rid of the junk in your garage. It will free up floor space and make it easier to keep things tidy.
Upgrade your garage floor
If you still have a dusty, unfinished garage floor, it’s time for an upgrade. An attractive, finished garage floor has a huge impact on transforming your garage.
A garage floor coating will protect your floor and make it much easier to clean. It will also increase the value of your garage. Without getting too technical, your main choices are epoxy or polyaspartic.
A polyaspartic floor coating, like Garage Living’s Floortex™ floor coating system, provides the best protection. It can be applied in less than a day, even during the cold winter months.
Garage Living’s Floortex™ floor coating system can be applied during cold winter months.
Without adequate protection, your garage floor will begin to crack, crumble, and wear away over time. Pitting is one example of how the surface degrades, as many small indentations start to show on the floor. Spalling (where the surface crumbles or flakes away) is another example.
Floortex™ floor coatings are engineered to keep your floor looking like new, for years to come.
Garage cabinetry helps prevents clutter
Not everything has to hang from the walls in your garage. Adding cabinets is a great way to store:
- tools
- smaller items
- trash and recycling bins
- a shop vac or compressor
- valuables or dangerous chemicals you want locked up
Custom cabinet systems are worth the extra cost. Compared to off-the-shelf cabinets from big-box stores, they provide a more precise fit in your garage and look nicer. The higher-quality materials and craftsmanship they’re made with also provide smoother functionality and longer life.
Another overlooked reason to use cabinetry in the garage is your stored items are kept hidden. Eliminating visual clutter preserves the orderly appearance of a garage.
Use the garage walls for storage
Garage walls are commonly used for hanging storage, but not to their full potential.
Maximize the storage space in your garage by using slatwall panels. They are precisely cut to fit your garage’s dimensions (including cutouts for wall switches, outlets, central vac tubing, etc).
The horizontal groove design and the slatwall accessories make it a breeze to organize your things. As your storage needs change, you can move your hooks and shelves around with ease.
Customize your wall storage with over 40 slatwall accessories.
Slatwall panels aren’t just for better functionality, either. They give an unfinished garage a clean and polished look. Choose from eight colors to match your cabinetry or flooring.
And with the more than 40 types of hanging accessories Garage Living carries, you won’t have any issues finding the perfect specialized accessory to satisfy most of your wall hanging requirements.
Overhead storage for seasonal items
Not only are most garage walls underutilized, so are their ceiling spaces. You only have to look up in most garages to discover more storage space.
Storage bins in heavy-duty overhead storage racks are a great way to hide clutter.
Overhead storage racks help to keep your garage floor clutter-free. Their durable construction lets you store heavy items. They are also adjustable and come in different lengths.
Here are a few items that are perfect for garage overhead storage:
- patio furniture
- sporting equipment
- storage bins (great for hiding clutter)
- holiday decorations
- winter tires
Double your parking space with a car lift
If space is at a premium in your garage, it may be difficult to park more than one vehicle. Off-site vehicle storage might seem like your only option, but that can be expensive in the long run.
Consider investing in a 4 post car lift that enables you to double your parking space.
Car collectors will love the convenience of having vehicles nearby and ready to drive.
Car lifts are also useful for storing cars that are only driven during certain times of the year. With an attachment, your lift can also store:
- boats and jet skis
- snowmobiles
- all-terrain vehicles
- other bulky seasonal items
And if you like to work on your vehicle, a car lift is the best way to get underneath it easily.
Hire an experienced garage remodel company
Creating a nicer garage interior with more usable space is worth the time and expense. To achieve this goal, who you choose to do your garage makeover will be the single biggest decision you’ll make with the project.
There are a number of important things to look for in a garage remodel company. Successfully and efficiently executing a plan for a garage makeover requires years of expertise.
A Garage Living installer applying slatwall panels to a garage wall.
Over the past decade-and-a-half, Garage Living has completed thousands of makeover projects across the U.S. and Canada. The professional, high-end look of the transformed garages pictured here and on our website are the result of all of that experience and because of the high-quality products we use.
Bring us your design ideas. We’ll work together and within your budget to make your garage a destination that gives you enjoyment every time you drive into it.
Love your garage space!
Don’t be embarrassed about your garage. Be proud of having an organized garage with more usable space that also looks great.
Don’t forget that an open garage impacts your curb appeal. Neighbors and passersby notice a garage interior that’s messy, unfinished, and has décor that’s outdated. This is a big reason 52% of homeowners want to own a garage their neighbors envy, according to a Thompson’s Company study.
Schedule a free design consultation with us this new year to start planning a strategy to create a nicer garage interior you’ll enjoy for many years to come.
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