Reclaim Your Garage

For many American homeowners, the garage and the basement represent the final frontier for on-property storage of tools, sporting goods, bulky, seasonal items or the large plastic objects (my husband Frank calls them LPOs) that come with small children. The problem is, many homes don’t have basements, and the garage is often overloaded with vehicles and lacks adequate organization.

Adding a garage where there isn’t one is an obvious choice for the homeowner wanting to provide a permanent place for vehicles, bikes, tools, garden equipment and other household goods. But a surprising number of homeowners with existing garages find that their garage space is overcrowded…often to the point where one of more of their vehicles are parked in the driveway or out in the street.

The first three homes that my husband and I owned were classic examples of this trend. The first had a tiny basement, just big enough for the washer/dryer, furnace and hot water heater. The garage for that house was big enough, but it also got filled with junk. Frank’s tools, our bikes, the lawnmower and a 14-foot sailboat from my childhood meant that there was room only for one of our two cars. Our second home had no basement and the detached garage had been badly remodeled into an art studio. We lived in that house for almost two years, and the “garage” never got organized, never housed a car (or the sailboat) and was got so jammed with junk that we rarely ventured inside it. Our third house was a turn of the century (1900s) home with a tiny garage, built to accommodate a single Model-A Ford I’m guessing. Once again we had dysfunctional space, with barely enough room for the yard tools, a couple bikes, and some LPOs, but certainly no cars.

What I know now is that there are plenty of good options to help homeowners create a more functional, organized garage space.

Declutter – Too often, items that make it to the garage for storage should be recycled, sold or even thrown away. There’s a reason the term “garage sale” is part of our American vernacular. And while I’ve gotten rid of the LPOs that my kids have outgrown, even more cathartic for me was the act of finally getting rid of the large, rarely used sailboat.

Organize – Make better use of your existing space with shelving, cabinets, pegboard, hooks, etc. There are plenty of do-it-yourself options available like off-the-shelf kits at your local Home Depot or you can build your own shelving with designs and instructions featured in many handyman magazines. Frank built some heavy duty shelves high up on the wall that holds our seasonal holiday decorations. There are also companies that have garage solutions that they will install for you. My husband and I recently bought a shed from Tuff Shed and noticed that they have several lines of garage cabinetry and flooring they offer on their buildings in addition to options like workbenches, lofts and pegboard.

Add Space with a Storage Building – For many people, a separate space for the lawnmower, wheel barrow, garden tools, bicycles, LPOs, etc. is the best answer to the problem of an overcrowded garage. Just like with garage organization, there are plenty of options from the do-it-yourself variety to the installed for you version. Not wanting to live through a fourth home with a dysfunctional garage, I convinced my husband to find someone to build a shed for us. Fortunately, Frank swallowed his do-it-yourselfer pride and called Tuff Shed, who built the perfect storage building in our backyard in a single afternoon (it would have taken Frank three weekends by his estimate). The result was a two-car garage that actually fit both of our cars and even the LPOs, plus a separate home for the lawn stuff, camping gear (in an overhead loft), bikes, and even a workbench that Frank and I can both use.

To achieve garage nirvana, I pursued all three of these options. Based on your situation (and level of garage disfunctionality), you may be able to get by with smaller steps. But rest assured, any steps you take to reclaim your garage will leave you feeling better, more organized, and confident you’ll have a spot inside to actually park your car.