If you don’t think of your garage as a functional room in your home, then it’s not serving you and your family the way it should. A garage isn’t just “extra” storage space or where you park the car – it can be as functional as you make it. The difference between a garage and a functional, livable garage is how you organize your garage space. There’s no reason your garage should (ever) be so messy that you can fit one or both cars in it at the same time.
The most common mistake we (garage storage experts) see people making in their garages is not making good enough use of wall space. Could your garage benefit from getting a few things off the floor?
Whether you’re a mom of sporty kids, a professional DIY-er, or a car guy, we have solutions for you, below.
The First Question to Ask Yourself
If there weren’t zoning issues or the threat of a long and messy construction period, what room would you add onto your house?
Would it be a shed for all your tools? A place for your kids to get their energy out? A home office? A craft room?
Your garage can be all of those things above, and more. You just have to get creative when it comes to storing stuff, and how you set your new space up.
How to Turn Your Garage Space Into a: Craft Room
Do you have a Cricut machine? Love cutting vinyl or making iron-on t-shirt designs. Or maybe you have an Etsy shop where you make things to sell.
If you’re making crafts professionally, you need to treat yourself like a real professional. That means having a dedicated space for your work.
And to make room for both a desk and at least one car, you’ll need to mount your usual “garage stuff” up on the wall.
We recommend doing this will wall slats from StoreWALL. Think of them like pegboards, but instead of pegs, they’re rows that go across. It almost looks like shiplap, but if shiplap was useful and not extraordinarily expensive for what it is.
1. Where to Put StoreWALL in Your Craft Room
How much StoreWALL you utilize depends on how much stuff you have in your garage. If there’s all sorts of sports and other gear that has been keeping you from having a designated creative space, then consider covering all the walls.
The hundreds of hook choices for StoreWALL mean you can hang everything from rakes to bikes, to wheelbarrows, even ladders and power tools from your new vertical storage system.
When it comes to StoreWALL capabilities, where there’s a will, there’s away.
2. Ceiling Storage in a Craft Room
Still, need more room to make space for you? This is your home too! Ceiling storage is a great choice.
Our strong metal garage roof storage racks can hold everything from skis to golf clubs, to bins and bins of Christmas decorations.
And the best part about them is that they’re accessible in almost every space. The way your garage door closes means the ceiling has to be taller than it would in a regular room.
Use that space to your advantage for the stuff you’d get rid of if you could. Now it will be mostly out of sight and completely out of mind.
3. Your Desk and Cabinet Space
Now that things are up off the floor and on the walls, you should have room to put a desk or built-in floor cabinet for all your crafts. While most people think of garage cabinets as being up high, there’s no reason we can’t custom build you a desk set up using cabinets (with room for your legs).
That’s the beauty of working with a garage organization company. We’re there to make custom solutions for you – we don’t make you figure it all out on your own as big-box stores do.
And don’t forget the StoreWALL above your desk, either! You’re going to need a place to hang those rolls of vinyl, keep cords handy, and mountable shelves or baskets to keep miscellaneous supplies in.
Whatever your hobby is, whether it’s crafting, building ships in a bottle, or doing puzzles, you deserve a space that’s just for you.
Solutions for Home DIY-ers
If your eyes glazed over in the last section and you’re not sure how or why someone would cut the vinyl into shapes, that’s ok. You’re safe now.
As it turns out, the same solutions that we suggested for a craft room can also work to turn your garage into a functional workshop, or at least make you feel like you have a dedicated tool shed.
4. StoreWALL for Home Workshops and Tool Hanging
How often do you go to Home Depot or Lowes to get something, come back, finish the project, go to put that new stuff away, and find out you already had three packs of that same screw size the whole time?
If you have an unorganized garage set up, your answer is probably all the time.
When you can see what you have, you overbuy less and end up saving more money. And the more money you save by not buying things you already have, the more project supplies you can buy!
We suggest designating at least one for StoreWALL and adding in some hanging cabinets. That way you can hang the big stuff (like your drills and saws) out in the open, and store smaller things in the cabinets.
You’re much more likely to keep things organized (and accessible) when everything has a place.
Have a lot of big equipment? That’s ok – these storage walls can hold more weight than you could imagine. You could probably do pull-ups on some of the attachments if you wanted to – that’s how strong it is.
Plus, getting tools and other sharp things onto the wall and off the floor makes it less likely people will trip over them or that kids will play with them.
Need a workbench to fiddle with your projects on? We can make that work too.
Between wall slats, ceiling storage, on-wall racks, and custom cabinets, we’re about to turn your garage into a room any professional handyman would be proud of.
And hey – if your wife yells at you less for leaving things out, that’s a good thing, too!
Storage Suggestions for Car Guys
Your car is your baby. If you nodded your head or read that sentence with no hesitation, then this is the section for you.
Not only do we offer installation of in-garage car lifts, but we have professional floor coverings and racks that can hold sets of tires, as well.
That’s right – you could have a car lift in your very own garage. No more putting your car up on some sketch ramps or getting out the hand jack.
No more rolling yourself under the car on a skateboard just to hit your head on the bumper (like sitcoms seem to think is funny).
5. Turn a 2 Car Garage into a 3 Car Garage
If you’re not a budding mechanic or hobbyist, but you just like buying and drive multiple cars, a garage lift will help you keep your precious babies inside, safe away from the elements.
With our mechanical and electric garage lifts, you can store two cars on top of each other, safely. Yes – that can be done.
To install an at-home car lift, your garage must be at least ten feet tall. The height of your vehicles matters too – you can’t store two forerunners vertically in a ten-foot garage – unless you quite literally raise the roof.
Even if you have a two-car garage and only have two cars, getting a garage lift opens up all that extra floor space.
Always wanted a home gym? Voila, now you have room!
Making Your Garage Space Work for You
It’s time to take back your garage from the clutter and overwhelm. With our custom garage solutions, you can finally feel like your garage is another room in your home and not just a spot to park your car.
Need help figuring out how to make your garage space work for you? We offer free estimates by appointment, where we make custom suggestions.
We’ll even bring product samples to show exactly how they can help you.
Sound like a plan? Take back your garage space and schedule your estimate today!
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