Who says the garage has to be “masculine”?         From House beautiful.

With spring finally arriving in Connecticut, it’s time to think about…the garage! It’s usually home to much more than just the family car. And let’s face it, it’s not always well organized.

You may be surprised at the extra space you can create in your garage with the right planning. Maybe you’ll use it to work on your car, store your lawn equipment, create a workbench… or even park the car! Or maybe, if you’re really lucky, you will even turn your newly-found extra garage space into a veritable garage man cave. Whatever your ambitions, here are some tips for where to start.

Organize the Garage: Clear the Clutter

Figuring out the best garage storage systems will help you create a more functional garage space. But first, you need a clean palette. Most of us have items in the garage that we really don’t use – outgrown bikes, dried up paint, old motor oil.

Anything you haven’t used in the last 12 months should go. If you find that too brutal, then extend it to 24 months! But the idea is, if you’re not using it, lose it. Bring useful items to Good Will, the Salvation Army, or another local charity. Have a garage sale if you feel so inspired. But clear out as many unused items as possible. Make three areas: keepers, stuff to toss, and stuff to give away. No swapping, either – once something isn’t in the keeper area, stay committed!

Spiff Up your Garage Space: Walls & Floors

Flow Wall from Home Depot covers
24 square feet of wall for under $200.

Before you run to buying garage storage containers at Home Depot or Lowe’s, take some time to really consider your space. This is really important, because you need a plan for the final product to work best.

Sweep out the garage, or get out the shop vac. Evaluate whether you should give the garage walls a fresh coat of paint. If it looks to you like even fresh paint won’t do the trick, you might want to invest in a garage wall organizing system. There are many DIY garage organizing systems you can use to install grooved panels right over your existing walls.

FLOR’s “Working Class”
carpet tiles for garages

Take a good look at the garage floor, too. You might want to consider having the garage floor epoxied or painted, or there are lots of great new garage flooring options out there.

Swisstrax makes modular
garage floor tiles
Jay Leno uses.

Check out FLOR’s garage carpet tiles for instance. And you definitely should check out the cool interlocking floor tiles Jay Leno has in his garage, which start at just $4 a square foot at Swisstrax.

Like to daydream? Go to the Swisstrax website and start designing your tiled garage floor.

Make a Garage Organizing Plan

Take stock of your keepers. Group your things by seasons and interests: lawn care, sporting goods, holiday decorations, whatever you’re storing. Now you’re ready for some garage storage solutions. Here’s where things get interesting.

Using a taller set of shelves
maximizes your vertical
space. I got these at Lowe’s -
inexpensive ($30)
and simple!

When considering what to store where, don’t forget about vertical space. I recently reorganized my garage and realized I had all low cabinets and shelves for storage. I ran out and got some taller shelving units from Lowe’s in Bloomfield, CT. In one short weekend, I was able to make a huge difference in my garage storage area just by adding a few more vertical feet of storage space.

You’ll want to keep as many things off the garage floor as possible, and try to keep seasonal things like lawn equipment or snow blowers as close to where they’ll be used as possible. Of course, in Connecticut we’re hoping we can safely move those snow blowers to the back of the garage by now!

It’s a great idea to map out your garage space before shopping for garage storage solutions and bins. I love when you see those great “makeover pictures” where the garage is totally cluttered before, and then basically empty afterward. But don’t you wonder….where’d all the stuff go? Why don’t those people have a lawn mower or trash bins in their garage, like the rest of the world?

Plan out your space at www.gladiatorgarageworks.com

So in addition to mapping out the physical space of your newly cleaned garage space, think about all the tools you’ll need to put back into it before buying storage organizers. Measure your mower and snow blower, for instance, and add their measurements to your mapped out space. That way, when you’re ready to buy storage hooks, storage bins, shelving units, or garage storage wall systems, you’ll really know exactly what you need.

Stay tuned for our next post, where we’ll give you our take on the best garage storage systems on the market in Connecticut – from DIY items to professional storage solutions.