Garage organizing

Zealot · 02-16-03, 08:19

Hey folks, I have a standard 20'x20' 2-car garage, and I keep our Escape and Mustang in it.....along with a riding lawn mower, a garden trailer for the rider, 3 bicycles, a push mower, all kinds of lawn chairs/recliners (for the beach), my work bench on one wall, table saw & router, the water heater, and the air handler for the HVAC system. I also have a service door going out to the side yard. I would love to be able to maximize the space, but I don't see a way of making a nice, neat garage with all of the stuff I have to keep in it.
Currently I have the rider, trailer, table saw, and push mower all against the back wall where the service door is. On the right wall is the water heater, my work bench, air handler, and door to the laundry room in the house. On the left wall are 2 windows, all of the lawn tools (edger, weed eater, shovels, rakes, etc) and the chairs are hung on L-shaped hangers. The bicycles are hanging from the ceiling in the back, above the back wall.
Can anyone give me any advice on how to organize this stuff and make it look neat (as in orderly, not cool

)

Redcar GUY · 02-16-03, 08:23

we need a few pics, I would love to help

Zealot · 02-16-03, 08:53

Thanks man, I'm on my way down the street to get the digital camera

Dave

TurboCat · 02-16-03, 09:20

Do you have room in your yard to put a small yard barn? You could keep all the lawn care and beach stuff in that, freeing up some space in your garage...

Magellan498 · 02-16-03, 09:23

Yea, those yard barn things are really good. I have a "shed" in my backyard and we keep everything in it. The garage is dedicated to the cars completely. I love it.

Miguel

dboat · 02-16-03, 09:47

but the prior owner had a concrete pad poured and built a shed that has the roof at the same height as the fence. So two sides of the shed are and look like the fence.. this way it is somewhat stealth and uses very little yard. The concrete floor makes it great for storing the yard equipment..
Dana

Zealot · 02-16-03, 10:32

Quote:

Originally posted by TurboCat
Do you have room in your yard to put a small yard barn? You could keep all the lawn care and beach stuff in that, freeing up some space in your garage...

I've thought about that, but two words prevent me from following through with that idea - deed restrictions. But thanks for the tip

I'm not the most organized person, as you'll see, but I want to at least keep my garage orderly and neat. Any way, here are the pics:

back wall

left wall

right wall

from the front

Fire away with any ideas and thanks for the input, I really appreciate it!

Redcar GUY · 02-16-03, 11:00

ok ok....

#1 nice stang

LOL sorry I like it.. I notice that you have access to the attic in the top of the garage? how big is it up there? One thing to to would be to pull out both cars and then pull out everything that is not nailed or screwed down.. Next clean everything, this would be a good time to paint, It looks like you dont need to but it would be a good time to change color and/or design. Next take everything that you don’t use atleast monthly and put them in the attic, that should save some of the space on the walls and help to get sutff off the floor. It looks like it is going to be hard to gain much space with the lawn mower, I don’t have any way to make it less big? Also between the windows where your ladders are hanging would be a great place for about 5-6 shelves. For the most part it looks like you keep a pretty clean garage, but big items and small floor plan are hard to change. The idea of a shed is a good one but I read that you cant have one.. Do you have a basement? Maybe some of the stuff could be taken down there? Maybe like the bikes? That would help to make the garage seem more space full, I will wait to see what you have to say about this so far, and if there is anything else to add…

BradE · 02-16-03, 11:29

I would also remove those bikes. They are in a position to impact the cars if they fall. Needless to say that is not good.

dboat · 02-16-03, 12:09

but I cant hold back anymore..
I would hang the ladders from the ceiling with some of those ladder holders you can get at HD, Lowes, etc. I would then pull out what you can and paint the walls, HI GLOSS WHITE..this way you will max the lighting that you have by bouncing it off the walls, it will also help keep down any spiderwebs as they find it harder to attach the webs to the slick finish of the paint. I would then decide to put in some shelving and some cabinets. It appears that you have at least on cabinet on the wall. You can then hide some things in the cabinet that you need access to but dont have to have out in the open to see.
It looks like the corner where your workbench sits would be another good place for a cabinet.. can you move the yard utensils, like the rake etc to the corner where the mower is , behind the cabinet (I know it looks tight) and then open up the space by the garage door for some more shelving or a floor to ceiling cabinet.. also, if you put in some shelving, go all the way to the ceiling, you'd be surprised what you can fit up there..
I agree with RCG, get out of there what you can put up in the attic. You live in Florida so no basement.. you can put a shelf above the door next to the heater..
ok am tapped out because I have reached my 5 min attention span.
Good Luck
Dana

Zealot · 02-16-03, 01:49

dboat, no worries, I'm looking for ideas/criticism so all are welcome

I wish I had a basement! I used to have the ladders on a different wall, but mounted horizontally. I like them better standing up (they're actually hanging on a hanger) since they're less likely to fall off. I think what I'll do is move the ladders to the floor, under where the yard tools are, and put up a series of cabinets in the space between the windows - hopefully that will clean things up considerably. RCG, the tight space above the garage is all used up with mostly Christmas decorations. I definitely like RCG's and dboat's ideas about painting the walls a bright white. Taking a cue from RCG's garage, I'm thinking the upper 2/3 of the walls a bright white, and the lower 1/3 with a blue that matches "Ford Blue". I can't do anything else with the bikes, though I wish I could. I've had them like that for a while and believe me, if I thought there was any chance of them coming down on my black trunk, they wouldn't be up there

Once I get a job

I will get the cabinets and paint, and post pics with the end result. Thanks again for the tips guys!!!

Dave

domZ'sp5 · 02-27-03, 11:52

Are killers!
Never saw such big windows in a garage.
That takes up alot of wall space. (Security issues too, easy to break into your garage, through the windows.)
What about some shelfing in front of the windows...a "Gorilla Rack" or something like it.
I know shelfs help me keep my overpacked gargage somewhat orderly.

Both my dad and my brother have built a shop in their backyards which make me jealous

There is never enough room...-my brother's new house is a two-story - bottom floor consisting of a kitchen, dining room and family room, living room and about a 1,500 sq. ft. 3-car garage-it's huge!
And yes, he's tight on room...

DomZ