Do you find yourself running out of room for storage in your home? Even if you’re already using your garage for storage, it’s easy to fill up space quick. However, your garage may not be as full as you think. Neighborhood Garage Door Service of Dallas, TX has some secrets to help you maximize space in your garage.
Think about all that floor space in your garage. It seems like you’ve used every square inch to keep your stuff tucked away. Look again. You’ve probably got a pile of rakes, shovels, and brooms in one corner, boxes awkwardly stacked in another with empty space all around them, and countless smaller items taking up floor space with nothing stacked on top. It’s time to fix this.
Get organized
The first step is to organize all the items in your garage. Group together all your like items:
- Tools
- Yard equipment
- Seed, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
- Chemicals, paints, oils, and gas
- Decorations
- Clothing
- Toys
Designate areas for each category. You’ll want to separate out the different groups as well. Don’t risk a spill by storing your motor oil on a shelf above your fall clothing box. Don’t create a safety hazard by storing children’s toys next to the gasoline or power tools.
Once you’ve gotten everything sorted, it’s time to put it all away.
Types of storage containers
You’ll want to go with plastic containers as much as possible, rather than cardboard boxes. Cardboard is much more susceptible to infestation, mold, and water damage. You can use tubs, crates, shelving, and even cabinets and drawers.
Crates are ideal for storing items that don’t need as much protection, or are frequently used – sports equipment, medium sized toys, etc. Tubs can be used for your larger items like blankets, clothing, decorations, larger sporting equipment, or collections of important documents.
Very small items can be stored in smaller re-used containers, like baby food jars or peanut butter jars. Once cleaned and dried, these are perfect for storing screws, bolts, nails, crafting supplies, and more.
Save time later by using labels
Make sure as you fill these storage containers that you add labels to the front sides. This will make it much easier when you are looking for something later. When the holidays roll around, it’s much easier to simply look for the tag that says, “Christmas decorations” than to have to go through and open each container.
Another option is to color-coordinate containers. Stores are offering a wider variety of plastic tubs and tend to put out seasonally appropriate color schemes. You might find a red tub with green handles for Christmas, black and orange for Halloween, or pastels for Easter.
Use those walls to maximize space
Shelves are a great way to utilize all the space in your garage. You can set up plastic shelving units that sit on the ground. An even better use of space is to install shelving all the way up your garage walls. This will dramatically increase your available storage space.
Hooks and pegboards are also helpful. A pegboard with dowels or hooks can be used to hang tools. This not only takes advantage of wall space, but makes finding the right tool a lot easier as well. Install larger hooks on the wall and use them to hang your yard equipment like rakes, shovels, and hoes.
Be sure when install shelving that you stay safe. Do not install shelving that will come into contact with your overhead garage door at any point in its operation. If the shelves are anywhere near the garage door tracks, relocate them.
Look up
Remember to take advantage of any overhead space your garage may have. Some garages feature an attic-like storage area. Home that feature an A-frame roof over the garage may have a room that you can stand up in, and possibly install shelving inside. Even flat-roofed garages or those with a bedroom above will often have a crawl-space type of storage area.
It’s easy to underestimate the amount of space we have in our garages. At Neighborhood Garage Door Service of Dallas, TX, we hope you’ll take these tips into consideration to maximize space in your garage. If you find during your organization process that you’re experiencing any problems with your garage or garage door, please contact us right away so we help take care of whatever needs you may have. Don’t wait, call today!
