Most of us dread attempting to organize our garages. Once we have it cleaned and sorted out, we have to do something with all our stuff. Generally there are no systems in place to manage our possessions and make those items we use frequently, or may need in an emergency, easily accessible. However, if we design a good cabinet-based storage system for our garage, we may never need to clean it out again. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Clean out your garage. There's no way to determine how much storage space you need, if you're not even sure what's in your garage. The easiest way to clean any space is to create three piles: trash, keep and donate. Remove everything from your garage and sort it into these piles.
2. Categorize your keepers. Look at the items in your keeper pile. Do they fall into major categories such as: automotive, garden, tools, sporting goods, stored personal items and holiday decorations? Sort your items into their related groups. When you know what items you have to consider, you'll have an idea of the type of cabinets you'll need.
3. Determine how much room you have for cabinets in your garage. The first thing to consider is vehicle storage. If you park one or more vehicles in your garage, you need to determine how much space they need. To do so, pull your vehicles into your garage. Open the driver's side door on all vehicles leaving enough room to exit easily. Using chalk or masking tape, create a perimeter around the vehicle, leaving room for you to walk around the vehicles when the garage door is closed.
4. Choose the correct cabinets for you. Prefabricated garage cabinets generally fall into two categories: floor cabinets and wall-mounted cabinets. Floor cabinets allow for the maximum amount of storage but eliminate floor space. Wall-mounted cabinets are great if you need floor space for items like lawnmowers or bicycles. You can also purchase large, wire-frame baskets that mount to the ceiling for overhead storage. However, no matter how carefully they are installed, there's still a chance they could come crashing down one day. It's best not to mount one above your classic Corvette. If you are a strong carpenter, you can build your own cabinets, but unless you have a reason to show off your garage, it's cheaper and easier to buy them.
5. Consider a combination of cabinets that create a workspace. You can choose cabinets for your garage that are similar to those you find in your kitchen: lower cabinets with a countertop workspace and wall-mounted cabinets a foot or more above them. This is a good way to go if you would like a space for craft or home improvement projects.
Tags: your garage, cabinets your, cabinets your garage, determine much, fall into
