The carriage houses on older estates often had living quarters above, or at least a loft that was usable as storage space. Even historical freestanding garages had workbenches and storage space for odd furniture and trunks, handyman projects, space for gardening tools, lawn mowers and tree pruning equipment. Early automobiles lived among the tools and the tricycles, the equipment, the wagons, and the odd paraphernalia of daily life. When those outbuildings of yesteryear became garages, the vehicles were off the street and out of the weather, but sometimes the stuff was out in the cold and on the street, so to speak. More’s the pity. Today, if your stuff is forcing your cars back to the street, look for ways to overhaul the space and make make some new room. If you’re looking for a new home, here are some ideas to consider.
1. Look Up
If you don’t have a second floor of living space above your garage, you can look up to the attic or the rafters for extra storage. With a pitched roof and a simple plywood floor, you can store a lot of stuff, from packed boxes of holiday decorations to out-of-season clothing and seasonal sporting equipment. It’s a perfect way to eliminate the jumble of unknown containers that are currently lining the walls of your garage. It’s a simple task to install a folding staircase to provide access if you don’t have one already.
In an unfinished garage, it’s even easier to transform that unused space overhead into practical storage for stuff. Adding a partial floor is a relatively easy DIY project if you have a helper and a half day to work on it. All you need is a “ship’s ladder” for access to your new loft. The space can also be a hideway for childplay, serving as a private “clubhouse” where imagination can have free rein.
2. Compartmentalize
In a slightly larger than average garage, consider zoning off some space for designated storage either at the end of a bay, or to the side. Not only are there specialized ceiling hooks for bicycles, sleds, skis and sports equipment, but you can install pegboard with a variety of different hooks, gizmos and containers, pulleys for stowing half-finished projects and craft materials, and stackable storage bins to keep your supplies and stuff ordered and separated.
If you’re lucky enough to have an extra garage bay, don’t allow it to become a catchall space with no organizational rules. Try painting the floor in various colors to designate specific areas for each family member, or to separate your stuff by category: Sports, Summer, Winter, Christmas, Garden, College, and so on.
Create a separate little corner for garbage and recycling.
3. Wall It Off
Newer homes and custom plans, especially those with oversize garages or three-car spaces, sometimes have support columns and load-bearing full or half walls that can be tapped for extra storage. Any time you have a wall available, you have the potential for adding cabinets, hardware, shelving, benches, closets and towers. You also have the ability to design storage that will fit your needs. If you love refinishing furniture, think of building narrow shelves just wide enough to hold needed tools, sanders, paints, brushes, nails, tacks, tapes and rolls of fabric that you’ll need. If you garden, create a similar wall of shelves and benches for bags of potting soil and peat moss, pots, trowels, gloves, knee pads, specialized hoses and watering cans, and seed packets.
4. Close It In
There is nothing to say that garages must be strictly utilitarian. If you have a single-car-sized space that does not hold a vehicle, it could become a hobby room, with ample space for a loom, a set of drums and a variety of guitars, a model railroad room, or a mini brewery. In all but the coldest climates, you should be able to deal with temperature fluctuations with seasonal plug-in heaters and portable air conditioners. By creating a satellite living space, you have effectively added living space to your interior and made at least one family member extremely happy!
There’s a lot to be said for that kind of creativity.
5. Break Through
Even if there’s no way to create additional storage or find new space within the existing footprint of your garage, adding space might not be an unreasonable solution. Because garage space is “cheap space,” look outside existing dimensions to find some additional room for your stuff. A 4-6 foot bump-out on one side of the garage would yield in the neighborhood of 100 square feet of storage. Could you find ways to fill it? Probably.
Another way might be to raise the roof — literally. Poke through towards the sky in a single section and create a “storage dormer.” If your garage overlooks a patio or the back yard, you might also consider the possibility of a roof deck to capture the sun and the views. Access it by means of an outdoor metal spiral staircase.
For creative solutions to storage problems, look to the nooks and crannies of your home, but first explore the spaces that are right in the open in your garage. Getting back to the basics is often the easiest way to get organized. When all else fails, sort through that stuff and hold a garage sale. It will make you feel better about the the things you keep.
2 Point Highlight
When those outbuildings of yesteryear became garages, the vehicles were off the street and out of the weather, but sometimes the stuff was out in the cold and on the street, so to speak.
Because garage space is “cheap space,” look outside existing dimensions to find some additional room for your stuff.
