There’s no better time than the fresh start of a new year to embrace the garage organization and improvement solutions available. It’s a common problem that homeowners cannot use their garages as a space for parking their vehicles. The main reason this occurs is due to excess clutter on the garage floor. We have several solutions to address this and return your garage parking space to you:
- Garage wall storage: versatile PVC Slatwall panels take advantage of unused garage wall space, providing areas for hanging items with our more than 40 types of accessories. They also give your garage a more finished look.
- Garage cabinetry: choose from five lines of our modular and custom-fit garage cabinetry systems. There’s a wide range of custom options available to suit your budget, as well as your functional and aesthetic preferences.
- Specialty storage racks: heavy-duty overhead storage racks, tire racks, industrial shelving, and firewood racks are just some of the specialty storage rack solutions we offer.
- garage organization and improvement Slatwall
By adding one or more of the above garage organization and improvement solutions, you’ll notice immediate benefits that extend beyond just having more floor space.
With the right storage systems, all your belongings will have a proper home and be much easier to find. Dedicated homes for your tools and accessories also greatly reduce the likelihood of garage clutter accumulating in the future.
Benefits of Custom Garage Cabinets
The garage is supposed to be a place to store stuff, work on projects or organize your projects. So why does your garage sometimes get so cluttered that you can’t use it for anything? First, you need custom garage cabinets. They provide several key benefits that transform your garage into a space you can use.
Get Organized With Custom Garage Cabinets
Transform your garage from a cluttered mess to an organized space with custom garage cabinets. They’re available in a variety of shapes and sizes to meet all your storage needs. Plus, you gain three benefits when you organize your garage space.
Save Time: You may store tools, holiday décor or seasonal clothing in your garage. How much time do you waste looking for the screwdriver, holiday ornaments or the winter coat you want? When your garage is organized, everything has a place, and you save time when you want to find something.
Spend Less Money: If you were to count your hammers, how many would you have? Stop buying more hammers because you can’t find the ones you already own. Instead, get organized to know exactly how many hammers, light bulbs and gardening tools you own and where these items are located. Your pocketbook will thank you!
Reduce Stress: Do you feel your blood pressure rising when you think about your disorganized and cluttered garage? Reduce stress when you organize the space. Everything has an assigned spot, making it easy to find what you need in a hurry. Your tidy garage will now be a place of joy instead of stress.
Improve Accessibility
When you walk into your garage, you should be able to find exactly what you need in a few seconds or less. However, if your garage is stuffed with boxes and random items on the floor and every available surface, it’s time to reclaim your space.
Use garage cabinets to maximize storage space and improve accessibility. With cabinets, you can store similar items together:
- Place tools in a cabinet near the workbench.
- Stash winter gloves in a cabinet by the front door.
- Stock auto repair supplies in one of the wall cabinets.
You won’t have to search for what you need since all your stuff is accessible. Even your kids will be able to find what they want with ease.
Reduce Clutter
Sometimes, you may simply pile boxes, tools and other items in the garage wherever there is free space. Then one day you look at your garage and realize it’s a cluttered mess, or the pile of boxes falls on you as you try to find your favourite holiday wreath.
Now is the time to reduce clutter and create a neat and tidy garage. With cabinets, you can put everything in its place and store similar items together. For example, you no longer have cleaning supplies stored on top of swimming gear. Instead, you can easily find what you need and navigate your garage.
Improve Garage Safety
Garages are the perfect place to store everything from cleaning supplies to toxic paint. However, these items and others you may store in your garage could be safety hazards. For example, what happens if your kids or pets accidentally swallow antifreeze or lick an old paint can? They could get deathly ill.
Reduce the danger of accidental ingestion of the poison, chemicals and other dangerous materials when you store these items in a cabinet that’s up high and out of reach or locked. In addition, the cabinets protect your kids and pets from getting into something dangerous to them.
Cabinets also successfully keep any combustible or flammable materials safe. For example, you can store them away from matches or any tools that produce a flame, and they won’t catch on fire.
Protect yourself from slips and falls, too, with your custom cabinets. For example, if a container starts leaking, the mess will stay at least partially contained in the cabinet instead of creating a slippery mess all over the floor.
You also decrease the chances of boxes toppling over on you when you install cabinets. And you won’t step on something like a rake or barbell when it’s contained. Instead, your possessions are neatly stacked and stored in a cabinet that keeps them organized and out of the way so that you can safely navigate your garage.
Increase Your Home’s Value
A garage is an attractive feature to potential homebuyers. They may envision using the space for parking, projects or gaming. You won’t show off your garage’s best features, though, if it’s a mess.
Take time to install cabinets. They conceal clutter and make the space appear larger and more inviting. Interested buyers will be able to see the room’s potential instead of your mess. They also will appreciate the extra storage that upgrades the garage into a neater, cleaner and safer space for them and their family.
Customize the Cabinetry to Fit Your Needs
A garage can be used for multiple purposes. Whether you want to make furniture, fix your car or garden in the backyard, your garage can meet your needs when you install cabinets.
Available in numerous shapes and sizes, cabinets can accommodate anything you own. Install tall cabinets for skis, small drawers for nuts and bolts or multiple shelves for all your home repair project supplies.
You can even customize where you place the cabinets. For example, attach several in a row on a back wall, fit a few on top of a workbench or hang them overhead. Your options are almost limitless as you select the cabinets that best meet your garage storage and organizational needs.
10 Do’s and Don’ts You Need To Know Before Buying Garage Cabinets
Let’s look at ten do’s and don’ts you need to know BEFORE buying garage cabinets. You not only want to make an investment which stands the test of time, but is designed to get rid of the frustrations you live with today like trying to park your vehicles inside and have a little space for storage leftover.
Do ‘look Inside The Garage Cabinet ‘box’ And Make Sure It’s Going To Support Your Heavy Things
Let’s face facts. What you’re storing in the garage IS NOT as light as what’s on your shelves in the kitchen cupboards (light boxes of cereal or thin glasses) or what’s on the shelves in your closet (sweaters, jeans and t-shirts).
No, what’s sitting on your garage shelves are paint cans, automotive parts, bags of potting soil, bottles of antifreeze and windshield washer fluid. And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out….
The stuff sitting on your garage shelves are waaaay heavier than what’s being stored in the house!
And while ½” thick and ¾” thick shelving works fine in your closet or kitchen pantry; your garage storage must be beefed up. You need thicker shelves, so they don’t bend or crack (and I’m sure a few of you are living with this problem in your garage RIGHT NOW!). Make sure you have 1” thick shelves vs. ½” shelves used in the ‘old’ kitchen cabinets the last owner decided to ‘slap up’ in the garage to ‘get some extra storage on the cheap.’
Don’t Buy A Cabinet Which Doesn’t Have A Back Panel
Here’s a dirty little secret I’m going to share with you, but you need to promise not to tell anyone.
Many homes (and closet) organization companies selling (quote/unquote) garage cabinetry sell the same product they use INSIDE your home for the garage. And as you know, the temperatures and humidity in your garage are just a little (or a lot) different from your climate-controlled home. And as a matter of fact, these garage organization companies don’t sell a complete garage cabinet ‘box’ either. Instead, they sell a system of ‘shared support panels’ and thinner shelving (with no panel to protect the back of your walls).
And while this system is perfectly fine in your closet (which isn’t storing dirty bags of soil, gardening tools and your kid’s muddy footballs and field hockey sticks), the environment of the garage is much more ‘rugged.’ OK, I’m P.C. when I say that! Some of the stuff stored in your garage is downright nasty.
In the garage, DO NOT settle for an ‘inside’ organization system, which isn’t a complete cabinet and doesn’t have back panels. Sure they’re ‘cheaper.’ However, they won’t stand up as well to the rigours of how your family ‘lovingly’ (sarcasm intended) uses the garage. And you won’t be lovin’ looking inside your cabinet doors a few years later. Be prepared for nicked-up, dirty interior walls you can only ‘try’ to repaint when you get the time (‘er that likely will NEVER be!)
Insist on quality cabinet boxes with full back panels. You can clean them. They’ll still look nice years down the road.
Do Buy Cabinets Which Keep Your Kids And Grandkids Safe
Usually, the first thing you have in mind when you buy garage storage cabinets is, well…. storage. And while storage is key, if you have little kids (or grandkids), safety is another factor you need to put on the top of your list.
And you know the nightmare (and call) you never want to get. That call is when you’re told your child or grandchild drank a poisonous liquid that was (unlocked) inside your garage cabinets.
However, this catastrophe doesn’t have to be your reality. Instead, invest $25 dollar for a lock on your cabinet door, which keeps these toxic products from their cute little hands. Wouldn’t a $25 lock give you peace of mind without being a big burden on your wallet? Besides, locks are FAR cheaper than emergency room visits.
Don’t Overlook The Guarantee Which Comes With The Cabinets.
You can tell ‘cheap’ from quality cabinets when you investigate the ‘fine-print of the guarantee. And while you can get a plastic garage cabinet for under $100, when you see the guarantee is a ‘blink-of-an-eye one year ‘long,’ you know you’re getting what you paid for with plastic. And that would be…not much.
On the other hand, for heavy gauge steel and durable laminates, you’ll see lifetime guarantees do exist for quality garage cabinet lines. And if you have the project professionally installed, a competent contractor should have the confidence to stand behind their work (and provide a long labour warranty also).
Do Understand The ‘math’ Of A Garage Storage Plan.
OK, if you’ve ever bought a big ‘ol SUV or truck and found out (after you’ve excitedly driven it off the lot) it won’t fit in your garage, you know not taking garage measurements (and doing your ‘math’) can really mess you up.
And thinking through the ‘math’ of garage storage cabinets is nothing you should blow off. And here’s why.
Before buying a cabinet, you need to know if it will fit (width, depth, and height) the items you want to store. Next, you need the cabinets are sized to ‘work around’ windows, outlets, and soffits. Then look to see IF you have enough room to open the cabinet doors when your SUV or truck is stored inside with the garage doors shut. You see no one wants to pull their rigs out just to get to their storage – especially in a freezing cold Columbus Ohio (or anywhere which gets snow for that matter) winter.
If you want to learn more ‘garage math’ (and avoid buying the wrong sized cabinets) click on the image below titled How to Use Basic Math to Make a Smart Garage Storage Plan.
Don’t Assumed ‘repurposed’ Kitchen Cabinets Will ‘do Just Fine’ In The Garage
The idea of repurposing old furniture is wonderful. However, using the right product in the wrong setting is downright dangerous.
In fact, hanging an old wood kitchen cabinet with ½” thick shelves onto your garage walls is one bad idea. You see if this cabinet falls from the weight of the paint cans you stored inside onto your spouse’s brand-new sports car, this WILL NOT be a good day for you. You may be sleeping in your garage if this happens.
And using old wood kitchen base cabinets which become the victim of dry rot or become bug-infested sitting on a damp garage floor (when these cabinets were made to be in the wonderfully climate-controlled house) is not smart when you think about it.
While ‘repurposing’ is environmentally responsible (and can save you a few a bucks), using kitchen cabinets in the garage with its wild temperature swings and humidity IS NOT a winning way to repurpose.
Do Insist On Easy To Adjust Shelves
Hey – if you’re like me, when it’s not easy to move shelves up and down (and some of the bolted-together metal garage shelving systems certainly resemble this remark), these shelves are going to stay EXACTLY where they are for the rest of their lives (OK, maybe they’re not living things, but you know what I mean).
Simple adjustability in garage cabinet shelving is critical to effectively store and eliminate wasted space. And if your shelves as are immovable as your teenage daughter’s scary tastes in boyfriends, you know you’ll have wasted space.
Make sure your garage cabinet shelves can easily be moved up and down BEFORE you fork over your cash.
Don’t Assume All Garage Workbenches (And The Doors And Drawers Which Come With Them) Are Created Equal.
Have you ever looked on the Internet and the product you wanted to buy looked FAB-U-LOUS! Then you saw it in person. Then you said, “What a pile of junk?”
This same ‘buyers remorse’ (or to get ‘business school fancy’ with you, I could say ‘caveat emptor,’ which is Latin for, let the buyer beware) also applies to a garage workbench and cabinet storage system. Who wants drawers which ‘wobble to and fro’ when you open them up? Or the workbench top, which looks like it’s seen more than a few bad miles after a couple of years?
Don’t Assume All Garage Workbench Tops Are The Same High-Pressure Laminate Or Butcher Block.
Before buying a garage cabinetry and workbench system, look ‘inside the box’ (‘er that would be the workbench drawer boxes). What’s the construction of these drawers? And I just love the dovetail drawer boxes with ball bearing slides in this luxury garage system. Ask what the workbench surface is made of. Does it use a sturdy material like an HPL (high-pressure laminate) or a thick butcher block top?
Do Look For Inventive Ways To Hang Tools And Sporting Equipment To Keep Them From Being Trampled By Your Family ‘herd.’
You know it’s a bad day when you step on the bottom of the rake sitting on the floor of your garage, and it slaps you in the face. Or it’s a bad day when you learn your lovable (yet gawky) teenage son had crushed your favourite fishing pole when he was texting and walking through the garage at the same time!
Tools, ski poles, golf bags and your favourite fishing rod on the floor of your garage are accidents waiting to happen. And this doesn’t have to be the case…at least…for you.
Instead of leaving tools and sporting equipment ‘out in the open,’ use a slatwall hanging system (and keep them protected and out of harms way) INSIDE your garage cabinets. They won’t get dirty. They won’t get trampled. They won’t get damaged inside the friendly confines of a sturdy cabinet.
Don’t Forget About Your Kids Balls You’re Constantly Picking Up While Trying To Park Your Suv Or Truck
This can be soooo frustrating. Before pulling your truck into the garage you have to play an (involuntary) game of ‘pick up sticks (or balls). While you’ve asked your kids time and time again (OK, now you realize you really do sound like your ‘Old Man’ – ouch!) to put their balls away, half the time they roll off the open garage shelves anyway (even when they do listen to you and put them on the open shelves).
What if you could rid yourself of this frustration once and for all?
Well – actually – you can. This ‘ball stay’ (which is the ‘industrial-strength’ version of the rubber ball keepers at the grocery store) is a smart idea to keep the balls from rolling out on the garage floor. In addition, it will even make your spouse happy because the garage actually looks neat.