Rick Scully, Author at Garage Tailors

Christmas Decorations Inside and Out of the Garage

October 23, 2018 by Rick Scully

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It’s that time again to get out the Christmas decorations. There are a lot of people out there who enjoy going all out to do a light show with choreographed music themes and moving lawn ornaments to match. With an aging population, this may not be possible for all of us. And, getting up on ladders may not always be practical for everyone especially if you have a fear of heights.

However, many of us thoroughly enjoy this time of year and we want to participate in the merriment, the coming together of people as well as all the good tidings of joy and peace. Here are some ideas for how to decorate the garage from the outside while using the garage for storing decorations again in the new year.

Overhead Garage Storage for Rarely Used Items

The overhead space is the best place to store things we use only once or twice a year. Or, we may want to store summer garden tools in the overhead space during the winter and early spring when we need to use winter tools to maintain the driveway and yard in these colder seasons.

Overhead platforms offer open storage space where it is fairly easy to see what’s up there and it is only a limited distance of 18 to 24 inches to the back or furthest reaches of the platform. They come in a variety of formats including made-to-measure wood platforms with pot lights installed to illuminate work spaces below. There are also metal shelves which are mounted against the walls or platforms which hang from the ceiling and can still carry hundreds of pounds of belongings as long as it is properly secured to the ceiling. And, for garages with a high ceiling, a mezzanine makes using the storage space above a lot easier.

For the smaller items such as strings of lights or delicate ornaments, clear plastic storage bins are a great way to store and manage the decorations available. They not only store well on overhead shelves or platforms, but they help the family to seethe available decorations available so you don’t end up with duplicate items which go unused each year due to a lack of space.

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Decorating Around the Garage Door

We often will hang a wreath on the front door and add decorations around the front steps or porch. Often, we forget the garage door yet this door may be a large part of the presentation of the front of the home.

Keeping with the theme that we might use for the front entrance of the house, we can add garlands along the top and down the sides of a garage opening. Wreaths can also be used on the garage door or along the opening of the garage by hanging them over the outdoor lighting fixtures or sconces.

Garage Door Wraps

These days, garage door wraps are available for garage doors of all sizes. They come in a variety of Christmas themes from peaceful to fun and frivolous. Depending on your style, a garage door wrap can match the style of your lawn ornaments.

Whether you go to the extent of having a nativity scene or reindeers with Santa, a garage door wrap can stand on its own or compliment the whole theme of the outdoor landscape décor.

Add Lighting along the Driveway

Still keeping it simple, if you don’t have the ability to get on a ladder and string lights around the house, you can always add a little light along the sides of the driveway. With reliable LED lights, they can be installed temporarily or as a permanent feature of the driveway with spotlights highlighting potted plants of the season or seasonal ornaments.

At the foot of the driveway is a great spot to place over sized outdoor bows, wreaths or seasonal ornaments to welcome your guests with the spirit of the season. All of these decorative ideas not only highlight the garage and the driveway which is the first entry to the house, but it adds some practical benefits of lighting the driveway for more easily locating the driveway entrance on quieter streets.

Make Seasonal Storage Easy for the Whole Family

At the end of the season, most of these decorative ornaments and lights have to go back into storage until the next year. If you find that storing your seasonal decorations has become difficult to manage, start planning for a garage renovation and design which will create a garage storage system to help your family transition to the winter season, the holiday season as well as all the family activities which winter inspires.

Should I convert my garage into an additional room?

October 9, 2018 by Rick Scully

As our families grow and change, we have growing needs for our home. We might start by just throwing a few things into the garage because we’ve run out of storage space in our basements. Next, we might organize the storage in our garage with a renovation so that everything has a place which is safe and secure from other items in our garage including vehicles which are parked inside the garage.

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With older children or parents / in-laws who might need to live with us, we might even start to think of the garage as more than just a storage space. Is it a good idea to turn the garage into an additional room in the house?

Can a Garage Be a Room for All Seasons?

In the warmer months, the garage makes for a good place to do some gardening chores such as potting plants, preparing seedlings for the planting season and preparing bulbs for storage over the winter. Even when the weather is not quite ready for planting, it’s a great place for the gardener who is itching to get their hands into the soil to start tinkering around with the plants. For the handy person in the family, it’s a great place to do some of the creative and DIY projects around the home.

In the heart of winter, the garage is still not the most pleasant place for most of us. Even with a space heater and insulation, it’s difficult to keep the garage warm enough to be a full time living space. A few people still manage to use the room for hobbies even on some of the colder days of the year. However, without a full renovation and conversion of the garage into a permanent room of the house, it is difficult for the garage to be a pleasant living space in the winter.

If I Convert My Garage into a Room, will it Affect the Value of My Home?

The floor plan of the conversion is very important. Open concept living spaces can affect the value of a home by 25% so to make the overall living concept flow through to the additional room which the garage will become may require some professional design.

Renovating a detached garage into a guest room or in-law suite might be a great idea but you’ll need to be able to bring electricity,heating and plumbing into the detached garage if it’s not already available. As a finishing touch, a covered walkway between the detached living space and the main house as part of the living space plan would complete the vision and flow of the garage as a room of the house.

Of course, anything you do to convert the garage into a living space will need to meet codes. For instance, ceiling heights need to be able to be at least 7.5 feet tall. In addition, a renovation which will meet building codes is essential. The new room will need additional electrical outlets, insulation and drywall as well as vents to extend the heating and cooling into the additional space so that room temperature can easily be maintained. Typical windows found in a garage are usually sub par to the ones we find in the living spaces of the house so new windows, skylights and other sources of natural light to make the space enjoyable while protecting the space from drafts, cold and heat.

Leaving the Vehicles Parked in the Driveway vs. the Garage

By converting a garage into a permanent living space which meets the building codes of the other rooms of the house, it leaves the home without a space to park vehicles. Firstly, this may affect your home’s value. It may be alright in an area where there is plenty of parking on the streets or in the driveway. However, many home people are looking for garages so it can cause some home buyers to overlook your home when it comes time to sell it.

Remember not to overlook the fact that parking a vehicle inside a garage has many benefits. Firstly, it protects the vehicle from the weather which reduces the wear and tear of fluctuating weather and prolong the life of the vehicle while reducing maintenance and repairs. In the winter, it’s a lot easier on the vehicle to be started from the warmer garage area than the freezing outdoor temperatures and in the morning, there’s no need to brush off snow or scrape ice which makes the morning easier for people who need to drive to work.

Also, parking a vehicle inside the garage reduces the chances of theft or vandalism of the vehicle by making it more difficult for someone to break into the vehicle and drive off unnoticed.

The Value of Garages to Homeowners

When you do have a driveway, you’ll want snow removal equipment or possibly salt for the sidewalk in front. Along with these essentials to maintain your home’s driveways and walkways, the garage has become an essential space for storing decorations, garden tools, sports equipment and vehicle accessories such as antifreeze, windshield wipers, tires and vehicle racks. Turning the garage into an additional room means losing a large amount of storage space for the family’s many belongings.

If it’s absolutely essential to get more living space,converting the garage might be a good idea. For most people, a good garage renovation will help most families get much more out of the garage space so that it’s a more pleasant space with a lot of organized garage storage opportunities. If you’re looking for more storage, contact a garage renovation specialist. If you’re looking for an additional room for your home, you’ll want to contact an interior designer who can help you get the most out of your space as well as your real estate investment.

Garage Floors to Weather All Seasons

September 19, 2018 by Rick Scully

One of the most valuable aspects of a garage renovation is the garage floor. It’s often overlooked and most people don’t realize what can be done with a garage floor. Some people feel that the basic cement floor is the only option for the garage. And, they put up with the grease stains from an oil drip from the vehicle or the dust that gets pulled up onto everything we store in the garage.

In fact, there are a few garage floor options. Some options are more desirable than others. Depending on your goals, you’ll find that some stand out for you more than other options.

Garage Flooring Options

The polyaspartic garage floor coatings offer the longest lasting results. It has UV protection with great overall aesthetics over the lifetime of the coating. And, there is a wide variety of colour options with colour chips adding some luster to the garage which in the past, has often been one of the less inspired rooms of the house.

Some people think of painting the garage floor which is quick and easy but it won’t last more than a few years. Some of the more industrial coatings such as epoxy or polyaspartic floor coatings have been known to last 30 years in a residential garage although they are both deemed to last a life time. When it comes to the polyaspartic floor coatings, they have some advantages over epoxy coatings.

Garage floor tiles are also an option for many people who are looking for a sporty garage floor design. They are easy to install even in the middle of winter and they will make your garage floor easier to clean and maintain.

Garage Floor Coatings: Polyaspartic vs Epoxy

While both are similar, there are some definite features of polyaspartic that we find more appealing. Firstly, the polyaspartic looks great for longer since it has UV protection built into the coating. So, unlike epoxy which will fade over time, your polyaspartic floor coating will look great without yellowing even after many years of heavy traffic through your garage. We add colour flakes to give the colours some vibrancy and improved grip to the floor coating. The multi-colour floor colours also hide small bits of dirt that may appear between floor cleanings.

In addition, the polyaspartic has low to no volatile organics or VOC’s so it is much safer for everyone while it is being applied to the cement floor base. And, the best thing is that polyaspartic coating cures quickly so you can put everything back into the garage the next day. With polyaspartic floor coating, the completion of a garage renovation can be completed quickly or the vehicles can be returned to the garage at night. With an epoxy floor coating, it will take approximately 72 hours for it to cure.

Cement Dust in the Garage

If you’re considering a garage floor coating, then you may have reviewed some of these benefits already to getting a garage floor coating applied.

One benefit is that a garage floor coating will keep cement dust from getting onto all the items stored in the garage. We all use the garage to store things. Cement dust makes everything in our garage look aged and may even impact the functioning of some tools or bikes. And, it leaves us with a lot of extra cleaning before we might be able to use anything again once we’ve decided to store it in the garage.

Keeping the Garage Floor Clean

The basic cement floor is very difficult to keep clean. Cement will absorb any liquids or oils that come in contact with it. So, when our vehicles have an oil leak, we end up with a grease stain that takes some work to remove. Cement floors cannot just be swept or mopped. It takes a few more steps than maintaining the floors in other rooms of our home.

Since cement will absorb moisture, it can cause damage to the cement floor. A higher level of moisture in the cement will also means the bonds that strengthen the cement will remain weaker and be less permanent than cement which has dried and cured properly and remains within the correct range for moisture content. This is what causes our cement floors to crack and potentially, become unsightly.

Keep the Moisture Out of the Garage Floor

Getting a professionally completed garage floor coating typically starts with assuring the cement floors of the garage are not retaining too much moisture. It is critical to a successful flooring project. So, if there is too much moisture, then reducing the moisture content of the cement floor is the first step. Without this first step, any garage floor coating applied will never last long enough to get the great return on investment that polyaspartic floor coating or other coatings offer.

Preventing Garage Floor Damage

As noted before, excessive moisture in the cement floor of the garage may cause cracks in the cement. Over several seasons, the water that gets absorbed may cause spalling of the cement. Spalling is when the water penetrates the cement floor from above and causes the top layers to lift or flake off.

The road salt that gets tracked into the garage from our vehicles or family members walking through the garage to get into the house causes water to stay on our cement floors longer. This gives any snow and water left on the floor even more time to get absorbed into the cement. Once within the pores of the cement structure, the water freezes and expands the cement.

Pitted cement floors occur mainly due to old age but it could also occur due to a poor cement mix. It leaves an unsightly pock like texture to the floor and may occur over a large area of the garage floor. These can be repaired but you might want to weigh out the benefits of the time and effort or expenses spent to repair a cement floor vs. some of the other floor coating options.

Garage Floors Allow the Family to Enjoy the Garage All Year

A garage floor coating can now elevate the garage to become more like other rooms in the house. It can add to the aesthetics of a garage making it a much more pleasant place to store all our valuable tools, golf clubs and household supplies. In addition, it makes cleaning a garage floor much easier. If you’re considering a garage renovation, remember to consider adding a garage floor coating or garage tiles.

How to Run a Successful Garage Sale

September 5, 2018 by Rick Scully

Are you thinking of getting rid of all the clutter of things in your garage? Maybe, you’re thinking that you’d finally like to park both your vehicles in the garage this winter. You’re thinking of re-organizing your garage storage items so you’ve taken the first steps to declutter.

Now, you have a pile of stuff which is ready for a garage sale. Next you’re thinking how to get everything sold by the end of the garage sale day. So, it’s time to figure out how to make the garage sale as successful as possible. It’s time to get the whole family involved and get everyone connected with the process. Not only is it a great learning experience for young ones to gain some business experience but they’ll be more involved in the process of letting go of things.

Let’s take a look at some key things to discuss as a family for how to make your garage sale or yard sale a success.

Team Up with Your Neighbours

One of the best ways to increase the success of your garage sale is to do it as a street sale by involving as many neighbours as possible. When you’re attracting people to a street with multiple garage sales, there will be a lot more attraction for the bargain hunters to come out and do some hunting when they know that they can view several lots worth of garage sale items.

Also, it’s a great way to build up some community spirit on your street while getting to know your neighbours better. In addition, pooling resources makes the work of preparing for the garage sale a little easier overall.

Also, invite family and friends of the family to participate so there are plenty of people to service bargain hunters with a purchase or making change for them. Let younger family members run a small lemonade stand and bake sale for hungry bargain hunters. Enhance the atmosphere with music which will boost the mood of everyone there looking around for a deal. Having a few extra people around means that someone can look after the music if there is a rush of people.

Plan Your Garage Sale Date with a Rain Date

It’s best to have a rain date so if things go sideways on the planned garage sale date, then everyone is already agreed on the rain date and it’s a no brainer to run it on the rain date. It can also be part of the advertising.

Start the garage sale earlier so that people can attend the sale without interrupting the rest of their day. A garage sale that runs 8:00am until 1:00pm will do better than one that starts in the afternoon. Be prepared for avid garage sale shoppers to arrive earlier than the hours set for the garage sale. Also, if you choose a summer morning, then it will be cooler and more comfortable in the morning. Comfortable temperatures are important to people attending and buying more. For the best temperatures, it is best to hold a garage sale in late spring and early fall. So, late September is a great time to hold a garage sale as much as late April or early May.

Saturday morning is the better day for the garage sale. People seem to enjoy starting their weekend with a fun bargain hunting excursion on a Saturday morning while leaving Sunday to catch up and complete all those things they intended to complete over the weekend. Also, this allows people to make Sunday the rain date.

Advertise Your Garage Sale

One common suggestion is to call it a “yard” sale as opposed to a garage sale. It’s been said that people feel that a yard sale sounds a little more upscale than a garage sale. This may help more in some neighbourhoods than others.

For local neighbourhood signs, use large 3 foot square cardboard signs with very large easy to read letters so people driving along in vehicles can quickly read and follow your signs. There should be about 20 – 30 signs attracting drivers from all directions towards your street.

In addition, use social media to promote your garage sale. People will drive a short distance to attend your garage sale, especially if the sale is organized and includes multiple households all on the same street for a greater bargain hunting experience for the shopper. Some of the social media sites you can use include:

Start advertising early so there is time for people to plan to attend your yard sale.

Organize for a Successful Garage Sale

Place price tags on everything so there is a starting price for everything. Bargain hunters enjoy the interaction with other people when purchasing something. These buyers also enjoy the haggling process so be prepared.

Arrange sale items into groups of items or by price range on different tables where you have many smaller items. Label everything and make it easy for people to walk around and view everything just like any retail space. Display things in a fun way and to frame things so they are more appealing.

Have some chairs for people to sit and rest including a chair for yourself. Your chair should face the road and allow you to stand up and greet any visitors to your yard or driveway.

Prepare to make change for people. And, if you anticipate people using larger bills, it’s possible to get a counterfeit detector from Staples or Walmart to scan any bills which you suspect.

The Apres Yard Sale

Work with neighbours to keep it fun and lively while having enough hands to look after all the small things which will make the day memorable and a success. Anything that’s left over at the end of the day, you can either post online as a classified ad, donate to a charity or drop off with a local Value Village or other second hand shop.

A yard sale helps everyone declutter leaving only the stuff we actually use regularly. It’s a healthy start before any garage renovation project. Now that you’ve run a garage sale to look after the discard pile, it’s time to look at how to manage and organize the garage to store the things that needs a place in the garage so people can access and use it.

In our next blog, we’ll review how to use the space in the garage to store the remaining items so they remain safe but also easily accessible while leaving space for the vehicles to park inside the garage.

Racks for All the Family Adventures

August 22, 2018 by Rick Scully

When taking the family to the cottage, to go exploring various parts of the country or to go on a camping trip, it often requires more space than we might have in the SUV or mini-van. To add more cargo space to our vehicles or bring our favourite toys to enjoy the outdoors, many of us might use vehicle racks and hitch mounted carriers.

Some of the typical vehicle add-ons include a roof rack with add on carriers or racks or hitch mounted carriers and racks. There are a wide variety of options to deck out vehicles with the space to carry our favourite toys to our favourite spots around the country. Being able to enjoy the outdoors and the serenity that these remote locations afford us while staying active together is the main motivation of many families to leverage vehicle rack systems.

Throughout the summer and even winter months, we’ll want to haul out these carriers and racks with us to our weekend adventures and then, store them away during the week. Finding a way to minimize the work of storing and mounting the rack systems to our vehicles helps us get away on short notice while keeping our garage storage system organized.

Combining Garage Storage Racks with Vehicle Racks

A great way to do this is to match up garage storage racks and slatwall organization systems with your vehicle’s racks and mountings systems. Matching them up and installing them in the appropriate places within the garage means we can make use these vehicle racks with more ease. If we plan it out, we can set it up so that we don’t need to be especially tall or overly strong to move these bulky carriers or return outdoor toys to where they should be stored.

Just because our weekends are packed with high energy activities doesn’t mean that putting things away needs to be just as challenging. A good garage renovation will provide a system where mounting these vehicle carriers will flow easily from the garage storage area to the vehicle itself.

Overhead Lift Racks for Bicycles and Other Sports Equipment

From a vehicle rack, bikes can be mounted easily onto hydraulic bike racks which can be lifted up and out of the way. While there are many types of bicycle racks including wall mount, floor mount or ceiling mount, the lift racks may be the best suited to work with vehicle racks or mounts.

Firstly, they can be placed to be located at the rear of the vehicle so it’s easy to transfer the bikes between the vehicle rack and the overhead lift racks for bikes, golf clubs, snowboads and other sports equipment. Next, if you have a hydraulic overhead lift, after you’ve loaded a few bikes and a couple of sets of golf clubs, it takes the mere push of a button to get the rack to lift up into the overhead storage space of the garage.

Canoe and Kayak Racks

For canoes and kayaks, they are often mounted on the vehicle with a J-rack or other roof rack system. With an overhead sling and pulley system in the garage which is positioned directly over the roof of the vehicle, the kayaks and canoes can be stored in the overhead space. By attaching the sling around each kayak or canoe and releasing the vehicle rack mechanisms, the kayaks can be lifted directly up into the rafters of the garage until it’s time to retrieve them for the next adventure on our favourite rivers, lakes or oceans.

Cargo Carriers for Roof or Hitch Racks

For cargo carriers located either on the roof of a vehicle or off the rear hitch of the vehicle, overhead systems similar to the bike or kayak storage lift systems make putting things away so much easier after a long trip. With slings and a hydraulic lift system, these carriers can be lifted up and away. Whether you intend to store them empty or pre-packed with some standard camping or adventure gear, the overhead cargo carrier storage makes it so much easier to prepare for the next driving trip.

Enjoying All Seasons with Storage Racks

Turning the garage into a storage system to ease the packing and unpacking of the vehicle racks means we can reduce the strain of moving larger awkwardly shaped carriers and outdoor toys. A little bit of planning and a garage renovation will make it easy to move items from the vehicle to its storage location in the garage and back again.

If you need assistance to create this handy system, a complimentary in-home consultation is available to guide you through a process to outfit your garage storage systems to your lifestyle.

Preparing for a Garage Sale

August 14, 2018 by Rick Scully

August 11^th 2018 was National Garage Sale Day. All of us can benefit from a garage sale from time to time. And, it’s a great way to spend time with your growing family and the lifestyle changes that occur as children grow out of old toys or as new sports or other hobbies enter our lives.

It’s not just the garage sale but the process which can be a great learning experience for everyone in the house. The day of the garage sale is a good way to connect with neighbours and friends from the neighbourhood. In fact, they often say that getting together with a few other families to plan a garage sale is a great way to be more successful. And, while the National Garage Sale Day occurs in August each year, any of the warm days from about April to October can be a good day.

A garage sale allows us to let go of things and manage our garage storage whether we’re looking to have a garage renovation done shortly or we’re looking to make the most of our existing garage storage options.

The Benefits of Decluttering

Decluttering and organizing has great psychological benefits for us and our family members. It’s a great learning experience for younger members in many ways.

There is a lot of decision making involved with decluttering because we are working with limited garage storage space while we may have a growing selection of things we believe we want to store. So, we need to make decisions as to which things to get rid of and which things might need to be stored elsewhere.

This task allows our children as well as ourselves to gain a sense of competence or confidence that we are able to do things well. Also, it gets everyone moving and active while accomplishing tasks so there is a lot of satisfaction about completing things.

Also, we know that we feel relief as well as reduced anxiety from being organized. Order and symmetry has been known to do this for us psychologically or as witnessed from people with OCD who feel temporary relief immediately after organizing something.

Step-by-Step Decluttering Rules

If you don’t yet have a garage storage system, the first step is to empty the garage. This first step alone lifts our spirits. It is the first step to getting us motivated and inspired about the space. When the garage is just full of stuff, we just don’t want to look at it so some of us just keep ignoring the problem because it’s unpleasant to keep looking at our own clutter.

Creating piles is now the next step to your final garage organization masterpiece. Start by creating 2 piles. One pile will be the stuff that you want to store in the garage. The other pile will be the discard pile or the pile for the garage sale.

If your garage is already organized into a garage storage system, you may only need to create the pile of items to be discarded. These might be toys and sports equipment which the kids have outgrown. It may also be duplicate items such as an additional weed trimmer tool.

If you don’t already have a garage organization system, it’s time to organize the pile which has been designated to be stored in the garage. You can do this by grouping these items into smaller piles. Group things together into these types of piles on the floor of the garage:

gardening items
automotive accessories
household tools
patio furniture & accessories
sports equipment
bicycles
camping gear

And, add any other categories of items which might be a part of your lifestyle. Organize these groupings of storage items onto the floor of your garage.

Now, it’s time to call in a garage renovation specialist to help you design and implement a made-to-measure garage organization and storage system. Or, if you’re looking for a DIY solution, it’s time to visit the big box stores for supplies to build and mount your systems inside the garage.

Meanwhile, it’s time to run a garage sale to find new owners for all the items in the discard pile. It will be quite a relief when all the things you want to get rid of are finally out of your home.

Promoting the Garage Sale

There are some keys to getting the garage sale to become a success and an event which is full of people visiting your sale. If you follow a few steps, you’ll be able to elevate the success of this event and have a little more fun running the event with your family and neighbours.

We’ll continue next month with a blog on how to put on a successful garage sale. In the meantime, if you’re looking to hire a garage renovation specialist, please contact us for a complimentary in-home consultation.

Making Outdoor Play Easy for the Kids

June 21, 2018 by Rick Scully

Now that summer is here, the kids will be home all day. Of course, they’ll want to be outside with all the warm sunny days ahead. Getting on their bikes, scooters, skateboards and other toys to get to the local park or their friend’s house is the typical response to enjoy a play day or play date with a friend. From the bikes and skateboards to the soccer balls, basketballs, water toys as well as strollers and other toys for the younger children, the garage soon becomes home base to everything the kids need to enjoy the outdoors.

For the active family, the garage renovation would provide garage storage solutions incorporating ways for the garage to be used by the entire family for a fun filled summer. This also includes the big kids in the family with places to access golf clubs, tennis racquets, mountain bikes and kayaks. Whatever your lifestyle, making it easy to access your outdoor sports equipment or toys is just as important as keeping them out of the reach of younger children.

Overhead Hydraulic Racks

With some of the bulkier outdoor equipment such as kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and mountain bikes, you’ll want them handy and easy to mount and dismount from a Thule or Yakima rack system for your vehicle. The overhead hydraulic racks or lifts are ideal for transferring these pieces of equipment to or from your vehicle with a minimal of effort. By positioning the racks at the right spot within the garage, equipment can be lowered directly onto the vehicle’s rack while it is parked in the garage.

Reduce the awkward movements and stress on your back or body needed to mount the cargo box and other gear within the confines of the garage space. Plan out garage storage systems that facilitate the packing and unpacking process of the vehicle.

Garage Cabinet Storage Systems

Now, for things such as an expensive set of golf clubs, you might opt to have lockable garage cabinets. They will safely and securely store more expensive items which cannot afford to be knocked about by the kids, their bicycles or other toys as they move about the garage accessing or putting away their summertime toys throughout the summer..

Slatwall Organization Systems

The slatwall organization systems are so durable, versatile and modular, not only are they great for garden tools and lawn mowers, but they can also be used for a variety of kids toys. For younger children, mount hooks at lower levels so they can mount their own scooters, skateboards, bats, racquets, clubs and bikes off the ground and out of the way of the vehicles which will be parking inside the garage at the end of the day.

Also, there are some great basket systems where all the basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, baseball gloves and other toys can just be tossed into mesh net or wire net basket. By evaluating the kids’ favourite activities and the space available in the garage, the right combination of hooks and baskets will make any slatwall space an effective storage area for everything your kids will want to do throughout the summer.

Bicycle Rack Storage Systems

Bicycle usage is back on the rise again these days for everyone in the family. Kids love riding their bikes to visit friends or to go on a neighbourhood adventure with friends. When all the neighbourhood kids ride back to your house for a lunch break, they just ride up, jump off and run inside to satisfy their hungry bellies after a fun filled morning of activity. Give kids a place to park their bikes. This helps them learn how to put things away in the proper place.

Overhead racks, slatwall hooks and other storage systems are great for the overnight storage of bikes. For summer, a floor rack where kids can park their bike means they leave their bikes standing. They can avoid having bikes strewn all over the garage floor. This keeps it easy to maintain the organization of the garage and prevents damage by vehicles driving into the garage . It also gives the kids a reasonable way of being able to put things away in the proper place within the garage.

Plan a Garage Storage System

When the lifestyle of the whole family is considered, we are able to design the right combination of storage options so that the space can be optimized and utilized fully. The garage spaces can accommodate both off-season storage and easy access to summertime toys and gear which are used regularly. When you need the entire garage space to work well for everyone, consider a garage design that allows the family to leverage the space for maximum enjoyment of the warm sunny summer days ahead.

Storing Outdoor or Camping Gear in Overhead Areas of the Garage

June 7, 2018 by Rick Scully

With the kids nearly out of school and the great weather all around us, we can’t help but think of getting away. Leaving the hustle and bustle of the city for the quieter and more peaceful surroundings of being near nature is one of many people’s favourite summer activities. We may have grown up camping during our childhood or we may just enjoy connecting with the outdoors and nature. Either way, summer is definitely the season to spend more of our time outdoors.

Many of us enjoy the summer on or in the water. We bring our kayaks, canoes or stand-up paddle boards to the cottage or campground. Or, we may even want to make sure that we maximize our time outdoors while getting more exercise when we’re on vacation. We may want the whole family to cycle to the general store, the beach or around the campground while we’re away. So, we’ll want to haul the bikes on a rack at the rear of our vehicle or SUV.

The Thule or Yakima racks, hitches and cargo boxes make it all possible for us to carry sleeping bags, tents, kayaks, bikes and much more for the summer adventure but when it’s time for the family to return home, where will we store it all? Well, we have some garage storage solutions that make it easy and convenient not only to store the gear but also make it easy to pack up our vehicles for the adventures that await us this summer.

Of course, overhead storage solutions is the best way to get the most out of our garage space. This allows us to keep things out of the way until we are ready to use them or access them frequently. Let’s discuss some of the garage storage options. Or, you can get a complimentary in-home consultation for a garage renovation to discuss how to use the space overhead to maximize your garage for your family lifestyle.

Hydraulic Overhead Storage Lifts

Not only are the hydraulic lifts an easy way to whisk bulky items upwards and out of sight, they are also easy on people who want unload or retrieve those bulky items safely from their location up high. Most families use these hydraulic storage lifts to store bulky items such as Thule cargo boxes, bikes, kayaks, canoes, stand up paddle boards and golf clubs into the empty overhead spaces. So, whether you’re over 6 feet tall and the strongest member of your household or you’re 8 years old and trying to retrieve your bike to get to school, the hydraulic lift can be operated by just about every family member regardless of the their size, strength or stature.

An option to the hydraulic overhead storage lift is the manually operated lift which can be installed safely and securely to hold a few hundred pounds of bikes, sporting gear or cargo boxes. Any of the lifts can be positioned to lower to an exact spot in the garage for handy retrieval or mounting. For instance, many of our lifts for Thule racks and cargo boxes are positioned so that when lowered, they will sit directly over the vehicle’s rack system. From there, just strap the cargo box securely to the roof of the SUV, minivan or other vehicle and it is ready to load with the family’s toys and sports gear.

Made-to-Measure Overhead Storage Platforms

One of the most versatile of the overhead storage mediums is the custom made-to-measure overhead platforms which are secured to the ceiling with airline cables making them capable of supporting several hundred pounds of items per square foot of space. Undermount pot lights add visibility for a workspace just below or to the overall brightness of the garage. The whole platform can be finished and painted to match the colours of the garage.

They can run along the sides and back wall of the garage so that it optimizes the overhead storage space. The platforms are designed just deep enough so that most adults can reach to the back of the platform and retrieve any item stored along the back edge against the wall.

Using overhead storage to store items which are not in season or used rarely is the ideal way to leverage this type of storage medium. Some examples of storage items include seasonal items such as tires which are swapped twice a year or holiday decorations which are used once a year. When it comes to sports equipment, snowboards are accessed frequently throughout winter but then, it becomes wakeboards in summer. Tools such as snow shovels and salt in winter which are required weekly or daily are then swapped out for rakes and lawn mowers which are necessities to maintain our yard or garden in summer.

Overhead Storage Racks

Overhead storage racks are typically stainless steel with a mesh platform so that items stored on it can be seen from underneath as well as all four sides in many cases. Again, they do need to be mounted to the ceiling securely but once this is done, they can carry anywhere from a few to several hundred pounds worth of your belongings. Because they can be accessed from all four sides, the rack can have a larger dimension but not too large that people can’t reach the centre of the rack for the item that gets tossed there.

A lot of people use these racks for things such as tents, sleeping bags and other items which require a bit more storage space while also needing some air circulation. Both the racks as well as the platforms may require a step ladder for people to retrieve or store the items. Now, if the garage is quite tall then there are some additional custom built solutions which are also easier to use.

Overhead Storage Mezzanine

The storage mezzanine comes with a glass railing so that it is easy to see the items being stored above and prevents things from being knocked off the mezzanine. Built-in stairs or a pull-down loft ladder which lower to the garage floor and tuck away flush with the mezzanine floor make access to the mezzanine convenient. The stairs are weighted so that they only require a small effort to pull down or push back up into place.

Because family members are meant to walk up onto the mezzanine, it is sturdy enough to carry people as well as a wide variety of belongings. Some of the access options include the elevator style electric stairs or ladders or in one case, an auto lift was used to port the homeowners to the mezzanine level to retrieve stored items. Each mezzanine is made-to-measure with options to suit the homeowners and their families.

Plan a Garage Renovation

If you are in need of some extra storage space, all that we need to do is look upwards for the answer. To plan a garage renovation, start with a complimentary in-home consultation to understand the full range of possibilities that would suit your garage and your family’s lifestyle.

Ten Perennial Flowers for the Garden: Part 2 of 2

May 22, 2018 by Rick Scully

In the last blog, we discussed the first five of ten perennial plants to refresh the yard with colour. Of course, many of the hardy perennial plants can help when the landscape may include slopes or even somewhat difficult growing conditions which require hardier plants. Many of the flowering perennials are easy to grow and maintain, allowing us to balance the time we spend with our family in a variety of activities throughout the summer months and the time we’d like to spend in the garden.

With a little up front organizing and planning, garden tool storage as well as composting bin storage can be worked into the garage. The slatwall organization system of storage offers options for tools, lawn mowers and supplies for the gardener who needs easy access to both the front and back yard gardens and who wants to avoid taking up valuable landscape with a garden shed. A garage renovation makes it possible to offer convenient access to gardening tools and supplies. Of course, one of the most important steps in gardening is planning or choosing perennials based on the garden’s access to sun and the qualities of the soil. Here are the last five of the ten perennial flower choices that we would like to review.

Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum)

The sunny and sweet Shasta daisy is a classic perennial. The blooms on these daisies are larger and more robust than the wild roadside daisies. These flowers have white petals and deep yellow florets and they will blossom every year in late spring or early summer until early fall. They are 2 to 3 feet tall and grow in clumps which are 1 to 2 feet in width.

They love full sun and good soil with proper drainage so use your compost to enrich the garden bed for these flowers every year. And, after the first killing frost of the fall, cut back the stems to 1 to 2 inches for best results in the following season.

Phlox

These star shaped flowers grow in clusters creating great ground cover. The creeping phlox in particular enjoys shade and would work well around and under shrubs as ground cover. They are easy to grow and maintain like many of the perennials. It’s easiest to grow phlox from a cutting than from a seed.

Plant them in spring in moist compost rich soil. Different phlox want a variety of conditions. Border phlox like Carolina phlox, Meadow phlox, and Garden phlox want moist, well-drained soil as well as full to partial sun. Low, mounding phlox like Sand phlox and Chattahoochee don’t mind average to sandy soil which is well-drained with full sun. Woodland species like Blue phlox and Creeping phlox need moist, humus-rich or in other words, mature nutrient rich compost with full to partial sun.

Purple Coneflower

The purple coneflower is Echinacea and it is as sturdy as it is beautiful. The flowers have purple leaves and a cone at the centre where the seeds of the flower are found. The seeds in the cone attract both birds and butterflies to the garden. The flowers bloom in mid-summer and they are so hardy that they fare well in heat while being rather drought resistant.

They also repel deer so if you’ve got a vegetable garden nearby, it’s a handy flower to have around to keep your garden free of wildlife wandering through the vegetables and munching their way through a season of your hard work.

There are a variety of purple coneflower colours. The Robert Bloom has dark orange centers with bright crimson flower petals. The Tennessee coneflower has greenish-pink centers with dark mauve flower petals. The Finale White has creamy white flower heads with greenish-brown centers.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentr)

The bleeding heart flower appears in early spring as heart shaped pink and white flowers or just white flowers all strung along the arched stem of the plant. The foliage is a beautiful bluish green. The bleeding heart needs a cool shady spot in the garden with moist nutrient rich compost soil which drains well. They do well being planted in the spring or fall.

The heat of summer will cause the bleeding heart to wither away but there’s no need to cut away the dying foliage as the plant is taking this time to store away food reserves for the following year’s new growth of the flowers. Over time, the clump of bleeding heart flowers can become overwhelming and they can be separated with part of the clump planted elsewhere in the garden.

The bleeding heart plant grows from 1.5 to 4 feet tall.

Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum)

The cranesbill or hardy geranium is beautiful and easy to grow perennial with violet-blue petals typically. They are resistant to pests and disease and do well in a variety areas in a garden. The growing conditions include soil which is moist, well-drained and nutrient rich so top up your garden with compost each spring to keep the ground well suited to these plants. Some do well in full sun areas and they also do well in partial sun conditions as well.

And, the gardener’s reward is a perennial which produces a long bloom from spring until late fall. These flowers come in a variety of colours including purple, blue, white, and pink. The flowers have 5 petals which are from ½ to 1½ inch wide with the typical colour being violet-blue petals of a Rozanne variety. The geranium is often confused with the flowers called pelargoniums at the local garden centres. The pelargoniums are a ball shaped bundle of flowers and the garden centres often market these as geraniums. However, the pelargoniums are annuals and are not the hardy geraniums which are perennials.

Spring Garden Tool & Supply Storage

If you feel unprepared to store the variety of supplies and tools for your garden, consider a garage renovation to maximize your landscaping space while organizing your garage and yard space. Then, you can enjoy looking after an easy to maintain perennial garden. A complimentary in-home consultation with one of our garage renovation specialists can help you. Whether you need to care for perennials or you have other lifestyle activities which may end up using storage space in the garage, call on Garage Tailors Garage to help you plan and design the garage space.

Ten Perennial Flowers for the Garden: Part 1 of 2

May 8, 2018 by Rick Scully

Now that it is spring, we’re all itching to spend time outdoors and of course, one of the best places to spend time at this time of year is in our own yards. At this time of year, we’re all desperate for some colour. If your garden doesn’t automatically have flowers peeking out of the ground starting in spring, this is the year to consider perennial flowers.

So, swap out the winter tools at the front of your garage located on the hooks of your slatwall organization system and replace them with the typical garden tools such as hoes, spades, hand trowel, wheelbarrow, lawnmower and more. Yes, even the heavy lawnmower will sit safely on your StoreWALL slatwall organization camlock hooks.

Next, let’s consider the perennial flower options for your garden.

Peonies

These gorgeous blooms are perennial flowers which are very popular and long lasting. In fact, these flowers will return annually for up to over 100 years. You can create a colourful and beautiful garden with some peonies in it.

Find a full sun area with well-drained soil for these flowers next to other flowers and away from trees or bushes. While these flowers are hardy, they tend to thrive best when the seed is planted in the fall during the months of late September and October. In the spring, it’s important to prepare the soil and mark out a spot for these flowers. If your soil is heavy or sandy, now is the time to mix in a generous amount of compost to prepare the soil for adequate drainage.

Typical peony colours include white, pink, rose and red so start planning the pairing or combination of flower colours in the garden bed.

Irises

The delicate and divine look of irises make them a desired flower among gardeners. The beautiful look of irises fool people into underestimating the hardy, reliable and easy to grow nature of these flowers.

What makes these flowers so distinctive is their petal formation with lower petals called “falls” and upper petals which typically stand upwards called “standards”. There are also bearded irises which have fuzzy hairs at the top of the falls and beardless irises without the fuzzy hairs. These flowers are so attractive they will bring butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden.

For the popular bearded iris bulb, the best time of the year to plant them here in Canada is late July and August so that these flowers have time to grow strong enough roots to weather the winter months. The typical iris colours include: purple, blue, red, peach, yellow, orange, rose, black and white including some with both purple and white colours in the same flower.

Hydrangeas

The hydrangea shrubs offer the most beautiful flowers of any shrub. With one of the largest flower heads, this classic floral adds traditional charm to any garden. And, the amazing array of flower colours include clear blues, vibrant pinks, frosty whites, lavender, and rose which can all appear on the same bush at the same time.

Because hydrangeas can survive in a variety of soil conditions, the flower colours can also be changed on the same bush depending on the pH achieved in the soil for each shrub. In general, blue flowers will blossom well in acidic soil while pinks or reds typically blossom well in alkaline or neutral soil. These shrubs always appreciate extra compost for proper drainage. And, they can be planted in either spring or fall.

Dahlias

These tuberous root perennial flowers grow from 12 inches up to 6 feet tall with blooms ranging from 2 inch lollipop size to a whopping 10 inch dinner plate blossom. They tend to do better in cooler North American climates. They thrive best in sunny and well-drained soils so use plenty of compost for harder or sandy soil areas.

They remain in bloom until the first frost so dahlias keep the garden in bloom for months and well into late fall. In the fall, the tubers need to be dug up, washed off and stored on newspaper or in well ventilated storage such as milk crates. The storage location needs to be a cool place such as the basement or the back of the garage. Otherwise, you can treat the dahlias like annuals by purchasing tubers each spring.

Daylilies

Daylilies earned their name from their one day blossom of each flower. Over several weeks, a clump of daylilies will blossom 200 – 400 times leaving the clump looking fabulous for this period of time. While the best time to plant day lilies is early spring or early fall, these flowers are so hardy they can even be transplanted in summer but they may not bloom that season.

To help the blossoms do better, add compost to your sandy or solid soils to improve the ground and water drainage. However, if necessary, the daylily is drought resistant and will grow on the side of hill and other difficult to cultivate areas.

Originally from Asia, the many hybrids which have developed over the years have led to numerous colours combinations which are too many to name with only pure white and pure blue missing from the range of colours possible.

Spring Gardening

If you’re looking for ways to manage your gardening tools and supplies, consider a garage renovation including compost bins either in the garage or backyard areas to recycle organic wastes while beautifying the landscape of your home. In the upcoming blog, we’ll continue to discuss the remaining 5 perennials that you might want to consider for your home and garden.