Garage Tailors

Garage Interior Design & Renovation | Garage Flooring

CALL IAN AT 416.617.7551
FREE IN-HOME CONSULTATION
COMPLETE THE ONLINE GARAGE SURVEYGarage Survey
  • GARAGE STORAGE
    • Bicycle Lifts & Racks
    • Garden Tools
    • Recycling & Garbage
    • Sports Equipment
    • Tire Storage
  • Unique Spaces
    • Shelving, Platforms and Mezzanines
  • Services
    • Wall Organization Systems
    • Garage Cabinets
      • Iconic Cabinets
      • Contur Cabinets
      • Global Steel Cabinets
    • Garage Flooring – Done In a Day
      • Ribtrax Garage Floor Tiles
    • Overhead Storage Racks
      • Strong Racks Overhead Storage
    • Car Lifts
    • Work Stations & Workbenches
  • GARAGE UPGRADES
    • 1 Car Garage Transformations
      • 1 Car Garage – Cabbagetown
      • 1 Car Garage: Slatwall, Cabinets, Overhead Storage – Toronto
      • 1.5 Car Garage – Etobicoke
      • 1 Car Garage – High Park
      • 1 Car Garage – Markham
      • 1 Car Garage – North Toronto
      • 1 Car Garage – North York
    • 2 Car Garage Transformations
      • 2 Car Garage – North Toronto
      • 2 Car Garage – Markham
      • 2 Car Garage – Etobicoke
      • 2 Car Garage – Stouffville
      • 2 Car Garage – Bayview Village
      • 2 Car Garage – Beacon Hall
      • 2 Car Garage – Brampton
      • 2 Car Garage – Etobicoke
      • 2 Car Garage – Lawrence Park
      • 2 Car Garage – North York
      • 2 Car Garage – Oakville
      • 2 Car Garage – Oakville (2)
      • 2 Car Garage – South Oakville
      • 2 Car Garage – Oakville (4)
      • 2 Car Garage – Toronto
      • 2 Car Garage – Willowdale
      • 2 .5 Car Garage – Toronto
    • 3 Car Garage Transformations
      • 3 Car Garage – Aurora
      • 3 Car Garage – Bayview York Mills
      • 3 Car Garage – Newmarket
      • 3 Car Garage – Toronto
      • 3 Car Garage – Etobicoke
      • 3 Car Garage – Richmond Hill
    • 4 Car Garage – Richmond Hill
  • About Us
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Customer Testimonials
  • Contact
    • Consultation Request
You are here: Home / Archives for toolbox

Organize Your Garage with Dedicated Zones

May 14, 2014 by Rick Scully

2 car garage oakville overhead storage platform slatwall organization system hooks camlock baskets tire storage racks afterThis time of year our garages can easily descend into a den of chaos. The kids are digging out the bikes and rollerblades. You’re sifting through sleds, snow shovels and Christmas decorations in search of your garden tools. Meanwhile, one (or both) of your vehicles is stuck outside because there’s never enough room to squeeze it inside the garage.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Creating some level of organization in your garage doesn’t need to be a complicated or costly affair. Optimize the space in your garage by creating related storage zones. Why are dedicated zones essential to a well-organized garage? Let’s reconsider the scenario above.

If your winter tools and sports equipment, holiday decorations and garden tools are all stored in the same area, it makes life difficult, especially when the seasons change. You’ll have to search through the winter items in order to reach the garden tools which are now in the back. This type of system breeds chaos and makes us less inclined to do the yard work.

Now, close your eyes and envision your garage as a well-organized space with separate zones for related items. The effect is similar to what you experience when you go to a hardware store. The shovels and winterization items are in one section. The garden hose and tools are in a separate location. You can easily find either type of item with minimal fuss or confusion. With that in mind, let’s apply that same system to your garage.

Like that hardware store, there are a few basic zones into which the items in a garage can typically be categorized. Let’s examine each zone and what items would best fit there.

Automotive Accessories

Create a small section to store items used to maintain your vehicles. In this zone, organize items like car wax, motor oil, windshield wiper fluid, a bucket and chamois cloths for cleaning the car. Group tools used during winter months, like snow brushes. If you keep an additional set of tires in the garage for the winter weather, these might require a separate tire storage solution.

Household Supplies

Perhaps you keep items like household cleaners and paint thinner (but not paint!) in your garage. First, be sure to safely store household chemicals in your garage. Create a dedicated zone for these items. Use a cabinet or shelf that will keep these items out of the reach of your children and pets.

Garden Tools & Supplies

Homeowners often hire a company to maintain their yard and keep it looking beautiful. Others find great pleasure in maintaining their own yards. Planting flowers and shrubbery requires lots of hard work (and tools). The last thing you want to do before a long day of work in the yard is to spend an hour raking through your garage to find your garden tools.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Instead, create a zone in your garage dedicated to storing your yard essentials: hoes, shovels, trowels, fertilizer, garden gloves, flower pots, potting soil and other yard accessories. Then you’ll be able to put your time and effort into making your yard gorgeous, rather than searching for your gardening tools.

Recycling & Garbage Cans

Garbage cans and recycling bins are frequently stored in the garage. It might be necessary to keep these items in your garage. However, if not stored properly, waste bins are open invitations to vermin. They can also detract from the aesthetics of your garage and cause unpleasant odors.

Keep recycling and garbage cans together in a single zone. Store waste in cans with lids that fit tightly. This discourages smells from escaping and pests and vermin from entering the waste cans.

Tools & Workbenches

The garage is often home to a workbench and a variety of tools. Perhaps you’ve always wanted a workstation in your garage, but don’t believe you have the room for it. Even smaller garages can accommodate a custom-built workbench or workstation. Keeping tools organized is made simple with the right toolbox, pegboard or more sophisticated storage solutions. However, recycled items are also useful. For instance, an old muffin tin makes a good place to store nails, bolts and screws. You’ll be helping the environment and organizing your garage.

Sports Equipment

Most garages are brimming with sports equipment: bikes, skis, kayaks, rollerblades and balls. If you have school-aged children, you know how quickly these items accumulate and overtake the space that was once reserved for your car. When spring comes everyone starts digging out their sports equipment. Any semblance of organization you once had descends into chaos.

That’s why sports equipment requires its own separate zone in the garage. Use hooks, baskets or other organizational tools (which we’ll discuss more next time) to organize sports equipment.

Bicycles are large and bulky, usually requiring a separate storage solution. There are a variety of solutions for bike storage ranging from a traditional school yard-style bike rack to sophisticated overhead pulley systems.

It’s clear why separate zones in your garage make life easier. Now that we’ve reviewed each zone, you might be wondering how to keep the items in each section neatly organized. In the next post we’ll discuss all of the neat solutions that will keep each section of your garage looking its very best.

Do you want an organized garage, but just don’t have the time to do the work yourself? Consider hiring a garage renovation expert to organize your garage.

Filed Under: Organizing Tips Tagged With: balls, baskets, bike storage, bikes, bucket, cabinet, car wax, chamois cloths, Christmas decorations, cleaning the car, dedicated zone, fertilizer, flower pots, garage, garage renovation expert, Garbage cans, garden gloves, garden hose, garden tools, hardware store, hoes, holiday decorations, homeowners, hooks, household chemicals, household cleaners, kayaks, maintain your vehicles, motor oil, organizational tools, organized garage, overhead pulley systems, paint thinner, pegboard, pests, Planting flowers, potting soil, raking, recycling bins, rollerblades, safely store, school yard-style bike rack, school-aged children, Shovels, shrubbery, skis, sleds, snow brushes, snow shovels, Sports equipment, storage zones, tire storage solution, tires, toolbox, Tools & Workbenches, trowels, vehicles, vermin, waste bins, waste cans, well-organized garage, windshield wiper fluid, winter tools, winter weather, winterization, workbench, workstation, yard work

Make Your New Year’s Resolution a New Year’s Reality

January 15, 2014 by Rick Scully

As the clock strikes twelve, signaling the New Year, our enthusiasm burns bright. We’re excited about the possibilities ahead of us and all of the positive changes we’ve resolved to make.

If you’ve ever been in a gym during the first week of the year, you know that it’s brimming with people eager to achieve their New Year’s resolutions. By the second or third week, the crowd begins to thin. That’s because it doesn’t take long for that glittery excitement to fade.

2 car garage willowdale showcase - garage door, clutter, painted garage floor, slatwall organizer, shelving, drywall finished walls, drywall finished ceilingsMaybe you’ve begun to experience this, too. Your intentions were good, but you no longer feel motivated. Suddenly, those resolutions feel less like an opportunity for growth and more like a burden. One simple change will bring you closer to achieving your goals. Rather than making a broad resolution, like wanting to lose weight, travel more or make more money, create a step-by-step plan for reaching very specific goals. 

The goals mentioned above are indeed worthwhile. However, my expertise lies with another common resolution—the desire to get organized. Let’s look at a few ways to ensure that you realize your intention of getting organized this year.

Get Clear About Your Objective

Start by getting crystal clear about what you want to achieve. Set SMAC goals. Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Compatible. A goal like, “I want to get organized,” is admirable, but not specific or measurable. It is therefore less likely to be achieved. So be specific.

“I’m purging my closet of anything I haven’t worn in the past year.”

“I’m donating all of the toys and clothing my children have outgrown to a local shelter.”

“We’re going to organize the garage so that we can finally park the car inside.”

Now you have specific goals that can easily be measured. If the project still seems overwhelming, don’t panic. My three steps to ideal organization will help you simplify the process and achieve your desired results. Let’s apply those three steps to organizing your garage.

Step One:  Get rid of everything you don’t want or need.

This is the step that sometimes hurts. Many of the items stored in your garage have some sentimental value. They represent special memories from your past or optimism about the future. Approach each item logically. Ask yourself if you’ve used it in the past year. If you haven’t, chances are you’ll never use it again. It’s simply clutter, and it’s standing between you and your ultimate objective of organizing your garage.

Don’t be afraid to let go of unused items. If anything is broken, outdated or unsafe, dispose of it. For items that are still in good shape and may be useful to someone else, arrange for a spring garage sale or donate them to a local charity. Don’t hold onto things because maybe one day you’ll need them. Recall the frustration you felt when you made your resolution to get organized. Stay focused and be ruthless. Purge, purge, then purge some more.

Step Two:  Divide your stuff into manageable chunks.

Have you ever tried to do a small house repair only to discover that your hammer, wrench and screwdriver were in three separate places? It makes what might have been a simple job frustrating and time-consuming. That’s why it’s important to group all of your tools in one central location, like a toolbox.

Now, take the same approach when it comes to organizing your garage. Separate items by category. Group holiday decorations, gardening supplies, power tools, sporting goods and automotive products. You’ll save valuable time (and prevent needless aggravation) throughout the year.

Step Three:  Organize your things according to themes, seasons or purpose.

Organize the garage in a way that makes accessing items intuitive. Place items used frequently where they are easily accessible. Seasonal items like Halloween or Christmas decorations don’t need priority placement. Such items are good candidates for high shelves or overhead storage racks. Winter weather equipment like shovels, ice melting products and antifreeze should be placed near the garage door and given a priority space during the winter.

Once you’re done purging and organizing your garage, you may discover that your current storage options don’t accommodate everything you own. However, a well-designed garage, tailored to fit your lifestyle needs, will provide the storage you need. Simply contact a garage organizational expert to find out how quick and affordable a custom garage transformation can be.

Getting organized requires time, effort and a lot of hard work. However, when your space is organized and clutter-free it will be well worth it.

Related articles across the web

  • 7 Reasons You Need to Organize Your Garage
  • The Great Purge

Filed Under: Organizing Tips Tagged With: antifreeze, automotive products, clear garage clutter, clutter, clutter-free, custom garage transformation, garage organization quiz, garage renovation, gardening supplies, getting organized, holiday decorations, ideal organization, local charity, organizing your garage, power tools, seasonal items, Shovels, SMAC goals, specific measurable achievable compatible, sporting goods, spring garage sale, storage options, toolbox

  • GARAGE STORAGE AREAS
    • Automotive Accessories
    • Bicycle Storage & Bike Racks
    • Garden Tools & Supplies Storage
    • Household Supplies
    • Recycling and Garbage Bin Storage
    • Sports Equipment
    • Tire Storage
  • Storage Solutions: Made to Measure Solutions
    • Shelving, Platforms and Mezzanines
  • Products
    • Exotic Car Enthusiasts
    • Garage Wall Organization Systems
    • Garage Cabinets
      • CTech Cabinets
      • Contur Cabinets
    • Garage Flooring – Done In a Day
    • Storage Systems
    • Overhead Garage Storage & Platforms
    • Work Stations & Workbenches
  • GARAGE UPGRADES
  • Customer Testimonials
  • Consultation Request
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • About Us
  • Contact

GARAGE VIEWS FROM NUVO

  • Get Ready to Drool – Epoxy Garage Floors Are the Ultimate Luxury Upgrade!
  • Is It Worth Investing In Epoxy Garage Flooring?
  • A Guide To Help You Get Rid Of Unwanted Mess In The Garage
  • Things To Keep In Mind While Organizing Your Garage
  • A Guide To Help You Convert Garage Into A Practical Space
  • 5 Key Reasons Your Garage Door Needs An Instant Repair
  • Did You Select The Right Door For Your Garage?
  • Do I Really Need A Garage Cabinet System?
  • Make Best Use Of Your Space With These Amazing Garage Storage Ideas
  • 5 Top Reasons To Keep Your Garage Properly Structured
  • A Detailed Guide To Help Keep The Garage Properly Organized
  • Five Reasons to Install an Epoxy Garage Floor Coating

Garage Tailors INC.
51-3176 Ridgeway Drive
Mississauga, Ontario
L5L 5S6

416.617.7551
Twitter LinkedIn Google Plus Pinterest Facebook RSS Feed
Copyright © 2023 · Garage Tailors Garage Inc.
Website Design by Yenius Interactive Marketing