The garage is one of those rooms that doesn’t get much attention. In fact, it’s the room where you probably throw everything that you don’t want inside the house. But a messy garage is a waste of space. If you want to stay organized and make your home as functional as possible, upgrading your garage is a great place to start.
Four Ways to Upgrade Your Garage
According to a recent study, one in four Americans says their garage is too cluttered to park their car. Furthermore, a cluttered garage is often the reason for a spousal argument, with 20 percent of respondents saying they’ve gotten into a heated disagreement with their spouse over the organizational state of the garage.
While a messy garage is typically the byproduct of a more serious underlying issue, there are a handful of practical ways you can take charge and finally give your garage the upgrade it deserves.
1. Get Rid of Junk
The first place to start is with the junk. It’s time to accept that things need to be thrown away, recycled, or donated. Odds are, you don’t need most of the items you’ve been stashing away in your garage for all these years. Box them up and ship them off.
As for the items you do need, go ahead and set them out in the driveway so that you can totally clear out the garage and see what kind of space you’re working with. This will allow you to create a storage game plan.
2. Add Storage
The key to having an organized garage is to have plenty of storage solutions. Because you probably don’t have a ton of room to work with, wall storage will be critically important. You can buy any number of commercial wall organization systems, or simply mix and match shelves, cabinets, and various hooks and hangars to design a system that works for your needs.
3. Clean Up Oil Stains
It may seem like a subtle difference, but if you look at world-class garages and then compare them to the average garage, you’ll notice that the latter have pretty filthy floors. Oil stains are actually really common in driveways and garages – so you aren’t alone.
According to StoneShine, a leader in concrete restoration and polishing, there are a number of options for removing these unsightly stains. Their preferred option is to use a product called Stain Reaper, which is a low-odor paste poultice that pulls up deep stains and is safe for any type of concrete or natural stone. If that doesn’t work, a d-Limonene treatment can be used, as can enzyme-based products. You may have to keep trying different options until you find one that works.
4. Insulate the Garage
Want to cut your energy bill, make your garage more comfortable during extreme temperatures, and cut down on outside street noise? Simply insulating your garage door can go a long way. There are plenty of options as far as the type of insulation goes, but it’s a fairly easy job that can be knocked out in just a few hours on the weekend. For a garage with two nine-foot-wide doors, it’ll cost about $200 for the materials.
Reclaim Your Garage
You shouldn’t look at your garage as some hidden receptacle for tossing everything you don’t need for the moment. It’s designed to be a functional place where you can park your vehicle and neatly store things like tools and lawn equipment. If you aren’t currently making the most out of this space, now’s the time to invest in a makeover.