Time to Organize Your Basement or Garage
Has this ever happened to you: You find that you need
a screwdriver or pair of pliers for some small project inside,
but you can't seem to find it. You thought there was
one in the kitchen drawer, but can't find it there. Then you
wonder if you took it to the bedroom, but have no luck
there. Then you happen to think about what you've known all
along: There are probably several in the garage. But
it's so cluttered right now, you dread looking for it there.
So you put the project off until later.
Even
if this scenario has not happened to you, if you're like
most people, your garage or basement is probably a lot less
organized than you would like. Just working on one
or two projects can cause an unbelievable mess one which
you'll clean up "tomorrow," except "tomorrow"
never comes. This creates multiple problems. Garage and
basement messes look tacky , but worse, they make it difficult
to find anything. It doesn't have to be that way. Here are
some suggestions to get a bit more organized.
First,
let's talk specifically about the garage. Right above
your car is plenty of space for storage that you likely
don't use. To make better use of this space, take
some angle brackets as well as some some pieces of two-by-fours
and build a rack from the ceiling. This will do a great
job of storing many of your narrow objects such as brooms,
mops, fishing poles, other two-by-fours, pipes, etc.
These
next hints will apply to the garage or basement.
If you buy and install some wall-mounted shelves, you'll
find that they are perfect for holding many smaller items.
Take your first shelf and install it around 6 feet from
the ground (This will make it less likely that anyone will
hit their head on it). You can now use this shelf
to hold cans of car oil or brake fluid, antifreeze, gardening
pots, and so on.
Also,
consider installing hooks and wall pegs all around the garage
or basement. These hooks are available in a variety
of shapes and sizes so that many different items, also of
different sizes, can be hung there out of the way.
And with hooks hung all around the room, this will provide
an enormous amount of extra storage for items such as bicycles,
ladders, shovels, rakes, the garden hose, etc. If
you have a lot of smaller items such as wrenches, hammers,
screwdrivers, and other small tools, you can store them
by hanging Velcro straps on the walls.
One
idea that's gaining is popularity are slot walls.
These are great because you can create a storage wall out
of an entire garage or basement wall. These storage walls
are made out of 3/4 inch composition board. They have
horizontal grooves (t-shaped) in them. In these grooves
are hooks, brackets and even shelves that are excellent
for improving storage space.
And
finally, many home-improvement stores sell shelving units
that are meant specifically for garage storing. They come
in a wide variety of sizes and materials and are good at
turning unused corner space into much-needed storage room.