Outer space, AKA Garage Space. The great unknown. The greatest mystery known to mankind, yet to be traveled and conquered. Will we ever be able to see and experience where its boundaries lie? Well, we don’t know.
But what we do know is that many people down on Earth are having trouble with organizing that little storage space they have. So many things, and so few shelves. Arranging and organizing your belongings has always been a chore for humans, some people even do it with pleasure and become very good at it, but for most of us, it’s just a hassle. And we’re gonna tell you what you should do differently to optimize your garage storage space.
Learn to Park
A garage primarily serves the purpose of keeping a car, or another vehicle, safe and sound, away from the elements and other damage. That is why we usually park the car inside first and then start placing all sorts of stuff around it, trying to use whatever little free space is left. But what if there is very little space left once the car is in?
Well, if your parking skills aren’t superb and you’re entering the garage at an angle – you are taking up more useful space than needed and should learn how to do it better in one try. Other than that, take into consideration that cars are getting bigger and bigger and that the average car today is one foot wider than it was several decades ago.
Going Up!
When placing stuff in any storage space, we usually start from the ground up, building whole rows and columns of boxes, barrels, and furniture. At one point we’re limited by how high we can reach and we’re usually worried if any rodents will have too easy access to everything laying on the ground.
That is why we must utilize as much space as possible above our heads. You can greatly increase your garage storage space by placing heavy-load shelves at harder-to-reach places. Otherwise, it would be virtually impossible to pile different stuff so high up, but with shelves, you can literally have entire walls covered from bottom to top, without the fear of everything falling over or crushing something underneath.
Vacuum Bags and Empty Space
The single biggest contributor to occupying available garage space is – empty space itself. A bit paradoxical, though true when you think about it, there is always some unused space that remains between objects, however good we are at arranging them. This space is mostly air, an easily compressible gas, and should therefore be removed if given the chance.
A cool invention, air-tight plastic bags that can be filled with clothing or other soft items, and then have the air sucked out of them via a vacuum cleaner. Whoever has had to move homes should be more than familiar with this technique, as it greatly helps when packing bulky things, but can also help when storing clothes, pillows, etc, during the summer or winter seasons. It is easy to do and is wholeheartedly recommended to try it if you are lacking storage space.
Give It an Expiration Date
A bit of organizational advice – you probably have stuff that you don’t need. We all do. But even though it might still be in OK shape and could be used or worn for a year or more – it doesn’t mean you will, and in that case, it is just holding on to a potential that will never be useful. But by giving it an “expiration date”, you set a timer for how long can it linger around before being dumped.
Think of it as food – every food packaging will have an expiration date, and although it still has nutritional value even when it passes and (maybe) starts to spoil – you will throw it away. The same thing should be applied to things in garage spaces. If you have a selection of tools that have not been touched in a few years – they are better off with someone else. A nice-looking chair that is a shame to throw away? Either make an appropriate table and find it a place or chop it into firewood. A year or two is a good deadline for these things.
Garage Sales
Though people will probably have told you about these, not enough people are doing it. Garage sales should be the norm in every well-organized suburb, as this type of exchange is great for the whole community. It’s a small piece of the economy where people can still haggle freely, you can find stuff that is tried and tested (or just worn out), and above all – it is a way to make a buck while getting rid of junk.
As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So there is bound to be some “trash” in your stash, as well as a buyer for most of the things you place out on the lawn, with a primary idea of just getting rid of them.
Fix If It’s Broken
As many people use their garages as workshops too, with a little work table next to the wall, and some tools nicely arranged on the wall, there is bound to be a pile of broken or faulty stuff nearby waiting for the owner to have enough free time to repair them.
One should strive to get that pile over with, as not only are those things useless when they are just waiting to be fixed, but they can also cause other problems. If you are maintaining an old car’s good looks, you must keep its surroundings clean and tidy too, as rusty things, gas evaporations, and general uncleanliness can easily make their way unto the vehicle that you so desperately want to preserve.
These and many other methods can be applied in a variety of cases where space is lacking. A garage is as clean and spacious as the owner is ready to take care of it, so it really doesn’t have anything to do with it being small, but by how we approach the matter and solve this simple problem.
