Our storage area in our garage is the made up of the space left
over after we did the bedroom conversion.
Up until that point we rarely parked in our garage. It is small and narrow and better suited to
storage than for actually parking a car inside.
So when the need for more space to accommodate my expanding family, in
particular the addition of my two beautiful daughters, I decided to convert a
large portion of the garage into a third bedroom rather than sell our house and
buy something larger.
I paid cash to do the conversion and worked on it over the
summer. When it was done my son moved in
and his old bedroom upstairs became my girl's bedroom for several years. When my son moved out on his own we made his
room into our family room. Last fall
when we moved back into the house after fourteen months away we collectively
decided I would use that room as my bedroom and the girls would each have their
own room upstairs. It has worked out
very well for us.
The storage area used to be jam packed with crap. And I do mean "jam packed" and
"crap". I used to have two
sets of floor to ceiling shelves as well as rows of bins and boxes stacked and
tuck in everywhere. There was also four
bicycles, camping equipment an upright freezer and a full sized refrigerator
out there. I look back and I still am
not sure how we managed it.
When we moved back in we had a whole lot less stuff. One small chest freezer, two bicycles and
an assortment of boxes and storage bins.
The goal was to empty as many of those bins and boxes as we possibly
could and find homes for everything inside.
I also removed all of the dirty dusty particle board shelving and got
rid of it. The metal shelving unit was
repositioned and screwed to the wall for stability. That is all the shelving I am allowing
myself.
Despite the fact that we arrived with what seemed like very little
in the way of possessions it still took us from Labor Day to Memorial Day to
unpack and move in. And guess what? I'm still working on it. I'd say I've made it through 95% of it, however. I want everything I own to have a purpose and
a proper place to be stored.
We now have space for our trash and recycle bins, which are big
and a bit of an eyesore. I like to keep
that kind of stuff hidden and out of sight so it was important to me this time
to have a space for them in the storage area.
Our freezer sits perfectly in the space right next to them.
I want to make good use of our vertical storage spaces. Yard tools are hung up on the pegboard which
includes an old laundry soap bucket to hold the variety of smaller items all
corralled together.
The shelving unit now holds my power tools, canning jars and
canner, pet supplies and holiday items.
I
still feel I have too much stuff in there so I will be working to thin it down
and get rid of stuff.
Finding room for storage is a challenge for many people, which is why it is exciting to see how you have managed to transform your space in a way that can serve a number of purposes as your life evolves. You have definitely shown an example of how people can save money by simply modifying their own space as their needs change rather than purchasing a larger home.
ReplyDeleteMachelle Ledoux @ Total Garage Repair
The garage looks quite clean there. What a great start to organizing your garage! The key to getting it to look clean is to find a place for everything to stay. I've recently built a bunch of cupboards to store some of my stuff. Maybe you can try this out and see the difference.
ReplyDeleteGiovanni @ Coastal Contract Hardware