MASTER CLASS: 2010-09-26

GETTING YOUR GARAGE PRIORITIZED

This is what you have.....

This is what you want.

"Mista Joe, sometime I tink you muss be crrayzy, you gotts the new Jeg-why-er outside een da rayne an two dollah wirf of sheet een da garage…"

This was my turning point with garages and cars.

Florence, my Jamaican housekeeper for many years, a soulful, maternal woman who would’ve taken a bullet in the heart to protect me hit the proverbial nail on the head. Her “no bullshit” observations sometimes were hilarious, sometimes whinging, but always spot-on with my best interest at heart.

Once Florence shared her observation with me I had to laugh at myself…she WAS again, spot on!

I had three good cars out in the driveway, and a two-car garage filled with crap; old boat parts, dog stuff, pieces of furniture that I was saving to do something with someday, bicycles, old shutters, kayaks, gardening items, and so on. Beside the collection of crap, it was an old, dark garage with exposed hot-water heater, furnace and electrical panels.

I then called some people as said “bring your pickup, I’m purging." I threw out or gave away all the broken or waiting-to-be-used items…which would’ve totaled maybe $200 in a yard sale…. (how much are new Jegwhyers?)

The next day I met with my carpenter and said “let’s do it up right.”

I had the entire garage sheet-rocked. I added storage closets at the back end, one for “dog-stuff” and miscellaneous household flotsam, another was the “Costco closet,” and the furnace and water heater had their own enclosure.

All of the gardening things went into a new 10’ x 15’ shed that was one of those Amish pre-built sheds that are delivered complete. I had a masonry base built for it, and had the cutesy gingerbread left off, painted it white to match the house and added a birdhouse to the roof as a cupola, landscaped around it... and it was great. It fit right in with the other dependencies. This way the rake didnt scrape the Jegwhyers door paint when fetching it.

Inside, once the garage was sheet-rocked I used a 2” x 12” baseboard, installed 3.5” crown moulding (its cheap at Home Depot) and added chair rail which absorbed all the bumps and dings from car doors and dustbins. For lighting, I added four recessed incandescent lights (at night, fluorescent tube-lights make a garage look like there's a nuclear fusion going on from outside). Installed an exhaust fan which ran on a thermostat, and added two-inch Venetian blinds at the windows which matched the rest of the house.

BUT, what really made the space fun were the apple-green walls (Ben Moore #395 eggshell finish) with the mouldings and ceiling painted white. The floor was painted beige with “garage floor” paint.

Then to add some fun elements … I’ve always collected antique portraiture, and I had a few that were not as important in the attic and I hung them in the garage... it was frickin’ great!

I think this total garage renovation; sheet-rock, mouldings and paint was about $7,000.

The Amish shed (delivered) was around $3,500, the cement pad $500. totaling $4,000.

When I sold that house, at the settlement table I asked the buyers “what was it about the house that convinced you to buy it?” I was expecting the answer to be the lovely waterfront setting or the awesome décor (!).…husband and wife both said simultaneously “the garage!” I’m sure that wasn’t the reason they bought the house but, it was something that they vividly remembered.

So, a note to consider here: If you’re selling a house, or letting one….try to do something like this so they’ll remember your house apart from the dozens of others they’ll see.

Now THATs is what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Dont know that you need oak panelling and wall sconces in your garage, but a little upgrade would be nice....

I think this person with the garage below is just not paying attention. It's a big garage but NOTHING is organized. I wanna know who sits at that wicker desk by the hot water tank in the freekin' garage?
Daddy doing "research" late at night on his laptop (wink wink)....

God forbid she puts down the Soap Opera Digest and gets her ass off the sofa and drives to WalMart and buys $100 in tubs and shelving...

My favorite....allowing kids to keep their shit anywhere they want...Who's playing with those busted up toys two years after they've outgrown them? Wouldnt the Goodwill have someone who'd appreciate them more?
A nice $28K car surrounded by $500. worth of shit... go figure...

Would'nt this below be a little bit better and less frustrating to navigate?

If you wanted to do it right, spend a few bucks. There are many opportunities to get 'garage specific' cabinetryGreat Garage storage systems or even some of those white melamine ones available at any big-box stores or IKEA.

DON'T use the old kitchen cabinets in the garage...it makes ur garage look like hell, they never fit right and the sizes are all different. Spend the damn $1,500. and have a garage you'll be proud to open the door to.

There are many types of floors if you wanted to go overboard. There are these amazing Forma Floor tiles that are hot looking. Personally, I prefer painted garage floor, OR believe it or not...wall-to-wall carpeting.. YES! I've had it before and it is amazing. If you glue-down a low-pile industrial nylon carpet and place a cheap rubber doormat under each engine it'll be great. Carpet is so easy to care for, broom sweep it, or vacuum it once every 2 months, etc. Dont worry about the water or snow melt it dries just fine. However, it is better for warmer climates as snow melting chemicals used on roads will make a mess of it eventually.

I know many of you dont have large houses and the garage is a bonus room for the lacking interior space, so this missive doesnt particularly help you. But, one idea to keep some clutter out of the kitchen, hallways or family room is to put locker style compartments for the kids school books, sports equipment, etc. Then its always in the same place, and separated from their siblings things. IKEA has many versions of these.