Obviously, a garage is intended to house your cars, bikes, motorcycles – any vehicle you’d like to protect from the elements and people with bad intentions. And for many of us, the garage is also more than that. We keep our tools and our lawn equipment in there, use it for storage, or maybe even have a work bench for hobbies. But – also for many of us – it doesn’t stop there.

Even though your garage isn’t the heart of the home, it definitely is the hoarding space of the home. Whenever things seem not to have a place to land, it’s the basement or the garage that becomes their new residence. If you’re like most people, that can easily lead to clutter and chaos in your garage space. 

Your Messy Garage isn’t Cool, But it Is Common

If you’re not sure you’re in the norm – let us assure you: you are. Check these few interesting stats on garage culture in the US:

For an average home, the garage makes up 15% of the home’s square footage. That’s valuable real estate!

• Over 50% of US adults spend 1-2 hours/week in their garage on hobbies/projects. That means we need organization and we need floor space.
• In most households, only 70% of the garage space is available for parking.
• Half of homeowners pointed to their garage as the most disorganized room in their house. 
• Half of homeowners also said their garage would be way better if it weren’t so cluttered and disorganized.
• 50% of homeowners use their garage as the main entry to their house, but 24% say they’re embarrassed to have their garage door open at all because of the mess inside.
• 80% of realtors say a disorganized garage leaves a negative first impression when showing a home.

So then it might not surprise you that 50% of homeowners say they plan to reorganize their garage within the next two years. Especially when you consider that 52% of homeowners say they want a garage their neighbors envy. Weird, but okay.

To top it all off, another survey found that disorganization, not lack of space, accounts for 80% of all home clutter. Sound familiar? That feeling when you tear everything apart and put it back together nicely, all to step back and be like – Was this room always this big?

Maximizing Your Garage’s Square Footage & Your Home’s Value

It’s well-documented that a garage is a big factor when people are buying homes, which is why the ROI for installing a new garage door is basically dollar-for-dollar. Plus, wouldn’t an organized and functional garage make your life easier? Depending on what level of clutter we’re talking about, this might be a big undertaking, but we assure you – it’s worth it.

Here are a few tips that might help you to use your garage more efficiently:

1. Designated Areas: Divide your garage up into a few specific areas that can be used for specific items. You can allocate each wall for a certain purpose or even divide each wall into sections.
2. Install Wall Storage: If you are handy, you can do this yourself. If not, price out the installation with some local contractors. Having one or more walls rigged with shelving and hooks can make garage organization much easier.
3. Foldout Work Area: If you really want to conserve space, you could even install a work area that folds up flat against the wall, folding down into a work table when you need it.
4. Yard Tool Storage: Install a hanging system specifically for yard tools so they can be kept in a single area that is easy to access. This beats having them all piled in a corner as an eye sore!
5. Ceiling Storage: The ceiling, too, can be rigged to hold storage bins for rarely used items such as holiday decorations. Hanging bikes from the ceiling can also provide less clutter and more space to move around.
6. Boots and Shoes: Prefer to keep shoes out of the house (especially muddy ones)? Place a shoe rack on a wall near the door to the house. You could even use old crates to create a shoe rack. Place some coat hooks and a doormat and you’ve got a miniature mudroom in the corner of the garage.

If you’re among the masses that use their garage as a main entryway, you spend a lot of time in your garage working on projects, hobbies or physical fitness, or if you’re in need of more storage space but don’t know where to find it – your garage might be just the place! 

Plus, by getting everything organized and off the floor, you get more than just easy access and floor space. A clean garage is less attractive to pest and vermin looking for somewhere to burrow into where they’ll never be found. And if you have an issue like a leak or drainage problem, you have a line of sight all around the garage walls and floor.Now to reorganize the basement. Who knew the house was this big?!