Garage organisers Archives - Storage Solutions

Posted on March 13, 2022June 10, 2023 by admin

Garage Slatwall Options

Garage slatwall systems are becoming more and more popular in Australia. This is because storage decisions for homes (even new ones) are often underestimated. This article is about your “garage slatwall installation” how much of your garage wall(s) you should consider covering with slatwall.

We receive calls every week from customers who have landed on our website and like the idea of a wall panel garage storage system. It makes good use of walls that otherwise may only hold some hooks and maybe shelves. It looks great and is mould proof and provides many options regarding the types accessories that can used, from baskets, to hooks, brackets, bins, and bags.

The question many people have however, is how much of my wall(s) should I cover with slatwall panels?

Measuring your wall area

The first step is to determine how much wall space you actually have. From this measurement, you can then start to work on how much wall space you want to apply slatwall panels to. This will obviously be determined by how much you have to store and your budget.

Measuring your walls is as easy as width x height. Just use a measuring tape on all available wall areas. Consider the two side walls and the back wall.

How much slatwall area do I need?

If you are storing adult sized bikes, ladders, large gardening tools and water sports equipment like surfboards and canoes/kayaks, you will require one or even two walls.

Consider that adult bikes whether stored horizontally or perpendicular to a wall are about 2m in length and 60cm in width (handle bar width). Multiply this by the number of bikes you are storing, and you might quickly fill an entire wall with bikes.

Kayaks are long and need to be stored up high and out of the way.

Do I panel a full wall or part wall?

This is really a decorating/design question rather than one about storage. Some people like the fact that their entire wall looks the same, ie it has the same look/tecture from top to bottom. In this case they will panel it all from the top of the skirting board to below the cornice.

From a storage perspective, it is not necessary to slatwall your entire wall. The area 1m from the skirting board (ie your floor) and say 30cm from your ceiling can be left as is. This is because you are unlikely to actually hang or store items that low or high. If budget is a consideration, this is a great way to reduce total panels and therefore material and labor costs.

There are some exceptions. Whilst I write this, I can also reflect on some homes we have installed StoreWALL in, which have actually paneled their entire wall and used much of it. In those high areas close to the ceiling, customers have installed shelving and stored items that are irregularly used. For those lower areas close to the floor, they have hung bags and baskets.

Working out your costs

Most people starting their slatwall journey are just after a simple quote which will give them some guidance as to how much the project will cost them. Knowing your wall’s dimensions helps. This information can then be used with our Panel Estimator to calculate the potential cost. Alternatively, you can also email us these dimensions and we can quote you.

Below is an example of such an email:

Hi
I am interested in your product to instal on my garage’s wall in order to organise my tools including power tools (domestic not professional):
The following are the relevant measurements:
wall number 1 the right section on the photo:height: 180 cmwidth: 117 cm
wall number 2 the left section on the photo:height: 139.5 cmwidth: 149 cm
Regards
M

This is what the customer received from us:

Garage Slatwall Installation

Below are examples of full and part garage slatwall installations. Some of these have been completed by us here in Melbourne and some by customers in other states. Both approaches work and have given customers with enough wall space to manage their storage needs.

Storewall installation — Part Wall Installations

In summary, your garage slatwall installation is really down to your personal design preferences and your budget. We can help guide you with both of these so that you make the best choice for your storage needs.

Posted on June 14, 2020June 10, 2023 by admin

The Organised Garage

2020 is a year many of us will never forget. COVID-19 has locked a lot of us in our homes with plenty of time on our hands to look around and want to mend. The organised garage is something that has been talked about in many households when I consider the amount of enquiries we have received since the lockdown began.

We have covered how to organise your garage in several previous articles on our website, but I thought a top 10 (or 11) list of how to start and what to do would be useful.

The Organised Garage

Whilst there are plenty of extreme garage photos out there, your typical garage will have some order about it. However, what then tends to happen is larger items start to take up space, the shelves you purchased fill up or don’t fit larger items (anymore) and things start to accumulate on the floor. Before you know it, you start to use the floor more and more until it’s impossible to move around and find anything quickly or safely.

Step 1 – Empty it out

The best way to start re-organising your garage is to clean it all out. Everything off the walls, the floor and the ceiling needs to come out. Start in the morning so you have the day ahead of you and begin the clean-out.

Step 2 – Group it

When its all out on the garden lawn or driveway, start to group it. One of the keys to attaining the organised garage is the organising bit.

When I look at what is inside my garage I have the following categories:

Tools
Sports Gear
Bikes
Food (cans/packets and excess food I store)
Xmas tree and decorations
Beach gear (boogie boards)
Party gear (decorations, plastic cups and plates)
Old kids furniture
Bins of books
Old clothes
Keep sake items

Step 3 – Sweep it out

Give your garage a good clean out. This includes sweeping and even hosing it down. Get all of the dust and dirt that has accumulated in the corners out. You will need to remove all the furniture to do this.

You should also look at the walls and ceiling and wipe it all down. Either by hand or with a broom. Get all of the cob webs down.

Step 4 – Keep, Dump, Not Sure

Once your sorting is done, you need to go through everything and decide to either keep it because you will use it or it has some sentimental value. Dump it because you will never use it and you know someone else will get better value from it. Or, put it into the “Not sure” list to be decided upon over the coming days.

What you decide to get rid of could go to a Salvation Army store for them to sell (and make a few dollars from). It could also be sold on Ebay or Gumtree if you have the patience. Alternatively, you could give it away to a friend/family. Finally, when hard rubbish comes around you could throw it out then.

The items that you are not sure about, should be put to the side to be looked at over the coming weeks and decided upon. Don’t add them to the Keep list unless you are certain that is where they belong.

Step 5 – Floor Plan

The floor plan is really important because it offers a way to design your layout and use of the space you have. Consider the furniture you have, its size and potential use.

Think about how you use your garage. Is it just for storage or do you do work in there. As an example, I exercise in my garage, so a certain area needs to be dedicated to my training equipment.

What about your car? Do you need to park your car in the garage? If you have bikes, think about where they can be parked or hung.

If you use the space as a workshop, consider what you will use as your bench or table.

You don’t need special software for this, a few pieces of paper will do it. However spend time thinking about the space, the objects and how you want to use it all. Think about your doorways and how you access the garage (main garage door, side door, back door).

Consider the location of the items you will keep but only use a year and those that you want to access regularly. If you have little ones accessing bikes or sporting gear, think about how they can safely move in and out of the garage.

Step 5 – Group it (part 2)

The second part of grouping relates to organising your items in tune with the garage floor plan you have designed. If you read through the many blogs on organising and watch the videos, there are tons of tips on the best approach.

With any space you are working on within your home you need to prioritise based on what you want to use the space for. If part of the space is for working, then making enough room to work is key, so is using the right furniture like a desk or bench.

Bikes, if you are regularly in and out of the garage to get a bike(s), then having these placed in an easy access area even when the car is in the garage is important. You don’t want to have to move the car to get the bikes each time.

Tools, if you are using tools or a regular basis then having your tools visible and accessible is key. This can include your smaller hand tools and all types of power tools.

Items which are regularly used should be easy to access. For you and the rest of your family members. Items which are used once a year (xmas tree) should be out of the way. These items can be stored high and in a harder place to access.

Remember that this step is not a once-off. Organising and re-organising happens all of the time within the house. It should be the same in the garage. The organised garage is not born overnight.

Step 6 – Using Walls

Whether your garage space is small or large using your wall space is important. Most people confuse shelving with maximising use of walls space. Sticking a few shelves on the wall is a start, it’s not the end.

Having open spare wall space in a garage is wasted space. Solutions like StoreWALL give you the ability to use your wall and change its use as needs change. Unlike a shelf which is large and can’t be easily moved around, Garage Wall Storage can change a wall from shelving to holding power tools in a matter of minutes. Accessories are unlocked and moved around as needed.

Use wall storage around shelving, cupboards and other furniture.

Step 7 – Use the height of your room

Use the height of your space to store larger items that you seldom use. It gets them out of the way and the lower easy to access areas are used for more frequent use items. Wall storage allows you to create shelving across the top of your wall.

However there are other garage storage options which create shelving across the ceiling of your garage.

Step 8 – Re-use old furniture

If you have furniture that can be re-used for storage, it makes sense to give it a second life. Why buy another piece of furniture if you can change its look with some paint and move it into the garage. This isn’t always practical but it can work. An old desk in the study can become a useful workbench in the garage.

Step 9 – Labelled Bins & Tubs

We all have them, coloured or clear plastic tubs with lots of stuff in them. They should be organised and clearly labelled. Some clear information on the outside of the tub will save a lot of time sifting through them all looking for that old book.

Ensure your tubs have lids and they are shut tight so that contents don’t collect dust.

Step 10 – By the Door

Keep your frequently used items by the garage door. This is the main garage door you use.

In my garage, the frequently used items are my tools, food and my gym equipment. They are all by the back door to the garage.

Step 11 – It’s not a once off

Just like any other room in your garage, it may take you a few goes to get it right. Over this time you will likely throw more stuff out and learn more about how you want to use the space you have.

Your version of “the organised garage” doesn’t need to look like what is in some of pretty staged pictures of garages. It needs to work for you, your stuff and the room you have.

If in 6 mths your needs or items may change, so should your garage.

Posted on June 22, 2019June 10, 2023 by admin

I need a Garage Organiser

I was speaking to a group of friends recently who both recently completed a major home renovation. One had just completed building a brand new home and had just moved in. The other had completed an extension to their home and had been living in the house for over a year. The common discussion point for both of them was the state of their garage and needing a garage organiser.

It is not uncommon that the garage is the last space in the home to receive any attention. It will usually take place 12 or more months after the owners have resettled. I happened to be at the home of one of the couples talking about the need for a garage organiser. We inspected their garage to take a look at what they had accumulated during and since the renovation. As expected everything was on the ground. It was a two car garage, one side had the stuff, the other the car.

I talked them through their garage organiser options and explained that there are several options depending on what type of help their thought they needed and how much they wanted to spend on the garage.

Organising Expects

Search the net and you will quickly find the multitude of organising expects offering their design services. Most of them focus on design alone and then recommendations on how to un-clutter the area, prioritise what to keep and what to let go. From here there are recommendations on what type of storage the owners can invest in. Be it Shelving, Storage Containers, Wall Hooks, Cupboards, or Overhead Storage. The key service offered is the consultancy around advice and design.

Garage Organisers

In a similar vain, garage organisers also offer the consultancy piece but they have a focus on implementation of select storage options. By this I mean they will usually sell a range of storage equipment which is either their own or that of one or more other suppliers.

This type of garage organiser will review the space that is available and much like a kitchen designer will deliver a design and the cost to build and install.

In terms of price, the Organisers Organising Experts would tend to be more flexible with what services they can offer and therefore can cater for a lower budget easier. It’s not that the Garage Organiser is more expensive, its more that they usually offer the full deal of design, build and install.

Garage Solutions

The final category are services like StoreWALL, StorEase from Bunnings and many others. These services offer a more Do It Yourself option. The solutions range from full garage solutions, to basic shelving options, to wall storage solutions like that from StoreWALL. Home owners can pick and choose combining solutions to fit their space and budget. Much of the responsibility around design and even installation mainly sits with the home owner. Note that several of these solutions (including StoreWALL can also organise installation for the home owner).

Whilst it’s unfortunate that the garage is so often left as the final room of the house to be renovated, it’s important to view the garage like the kitchen. It might not warrant the same budget but it does require some design and investment. If you need a garage organiser, hopefully this article will guide you as to where you need to invest your time seeking advise on possible solutions.

Posted on March 20, 2019June 10, 2023 by admin

Home Garage Storage

Every day I pass new homes and catch a glimpse of their garages only to see a mixture of home garage storage made up of shelves, hooks with hanging items from the wall and lots and lots of items sitting on the ground by both walls.

I suppose once you have invested so much money onto a new home and garden, the last thing you want is to invest more money into your garage? It’s already built, the four walls are there.

Just like a kitchen however, it needs cupboards, bench space, cooking appliances, washing accessories and so on.

Home Garage Storage Options

Your garage is much the same. It needs furniture to make it work. Furthermore, garages in most modern homes sit at the front of the home and are usually the first room you see when you arrive.

Pass any new home with a packed and messy garage and you don’t get a great first impression. Unlike the older homes with the garage at the end of the driveway, new homes make a statement with their garages. They are also another entry point into the house.

Home garage storage is best done over time but with a combination of furniture which will help you manage both large and small items. Items which are used regularly and those that aren’t. Items that are long and short as well as awkward. Garages also need to store everything else the home doesn’t want.

Home Garage Shelving

Every garage definitely needs shelving, but going end to end with shelving will also take up a lot of room because it is usually 500mm deep. This is space you no longer have if your garage is made of mostly shelving.

Wall panel storage options are a great option because not only can you utilise the full height and length of your wall, you can use it to store garage items of all sizes. This includes the awkward ladders and wheel barrows. It also includes the brooms, rakes and other pole based equipment usually forced into the corner so they remain upright.

Wall based home garage storage can also cater for your bikes hanging either vertically or horizontally. The great range of hooks will also cater for all of your power tools. Then there are the great range of smaller shelves. These come in wire, plastic of heavy duty metal. Some are about 800mm on length and others 1.2m.

There is actually very little a wall based storage solution can’t handle. Best of all, hanging items directly on your wall means they are off the floor. An additional advantage is that the depth of your storage is linked to the depth of your stored items (unlike the fixed depth of a shelf).

Posted on June 9, 2018June 11, 2023 by admin

Garage Organisation Starter Kit

As part of our year rate payment, our local Council also runs its yearly hard rubbish collection. This annual ritual (which is bi-annual for some suburbs) sets a range of household activities linked to better garage organisation. A few weeks prior to the annual collection, households receive a reminder that it is approaching and then week after week, surrounding suburbs begin to place their hard rubbish out for collection.

Garage Organisation

Whilst hard rubbish collection is not just about your garage and garage organisation, it seems to set off a string of spring cleaning activities within my household. Most of these activities have to do with inside the home but we eventually also end up outside in the garage, re-organising, cleaning up, and throwing out.

Garage shelves are emptied, tubs are opened, benches are cleared so that we can see exactly what we have stored since the previous clearance and what we no longer need nor want. As the family grows up its a lot easier to determine what needs to be kept for the kids. Certain furniture and toys are just no longer needed and better off with others. Seeing it all once again makes it easy to simply remove it and place it out for collection.

Easy Access

Much of our garage storage is made up of garage racks and shelves. They work a treat by holding lots and allowing lots to be buried away (out of site and mind). This is a problem in itself however. When you store tools and work related equipment on shelves, seeing what you have and finding it becomes really difficult. It uses up precious time and generates frustration. Having your tools hanging or stored via a slatwall rack can be a lot more practical.

Slatwall panels are a wall panel with grooves that allow accessories to securely hook into them. You can then use the accessories to hang and store your equipment on. What I like about slatwall panels is that they allow your tools to stay visible and most importantly accessible. This is unlike a racking or deep shelving system.

Garage Organisation Starter Kit

Hard rubbish collection in my neighbourhood isn’t until August but I have already begun to review what can and can’t go this year. To help you with the garage reorganisation part of your clean up project, StoreWALL has launched its StoreWALL Starter Kit. The idea behind the kit is to bundle a selection of accessories that inspire you to see what you can achieve with your garage as well as how StoreWALL can help you get organised.

To help you get started, StoreWALL offers a simple bundle of accessories which can be added to your StoreWALL slatwall panels.

The Starter Kit comes with these accessories:

1 x StoreWALL Square Shallow Basket
2 x StoreWALL Heavy Duty Universal Hook
1 x StoreWALL Crade Hook
1 x StoreWALL Heavy Duty Utility Hook

You will obviously also need the slatwall panels and we make these available as single sheets as well as in packs of 6 or 4. The packs of 6 are 1.2m in length and the pack of 4 are 2.4m.

When you are ready to get started with your next garage organisation project, give us a call so we can help you with ideas and pricing on how our garage solutions can solve your storage problems.