Garage Clutter...who's got it...everyone!

Your neighbor has it, you have it, and I have it. Even the neat freak and organizational fanatic has it. Garage clutter is in every garage. Some have it all the time and some have it occassionally. Nothing will help more with garage clutter, even if it's just to hide it, than cabinets. Base cabinets, wall cabinets, and wardrobe cabinets are available from a number of manufacturers. You can get steel, aluminum, or wood-based cabinets in an array of finishes and colors. Want a powder coated steel cabinet? You can get it. Or maybe a bare aluminum finish? It's pricey so open up your checkbook and get your pen. Alright, you prefer wood and you want it to look like metal so you get black melamine cabinets with a silver color powder coated MDF door. The availability of materials and finishes can satisy any taste and budget. So forget the recycled kitchen cabinets. They won't look as good and they aren't strong enough to hold tools and car parts. Besides, do you want your garage to look like a kitchen? Are you baking cupcakes or doing brake jobs?

When you plan to hide, I mean organize, the clutter are you adding a workbench? You can certainly build one yourself, but if you can't, check out the Gen

eva Garage Gear workbench. Butcher block top and steel legs tell you this workbench is built for work. It's stable thanks to bracing and adjustable feet. Add a couple of their roll-a-round base cabinets and youre ready to work on your latest home or car project.

Garage Mahal, Man Cave, or Dream Garage

Do you want a dream garage? Thought so. Well, it's not out of reach. If you have a one-car or a six-car garage, your dream garage is possible. If you don't have a big budget, get creative. Stickers and decals, brand and model emblems, and license plates and hubcaps all make good decorations in the garage. Flooring options include epoxy paint from the local big box store to professionally applied polyaspartics. There is something for every budget. I'm sure you can look around and find items of interest all around you.

Personalize it!

If you're a car guy or girl you have a need to collect mementos from your car adventures. Literature from a car dealer, ticket stubs from the races, posters from a show...things that

remind you of your passion for all things automotive. The garage is your space where this collection resides. There are no rules. It doesn't require a designer to match colors and styles. If you like it, then it stays. Once you get started you might be surprised how your collection grows. Besides the stuff you accumulated over the years, you may find yourself now looking at things while out and about and wondering where they will fit in your garage. Ebay might become a good place to find items from the past such as signs, banners, clocks, thermometers, and even car parts that would look great hung on a wall. I recently saw a picture of a garage where the owner had a collection of Ford flathead parts on his wall. So be adventurous and personalize your garage. If it reflects your interests, then it works. If it documents your life, it has meaning. And if it makes you smile, life has been good.

The first step to creating your dream garage is creating an organization plan. We all have stuff we don't use, don't need, or don't know we have. After you inventory the contents of your garage you have to decide what you don't need. Letting go of the things you REALLY don't need can be difficult. I know I can justify keeping everything in my garage the first time I look at it. So I suggest having three piles for your stuff. The stuff you will keep, the stuff you might keep, and the stuff you are sure you'll eliminate. You might actually make some money during this phase. Craigslist, eBay, yard sales, and any other way to sell your stuff could help pay for your new floor or cabinets. Once you know what you'll keep you can start woking on where you will keep it. Cabinets, shelving, open storage, and even hanging from the ceiling are a few options for storage. Every garage is different. Your garage will suit your lifestyle and your interests. Tell me how you would handle this phase.