A place often considered a "junk drawer" for the entire home, the garage is following restaurant-style kitchens, spa-like bathrooms and Hollywood-inspired home entertainment centers as the next room in line for the ultimate makeover. A recent study from Peachtree Consulting found that:
• The garage is ranked as the single biggest storage and organization headache in the home-ahead of closets, basements, kitchens, home offices, attics and laundry rooms.
• Cleaning up and organizing the garage is a more highly ranked priority than buying a new computer, building a shed or adding a home office.
• The garage is shifting more from a "male space" to a "shared space"-nearly 50 percent of garage organization purchase decisions will be made by couples.
"The garage is often the largest but most underutilized room in a home," said Julie Morgenstern, author of the book "Organizing from the Inside Out." "With proper organization and storage, the garage can extend the livable space in a home and become a room the entire family can enjoy."
One company has developed a line of garage organization products to fit any size space and budget. The system is based on GearWall® and GearTrack™ products that get everything in the garage up off the floor and stored on the wall or in a locked cabinet. Once all the sports equipment, gardening tools, car care products and holiday decorations are safely stored away, there's room to turn the garage into a more usable space.
"The garage is not a room most people typically show off to their friends and neighbors, but that's starting to change," said Michele Savalox of Gladiator® GarageWorks. "We like to think of the space as a blank canvas where people can create a room that does more than just park the car at night."
Customizing the garage space with areas for gardening, woodworking, crafts and model building are the most popular solutions. Some people have gone more extreme with photography darkrooms, high-tech automotive stations and home gyms.
