How did you setup your garage?

[daito]

I'm calling for some serious advice on how to how to setup or change my garage to make it more useful. I really need help because it’s just in a state of chaos as it is now and I’m not sure where to start.

I’ll upload pics later but….Help me out! Show pics of ideas, innovations or practical ideas that just made sense in your garage. If there are links to other threads that have a “Pimp my garage” theme please link them!

When I try to think of everything I would like to do with it, all the ideas overwhelm me and I stop before I start. I have lots of random tools for random projects that I work on like;
· Mechanical/Car stuff
· Welding
· Woodworking
· Construction
· Leatherworking

Here are my goals for the garage
· Organized and logical. (Need lots of help here!)
· Functional and Flexible (Again need more help)

Here are a few things I’d like to do with it:
· Even with my existing projects I’d still like to use it for vehicle storage if possible
· Easy to find and use tools
· Run a waterline for water and a swamp cooler
· Rerun the electrical so that I have a 110 and a 220 circuit.
· Run an air distribution system
· Run a gas line for a heater, then add a heater
· Redo all the lighting
· Some type of paneling to hide what is overhead

I’m not sure where to really start though so would love advice. I can say I’d like to do this and that but until I have a good plan or know what I want then the ideas I have can’t take shape.

 

[Jack with the garage]

I don't own a Toyota. And I haven't done any leather work in my garage. But outside of that, my little two-car space might be useful to you. It was done on a low budget ($3,500). I did all the work myself, including setting the tile and digging the pit for the lift. Pretty much everything in the place is second-hand, home-made or repurposed.

I do automotive work in it, and also some carpentry and metal fabrication.

I also made a website for it: http://www.12-gaugegarage.com (This is not spam. I don't have advertising on the website and pay for it out of my own pocket.)

Work benches that fold down from the wall:

Earlier this year, a website made a video about the car and the garage:

[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC5-MoDUuRg"Petrolicious: One Car to Do It All[/URL]

(Except off-roading. )

And if you've read this far, there's also a short video just about the lift:

My Garage Lift

Is it always this clean? No. Not by a long shot.

But it does go back to clean very quickly -- that's the real accomplishment of it, I think. I finally took the time to work out a place for everything to go when It's not being used.

In practice, it makes a huge difference not having to spend so much time looking for things you've misplaced. I spent years doing that.

 

[snobdds]

That's bad ass...

 

[daito]

Yeah I like that. Any others out there?

 

[bhmmapping]

Jack, that setup is inspirational, thanks for posting here.

If I just had to store tools I think I could get things organized to a point where I would be happy, but I struggle with where to fit in the kids bikes, strollers, wife's gardening supplies and especially scrap material - metal in particular.

 

[daito]

I know what you mean with the others. I guess that is the one fortunate part is all the shovels and rakes and stuff are in the other garage I have. This one is only for my tools I use with the exception of my snowblower and law mover. I'm trying to think of a way to handle those with a stacking solution with ramps or something.

 

[bsilva132]

Look at www.garagejournal.com, lots of organizational ideas there

 

[Tapage]

Jack, that setup is inspirational, thanks for posting here.

X2 ^^^^

at the same time it makes me sad .. how far it's mine from looking like yours ..

 

[Tango2]

Mr Olsen, your garage keeps popping up everywhere. I was going to point the OP back to the mother ship of garage's but someone already has. If you can't find ideas over at the garagejournal, you're not trying.