Before and After: A $600 IKEA Solution Is the Star of This Garage Transformation
Anyone lucky enough to have a garage knows how much of a double-edged sword this storage space can be. Yes, it’s technically made to hide things away, including unsightly items. On the other hand, without adequate organization (and tenacious maintenance) a garage can become a mess of stuff you need to sort through.
Too often, we “store” things here because we don’t want to deal with them in the moment. They add up and, before you know it, the garage can become a blackhole with neither form or function, just a completely stressful and not at all useful “room.”
This is exactly what happened to Vivianne and Tim Chow. Rather than serving as a space for Tim to work on his car and a storage spot for other tools, their garage had become a jumbled catch-all that weighed on the couple every time they came home. “Our garage was full of clutter and things that needed to be sorted through, thrown out, or donated,” says Vivianne. “Every time we would pull into the garage, we were reminded of the mess that we needed to deal with and spend time sorting through.”
In order to give Tim a place to work on his car and have easy access to other tools, they decided to (finally) tackle a garage makeover. They began by purging their items and significantly reducing the belongings they’d keep in the garage. Vivianne says the decluttering was the hardest part of the entire project, but it “really helped to clear out space and give us a better idea of what garage organization solutions we needed.”
Next, Vivianne and Tim did some research to find the best shelving system for their needs. “We wanted garage shelves that were sturdy, durable, not too industrial looking, and not too expensive,” she continues. “We knew that getting the right shelving unit would make the most impact on our garage organization.”
Because of their positive experience with the IKEA Pax closet system, they landed on the IKEA BROR shelving system, which ticked off all of their boxes.
Once the purging and planning were done, the easier (and more fun!) parts of the project began. “Assembling the shelving and cabinets took around one evening and was relatively simple to do,” says Vivianne. “After assembling, it didn’t take long to organize Tim’s automotive tools in the cabinets and shelves.” The couple put the items they needed easy access to on the open shelves, and opted to stash more unsightly items inside the cabinets.
The end result is a space full of form and function. By getting rid of excess items and honing in on the specific purpose of their garage, the couple transformed a sore spot in their home into an efficient and good-looking storage space.
The BROR shelving is definitely the star of the show. After a year of storing heavy automotive equipment, Vivianne reports that the powder-coated galvanized steel has held up perfectly and is also easy to clean (important in a garage!).
Rather than getting stressed whenever they pull in to their garage, now the look of the shelving and all the organization they provide brings them joy. “We wouldn’t change anything about our garage makeover,” she says.
This post was originally published on Apartment Therapy. Read it there: Before and After: A $600 IKEA Solution Is the Star of This Garage Transformation
