Garage Storage and Today’s Economy

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What do garage storage and the current state of today’s economy have in common? They both appear to be completely different topics and for the most part they are. However the state of today’s economy has had a huge influence on homeowners as well as on the businesses that provide products and services including garage storage products. We will discuss how garage storage fits into this idea and how it can help homeowners ultimately save money.

For many years homeowners felt safe knowing that the value of their homes would go up. The idea was simple. You buy a home, live in it for a while, start a family, outgrow it, sell it for a profit and move into a bigger house. It was an easy decision to make because real estate was a sure winner. You were almost guaranteed to make a profit on the deal, and if you were to look at the historical average home prices all the way back to 1963 you would see that it was indeed a good model to follow. However that model was flipped on its head in 2005 when the housing bubble finally burst. Buying a home no longer guaranteed you a profit, and in some cases homeowners were being forced into foreclosure due to risky loans and falling home prices. The collapse of the housing bubble has had a direct impact not only on home valuations, but on the mortgage markets, Wall Street, banks, home builders, and on consumer’s wallets.

Those homeowners who were not forced into foreclosure now have the tough decision to either sell at a loss, or to continue living in their current homes with the hopes that someday the market will come back. The problem that arises is what to do as your family expands but your home does not. New children, returning college grads or ailing parents can all add a significant amount of “stuff” around your home, and the need for additional storage is no longer a luxury but a necessity.

One option is to take out a second mortgage and renovate your home to allow for additional storage. This is a very risky plan as it assumes that the housing market will make a complete recovery and give you a return on your very large investment. Another option is to optimize and fully utilize the space you already have, and the garage is by far the most underutilized room in your home. A very large percentage of people have unorganized garages and with the huge amount of garage storage products available today it is not only easy but very inexpensive to increase your storage capacity and better utilize the unused space.

The garage is typically one of the largest rooms in your home next to the basement with the average one car garage having around 50 linear feet of useable wall space. Items like cabinets, shelves, or slatwall systems can be installed on walls to provide vastly increased storage space. Overhead rack systems can also be installed to keep larger items off the floor, and even simple hooks can be used to hang bicycles and other sporting equipment. Even utilizing a workbench can help save space by having a home for tools and may even allow you to empty those junk drawers into bins on your bench.

There’s no other room in your home where lining each and every square inch of wall with cabinetry looks appropriate, and in fact doing so will actually make you the envy of your neighbors. For far less then it would cost to add a room in your home you can increase your useable storage space by a very large factor. If done properly you may even end up adding a good amount of equity to your home.

Schedule your dream garage floor consultation today!