Garage Organization – Magnetic Paint Brush Bar

Ah Mondays :sigh: usually I don’t like you so much. However, today? Today was a really great day which I’m taking as a sign that year 30 is going to be amazing. I can’t even say that I did anything all that ‘great’, it was just a really wonderful and productive day.

I got a good nights sleep which makes all the difference in the world and woke up without an alarm clock. I even had time before work to take my pup out for a walk, workout, take a shower/makeup/yadda yadda without racing around like a crazy person. I was able to get out of work a little early so I had time to take care of some errands and finished buying all the birthday/mother’s day gifts for this month. 

I even had a lucky little friend hang out on my car this evening while I was running errands. He held on for dear life and travelled to each stop with me before finally flying free when I was on my way home.

Lately with work I haven’t been getting through my list of house projects, but I did tackle one easy organizational task recently in the garage.

Now that I have most of the workbench/storage installed in the garage, I’m starting to shift to decor and organization. The shelves have helped a lot in keeping things clean, but the smaller items are getting lost in the clutter.

I’m also finding myself with quite a bit of empty wall space. 

I do plan to install some shelving above the workbench in the future, but in the meantime I needed something to organize my paintbrushes/spackle knives/etc. I waste a lot of time searching for these supplies so I wanted to find a way to keep them all in an easy to access area. So I purchased a metal magnetic knife bar via Amazon. It’s for holding culinary knives in the kitchen, but since it’s basically a big magnet, I thought it would be functional in the garage as well. Plus it looks fancy…and my garage could use a little fanciness. Ha!

MIU France Stainless Steel Magnetic Knife Holder, 20-Inches

 

Installation was a breeze and within minutes I had the bar securely attached to the wall. I took about a dozen pictures because I like shiny things because the paint can reflection was killing my shots, but you get the point.

…and it’s working perfectly to hold all my painting supplies.

I have to say I’m pretty impressed with how it turned out. I can easily grab what I need and I never have to worry about losing that paint key again (I misplace that sucker ALL THE TIME).

What do you guys think? What type of indoor organizational tools have you brought outside? I think I need some girly touches in this space. It’s feeling a little…umm…manly. I get that Garages are typically a ‘man cave’, and I don’t want to paint my garage walls pink or anything, but there’s a small part of me that wants to chuck a bucket of glitter at the wall. It needs a little sprucing up…there’s something a guy wouldn’t say about his garage.

Garage Progress – Round 2

It’s been almost 2 months since my last Garage update and things are going well. Finally it’s starting to feel like a functional space and the most exciting part is that the cost me far less than I ever expected. In fact, it’s been a busy workshop lately between the workbench install, building the potting bench, and some other crafts.

To scare you refresh your memory, here’s a little look back at the before.

Messy, Messy, Messy.

There was no organization and I rarely spent any time in the space.

Two months ago I showed you the new storage rack I bought from Costco. It was inexpensive, study and larger than the wire storage rack I already in the garage. In fact, I was so impressed with the quality, I purchased another one to use as a Workbench. The original plan was to purchase a big wood topped workbench which would have cost around $300. Instead I assembled the shelving unit as a workbench (it’s designed to be either) for only $64.

For less than a quarter of the budgeted cost, it’s perfect.

I now have space for wood scraps, tools, paint, gardening supplies and everything has a home. Meaning it actually looks clean most of the time.

I still have plans to install shelving above the workbench for additional storage and perhaps some pegboard on another wall for even more storage.

It feels like a legit workshop now, instead of a messy garage. I even find myself down here more often on weekends coming up with new projects.

What projects have you been working on?

Garage – In Progress

Sometimes the progress is small. Sometimes it’s purchasing a storage unit and finishing some cleaning/organizing,  but that’s still progress in my opinion. A few weeks back I showed you my garage, it was a mess. In the back of my mind, I know it’s going to take a while to collect all the pieces for this room. I want to have it painted professionally (part of the ceiling is too high for me to reach on my own). I want to purchase a heavy duty workbench an add some shelving/more storage. A lot of the things I want to do in this room take lots of $$$ so I’m realistically saying it will take me all year to officially ‘finish’ the garage.

However, I see some progress, and this makes me very happy.

Before:

I had stuff spread everywhere, a big random collection of stuff.

The first step was to dump any trash or damaged items. I’ve also separated out some paint that needs to be sent to a Hazardous Waste site and a box of items set aside for donation.

In Progress:

So far, I’ve organized, cleaned and purchased a storage rack from Costco. I have to say that this storage rack has far surpassed my expectations. I paid about $64 for it, and unless you’re the Hulk, you’ll need at least two people to lift the box. It’s HEAVY!

I was able to build the storage rack by myself, but it would have been useful to have a second set of hands. However, it was well worth all the effort when I was able to cleanly organize everything yesterday…with room to spare.

The workbench I received from Christmas has been moved to the back wall and the dresser was moved over. At some point I’d like to get rid of the dresser, but at this point it’s providing much needed home for small items. I’ve also kept the BBQ and Storage Rack box for now since they act as a great painting station.

Eventually the box, mirror, and umbrella will be replaced with the heavy duty workbench. I hope to add some shelving above the workbench to small items (such as nails, screws, rubber bands) and I want to add storage to the side of the workbench for scrap wood. My scrap wood pile is adding up and it deserves its own home.

The metal storage rack that was displaced by the new storage rack is still in the garage. It’s being saved for house supplies (extra toilet paper, paper towels, drinks, cleaning products, etc). It also holds the dog food container right now.

That is a legal size filing cabinet under the workbench right now. It will eventually go in the office, but it needs to be painted first so I’m keeping in the garage. I’m also thinking about painting the dresser, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.

I also see some pegboard in the future for this wall.

Yes, that’s the Twilight series books in that cardboard box. It’s on it’s way to someone else’s home (via donation) along with a lot of other stuff currently littered throughout the house.

So that’s it! Progress is moving slowly in this room, but I like it so far.

Introducing – The Garage!

Now that we got that cleaning post out of the way yesterday, let me show you a mess.

Welcome to my Garage!

This is one side of a two car garage.

The other side has my car and trash cans and will remain unchanged. Since I only have one car, I would like to turn the other side of the garage in a workshop of sorts. Right now it’s just a mish mash of random crap.

Let’s take a little tour of randomness, shall we?

Highlights:

• I’ve been using the cardboard box from my BBQ as my workbench for the past 6 months.
• The dog food container is front and center since ants invaded the indoor stash and with my back I wasn’t able to reach the spot on the floor where I normally keep it.
• The dresser is a hand me down that has been through my parents, then to my brother, then over to me. It’s currently holding a whole bunch of smaller stuff, like towels, drill bits, and paint trays.
• I don’t know why I have a rug in my garage right now. It’s really too dirty to stand on, I’d rather stand on the garage floor.
• I had such hope for that tomato cage…

The shelving unit holds a little bit of everything:

• Paint, Grass Seed, Extra Water/Ice Tea, etc.

I spy one of my Christmas presents!

[Ok, I didn’t notice the pizza box until after I took the picture. It’s now in the trash.]

One of my Christmas presents was a Ryobi Tool set that includes a Drill, Charger, Flashlight, and Circular Saw. I didn’t actually put it on my Christmas list because they are expensive, but I ask my dad questions about them every time we walk into Lowes.

I can’t imagine where Santa got the idea.

I spy my other Christmas Present!

I think my dad took pity on my poor little BBQ box workbench. So I got a very cool workbench that actually folds up and flips over into scaffolding. Very Cool!

Another shameful angle of the hot mess Garage.

Ok, it’s grossing me out now.

I expect the garage to be a work in progress, probably all year long. Each thing in the garage is pretty expensive so I’ll be working on it bit by bit. However, I do plan on doing a lot of organization this month. I want to set up the workbench, clear out the unnecessary items, sweep up all the dog hair (I swear I could make a second dog out of all the hair Bubba sheds).

Here’s a little eye candy to get my pictures out of your brain…

My favorite!!

Via

Great storage options.

Via

Via

Via