Concealing the STUFF - Howards Storage World Garage Makeover Update

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This is a post by me as an Ambassador for Howards Storage World.

It's been a little while since my last Howards Storage World Garage Makeover update. Not cause I didn't want to share with you what has been going on, but because my lap top decided to cark it with all my garage makeover pictures on it. 

I may have cried and swore ... and cried some more.

Anyway with some gorgeous weather over the weekend we were able to get in there and do the last few jobs as well as take some new photos to show you what we have been up to.

I have said before how much I envy those people who have garages that are completely void of anything but the cars. HOW do they manage that? Where do they keep everything?

*Sighhhhhh* That will never be us - we have way too much stuff to store.

It is hard to believe that 3 little boys and 1 big one can accumulate so much sporting equipment. Add to the bikes, balls and boards some gardening stuff, home decorating equipment and supplies and all the tools and well - as I said we are never going to own one of those minimalist style garages.

But that's OK - as long as I don't risk breaking my neck every time I go to get a pack of toilet paper out, I can do with out minimalist.

So what is the toilet paper doing in the garage you ask?

Well I like to buy things in bulk, you know bulk toilet paper and paper towel, tissues etc etc. It's great for saving money, but not so great when it comes to saving space. All that stuff needs to be stored and there is no way this anal retentive mama is letting it be stored inside the house.

As well as the bulk household items there is loads of other things that live in our garage. Spare glasses and party crockery, Christmas decorations, Halloween decorations, archives, old videos, clothes that one of the kids have grown out of but are too big for the smaller guys, paint, paint brushes ...... OK you have the gist right?

All of that stuff is SOMEWHERE in the before pictures below. Where? ahh yep that was exactly what I would frequently mutter to myself as I foraged around looking for things. I had no idea where anything was in there.

Need some toilet paper? Bahahaha ah yeah - Good Luck with that!

Not such a great storage system huh? 

The thing is, we already had a great shelving system that was given to us when a friend closed down their warehouse. It is the perfect size to fit all the bits and pieces we need to store in the garage but we just couldn't get to it through the piles of junk that were blocking the way as well as the bikes that were leaning up against it. 

Once the excess junk was cleared I was able to get to the shelves and re stack everything into categories, like Painting, Gardening, Household Supplies and in clearly labelled boxes across the top - all the seasonal decorations.

It felt great to neatly stack everything into it's own designated place. But then once the shelves were loaded up, it all ended up being a bit of an eyesore.

See for yourself.

No matter how neatly I stacked everything, it just looked cluttered.

But there was an easy fix to this wee problem. 

A curtain to conceal the eyesore. 

The curtain we used was just an el cheapo that was on sale at Spotlight. It was as simple as attaching the rod to the shelving units and wallah, all that 'Stuff' was instantly hidden.

With all the bikes stowed neatly in the Howards Storage World  double floor bike racks  I can now easily get to the shelves, slide the curtain across and grab what I need.

Here is a side view - doesn't that look so much better with all the bits and pieces hidden neatly behind the curtain?

You can also see at the back of the garage we have stored all the tools and art supplies on the fabulous elfa System that was installed. I LOVE that we can move the shelves around as we need to, to fit the bigger bulkier items. Best system EVER!

And what's a good makeover post without the before and after, or in this case and open and closed shot.

I am so happy to tell you that this makeover is now complete so the next post I will show you will be the big reveal - the whole kahuna.

I'm so beyond stoked with our newly organised garage. The kids can get to their toys, the hubby is inspired to hang out in there fixing things as well as working out with the boys on the Gym equipment we forgot we had under all the junk.

I am finally comfortable enough to leave the garage doors open for all the neighbours to see without hiding in shame. In fact one of the neighbours was so impressed when he spied our functional garage space that he got the Howards Storage Team out last week to measure up his own garage.