I used the non-finished oak cabinets from the local lumber store & simply painted them white. Never enough storage, ...
Yes the garage is a mess, but it'll get cleaned up as soon as spring arrives & I can wash out the floor.
The floor is two different finishes because we use it as a sample room to show potential clients what we can offer, as we do custom concrete finishes also.

 

Here is a pic of mine

 

Wall cabinets...clean and simple. If you need additional storage, I'd vote for hanging shelves from the ceiling. Improves floor space...

 

Another vote for kitchen cabinets. I had a neighbor who was redoing their kitchen and I was able to snag them for free. I could have gotten the floor cabinets they had, but didn't want to be 'greedy'.
It's not the best picture, but you get the idea.


One word of advice, since you mentioned you have a shed, move all of the gasoline cans and anything combustible out there. The last thing you want is an accident and have a gas can take your house up in flames.

I plan to finish the seams on the side of the garage that I lofted for the lift, as well as finish the red stripe I started around 3 sides of the garage.

Craigslist is your friend for kitchen cabinets, also check out a Habitat for Humanity store if you have one in your area. I know my local one gets stuff donated to them from local Home Depots and Lowes and they sell stuff at a fraction of the cost to generate money for projects. My local H4H recently got a truckload of kitchen cabinets that they were selling for less than $50 a cabinet.

 

I've been looking at the garage floor 12"x12" squares at Sears and other places, trying to go with the checkered look. But for over $100 for only 40sqft (and needing 360 sqft) for my garage, thats close to $1000! So, I'm going with the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield kit.

Any of you guys had any luck with the do-it-yourself floor kits?

 

Its ok IF you're using a new floor. The prep process to do it right on an old floor and have any chance of long lasting adhesion is extremely critical and tedious. What you should look into is an industrial grade application. Not talking about the water soluable **** either...good 'ol, melt your nose hair, hole in the o-zone stuff! I went to Sherwin Williams and picked up a product called Tile Clad. Prep process is still critical, but in my opinion there's a little more forgiveness. This stuff REALLY bites into the concrete, tons of colors and costs a little more than the Home Depot / Lowe's crap....

20yr old floor...two coats, just to be sure

 

I'm going through a similar process right now - my wife and I bought our first house last August, so this is the first time I've ever had a garage that I could do what I wanted and not have to worry about putting everything back to the way it was originally.

The house came with a work bench type thing, but it was horrible for storing my tools since everything was still visible:



So the first thing on my list was tool storage, but I still wanted a work bench. This is what I came up with:



And although this picture was taken before hanging the last wall cabinet, I just wanted to show how nice it is to have stuff behind closed doors:



What seems to be the most important in a garage is floor space - the more stuff you can get off the floor, the better. Obviously you won't be able to get it all up, so what floor space you do take up needs to be used efficiently. Mine is still a work in progress...I'm still planning on adding a few sections of slat wall to hang stuff like extension cords and other random things. To me, everything needs a place, and that includes the small stuff like a place to hang brooms, mops, etc.

You are fortunate to have a shed for your lawn stuff, so keep it out there. That's where my stuff goes as well, and is yet another place I'm trying to organize to make sure it is used most effectively.

The other thing I'm finding is that electrical/lighting is a big consideration if you plan on doing any work out there. This house came with a grand total of 3 wall outlets in the garage. That blows when you are tying to plug in even the simple things like work lights. That is next on the list of things to fix. As for lighting, 3 bulb sockets is it. That's going to have to be changed as well. The more light, the better.

 

I used original color chips and it worked great! As stated earlier the prep process is critical though, but if you take your time and do it right you will have no problems. There are also videos on this site that walk you through the process sep by step.

 

^^^OMG^^^ I'm steeling that tool box/work bench set up idea!!! Where did you pick up the table top piece at MeentSS02?

Heres my pile-o-junk

 

The tool storage cabinets, wall cabinets and butcher block countertop were all purchased through Jamie Roark at Roark Industrial Solutions. That top is 1-3/4" thick, 30" deep, 9' long. The shipping (truck freight w/ lift gate) was about half the cost of the top (I think the weight is around 160-170 lbs).

 

I actually scored a lab bench top from a high school that was getting new ones.

To save floor space, I hinged the back of it to the wall on every stud for strength using 2" long lags, then used 500lb chain attatched on either end going into the wall and table top.

The nice thing is if I need the extra space, I can fold it down out of the way.

 

heres a couple of mine have more but cant seem to get them off my phone

 

I lucked out and got a 3.5 car garage with my house. It's 770 sq ft with a full open loft above it. The garage itself needs some updating, but nothing major. I already put a new workbench in on the right side behind the service door. And I'm custom building 3 cabinets on casters that will double as storage / movable tool carts. The back right corner houses the air compressor and lawn equipment. And most of the back wall will be tool boxes and storage shelves.

Depending on how handy you are, I'd recommend building your own cabinetry. It's more time consuming obviously, but it saves a lot of money and you can build everything to your own custom needs. For wall (and floor, really) cabinets all you need is some 1/2" to 3/4" plywood and build some basic enclosures with shelving in it.

 

a few more updated pics of mine

 

Garage door relies a lot on springs because springs are responsible for bearing the entire weight of heavy modern garage doors.

 

A LOT of that stuff can go in your shed, IMO - the bike, gas can, rakes, etc. My garage is only car related. Anything house or lawn related goes in the shed.

Question - I see the wall in the back - does the wall prevent you from parking in the middle, or do you always have to park far left? Having equal space on both sides of the wall will provide more room to work.

I have all matching cabinets by gladiator. Normally around $350 each, but I bought them on sale. I got about $1000 in storage.

 

I felt the same way, but I got the tiles and have been very happy every since. I have not seen a floor coating that I have liked that has stood the test of time. Plus if you move, the tiles go with you!

Thread from earlier this week: https://ls1tech.com/forums/racers-lo...r-coating.html

 

Post #21 are a few of mine:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspensio...-blocks-2.html

 

Holy cow! Some of these aren't garages, they are full on workshops! This is my garage or should i say, shanty:


Fortunately as crammed as it looks in this crappy pic, there is NOTHING within 2 feet or leaning up against the HOSS- that is a major no-no in this house. ( Nobody or nothing touches the car while its in the garage!)

 

A pop to the top by a spammer & we have new life in an old thread, ...,