I Wish we had a Garage

In all of the houses in which I have lived... I've never had an enclosed garage. Carports yes. Communal underground parking yes. But never an actual enclosed, just for me, garage.

I walk the streets in our neighbourhood many mornings and I see all of these garages and I wonder... what is inside?

A car parked out of the rain and snow?

Maybe a super organized workbench area along the side of the garage. 

A place to park the bicycle.

And perhaps some storage system along the ceiling. Because that's what I would have, in my ideal house, in an ideal garage. My dream garage...

My Ideal Garage

I'd have a space where I could work on furniture refinishing... because if I had a well-ventilated space, out of the rain... I think I might like to do that. I'd have a space to spread out all of my tools so that it's easy to find things when I need them... rather than having everything crammed into a tiny closet. I'd have a space where I could park my bicycle, making it super easy to just jump on it and head out the door. I'd have a space to store excess furniture... and... the Christmas boxes and extra home renovation supplies and the patio furniture in the wintertime and... hmm...

I think the ideal could go sideways very quickly! Because really... the car is built to withstand the elements while our patio furniture is not... so if push came to shove... then the car might end up out on the driveway and the patio furniture would take pride of place in the garage.

Oooh... it could even turn into a she cave! And obviously...

I'm not the only person who sees the untapped storage potential of the humble garage.

The Reality

On some mornings, people have their garage doors open and... very few garages actually have cars in them. Even the large, double garages... The cars are all parked in the driveway or on the street.

The interiors of these magical places called garages are not the ideal that I initially envisioned. Oh sure, sometimes there is a beautifully organized space, with bicycles neatly racked along a wall, and a lovely workbench tucked along another wall... maybe even a gym system set up in the middle of the space. Or patio furniture set up in front of a TV!

For the most part however, these lovely spaces are crammed with tubs and boxes and crates, all stacked willy nilly and crammed to the ceiling.

There isn't space to move around. There isn't space to work on a furniture refinishing project. Although one garage owner is apparently refinishing a wooden canoe. But most garages are just a crammed jumble of stuff. Things that the owners want to keep... or don't want to release... or might need some day.

Maybe a garage isn't such a magical place? Although I do still want one.

But since we don't have one... maybe we should get that other magical place called... a storage unit!! Because to be honest... the Airbnb does generate a lot of stuff... and all of our upstairs closets are crammed with extra supplies - sheets, towels, paper towels, toilet paper, blankets, pillows, frying pans, tubs full of extras in case something gets damaged, toiletry supplies, welcome basket amenities.

Maybe we could just take all that stuff and get a small (small!) storage locker and get this stuff out of the house? Or maybe we could put all the Christmas stuff and home reno supplies in the storage unit... and the patio furniture (or at least the cushions). Think of the possibilities!! We could put our suitcases there too... We could free up so much space in our house and actually breathe again! We would be able to open closet doors and be able to actually see what's in there. It would be magical... wouldn't it?

Let me just go look and see... I mean the monthly fee would be tax deductible, right? Cause we are storing business supplies in there...

The Solution?

Ok... that was fun... I checked the closest storage unit (it is brand new and a 5 minute drive away). All of the units have in-floor heating. They have a bunch of sizes and most of them have waiting lists! The two smallest units are the ones I will look at because the bigger units (10x10x10) are way too big (you could store a 750 sq ft apartment in one of those). Even the 5'x10'x10' can store a one bedroom apartment. I also scoped out a few other places, just to do some price comparison...

5'x5'x10' - Close to us - $99/mo - This is their smallest unit - it is 5' deep by 5' wide  by 10' tall (that is tall!!). That is 25 square feet... so $4/square foot. There is a waiting list...

5'x5'x10' - Budget - $111/mo - They also have the standard 5x10x10 size and it is priced similar - $145/mo. They also have 5x7 units and 7x7 units... priced accordingly. 

5'x5'x10' - South end - $90/mo - on the second floor... price goes up for lower floor ($95) and outside drive-up units ($100) 

5'x5'x5' - Budget - $30/mo - this would be a tiny spot! And some of them are stacked off the floor so you need a rolling ladder to get stuff up into them.

5'x5'x5' - South end - $65/mo - for one of the cubby types... 

Is it Worth it?

Soooo... is a storage locker in our future? We'd have to get a bunch of tubs and boxes to store stuff in there. And with 10' ceilings... you'd almost need shelving... otherwise you're paying for a bunch of empty air! Or maybe the 5'x5'x5' cubby is more our style...

Sooo... $65/mo x 12 mo (and taxes) = $875/year. That doesn't seem like a lot of money for increased space at home, does it?

Although... I guess the question is... as we move stuff out of the house into the storage locker... will we not just fill up the empty space at home with other stuff?? Because that is kind of self-defeating!

And do we really want to become one of those statistics? You know... that every man, woman and child in America (probably the same in Canada) has the equivalent of a 7 square foot storage locker? Do we?? Although I see the draw of it. We don't have a garage. We don't have a basement. There is only so much stuff you can store in closets and sheds and under the stairs cubby holes... Perhaps it's time to bite the bullet and invest in our peace of mind?