As you might know, I have partnered with Lowes as a member of their Creative Ideas Team. Each month we are given a gift card and a challenge to complete. I LOVE being a part of this team because it challenges me to tackle some bigger projects that I tend to put off. In the past I have been able to do some fun LowesCreator projects. Here are just a few of them:
But for the month of April I finally tackled an area in my home that needed some serious attention. With all of the projects Mr. Idea Room and I have been working on over the past year in the remodel of our kitchen and main living area, the garage has become a complete disaster. It is where we do the majority of our work. Especially in the winter due to the frigid cold and snow we can get here in Utah. Add five children involved in a lot of various sporting activities who are coming and going constantly, we had a problem finding what was needed in a timely matter…*ahem*!
So with the theme of Outdoor Storage, I knew it was finally time to tackle a portion of our garage. The mess was so large scale that we have broken this operation down into phases. And today I am happy to share with you the first phase of Operation Organize Garage.
This area next to the interior door to the house was a particular problem and where most of the kids sporting equipment was being thrown after use. It made it difficult to locate shin guards, cleats, baseball gloves, lacrosse sticks and bike helmets. Especially because I have not been able to train my children (yet) about putting items back in their place after use. The problem is that we didn’t have a WELL DEFINED place for everything…hence the problem.
Well, we have now solved that problem and defined a spot for all of the kids equipment.
We purchased this white storage cabinet from Lowes and put it together and gathered stuff that we had scattered throughout the house and finally got it all into one organized space.
We keep all of the balls and kids helmets and rollerblades out here. It makes it nice to have it all in one spot so when we are headed to a game or practice we know right where everything is.
We even decided to put a bin for the kids soccer and baseball cleats. These seem to be the hardest things for us to find as we are headed out the door. Now I just need to make sure my kids remember to take them off and put them back in the bin.
We picked up these great storage containers from Lowes. The metallic bins on top of the lockers and the grey bins that we put the helmets and rollerblades in are perfect for our space and needs.
Inside the cabinet, we have our pool supplies, sand toys, and sunscreen. We also keep some of our outdoor games, mosquito repellant and sidewalk chalk here.
The metal buckets in the lockers also came from Lowes and are perfect for the loose little items like sidewalk chalk and some jump ropes the girls enjoy using outside. Plus they keep everything nice and neat looking!
I love that everything has its place. And now the kids have no excuse about not knowing where something belongs.
And…of course I had to paint the door black. I love our front door that we painted black and I have been excited to paint this one.
It was getting pretty beat up and showed so much dirt from the kids going in and out of here. We also changed out the door hardware and added a kick plate.
To see how I painted it black, you can see our how to paint a door tutorial here. And lest you think we have everything under control in our garage…let me share with you a picture of the other side…
Yikes! This is where we do most of our project building. It needs some serious work. LOL! That is the next phase of our garage organization. We have our work cut out for us.
But if you look at this one side, it looks great. And…I have plans to paint the other lockers on the right hand side white. I wanted to get to them before I shared this, but ran out of time. So look for an update on them when I can get around to it.
Looking for more creative ideas for your home? Sign up for Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine. It actually has a lot of really great and creative ideas that you can and would want to do. Go ahead and check it out!
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*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. Lowe’s provided me with a gift card to showcase a project this month as part of their Lowe’s Creative ideas Bloggers team. However all opinions and statements are mine.
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Britney Mills says
I think you read my mind that I needed this post today! My garage clutter/junk is always in the back of my mind and I need to get it cleaned up. Thanks for posting!
Amy says
ha! It is always in the back of my mind too. I hope you can get to it. It is a lot of work but I am happy with the results…as long as I don’t look at the other side :)
Wow! It looks great. I need to show this to my husband. He loves organizing our garage. I wish I could get him excited about the house too. ha!
Lucky you! I hear you! My hubby doesn’t mind but sometimes it is not as important to him as it is to me!
I so need some lockers by our garage door! It seems like we just keep getting more and more stuff as the kids get older and have more activities.
We have loved having the other lockers. They have all of our winter gear in them! We needed to add some more! And yes…as my kids get older, the stuff multiplies!!
I love it! Every time I look in our garage I nearly have an anxiety attack. I drives me nutty that things don’t have a defined “space”. Thank goodness my husband works for a cabinetry company because I am going to make him make a ton of lockers/cabinets!
Oh my goodness….I’m drooling at how organized this is! LOVE it Amy!! :) :)
That looks fabulous!!!
I love how everything has it’s own bins. We love going to Lowe’s for all our outdoor needs too. I need to look for those wire bins next trip because I really like those!!!
I really love the bins too! They were by the shelving section.
Looks awesome, Amy!! Painting and organizing my garage (again) is on my to-do list. Love that you have cute steps!-you should paint them (; Great job, love this!
YES!! Trying to convince the hubs! What would you do? I need some of your creativity!
Found your blog through Pintrest, Really enjoy it!
Great tips! Thank You!
We have a product we represent called Monkey Bars, they have a bit more modern industrial look but they do a great job and can support a lot of weight. We have helped with many installations and have helped hundreds of families reclaim their garage space. This product give many options and help you choose the best possible solution for organizing your garage mess into convenient and accessible storage space.
I. LOVE. THIS. POST!! We have lived in a small home for nearly 10 years without a “need” for a garage, yet it rains most days…. sports equipment, rain gear, animal products, weather-resistant clothes, canning tools, yard furniture, camping gear, etc. have all been piled up in our main doorway (which is also the laundry room where the freezer is!). I am going to save this blog so I can attempt to personalize my home….. THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!
Where did you get the lockers? I have been looking everywhere and I cannot find anything that is within our budget. Some Lockers are crazy expensive. Love this post. I think I will print a picture of it in my garage until my hubby is inspired. :-)
amy, it looks great! our garage is my workshop and it’s a total disaster! you’ve given me some great ideas that I need to put to good use! xoxo
This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I’ve found
something which helped me. Many thanks!
hi where did you get the lockers?
Sabena- I found those at a thrift store.