Garage Organization – Cabinets For the Garage and Closets Are Two Very Different Things!

You finally come to the realization that your garage is a mess and need to do something about it. Congratulations, acknowledging that you have a problem is always the first step. Now what? You decide that adding cabinets to the garage will provide much needed storage and allow you to put things away so that the entire neighborhood doesn’t have to see all your stuff every time you open the garage door. Excellent. Step two: come up with a plan. Now what? Where do you go to get cabinets for the garage? How about going to you local home improvement store to see what they have? Good idea! However, when you get there you are overwhelmed by the choices; metal, wood, resin, etc. But then something hits you; if you buy these cabinets, you will have to put them together. And due to the fact you are handy-man-challenged, as you don’t know the difference between an open ended wrench and a claw hammer, you decide to scratch this idea. Now what? Suddenly, a watermelon sized light bulb appears over your head and now everything becomes crystal clear. A couple months ago you remembered that you remodeled your closet and had a professional closet organization company come in and install cabinets. Heck, why don’t I just call them and have them install cabinets in my garage as well? A sense of calmness comes over you, as you believe this would be the perfect answer to your garage cabinet question…or do you? You go out to XYZ-closet-company.com to check it out. Perfect! As you review their website you even see pictures of their cabinets in the garage. Perfect, problem solved…or is it?

Garage organization is one of the fastest growing segments in the massive home improvement industry, accounting for multi billions every year. And the closet industry companies have been installing cabinets in the garage for over twenty years. They closet companies were really the first industry to start to focus on organizing the garage. So who better to help with my garage organization than the closet companies, right? I can answer that question with another question, would you order Mexican food at a Chinese restaurant? Of course not. Then why would you have a closet company install closet cabinets in your garage? The obvious answer is to hire a company that focuses on the garage and builds cabinets designed for the garage…a garage organization company.

So allow me to elaborate on the benefits and differences between closet cabinets installed in the garage and custom cabinets designed specifically for the garage. And while there are exceptions to every rule, for the most part, the following information is true about most large franchise based closet organization companies. First, most closet companies install knockdown cabinets. (When you think of knockdown cabinets, think of buying your cabinets at Ikea and then having to assemble them yourself). This means they buy standard size cabinet pieces from the franchise mother ship, inventory the pieces at their shop and then build them at the customer’s site. This is fine when your garage layout allows for standard, cookie cutter size cabinets; i.e. 7 feet high by 3 feet wide by 18 inches deep. However, if you want to have cabinets run the entire length of your 21 feet, 7 & 1/2″ wall, and you want all the cabinets to be exactly the same width. Also, because of the garage door rail toward the front portion of the side wall, two of the cabinets will need to be 6″ smaller in height. So now what? You can have the closet companies use their knock standard size cabinets and have almost 20″ of wasted wall space and lose about 6 cubic feet of internal storage space. Or you can contract with a garage organization specialty company to have custom cabinets built 43 & 1/4″ wide, with two of the cabinets 6 inches shorter. A perfect fit. Also, knockdown cabinets are assembled with cam and post screws, again think Ikea. Custom cabinets are built to order based on shape, size color designed. The cabinet box is permanently constructed with screws, nails and glue. So you don’t have to worry about the boxes eventually coming apart or loosening with normal wear and tear and/or vibrations.

Next what about the materials that the cabinets are made from? Most closet companies install cabinets made from 1/2″ or 5/8″ particle board. This is fine for cabinets installed inside the house, in a 75 degree climate controlled environment that holds shirts and sweaters. However that’s not the garage. The garage is normally the hottest and/or coldest area of the home, as there is normally does not have air conditioning or heating. Also, the garage has to deal with a lot of moisture in the air due to rainy conditions. Also, these cabinets will need to hold heavy paint cans, various tools and tool boxes, plumbing and electrical supplies, 50lb bags of lawn fertilizer and pool chemicals. Items you normally don’t store in your bedroom closet. Custom cabinets built for the garage are normally built of 3/4″ or 1″ industrial grade melamine. These cabinets normally have full and solid backs and reinforced shelves that can hold around 100lbs per shelf. My point is that closet company cabinets are not designed to handle the heavy loads, varying weather conditions and the rugged conditions of the garage. Custom cabinets from a garage organizational company are designed specifically for the garage.

So if you are in the market for cabinets for your garage, consider hiring a company that specifically has cabinets for the garage, a garage organizational company. And if you need cabinets to hold some blouses, socks and ties, call a closet organization company. And if you want some good Mexican food, go to a Mexican restaurant.