What can you do with your garage space at Corktown Mews?

One of the best things about Corktown Mews in Toronto is that each unit comes with a garage. With or without a car, there are actually many ways to utilize garage space. Here are our favourite ideas.

1. Use your garage as storage

With the right design, you can designate certain spaces and use divisions for your extra belongings. Take advantage of vertical space with pegboards or wall slats as flexible alternatives to bins. Industrial shelving can be attached to the ceiling for more overhead space. Shelving can be installed over the hood of your vehicle to store your seasonal tires and there may be room to mount your bicycle in front of the tires or beside them.

2. Become an organizational mastermind

What is the best way to organize your garage? Make an inventory of everything you will put in your garage after you’ve organized the rest of the house.

The easiest way to do this is by making four piles: most frequently used items, frequently used items, seldom used items, and rare/seasonal items. This is a good way to gage what you can fit in you garage and how to organize it.

Some helpful hints:

• Categorize items into bins and then label them right away
• Put items back where you found them for consistency
• Do not store clothes in cardboard boxes on the floor as critters could gain access

For planning purposes, use your driveway space as a way to categorize items. It’s easier to group everything in cardboard boxes and then buy containers afterwards. You don’t want to later discover that your containers are not the correct sizes or sturdiness.

3. Bicycle shed

A garage is an excellent place to store your bicycle. Leaving your bike outside leads to rust and overall poor functioning quality. Consider a free-standing bike rack for one or more bicycles, or a wall-mounted rack. Pulley systems are available as well.

Our last tip? Set an organized schedule for biannual or quarterly cleanup.