How I turned a two-car garage into an efficient work space

Not all of us have the space or the budget for a large, dedicated car workshop.

I don’t.

But I still faced a big project–the reassembly of a VW Beetle.

So, how did I make the most of my seemingly humble two-car garage without sacrificing its everyday functionality? Here are a few ideas I found that helped strike a …

Read the rest of the story

I'm going to use this article as motivation to clean out the sheds so that I can make better use of the space for tools and stuff. (I don't have a garage.)

When debating whether or not you need extra lights, the answer is always yes. 

The challenge for me whenever I had attached garages was do I want to A) Work in it? or B) Park in it?. I never figured out a way to make both coexist in harmony. Possibly because I'm kind of a slob. Hard to say.

Great article. My biggest problem is that I have too much non-car stuff. By the time you work in the fridge, the bike stuff, the kayaking stuff, the full-sized lathe, the radial arm saw, et cetera, efficient it is not.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Yeah, I still want more light im my garage but that's on the back burner for now. 

Still my favorite:

In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :

That is a struggle, that is why for me almost all non car or house tools go into the shed. The one big exception is my mountain bike. 

I really need to get a shed to store the pile of garden tools that rarely get used. They are taking up valuable real estate. Especially the huge gas snow blower that didn't even move last year.

JG Pasterjak said:

The challenge for me whenever I had attached garages was do I want to A) Work in it? or B) Park in it?. I never figured out a way to make both coexist in harmony. Possibly because I'm kind of a slob. Hard to say.

Car has paint. It gets parked outside.

In reply to Chris Tropea :

First off, nice write up / article.  Second, looks like you've created a very usable work space, I'm totally going to use some of your tips.  Third: how do you like the Ryobi work light pictured?

Re: more general light in the garage, Barrina LED's from Amazon are AWESOME, cheap and easy to install.

We have a garden shed in the backyard and another shed on the side yard behind the trailer.

The shed on the side yard is where all the thinks like spare Datsun hood and other big parts go.

Additionally I've cut the hoarding level stuff years ago. Read no I don't need 4 sets of brake drums.

In reply to Indy - Guy :

Glad you liked the article! 
the Ryobi light is awesome but in full output it eats through batteries. I found the single light low power mode is bright enough and lasts for a long time. 

ShawnG said:

JG Pasterjak said:

The challenge for me whenever I had attached garages was do I want to A) Work in it? or B) Park in it?. I never figured out a way to make both coexist in harmony. Possibly because I'm kind of a slob. Hard to say.

Car has paint. It gets parked outside.

Bleh.  Cars stay nice much longer when parked inside.

The simplest answer to the above is that you move the cars when you want to use the space in the garage for something else.  They're pretty convenient for doing that! :).  Stuff like table saws/etc can be mounted on wheels and then moved out into the parking space for projects.  (probably doesn't work for a mill or lathe, but...).  The other advantage to this is that it forces you to clean up the shop at the end of the day so you can park the cars back in the garage.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Cars stay nice much longer when parked inside.

The simplest answer to the above is that you move the cars when you want to use the space in the garage for something else.  They're pretty convenient for doing that! :). 

tell that to MonZora 2019-2024 🤘🏻🤣

My garage has pretty much been a working-only space for the last five years. Neither race car that lives in there gets driven regularly. One side is the long-term project side where the car lives on jack stands, the other is the smaller jobs/ maintenance side, where I usually park my Miata above my lift. It's worked pretty well for me, but I wish it wasn't a rental - I'd like to add a garden shed for yard tools and a car port to park the cars we actually use.

Also, yes to more lights - I have the cheap amazon ones and they made a huge difference. I also had that Ryobi work light for a long time and I thought it was awesome.

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Great article. My biggest problem is that I have too much non-car stuff. By the time you work in the fridge, the bike stuff, the kayaking stuff, the full-sized lathe, the radial arm saw, et cetera, efficient it is not.

Yup, Chris did a very nice job on. :) 

AMiataCalledSteve said:

..

Also, yes to more lights - I have the cheap amazon ones and they made a huge difference. ....

I'm just gonna put this here for reference on the Barrina's

SWMBO has requirements and recommendations for the garage.  If it doesn't fit into these requirements/recommendations it's my domain and I'm free to do whatever I want

Requirements:

1. I can't buy a car if I don't have a place to park it in the garage
2. She always gets a spot in said garage

Recommendations:

1. she would all cars parked in the garage at night
2. if her spot appears available and she pulls in and hits something it's my fault (my tool box used to sit next to her spot and a low drawer was left open and she hit the drawer and another time my rolling stole got bumped) 
3. she should be able to get to her car without having to walk past anything that could get her dirty, hurt, etc. on the walk

These rules create a few outcomes for my home which are perfectly reasonable to me:

• I typically take on jobs that I can do in 1 day and put everything away when i'm done, with a tandem 2 car garage I can fit all 4 cars in the garage but have to take at least 2 out to work on one.  So small jobs (cleaning, brakes, fluid changes, etc) are fine but transmission rebuilds are not suitable for my garage.  
• I can't add more cars to the collection which is also fine because having a tandem garage means that i always end up taking the car in front which ever one it is...  this part is disappointing because it means one of the cars gets driven too sparingly.  

I just can't wait to have a house with a garage someday.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

The simplest answer to the above is that you move the cars when you want to use the space in the garage for something else.  They're pretty convenient for doing that! :).  Stuff like table saws/etc can be mounted on wheels and then moved out into the parking space for projects.  (probably doesn't work for a mill or lathe, but...).  The other advantage to this is that it forces you to clean up the shop at the end of the day so you can park the cars back in the garage.

And clean up is considerably reduced if you wheel the saw outside.

As someone who is gearing up for another paint job because the sun here is brutal, I wish I had a garage. In lieu of that I think I should've just detail sprayed and covered the fun car.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

ShawnG said:

JG Pasterjak said:

The challenge for me whenever I had attached garages was do I want to A) Work in it? or B) Park in it?. I never figured out a way to make both coexist in harmony. Possibly because I'm kind of a slob. Hard to say.

Car has paint. It gets parked outside.

Bleh.  Cars stay nice much longer when parked inside.

The simplest answer to the above is that you move the cars when you want to use the space in the garage for something else.  They're pretty convenient for doing that! :).  Stuff like table saws/etc can be mounted on wheels and then moved out into the parking space for projects.  (probably doesn't work for a mill or lathe, but...).  The other advantage to this is that it forces you to clean up the shop at the end of the day so you can park the cars back in the garage.

 

This.

The lack of a 3rd car garage is why I don't have a project car. The fiance's new job has her going into the office 5 days per week so I already like it's not parked in a garage during the day. The OK sun is brutal on paint and interiors. 

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

ShawnG said:

JG Pasterjak said:

The challenge for me whenever I had attached garages was do I want to A) Work in it? or B) Park in it?. I never figured out a way to make both coexist in harmony. Possibly because I'm kind of a slob. Hard to say.

Car has paint. It gets parked outside.

Bleh.  Cars stay nice much longer when parked inside.

Just keeping it nice for the guy who gets it when you die...

My wife insisted we get a 3 car garage when we moved up.

Not so she could park her car inside but because she wanted me to have more space to work.

Even with the 3 car I still have to do some moving things around. Basically I stack the motorcycles against the back wall so I have to move my toolbox and my dirt bike if I want to get the trials bike out

All good recommendations. I would add that in my garage I use pegboard on all interior surfaces. That way I can put a hanger, loop, or one of many peg board brackets anywhere I need it. Want your screwdrivers next to the nut driver set, EZ.