February 2023 - Carport Kingdom

Your Complete Garage Declutter Checklist

The garage is the one space in a home that tends to become cluttered the most. This is because whenever you come across something in the house that doesn’t have a place to live, the default solution is to put it in the garage until later. But, of course, later rarely comes around, and the garage’s clutter problem only worsens.

Let’s put an end to that issue today! Read on for your complete garage declutter checklist. Here, we’ll offer practical steps to help you get out from under your cluttered garage and reclaim this space once and for all.

Of course, it’s possible that going through the decluttering process will reveal that you need to upgrade your garage to a new structure. If that is the case, Carport Kingdom is here to help. We offer high-quality metal garages backed by a warranty and engineer-certified installation. To get started, explore our Build & Price tool or contact our team if you have questions.

Start with a Trash Bag

The best place to start decluttering a garage is with a large garbage bag in hand. It’s a near certainty that you will find plenty of things you can throw away just by walking around the garage to cut down on clutter. It might take just a matter of minutes to have your bag mostly full, and you will have made a meaningful dent in the problem just like that.

At this point, don’t worry about making the hard decisions about things you might want to eliminate. Instead, for your first cleaning round, pick out the things you are sure you don’t like or need anymore.

Selling and Donating Unneeded Items

With the garbage out of the way, you can now sort through what is left and select things you are done using. A bit more thinking will be involved in this stage of the process, so take your time. With any luck, you’ll be able to pick out at least a few things you are comfortable getting rid of, and even more space in the garage will start to open up.

Once you’ve decided what can go, look into selling or donating those items. You might be surprised at what can find a new home rather than just taking it to the dump. Many neighborhoods have social pages where you can post things to sell or give away, and it’s often easy to find items a new home that way.

Take an Accurate Inventory

Now is the time to take inventory of what’s left in the garage. The pile that remains should all be things you want to keep, so the task shifts to finding a place for everything to live in an organized fashion. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and write down everything left in the garage.

Once you have an extensive list, you can start to group those things by items that should be stored together or need to be stored similarly. For instance, you’ll probably find plenty of stuff that can be stacked up in plastic totes. Having a master list will help you organize your mind and start to build a plan for how to put everything into place.

Find Storage Solutions

As mentioned above, some storage solutions will be obvious, like small items that can go into bins. But what are you going to do with some of the bigger things? Items like golf clubs, bicycles, and large power tools often cause storage issues. So your last task is to find suitable storage options for these more oversized or oddly-shaped items. Fortunately, if you have done a good job with the rest of your things, you’ll already feel much better about the state of the garage, even if it takes a bit more time to get the last items sorted out.

When the decluttering work in your garage is done, you should be able to take a step back, take a deep breath, and enjoy the feeling of being organized. The garage space will be far more useful and less stressful now that that clutter has been corralled. We wish you the best of luck with this project, and please feel free to reach out to Carport Kingdom if creating a new garage is on your agenda!

5 of the Best Garage Gym Ideas

/in Blog, CK /by clickgiant

If you stick to a regular workout routine, that routine needs to be as convenient as possible. It’s hard enough to find time in the busy modern world to exercise, and it will be even more challenging if your routine requires a long drive to the gym.

Creating a gym in your garage is a great way to get around this issue. With a garage gym in place, you can simply walk out to the garage when you have a few free moments and complete a quick but challenging workout. And, as you’ll see from the ideas below, you don’t have to sacrifice your entire garage to create a gym, as even a little space can be enough to get the job done.

If you’re thinking about building a new garage to use as a gym, Carport Kingdom is ready to help! Check out our easy-to-use Build & Price tool to help you design the ideal garage. You are also welcome to contact us for more information on customization options.

#1 – Address the Floor First

When transforming your garage into a gym space, you’ll want to ensure the flooring suits that purpose. No matter what type of workouts you like, you’ll want a supportive, durable, and more comfortable floor than a bare concrete pad. While plenty of options are available, consider looking into “stall mats” as an affordable and long-lasting option. These typically are made of durable rubber that will withstand a pounding from weights and other gym equipment while offering a bit of insulation on the garage floor.

#2 – Start Slowly

When you look at gym equipment prices for your garage space, you might quickly feel like this project is too expensive for your budget. Unfortunately, gym equipment can be pretty costly, depending on what type of workouts you want. But remember, you don’t have to buy everything all at once. Instead, consider starting with just a couple of core pieces – maybe a bench and a couple of dumbbells, for example – and then build your collection from there. You can do plenty of different exercises with minimal equipment, and as time passes, you’ll better understand what other gear to add to the space.

#3 – Consider Creature Comforts

Working out is hard enough on its own, so you don’t need to make it any harder by spending time in an uncomfortable space. We already talked about adding some floor covering, and that’s a good start, but also think about other features you can include to make the gym more enticing. For instance, you might add a Bluetooth speaker system, powerful lights, or a space heater. You’ll be far more likely to stick with your workout routine if your garage gym is an enjoyable place.

#4 – Look for Used Equipment

Building up your equipment collection is an excellent way to save money in the short term, but you can also shop for used equipment to make this project more affordable. Since so many people don’t wind up sticking with a workout plan, there tends to be a lot of lightly used equipment available at garage sales, in classified ads, etc. if you are willing to be patient and look around for the right stuff, you could save significantly.

#5 – Leave Blank Space

Another excellent idea for your garage gym is to plan on having some blank space in the middle of the room. If you pack too much equipment into the garage, you won’t be able to move around freely and might find using the space frustrating. So instead, position your workout gear around the edges so you can use the middle of the room for stretching and other bodyweight exercises or as a place to bring your weights to for use before you put them away.

Carport Kingdom Has You Covered

Your fitness dreams will be a big step closer to becoming a reality when you have a gym ready and waiting in your garage. This arrangement will be more convenient than driving to a gym, and you can also drop the costly monthly membership simultaneously. Reach out to Carport Kingdom today to explore our options for durable, attractive detached metal garage structures. Start by exploring our free Build & Price tool. Thanks for stopping by our blog; we hope to serve you soon!

4 of the Best Ideas for Bicycle Storage in Garages

/in Blog, CK /by clickgiant

Let’s face it – bikes take up a lot of space in a garage. Of course, there are plenty of great reasons to own bicycles, as they offer fun for the whole family and are a great form of exercise, but they can quickly crowd up your storage room. With this article, we’d like to help you find suitable solutions for your bike storage needs. When properly organized, you can tuck the bikes nicely out of the way when they aren’t in use, yet they’ll still be close at hand when an opportunity pops up to go for a ride.

And remember, if you don’t have enough room in your current garage for storing bikes, or if you don’t have a garage, turn to Carport Kingdom for an affordable solution. Our detached metal garages make the perfect home for a set of bikes and any other equipment you might need to stow. To create your own, try our Build & Price tool, or take a moment to contact us to get more information. It would be our pleasure to serve you!

#1 – Portable Floor Stands

One of the easiest ways to organize your bikes is through a portable floor stand. With this option, you don’t need to attach your storage solution to anything – simply place it in a good spot on the floor and load it up with bikes. Plenty of different models are on the market at various prices. As a nice bonus, you might even be able to use your floor stand as a maintenance rack when you need to do some work on your bike.

If you take this approach, choose a spot off to the side and near the front of your garage. There isn’t much point in having bikes if it’s a hassle to use them, so make sure they are somewhere easily accessible for riding out and back in again. Of course, since the stand is portable, you can try out various locations until you settle on something that works nicely for your needs.

#2 – Build a Basic Bike Rack

Building a simple bike rack is a relatively straightforward task for those inclined to take on a DIY project. You can easily find plans for many different rack forms online, but the concept is the same from one to the next. You’ll have a spot for the front tire of each bike on the ground so that you can place that tire in the rack, which will hold the bike upright as a result. With a good frame, you shouldn’t need kickstands or anything else – the bike will stand up because of the bracing around the front wheel.

This is an excellent solution for those who want to solve their storage needs without spending much money. If you have some simple tools and can pick up a bit of wood, you could likely have one of these racks built in just a couple of hours. Of course, creating it yourself means you can customize it perfectly to fit the available space and the number of bikes you need to store.

#3 – Parking in the Front

In some cases, solving this problem might be as simple as leaving the front of the garage uncluttered so you can park the bikes using kickstands. This won’t be as tidy as the first two ideas, but it might work fine for your situation. If you don’t park a vehicle in your garage anyway, you might as well use that front-and-center space as bike parking and then work on keeping the rest of your garage items nicely organized around the edges.

#4 – Use Shelves for Kids’ Bikes

Kids love to ride bikes, so families with children will likely have plenty of two-wheeled toys in the garage. Since kid bikes are so much smaller than adult bikes, you might find that a set of shelves along the side of the garage could work nicely for stacking them up. You could just lay each bike on its side on a shelf and get a lot of practical storage out of a small area. But, of course, small kids turn into big kids, so this idea will only work for a limited time.

Carport Kingdom Has You Covered

With careful planning and a bit of work, you can establish a suitable home for every bike in your collection. This will make using and caring for your bikes easier and help you make room for other things in the garage.

To learn more about building a new metal garage on your property, explore our free Build & Price tool! Thank you for visiting our blog, and we hope to serve you soon!

Your Complete Garage Declutter Checklist

Start with a Trash Bag

Selling and Donating Unneeded Items

Take an Accurate Inventory

Find Storage Solutions

5 of the Best Garage Gym Ideas

#1 – Address the Floor First

#2 – Start Slowly

#3 – Consider Creature Comforts

#4 – Look for Used Equipment

#5 – Leave Blank Space

Carport Kingdom Has You Covered

4 of the Best Ideas for Bicycle Storage in Garages

#1 – Portable Floor Stands

#2 – Build a Basic Bike Rack

#3 – Parking in the Front

#4 – Use Shelves for Kids’ Bikes

Carport Kingdom Has You Covered

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