The Central City U-Lock Blog

Clear Garage Space by Storing your Tools

Is their a corner in your garage that looks like the above photo?

As money gets tighter,  homeowners seem to take  on more and more home improvement projects on their own rather than hiring professionals to do the work. While this do-it-yourself attitude saves money, it can also create many headaches. Most notably, while their intentions are just,  the garages of most “weekend warriors”  are cluttered with items like paint cans, drill bits and landscaping tools .  Thus, hard work designed to improve a home’s aesthetics may go unnoticed if the trade off for such work is a cluttered and unusable garage.

On the surface, tools don’t seem capable of cluttering up a garage. Most people simply plan to keep them neat and organized in a particular area of the garage.  Once you are done using a particular tool, the idea is to return that tool to its proper storage area. However, this practice happens rarely for most do-it-yourselfers’. More often than not, our tools are left lying on the garage floor.  Basically, after a hard day’s work, the last thing anyone wants to do is  put away their tools.  Personally, nothing sounds better to us than lying on the couch with an ice-cold beverage after a day spent working around the house.

A single tool being left out in the garage isn’t really a big deal. However, the more projects a homeowner takes on, the more tools he or she uses and most often leaves  out on the garage floor.  Thus after a weekend of say, fixing the deck, trimming the trees, and working on the hot tub, the garage of a hard working homeowner is a complete mess.

So is there a solution to the problem of tool clutter in the garage? Indeed there is and it involves forethought and self storage. Obviously, you don’t use all of your tools during every season of the year. For example, your not going to paint the garage during the sweltering heat of summer, nor will you be in the mood to clean out the gutters when it is pouring down rain in winter. Therefore, when you aren’t in need of your tools for a few months or seasons, take them down to Central City U-Lock and place them in a self storage unit. This simple step can keep the focus on your new home improvements and not on the clutter in the garage.

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Some Unlikely Office Space

After cleaning out their garages with the help of a self storage unit, many of our customers often ask us what they should do with these formerly cluttered areas. Often, we simply recommend our customers move their cars back into the garage to protect them from the elements and keep their resale values. If a customer seems particularly handy, we may recommend that customer turn his or her freshly cleaned garage into a wood, metal or automobile shop. However, lately we have be recommending to our customers a brand new use for their cleaned out garages: office space.

More often than not, when you think about a home office, you probably picture it being located in a dining room, spare room or in some random corner of a house. However, setting up your home office in these traditional areas can leave your house cluttered. Even if you set out to keep your home office clean, odds are eventually you will lose the cleanliness battle to all of the random file folders, notes, pens and other accessories that begin to pile up in your work area. Additionally, it is super easy to get distracted when working in common areas like a dining room or den. There has to be a better solution for when you want to get some work done at home. This is where your newly clean garage comes in to play.

Though they seem like an odd place to put a home office, garages are fully capable of handling all of the necessities that a work space needs to be functional. Most garages contain multiple electrical outlets, adequate lighting, and counter space. Additionally, if your home has wireless internet, you can run a fully functional online computer in your garage.

Garages also come with an added privacy dimension that most standard home office spaces lack. Thus, when its time to work, you can simply head out to the garage and close the door behind you. Now, you can concentrate on work without being bothered by indoor distractions like television, pets or roommates. Additionally, you don’t have to constantly clean up your work space after you are done each day like you would if your office was located inside of your home. Chances are, most of the friends and family that come to visit typically wont hang out in your garage. Essentially, your garage can function as your own private office space totally removed from your home’s living space. Therefore, if you want to leave it a little cluttered, we’ll never tell.

Reclaim your Garage with Self Storage!

Does your garage look like this?

When we move into a new home, we all have the best intentions for our garages.  Thoughts such as, “I want to keep my garage clean so I can park my car in it,” and “There is no way my garage is ending up like my neighbor’s,” fill our heads when we first look at our new garage. However,  regardless of our intentions, our garages usually end up looking like the cluttered mess in the photo above.  And by the way, there is no way you are getting a car in there.

Garages can become cluttered quickly, easily and without you even realizing it.  Consider these scenarios:

• You have some family coming over and want to tidy the house up quickly.  Where do you throw all of the junk like tiki torches, gardening equipment and lawn furniture that is on the back porch?
• You just got back from a long vacation but are too tired to bring your bags up stairs.  Where is the easiest place for you to leave them til tomorrow?
• It’s time to take down your holiday decorations. Where is the best place in the house for you to store them?

The answer to all three of these questions is:  your garage.

So as you can see,  even if you are out to keep it clean, your garage could still end up like the cluttered wasteland that you swore would never happen.

The fact is that most of the items that end up cluttering your garage are items that you think will only be there for a short period of  time. These items are often shoved in the garage and not given a second thought as you “know” you will use them again in a few months. However, 99% of the time you wont even touch these cluttering items for a year or more.  There is a reason that you only bring out your “vacation” suitcase once a year or have to pull out the camping supplies from behind the water heater. Additionally, what good are you Halloween decorations in April? It is time for you to reconsider how your store seasonal and rarely used items.

A self storage unit can be a great weapon in the fight against garage clutter. Sure, we all know that these units are great for items that you wont need for a long time, don’t have a place for or even for the housing of oversized items like boats or cars. However, many people fail to utilize self storage units for their more immediate storage needs like for seasonal items, holiday decorations and things they just weren’t in the mood to move inside the house. Therefore, self storage units are especially great places to unload the items that are turning your garage into the laughing stock of your neighborhood.

So what are you waiting for? Take your garage cluttering items to Central City U-Lock or your nearest self storage facility and reclaim your garage!

The Top Ten Items that you should keep in Self Storage

The summer can be a great time to invite friends and family over to your home. In our opinion, there is nothing better than a  summertime barbecue at your place with those you love. However, who wants to entertain guests when your home is a mess? Therefore, to prepare for your guests this summer,  you need to mop, vacuum,  sweep, and most importantly, de-clutter.  And what is the easiest way to de-clutter? Two words:  Self  Storage!

A self storage unit can be extremely useful for storing items that you don’t use that often, only need for special occasions, or items that you  just want to get out of your home for a weekend or two.  So to get you in the summer cleaning mood, here are ten items that you probably have in your home right now that should be kept in storage. 

1. Skis, snowboards and winter sports accessories
2. Holiday decorations
3. Sports equipment
4. Winter clothing
5. Items you plan to sell on Ebay
6. Old computers
7. Old televisions
8. Stuffed toys
9. Collectibles
10. DVD’s

If any of the items from the above list are cluttering up your home,  you probably should come see us at Central City U-Lock and get yourself a self storage unit. Don’t wait til its too late and the guests have arrived!