Now, how are you going to keep your Garage clean?

You’ve just had a Global Garage Franchisee come and remodel your old stinky garage.  You have a brand new garage floor that is the envy of the neighborhood, you have new cabinets that sparkle and shine and all of your gizmos, doohickeys, shovels, tools and toys are hanging on the slat wall, organized and accessible.  Now what are you going to do?  Are you going to let your garage deteriorate into the same old stinky mess?  Or, are you going to keep it beautiful?

  I’m a projects guy.  So, in my garage there is always a wood working project, a welding project, a home improvement project, a boat, or some stupid new invention that I’m working on.  There is always a mess and there is always stuff out that I’m using to work on my projects.  I’m also the CEO of a garage remodeling Franchise Company.  This means that it’s part of my job to keep my garage clean and organized which, it never was before.  I studied this problem carefully.  One of the things that I noticed is that in most people’s homes the Kitchen is the cleanest most organized room in the house.  The garage is trashed, the rec room is a mess, don’t even ask about the bedrooms but the kitchen is clean and organized. 

              Let’s look at the functionality of the kitchen and ask ourselves why it generally looks good.  First off, it’s open for all to see.  You can’t just shut the door.  It’s exposed.  Next off, in the kitchen you make a meal, you eat the meal, and then you clean it up.  In a couple of hours you are going to repeat the process.  It’s easy to have a mess but because of the constant use of the facility and its exposure it has to be maintained regularly.  Things have a place and they get put back in their place.  When you unload the dishwasher the plates don’t get set out on the counter, they get put back in the cupboard.

              So, let’s apply this same philosophy to the garage.  Treat it like the kitchen.  Take the drill down and use it.  Take the shovel out and go scoop poop.  Fix something, make something, clean something; go have a ball in your new garage.  Just put it back like you would a dish in the kitchen when you’re done.  This will keep the garage from being the dumping ground that it used to be.  Let it be exposed to everyone.  Use it as a very grand entrance to your home.  Show it off!  After all, you spent a lot of money and the Global Garage Franchisee spent a lot of effort getting it to look beautiful. 

It also has the extra benefit of getting respect from my family.  Like most dads I go out and try to conquer the world each day and actually get some respect from most of the people I work with.  Then, I come home at the end of the day and my wife and kids walk all over me!  They didn’t do that after we remodeled the garage.  They saw how I kept it clean and they treated it with respect as well.  Just another little benefit of fixing it up and then keeping it up.

              Whether you’re a projects person or just want a fabulous new entry to your home, let it be exposed and treat it like the kitchen.  Show it off, use it as the entrance, have a party and just put the tools, etc. back in the same fashion as you would the plates in the kitchen.