Everyday Pursuits' Garage Makeover

This project was extra special to me since it was the home of a good friend of mine, Ashley Torres. She’s a new mom and has a busy work schedule (she’s the face and brain behind Everyday Pursuits!) Ashley and her husband Andy moved into a new home within the last year to have more room for their growing family. They are pretty organized to begin with (they did hire Life in Jeneral to help at their old apartment so I guess I can say they learned a bit from professionals :) ) but have faced challenges when it comes to their garage. The space itself lacked any sort of storage, which was something they wanted to fix for organizing purposes and to add value to their home. So for the holidays, they actually gifted each other custom cabinets from Closets in Jeneral (our in-house custom cabinet line) and garage organization from LIJ!

We started the process by designing functional cabinetry that would work well for their family. We met with Ashley and Andy first, to dive into their wants & needs for this project. We talked about everything garage-related, from how many cars they want to park in there, to how they want memorabilia sorted and stored. The key to creating organizational systems that last (especially in a garage) is to figure out what the clients need to store and how often they need to access it.

We then quickly got to work on a functional and beautiful cabinetry design for their garage. The key to designing any cabinetry system is to always leave the client with room to grow! In addition to making the space work for their family, we also took into consideration stylistic elements like all matching bins and the hardware -- we actually got pulls that matched the ones in the interior of their home!

The design itself was created strategically. Shorter cabinets up higher on the back wall provided space for their cars to park seamlessly without issue. A half-slat wall underneath the cabinets on the back wall was our solution to still maximize storage space and allow for function. Lastly, floor-to-ceiling cabinets were added onto the right side wall, and to balance it out, we added a full-slat wall onto the left side to keep their most-used items visible and easy to grab-and-go.

Once the design was done, it was time to get started.

Before photos of the space:

Day 1

The LIJ team sorted, categorized, and purged. We took everything out of the garage, sorted it, and then brought Ashley in for the purged. We donated or sold items that no longer serve them.

Day 2

Install day with CIJ! This was the day the entire design came to life! Now all that was left was to organize their items into their new homes.

Day 3

Team LIJ was back, working to micro-sort each category into the proper bins. We used weathertight bins so the contents could stay safe and avoid damage over time.

After we had finished micro-sorting, we installed everything back into the newly finished cabinets by category. The flow is most important to think about when reinstalling.

The right side of the wall was furthest from the door Ashley and Andy would enter the garage through from the house, so keeping less frequented items here made sense. Hello, holiday, entertaining, and party section! Up high went the memory bins (because they likely won’t be accessed too much) and the tools (to keep out of reach from kiddos) in the back, short cabinets. Luggage was also stored in these as they won’t be needing them frequently! In the tall cabinets right by the door we installed their household backstock items including drinks & paper towels.

On the back slat wall went golf clubs and bikes, which they don’t need to access daily (even though I am sure Andy would feel otherwise about his golf clubs!) but can easily grab when needed! On the side slat wall went allll the baby gear: strollers, car seats, and baby carriers.

I was so excited to create a space for my dear friend and her family to grow and thrive. From start to finish, we worked alongside Ashley and her husband to ensure that all of their needs were met.

It has been a beautiful experience getting to see the joy that it’s added into their lives firsthand!