Your Garagenous Zone: Innovative Ideas for the Garage

From Booklist
Innovation comes in many forms and guises, many from unlikely sources. Here, a Colorado realtor fuels any home owner's imagination by finding space--and occasional beauty--in an organized garage. Included are both psychological and resourceful prompts, from the nine objectives of a great garage (beginning with "when in doubt, throw it out") to more than 25 manufacturers of various uncluttering items (for instance, wall systems and epoxy coatings). Along the way, he helps a Colorado family remodel their garage; provides quick tips (ladder storage for one); muses about the place of feng shui; asks a number of architects to contribute layouts; and adds a few historical notes, such as trivia and famous car spaces (Walt Disney and Steve Jobs of Apple started in theirs, to mention two). Innovation that overlooks occasional turgid prose and fuzzy photographs. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"West . . . preaches the gospel of organization." —Minneapolis Star Tribune



Book Description
Not simply a storage unit or holding space for cars, the garage is reconceived in this innovative design book as a "flex" space for family members that can be clean, organized, and functional (and still house cars). Wall organizers, garage cabinets, and an ergonomically designed workbench are among the suggestions described and illustrated through a case study of how one family reinvented their garage from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Creative ideas for making the garage into a multipurpose room include placing a television on a wall swivel and moving the treadmill into the garage to create a family gym. Feng shui tips, an overview of garage-design trends over the past 100 years, and speculations about how garages will look in the year 2020 provide a revealing perspective on the importance of transforming the dark, dingy cavern in American homes into a bright, desirable living space.



About the Author
Bill West, CRS, is a consultant for garage-building and remodeling companies. He has been profiled in major newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, and has been a guest on television shows and nationally syndicated radio programs dedicated to home improvement. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.



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Not simply a storage unit or holding space for cars, the garage is reconceived in this innovative design book as a "flex" space for family members that can be clean, organized, and functional (and still house cars). Wall organizers, garage cabinets, and an ergonomically designed workbench are among the suggestions described and illustrated through a case study of how one family reinvented their garage from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Creative ideas for making the garage into a multipurpose room include placing a television on a wall swivel and moving the treadmill into the garage to create a family gym. Feng shui tips, an overview of garage-design trends over the past 100 years, and speculations about how garages will look in the year 2020 provide a revealing perspective on the importance of transforming the dark, dingy cavern in American homes into a bright, desirable living space.


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