Porsche owners often treat their cars like temples. Exquisite engineering deserves exquisite care, and so it’s no surprise that many well-maintained Porsches remain on the road for generations.
A large part of taking care of a vehicle is storing it properly. In North America, however, the garage is rarely a singular-purpose room--bicycles, storage boxes, tools, sports equipment and more all vie for space here. Clutter and general disarray are all too common in garages, even if the vehicle stored inside is as pristine as a prized Porsche 911 should be.
This is a solvable problem, especially with the professionals at Garage Living in your corner. With locations across North America, they provide garage storage, flooring and organization solutions for those who want more out of the room their car lives in. We tapped their Creative Director, Linda Fiore Ceolin, to help provide us with a few tips for Porsche owners looking for a garage upgrade.
Don’t go it alone
There are plenty of DIY jobs you can do around the house. A full garage upgrade is probably not one of them. According to Fiore Ceolin, the flooring, which is one of the most critical aspects of a quality garage space, presents particular troubles for DIYers, often peeling and cracking months or just weeks after being installed. This being said, the last three tips in this list can be put into practice by anyone anytime.
Consider your wants and needs
It’s important to have a good idea of what you want before the work starts, says Fiore Ceolin. At Garage Living, the process begins online where potential customers fill out a design consultation request. They are then paired with an expert who personally inspects the space.
“Our design consultants look at what our customer’s needs are,” says Fiore Ceolin. “What are their desired uses of the garage? Is it going to be a fitness garage? Is it going to be just to store an exotic car? What space is there available? What else do they need to store?”
Consider the setting
Rarely are garages stand-alone features. Usually they’re attached or very near to the main living area, making the overall aesthetic something to take into account. Some people may choose to match their garage interior to the rest of the house, while others will choose a look that complements their car.
Look critically at everything inside
What’s in your garage besides your car? Is it important or is it just taking up space before you get around to dropping it off at the thrift store? Anyone looking to remake their garage should take a good hard look at all the items that have gathered there over the years and make the decision of what needs to stay and what can go.
Clear the floor and go upwards
Clutter builds from the ground up, meaning floor space is usually the first to get used. By storing as much as possible on walls or in cabinetry, for example, you can create space for the stuff that actually needs to be on the floor. Garage Living professionals often promote the use of vehicle lifts.
“We had a customer who had sons on a hockey team, and instead of having all of this equipment and hockey sticks possibly landing on the vehicle, the vehicle was up on a car lift and the little guys could store away their hockey gear in the cabinetry or put it out for drying and use the whole garage for space,” says Fiore Ceolin.
And keep that floor clean!
Cleanliness also starts from the ground up in the garage. Garage Living’s Floortex™ polyaspartic floor coating system is resistant to chemicals like oil, gas, coolant and salt as well as abrasion and impact. It also maintains a high glossy finish and can be easily sprayed clean.
Accessorize
You’d be amazed at what a proper set of tool hooks and smartly installed cabinetry can accomplish in terms of reorganization. Garden tools that formerly occupied an entire corner now each have its own labelled hook on the wall; the dozens of cardboard boxes that lined the back wall are now tucked out of site in vertically organized cabinetry; and the sports equipment now has its own specialty rack.
If you’re looking to upgrade the space your Porsche lays its head, you can contact the professionals at Garage Living for a free consultation.
Date Posted: September 30, 2018