A HWS Garage Makeover - The Water Sports Zone | Life Love and Hiccups: A HWS Garage Makeover - The Water Sports Zone
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Friday 30 November 2012

A HWS Garage Makeover - The Water Sports Zone

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This is a post as an Ambassador for Howards Storage World.

So you remember the Festering Pit of shame right? - The awful shameful excuse of a garage we own. Well the makeover from Howards Storage World is well underway.

In case you need a reminder of what we were starting with look below. If you have a weak stomach, please scroll forward a little bit.


Ouch right?

Now I have to tell you this whole project was a little overwhelming to begin with. That garage was not just full of junk, it was full of all the tools of our lives including sports gear, equipment and boxes and boxes of my husband's late mother and father's things.

When the girls from Howards Storage came out and assessed the situation, they gave me the best advice ever and it is the philosophy they follow at HSW. When it comes to organisation and de-cluttering - Stop Sort and Solve.
So that seemed simple enough. We had to stop and assess the chaos, sort through it and together with HSW come up with practical solutions that would make life easier for us in so many different ways.

THE SORT OUT

We were feeling kinda daring and brave so we picked a weekend and just dived on in. Our goal was to create three piles. Keep, Chuck and Donate. We knew we would need a little longer to sort through my husbands parents belongings so we put them aside to start. It is easy to get overwhelmed when you are dealing with emotional objects so we dealt with the easy stuff first.

Everything was pulled out of the garage and sorted. We had a truck on hand and we loaded up all the chuck and donate stuff so it was gone and out of the way.
Now my husband is an avid surfer and therefore he says he can justify every single one of the surfboards he had stored in the garage. I couldn't, so I enforced a cull.

This is what we were left with and what we had to find a storage solution for.



 And the rest of this stuff too.




Once everything was out we decided that the wall could do with a coast of fresh white paint, kind of like a clean palate, and if I want to get all philosophical on you which I totally do, I could go so far as to say it's a fresh start.

The hubby used a paint spray gun and had this wall freshened up within 2 hours.



THE SOLUTION

Now we had one wall that was a blank canvas and we needed a solution. This is where Ali our HSW Installation Manager worked his magic. He came out and took his time measuring up and talking to us about our lives, our interests and our goals for this space.

He wasn't just doing this cause he was curious, nope, he was scoping out everything he needed to know to come up with a functional plan for our Man Cave. A plan that would allow us easy access to all our gear and keep the OCD organisational dufus (me) happy.

Hence the idea of Zoning was introduced.

Zoning is all about creating zones in the garage, which are spaces dedicated to various activities. i.e. Gardening, Building and renos, Sports, Pets etc. The first zone we decided we needed was a water sports zone.

Water sports are huge in our family so we have amassed a lot of equipment over the years. Enough in fact to dedicate a whole wall for storing this equipment.

Ali suggested the elfa System as the savior for all our gear. The system is designed to provide a custom organised space at the fraction of a cost of a fixed customised built in.


elfa shelving is engineered to hang from a single fixed top track so it can be reconfigured at any time very quickly and very simply. It is made from epoxy bonded steel and it is backed by a 10 year elfa guarantee.
The components are available in traditional platinum or white and you can upgrade to optional timber trims in birch or walnut. With this system you only buy the components you need for your unique design.
You can easily redesign the system to suit your changing needs which is perfect for a family with growing kids and growing interests. 



Ali was back within days to start the install and had this whole wall fitted out in no time at all.


Bow Chicka Wow Wow. Can you hear that singing? That's the hubby singing his happy tune as he was so stoked to see his precious boards given the love they *ahem* deserve. For the record - His words not mine.

As for me - well I was happy dancing at having the wet suits hung in the garage rather than the downstairs shower. For The Win!


Now don't think for a moment the Tubtrugs (coloured flexible buckets) below are going to stay empty for long. No sirree. These are destined to store leg ropes, pool toys, fins and other water sorts paraphernalia as well as one being packed ready to go for a trip to the beach.

I'll share more of the details of how I organise everything a few posts later, once the bones of the Garage are in place.


I also have a couple of keen Rex Hunt wannabes in my family which doesn't really mean much on the fresh fish for dinner front, but I am forever getting caught up in fishing rods and tripping over tackle boxes.

Not anymore because Ali had the brilliant idea to install a row of Fishing Rod Holders to keep all the rods safely corralled together. An extra shelf to house the tackle boxes and well let's just say Happy wife Happy Life. You are a good man Ali and your wife is a lucky gal.


Alright so let's have a look at at the finished Water Sports Zone. Remember I still have to get in there later and add my OCD loving touches, but for now ..... MAN what a mind blowing improvement to say the least!


All the products used in the Water Sports Zone can be purchased in store or online at Howards Storage World. You can plan your Elfa Storage system online using the Elfa Planning Guide here, or you can book a quote and installation so all you have to do is sit back and watch your space be transformed.



OK We had two $50 Howard's Storage vouchers to give away didn't we?

I read through all the fabulous entries and wow you guys have some storage and organisation issues. :)

Even though there are only two winners today, don't worry, there will be plenty more opportunities to win vouchers and Howards Storage Products as my make over continues.

So the lucky Winners today are:


Congratulations guys - can you please contact me at lifelovehiccups@optusnet.com.au to claim your prize.

Work on the Building and Home reno Zone is underway so I will be posting again in 2 weeks time with an update. Bring it - I'm excited that the festering Pit of Shame is disappearing before my eyes.

So tell me - Do you use your garage for cars, junk storage / graveyard or is is a play zone?