How to Get Your Car Back Into the Garage: Garage Storage Tips

Most garages in Coburg, Brunswick and Preston were not built for the way we live now. A single lock-up behind a Californian bungalow was designed around a much smaller car, a lawnmower and a toolbox. Add two bikes, a chest freezer, the camping gear, four crates of Christmas decorations and the boxes that came out of the last move, and the car ends up on the street.

If that sounds like your place, the problem usually is not untidiness. It is that the garage is being asked to do three jobs at once: parking, workshop and overflow storage. Something has to give. Good garage storage in Melbourne starts with deciding which of those three jobs the space is actually for, and then finding somewhere else for the rest.

Here is a practical way through it.

Sort into four piles, not two

The standard advice is keep or bin. That does not work in a garage, because most of what is in there is genuinely still useful. It is just not useful every week.

Try four groups instead.

In use. Things you reach for at least monthly. Tools, the mower, the bin bags, the bike you actually ride.

Seasonal. Camping gear, the Christmas tree, the eskies, winter sports equipment, the outdoor heater. Used, but only for a few weeks a year.

Keeping, not using. Inherited furniture, kids’ things you are not ready to part with, the second lounge suite, boxes from a house you moved out of years ago.

Going. Broken, duplicated, or long past useful. Book a hard rubbish collection through Merri-bek City Council, or drop the good stuff at an op shop.

The first group stays in the garage. The last group leaves this week. The middle two are the ones eating your parking space, and they are the ones worth moving off site.

Give the garage one job

Once the volume is down, zone what is left. Tools on one wall, garden gear near the roller door, sporting equipment together rather than scattered.

Use the height. Most inner-north garages have more wall and roof space than floor space, and shelving that runs to the ceiling will free up more room than any amount of reshuffling. Clear tubs beat cardboard, both because you can see what is in them and because cardboard does not survive a damp Melbourne winter in an uninsulated shed.

Then park the car in it and see what still does not fit. That is your honest answer.

What a garage is a bad place for

Before anything goes back on the shelf, be realistic about what an old garage does to your things. Uninsulated tin roofs swing from very hot to very cold. Concrete floors draw damp. Weatherboard structures let in dust and the occasional mouse.

Things that do not cope well with that include photographs and paper records, upholstered furniture, timber furniture with glued joints, mattresses, electronics, musical instruments and anything with fabric or leather. If it matters to you and it is currently sitting on the garage floor, it is worth moving somewhere clean, dry and secure.

What cannot go into storage either

This one catches people out, so it is worth being clear. A storage unit is not a place to park the contents of the garden shed wholesale.

Flammable and dangerous goods are not permitted in self storage. That means petrol and diesel, gas bottles, paint and paint thinners, aerosols, pool chemicals, fertiliser and fuel-filled equipment. If you are storing a mower or a whipper snipper, drain the fuel first. Food and anything perishable is out too, for obvious reasons.

If you are not sure about a particular item, ask the team before you load the trailer. It is a two-minute conversation that saves an awkward one at the gate.

When a storage unit is the right answer

Renting space to store things you own can feel like a strange trade. It stacks up when the alternative is worse, and in the inner north the alternative is often a car left on a narrow street, or a house with no room to move.

It also stacks up when the situation is temporary. Storage during a renovation, between houses, or while a spare room is being turned into a nursery does not need to be a permanent arrangement. At KeepSafe, storage is month to month with a one-month minimum and seven days’ written notice to vacate, so you are not locked into a year for a three-month problem.

On size, most garage clear-outs do not need much. A small unit takes seasonal gear, sporting equipment and a dozen boxes. Step up when there is furniture involved. Units run from 1m² up to 26m², with heights between 2.4m and 3m, so stacking sensibly gets you more out of a smaller footprint than most people expect. If you are unsure, the team at the facility does this every day and will talk you through it rather than upselling you.

Storing near Coburg North

The KeepSafe facility at 211 Newlands Road, Coburg North is set up for exactly this kind of job. Access is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which matters when the only time you can get to a garage clear-out is a Sunday afternoon or after work. There are undercover loading bays and trolleys on site, so unloading in the rain is not the ordeal it could be.

New customers get free use of a move-in truck, van or trailer to shift their first load, which is usually enough for a garage in one or two runs. It is a move-in assist vehicle rather than an ongoing loan, and conditions apply, so check the details with the team when you book. Packing supplies including boxes, tape and covers are available in reception if you would rather not chase them down beforehand.

Security runs across six stages, including 24-hour CCTV, individually alarmed units, perimeter fencing, electronically controlled gates and unique PIN entry. You supply your own padlock, and reception sells a range if you need one. Worth noting that stored goods are not insured by KeepSafe, so arrange your own cover for anything valuable.

The facility serves Coburg, Brunswick, Brunswick West, Fawkner, Pascoe Vale, Hadfield, Preston, Reservoir, Northcote, Fitzroy, Essendon and Tullamarine. If you are anywhere in that stretch of the inner north, it is a short run down Newlands Road with a full trailer.

Start with the four piles

The garage did not fill up in a weekend and it will not empty in one either. But the sorting step is the part that changes things, because it separates the stuff that belongs in a garage from the stuff that has simply ended up there.

Move the second group out, and the first group finally fits.

If you want to talk through what size unit a garage’s worth of gear needs, the team at Coburg North is on site Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 2pm. You can see the full range of personal storage options or book a unit online whenever it suits.

Written by the KeepSafe team.