Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlieK
Hello - My wife & I will be heading down for a Lifestyle visit in less than 2 weeks. Looking forward to checking out some houses - mostly CYV since we want a fence for the dog.
We've seen a few that look great but have only a one car garage. Even with only one car, is a one car garage enough? Can you fit a golf cart in there? I figure storage would be minimal.
Any tips or tricks?
Thanks
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Please excuse the dark photos—it’s still dark out, and I need more lights in my garage. A few months ago I downsized from a two car garage to a ten year old Courtyard Villa with a 1.5 car garage. I drive a Prius and don’t need a calf cart, but there isn’t much storage space inside Courtyard Villas, so I found room for a lot more in the garage. There’s room for a lot more in your 1.5 car garage than you might think. I’ve learned just when to start swinging the wheel to make a smooth 3/4 circle out of the garage and onto the street. With just one small car, there is plenty of room. If I didn’t have a refrigerator in the garage and I pulled the car in a few more feet, I’d have enough room to park a cart at an angle right next to the HVAC.
Storage: I have a work bench at the back four feet long and two feet deep. It has two full shelves under it that hold some toolboxes. I installed three ten foot long shelves on the back wall that hold laundry products, glue, lubes, screws and nails and drill bit sets, gloves, and that sort of thing. To the left of those, above the workbench, are magnetic holders for tools. (Another area for screwdrivers and scrap wood is near the garage door.)
Most of the left wall is storage cabinets. (Rubbermaid cabinets about 2’ wide each and mostly 6’ high, 16” deep, with all the flimsy shelves replaced with sturdy plywood shelves screwed into place.) These hold things like battery-operated power tools, sand papers, tapes, tools, extra canned foods, extra toilet paper and paper towels and Kleenex, extra silverware and a few vases for flowers, kitchen appliances I rarely use, and several cabinets are empty. The Christmas tree in its box slides in on top of those cabinets. There are two waist high cabinets. On one is a small drill press. On the other is a disc and belt sander for woodworking.
On the right hand wall I screwed several strips of 1x2” pine into the steel studs, and to those strips I attached various brackets and pegs. I have four lawn chairs hanging up, and a full 8’ step ladder (with one inch to spare). Also, two sawhorse type gadgets. If I need to cut lumber, I either make the cuts on a saw horse in the driveway or move the car to the driveway and make the cuts in the garage, then blow out the sawdust. I also have a sturdy cart that holds another belt sander and a grinder. I can move them wherever I need for working.
In short, there is room for quite a bit of storage in a 1.5 car garage. Installing that storage can be a lot of work. I’ve done similar things in the closets in my house. A Courtyard Villa is a bit like living on a boat: it’s nice to have only what you really need and get rid of extras. I don’t feel cramped, but then I live alone and don’t entertain, and I don’t cook much.