Why an Easy Cheesy Garage?

Years ago I built a garage in my back yard. The purpose, I told myself, was to have a place to store my motorcycles and work on all the things I wanted to work on. This was 2006. The garage finished, I put my motorcycles inside, closed the door and proceeded to turn my man cave into the man dump.

Fast forward to October of 2013. I am good and sick of looking at a disorganized, dust filled, impossible to get around in garage. The main door when open reveals clutter and dust stacked chest high. The side door has to be leaned on to get it to open. There are just two narrow paths to get to the back of the garage. Sure, there's bikes to be seen poking out of the stacks of clutter here and there. None have been worked on in years, mostly because of my inability to get to them. Is this what I really had in mind?

NOPE!

So I begin cleaning. The first day involves scooping up sawdust off the floor. I work all afternoon and barely get to the table saw just ten feet into the garage. It's a start though and I'll be damned if I'll give up. Thirteen weeks, countless trashcans of sawdust and debris later; plus pushing shoving and rolling equipment around until I like the result, and I finally have a garage I can use and be happy with. Along the way, I re-discover my interest in motorcycles, a love of tinkering with things, and generally making my life a little easier and happier by keeping my hands busy. The only downer is my lack of cash to just do as I please.

So the Easy Cheesy Garage was born.

Why easy cheesy? Necessity is the mother of invention. When I need something and have little to go on but my wits, ability to scrounge, and time to do what I want done, it's time to go with easy or cheesy or both. I have no problem with quick, simple, cobbled together, or free just as long as it gets the job done. If it works and keeps the dough in my pocket and a smile on my face, then I am all over it like dust on knickknacks.

Then I got to thinking about it. Some of this stuff is on the internet, sure. There's also plenty of forums doing garage and shop stuff. I looked at them and even used a number of the ideas I've seen. Great! However, I pretty much decided the el cheapo means of doing stuff in the garage is grossly underrepresented.

You want the fancy, bought it all at Home Depot or Lowes solution to a problem? Not likely to find it here! Looking for the perfect 7 figure garage to store the collection of 6 and 7 figure cars in? Keep looking! Need the perfect design to impress the neighbors at your next party? Not too likely. It might be perfect, but going to impress the Joneses? Doubtful at best.

Want ideas on how to organize your garage cheap or free? Bingo! Looking for a way to store nuts and bolts using items your wife just threw in the trash? Look no more! Need a quick method to solve a head scratcher? It just might be here. Got more interests and hobbies than the average garage hermit? There just might be an idea or two to chew on floating around.

Granted this IS the first post and there is nothing to go on today but an intro. I do however intend to rectify the situation as I post tips, projects, and solutions I've completed, tried or seen and like. Like all blogs, there's plenty of room to comment and share your own ideas. For that matter, feel free to email stuff to me. If I decide to do it, I'll certainly create a post on it.

I see the Easy Cheesy Garage as a journey of discovery. Sometimes it's a cool trick I noodle out, other times it might be a neat design I've come up with, or a tool I've made. I don't plan to overlook the things I find out about myself and just maybe I'll make a few friends along the way.

Charlie Ehler