In case we haven’t met, my name is Sam and I’m most often contacted for help with challenging organizing scenarios. And this garage included one of my biggest puzzles to solve in a while. One of the three walls I designed had many wall obstructions, including conduit that sticks out about 1″ from the wall. Determined to create a useful space for this family, the design and install went flawlessly and we are totally thrilled with the outcome!

BEFORE

This family of four is working on updating their garage. This was merely phase one where I installed three walls of Elfa material. Next up is a section of custom cabinets in the back of the garage and then new garage flooring.

The two main walls were on the left and right side of the door to the house. On the left, we faced three wall obstructions; a fuse box panel, an electrical panel AND the conduit you see running down the wall to a large pipe / clean out…

Believe it or not, the issue wasn’t the largest component of the pipe sticking out on the bottom. Instead it was the conduit running down the wall. Elfa shelving needs to be installed on a fully flat surface. Thankfully, the conduit was not sticking to the wall. If it had been, I’d have to cut the top track to work around both sides. In this case because it stuck out, I was able to slide the top track behind it to install. And we ended up with just enough space for the work surface to sit neatly on top as well.

You HAVE to see the video to truly understand the complexity and how I executed. Photos simply won’t do this justice.

On the right wall, previously this is how their shoes were stored…

In addition to better shoe storage, they desired hooks for bags.

And finally on the third wall, he wanted a very small section of shelving mounted above this water filter system. He likes to wash his cars at home and this was the perfect spot to store his car washing supplies…

AFTER

Starting with the most complicated wall, here’s the incredible after!…

They now have a work surface, lots of drawers, shelves and truly just a better use of what once was an awkward space! You can see the complete video on the Instagram account here.

The shoe wall with hooks was a major upgrade…

And his car wash supply wall was a small but useful addition. You can see this wall also had quite a few obstructions. But we made the best use of the small available space we had.

I also mounted a utility holder for brooms and other items…

They were so happy with the outcome…and I was as well!

SHOP THIS SPACE

If you saw anything of interest for your own garage, you can shop everything I used in this space right here…

 

How’s back to school kicking off for you? My oldest is back at college and my two others are in high school. It’s already been a great year – my daughter made the freshman volleyball team which was exciting! Look forward to sharing more personal posts soon! And of course, there’s more organizing content coming your way.

Hope you guys are great!

xo,

Sam