It’s the man cave, the fortress of solitude, the wolf den, the king’s castle. It’s not just a simple box of unfinished framing and concrete – that much is for sure. Yes, I’m talking about the last room of the house to ever garner an ounce of respect – the garage.

Growing up my parents garage was a disaster. More suited to be called a storage container it was stacked floor to ceiling with cardboard boxes and plastic tubs of useless crap. My Mom stuffed cases of seasonal decorations out the side door. There was a box for Halloween, a box for Christmas, a box for Easter, 4th of July, well you get the point. There were at least a dozen oversized cardboard boxes filled with themed junk for every month of the year tucked into one corner. The other 80 percent of the room was old exercise equipment, whatever was left over from my stepdad’s bachelor pad days, and camping equipment that will probably never be located again.

Underneath it all were my Stepdad’s tools.

A carpenter by trade he had a sizable collection, and it was high quality stuff. To the lay person it would appear there was no rhyme or reason to it all, and if you wanted to find a belt sander you’d probably be S.O.L. The truth was as far as garage systems go he had his own figured out. But the one thing the old man never managed was to turn that warehouse of junk into a space all his own.

Needless to say, I learned from his mistake. After a few years of dating my wife she finally threw the ultimatum at me. “We move in together or else.” It’s not that I was opposed to taking things to the next step, I wasn’t. What I was concerned with, was seeing all my belongings relinquished to the garage, forever crushing my dream of having a place where I could dremel and watch football simultaneously while never being more than twelve inches from a cold beer.

Our first house posed just that exact problem.

Sure I have half a garage to work in. After all, we were fresh out of college and hadn’t amassed the tons of useless objects we people seem to collect over time. There was room for an oil pan, table saw, and some work lights but that was about it. The space that was supposed to be dedicated for the 50 inch TV and recliner was instead occupied by an ab lounger stacked on top of old college text books and winter clothes.

When we purchased our second home to accommodate the addition of our newest family member I sure as hell made sure this time my garage wasn’t left out. I held a garage sale to get rid of all the meaningless crap. Box of old VHS tapes – gone. Snow tires – we live in Arizona – bye. Decorative wicker basket thingies from the 80s – see ya. I cleared out everything that I was sure we’d never touch again. After that moment I quickly installed brand new garage storage cabinets.
With a good storage system in place I was able to transition all the important stuff to a clean organized space. Lining the entire far wall with cabinets was a smart move. I had cabinets for my sporting goods, camping gear, and even the wife’s Halloween decorations and such. Mom would be so jealous. I even set aside one garage storage cabinet for the must have football snacks you don’t want the kids stealing mid week. Mmm jerky.

Next I built a workbench complete with pegboard and overhead cabinets for my tools. I opted to stain the concrete surface and use carpet remnants instead of tiling or finishing the floor. This way the garage would be a functional place to work and watch the Sunday afternoon game. Because we live in the desert a wall mounted AC unit was critical. I added an old sofa and TV and of course the piece de resistance, the side by side refrigerator stocked head to toe with brew.

I love my garage now. The only downside is so does everyone else. What was intended as a man cave is taking on new shape daily. It’s been a playroom, a makeshift drive in, and more. But then again, any time I need it all to myself all I have to do is open garage cabinet number three and pull out my trusty circular saw. As soon as I start wailing into another two by four amazingly everyone else disappears. While I might not be building anything in particular, it’s a simple reminder that I am man and this is my domain.

About the author:

This article is written by Jayson Bailey.