Customer Reviews

Your Garagenous Zone: Innovative Ideas for the Garage

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My garage is a mess, and I was hoping this book would give me ideas for getting it organized. It gets off to a great start, but that's as far as it goes. For example, it says that when the garage is a mess, you cannot find things and have to go out and buy replacements - all too true. It also says that you must throw things away - of course.

The problem is, when it comes to making the garage nicer, it refers the reader to sources for expensive storage cabinets and floor coverings. I do not want to spend $10,000 re-doing my garage, nor do I want to install thousands of dollars worth of cabinets.

The "ideas" presented in this book consist mainly of lists of expensive suppliers. I would have preferred plans and ideas for do-it-yourself storage and shelving.

(...) Looking for help in organizing my 2-car integrated garage for use as a working automotive shop, I found this book nearly useless for anything remotely connected to design, layout, work flow, functionality, efficiency, automotive equipment,
energy and utilities requirements, etc.

If you're looking for one guy's personal "I tried this product, and it's good!" This may be the book for you.

But you don't need to buy it.

(...)

Do I really need to know that StoreWALL come with zinc plated, rust resistant screws" in 1-5/8" and 2-1/4" lengths?

The first quarter of the book centers around the author's "Nine Objectives for a Functional & Organized Garage". It lists such
mind-blowing concepts such as:

"When in doubt, throw it out"

"If it's on the floor, it's time to store"

Is he kidding me?

If I wanted to do a "Clean Sweep" show and get rid or everything I want to organize, store and find, Yeah, sure, I could buy one of the featured $2,000 "wall systems" to house two pairs of skis.

No kidding. If you have nothing to store, organizing life becomes so simple. But would you spend for melamine cabintry for holding and hiding next to nothing?

The middle, and bulk of the book is product-by-category reviews. OK, so I learned there are two "environmental friendly, water-based" epoxy floor coating alternatives to the highly regarded (and less expensive) U-Coat-It epoxy.

The last third of the book is cheap fluff about Feng Shui-ing you garage, the history of garages (who cares?), famous garages (Apple Computer was started in a garage. Big deal -- so is my race car!), and West's sure-to-be-famous: "My 2020 Vision of the Garage for the Future"

(Hint: It's going to take on more importance in the minds of the future-family)

The book's best feature is its photographs. (Showing space after space of glittering slat-wall and shiney cabinetry -- all holding next to nothing. Of course, THAT will look neat and tidy). You might glean a couple of storage product ideas you didn't know about before hand.

Tell me where to place my 20-gallon parts washer, plumb the space for shop air, which floor coating stands up best to my heavy floor jack rolling across it.

(...)

Now I want to get back my common "Cents".

Whether you're a do-it-yourselfer or looking to get into the garage storage and organization biz, Your Garagenous Zone by Bill West has it all. Believe me, I've looked. As editor of Professional Door Dealer magazine, I am forever on the look out for innovative ideas, products, books and articles. When I came across West's book, the garage storage and organization industry was just beginning to make a ripple. Now, it's become a billion dollar industry.
West takes the readers through the evolution of the garage--from one-piece garage doors to today's high-use garages outfitted with everything from hooks and cabinets to shiny epoxy floors.
In chapters such as Reinventing the Garage: How to create the Garagenous Zone model, West offers nine objectives as the foundation to creating a functional and organized garage. He also features a wide range of products from garage storage organization manufacturers such as GarageTek and Gladiator, two of the biggest. Months of product research are done for you. West outlines product information, gives you contact numbers and even includes quality photos.

Overall, West demonstrates just how appealing a clean and organized garage can be. Chapters on famous garages, garage trivia and Feng Shui are nice bonuses. If you're looking for information on how to create the ultimate garage, look no further. And if you're on the hunt for a new profit-maker, put this title your business plan.

I bought this book a few months ago and it gave me so many ideas I started a garage organizing business. Every customer I meet has unique challenges in their garages and this book has been a resource for ideas in each one of them.

Bill has done a great job exposing readers to ideas for making the garage a more funtional and in many cases an exceptional space. The garage doesn't have to be a cluttered, clumsy space to store junk while the car is parked out in the weather. Get creative. This book can inspire you to create a garage that reflects the way you live. Leave your garage door open - show it off.

Get the book!

I have done my research, read every book out there on the subject, and most of the current articles on organizing the garage, and this is by far and away the best treatise on the topic I have found. It is a goldmine of information for the person who wants to do his own design and construction, or the author goes as far as providing contacts for a turnkey done by others. The author has researched and reviews the best of the hundreds of products available, saving countless hours of searching, and the expense of trial and error. After reading the book it left me knowing I could finally, not only get my garage organized, but be proud of the look when I finished. Just an outstanding resource!!

Now that my wife has finished 3 different remodeling projects the past 5 years, it's finally my turn to get the garage into a more organized and efficient space. Spent quite a bit of time doing on-line research, and quite frankly was having a difficult time sorting out all the material and coming to some fundamental decisions. "Your Garagenous Zone" is exactly what was needed to consolidate all the material and provides an invaluable asset to guide one through the various decisions. Additionally, it's comprehensive coverage of ideas for garage make-overs added a number of key areas which i had not considered, and are now an integral part of my remodel plan. I would say this resource is Must Have if you are undertaking a project to get your garage into shape.

Several years ago I purchase an older version of this book. This new and improved version is invaluable to ANYONE who has a garage. Whether your garage is crammed full of junk or whether you think your garage is fairly tidy -- you will still benefit from the many tips included in this book. In short, if you buy this book, you will not be disappointed. Five Stars and worth the price! Lloyd Joslin in North Carolina

This book, Your Garagenous Zone, at least for me, was more than a read, it is a book that should be in every serious garage owners library. For us it served as a idea / reference source and a planning guide as well as and a "loaner" that could be shared with our neighbors and friends. If you need to get started or want to keep going buy this book.

For all my adult life one of the things that I always longed for was a neat, well-organized and multifunctional garage. It seemed to me that at least twenty percent of the square footage of the average American home served as a grossly disorganized repository for many of the "fruits" of our consumer driven society. In many cases the family automobile(s) wouldn't even fit in the garage which, oddly enough , had been constructed with automobile utilization as its primary purpose. There had to be a better way and I knew that it was going to require the coming of a visionary to lead the way in garage organization and creative utilization. (Someone who could see the forest for the trees.) ENTER BILL WEST and his creative and innovative book "Your Garagenous Zone".
Bill West's book, "Your Garagenous Zone", has the potential to revolutionize the way homeowners all over the world design and construct their homes. The garage can take on a completely different utility and functionality as one considers its potential for multiple uses. (Automobile storage, woodworking shop, automobile working area, fly shop, party room, TV viewing and music listening room, social gathering venue, children's play area, dry and convenient storage space-the list is almost endless.)
Bill, I want to personally thank you for your vision and assistance in helping me finally achieve the garage that I had always wanted. I am convinced that what you have done in this area to date is only the beginning. (And to think that all of these years I had thought that the only thing you could catch in a mousetrap is a mouse!!!)
For more valuable information go to www.GARAGEZ.com.

Bob McIntosh
Fort Collins, Colorado

"Your Garagenous Zone" by Bill West has turned into a well-used handbook that I continue to pick up and reuse again and again. The information is clearly written with great ideas to not only use the garage in a clean, practical way, but also HOW TO GET IT DONE! You can do-it-yourself, or get help, but either way, this book gets you started. One of the best ideas for us: using epoxy paint on the floor. My husband has done this with every garage floor he can get his hands on! (In our rental properties and our families homes--his Mom's, our daughter & son-in-law's, etc.) It's a fantastic way to make the garage a full part of your home; you want to keep seeing the floor uncluttered as well! A favorite chapter for me is 'A Century of Historical Trends', and with interesting chapters on Architectural Design, Door Styles, and Feng Shui, you can even design your Future Garage. It is a great handbook that you'll keep coming back to for information! More than 5 Stars!