Although it is just as easy and less expensive to install shelving in your garage to organize items, garage cabinets provide many benefits that shelves cannot give you. One predominate benefit that many garage owners cite as being the main reason they opt for cabinets is the fact that cabinets have doors that enclose and conceal garage clutter, making the garage appear more clean, streamlined and even stylish, depending on the color and design of the cabinets.
In addition, you can choose to purchase garage cabinet doors that have locking mechanisms designed to prevent other people–especially children–from gaining access to the items behind the door. Since most of us keep smelly, dangerous and possibly toxic solutions and chemicals in the garage, what better way to control their use by placing them in secured, sturdy wall or floor garage cabinets. Whether you select cabinets with combination locks, tubular locking systems or standard lock and key systems, you won’t have to worry about curious kids or even adults knocking something hazardous off an open shelf.
Some of the different types of garage cabinet material include:
• Plastic resin
• Plywood
• Hardwood
• Particle board
• Medium density fiberboard (MDF)
• Stainless steel
The most durable and strong type of cabinet material is stainless steel, while the least resistant to damage of any kind is particle board. For homeowners wanting a less practical and more stylish garage, selecting hardwood cabinets is the most popular choice because of the sleek, elegant appearance the give to a renovated garage. Natural maple and alder wood make excellent material for garage cabinets because of their beautiful finish and ability to withstand years of use. In addition, most wood garage cabinets are “powder-coated”, meaning they have been encapsulated with a special baked-on finish that resists moisture, warping, cracking and allows for easy cleaning with a cloth and cleaner.
Garage cabinets are also available with interior stationary shelving or adjustable shelving that can be moved to widen the space between shelves to accommodate larger items. Regular, open shelves are not adjustable so you will need to purchase different kinds of units if you have many items of various sizes to place on shelves.
Additionally, open shelving installed on garage walls that is shoulder to waist level tends to get bumped by vehicles, large pieces of sports equipment or kids playing in the garage. Whatever is laying on those shelves when it gets struck by something substantial will be knocked off and likely strike the floor hard enough to break it.
With closed garage cabinets you never have to worry about falling tools, spilled cans of paint or pesticides contaminating the floor when you have containers securely placed behind garage cabinets with heavy-duty doors.
