August 16, 2023 –
We have more stored junk in the United States than people in most countries even have.
At a recently conducted garage sale, one buyer commented, “There’s a lot of stuff in there. When was the last time your car was in it?” I answered, “Never. I have lived here for fourteen years, and my car has never been inside the garage.” Here are a few homes with garage stats you might relate to – 24% of homeowners are embarrassed to leave their garage doors open. (Impulse Research survey) – 66% of all occupied housing units in the United States had a garage or carport. (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2017 American Housing Survey).
A survey of realtors reveals garages ranked higher as a desirable storage space for homebuyers than basements or attics. 20% of a Garage Living poll respondents said they could not park in their garage.
In a U.S. Dept. of Energy study, 50% of homeowners named the garage the most cluttered and disorganized area of their house. 25% of people with 2-car garages don’t park in them. A third can only park one car because of garage clutter.
Rentable storage space is another way to protect, shelter, or store our goods. About 9% of Americans rent storage space, even though 65% of those homeowners have a garage. (Self-Storage Association stat). They estimate 45,000-60,000 shelf-storage units in America with over 1.7 billion square feet of storage capacity. I have 10×20-ft storage space and a two-car garage. In the garage, I have about $1,500 of junk. My $45,000 automobile weathers outside.