Key takeaways
- New England builds basements; the Pacific states and Texas build slabs.
- Garage heat can damage candles, batteries, adhesives, paper and clothing.
- Rent the folding tables and chairs that come out once a year.
- A one-meal household's once-a-year gear takes about 18 cubic feet.
- Heavy pans and chairs go low; linens and paper stay indoors.
Which regions have basements, and which rely on the garage?
In 2024, 73% of new single-family homes started in the United States were built on slab foundations and only 17% had a full or partial basement, according to the National Association of Home Builders' analysis of the Census Bureau's Survey of Construction. Basements are a northern feature: 67.2% of new homes in New England and 62.3% in the West North Central states have one, versus about 10% on the West Coast.
| Census division | New homes on slabs, 2024 | New homes with full or partial basement, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| West South Central (TX, OK, AR, LA) | 97.9% | Below 10% |
| Pacific (CA, OR, WA, AK, HI) | 89.9% | About 10% |
| South Atlantic | 85.7% | Not reported |
| Middle Atlantic | Not reported | 48.8% |
| East North Central | Not reported | 50.3% |
| West North Central | Not reported | 62.3% |
| New England | Not reported | 67.2% |
Source: NAHB Eye on Housing, Survey of Construction, 2024 single-family starts.
Garages fill the gap. According to the Department of Energy's summary of the American Housing Survey, 76% of occupied homes in the West and 72% in the Midwest have a garage or carport, compared with 56% in the South and 49% in the Northeast. For a slab-foundation household, that garage is attic, basement and utility room at once.
How hot does a garage get, and what does the heat ruin?
Las Vegas's normal daily high in July is 104.5 F, and the city hit 120 F on July 7, 2024, according to the National Weather Service. An uninsulated garage can get hotter than the air outside. That is the condition a stored box has to survive, and some categories do not.
| Fails in a hot, unconditioned garage | Holds up |
|---|---|
| Candles and anything wax-based (softens and warps) | Folding tables and chairs, metal or resin |
| Batteries, including power-tool packs, which lose charge, swell or become a fire risk in heat | Roasting pans, sheet pans and metal serving pieces |
| Adhesives, caulk, paint and many cleaners, which separate or break down | Glass and ceramic serving pieces, packed upright |
| Photos, paper records, books and cardboard boxes, which absorb moisture and soften | Coolers, camping gear, sports equipment |
| Clothing and linens, exposed to pests and mold | Sealed plastic bins of textiles, if the bins stay off the floor |
| Canned food and wine | Tools, hardware, and sealed hard plastics |
"Clothing is susceptible to mold and damage from pests," Katherine Lawrence, a professional organizer and founder of Space Matters, told SpareFoot, which also notes that cardboard absorbs moisture and softens. As for batteries, a DeWalt product manager told Bob Vila that power-tool batteries should not be stored in a hot or humid garage. Keep those indoors, in a closet or cabinet, and let the garage hold what heat cannot hurt.
Should you keep it, rent it or borrow it?
Before measuring a shelf for something, decide whether it has earned the space. A workable rule:
- Keep it if you use it at least twice a year, if it is sentimental, or if no rental version exists. The roasting pan, the good platters and the electric griddle stay.
- Rent it if it comes out once a year and takes up more than a bin's worth of space. Folding tables, stacks of chairs, a coat rack for 20 guests and a chafing-dish setup are all rental-counter items.
- Borrow it if it is small, specialized and owned by someone within a 10-minute drive: a second slow cooker, a punch bowl, a card table.
Cara Palmer, a professional organizer and the owner of Organize Every Room, told Homes & Gardens to ask, "Could I borrow or rent this instead?" She called the question "particularly powerful for items you'll use infrequently."
How much space do once-a-year items take?
Measure them the way a mover would: length by width by height, in inches, then divide by 1,728 to get cubic feet. A typical tally for a household that hosts one big meal a year looks like this.
| Item | Packed size (inches) | Cubic feet |
|---|---|---|
| Roasting pan with rack | 18 x 13 x 9 | 1.2 |
| Six-foot folding table, folded | 72 x 30 x 3 | 3.8 |
| Four folding chairs, stacked | 36 x 18 x 8 | 3.0 |
| Serving platters and bowls, one bin | 24 x 16 x 12 | 2.7 |
| Tablecloths, napkins, extra flatware, one bin | 24 x 16 x 12 | 2.7 |
| Large cooler | 28 x 16 x 17 | 4.4 |
| Total | About 18 cubic feet |
Eighteen cubic feet is roughly equivalent to a stack roughly 2 feet deep, 3 feet wide and 3 feet tall: one section of a garage shelving unit, or the top shelf and floor of a hall closet. Written down, it is a manageable number. Spread across a kitchen, a hall closet and the garage floor, it reads as clutter in three rooms.
Where should it live?
Put the heavy pieces low and the heat-sensitive pieces inside. "Storing infrequently used platters and serving dishes in upper cabinets frees up space in lower cabinets for often-used kitchen items," Julie Peak, a professional organizer and owner of The Precise Place, told Livingetc. Roasting pans and stacked chairs belong on a low shelf or the floor of a garage rack, where they're easier and safer to lift. Tables and coolers can hang on wall hooks. Linens and paper go in a sealed bin in a closet, not the garage. Label every bin on both sides, and store the bins where the host can reach them without a ladder.
This story was produced by Closet World and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
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