7 Simple Garage Storage Ideas
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Garage Storage Ideas
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Like many American homeowners, tackling your garage storage idea list can seem like an impossible task. If you’ve been putting it off every weekend, you’re certainly not alone. But organizing the clutter in your garage doesn’t have to be a job that drags on and on.
In fact, by implementing a few easy changes over the course of a week or a few afternoons, you can really get a handle on the chaos. Once you’re finished, you’ll ask yourself why you didn’t start sooner!
Read on for seven basic ways to turn your messy garage into a tidy masterpiece.
1. Maximize Your Use of Shelving
One of the reasons your garage can seem so impossibly cluttered is because you are only using the floor space. But that means so much wall space is just going to waste. By adding shelves to your garage, you can improve its visual appeal, free up space so you can finally park that car inside, and also make it easy to access the tools you need.
Here are a few types of shelving that will make your garage feel bigger without adding a single square foot:
Wire Shelves
Wire shelving is usually inexpensive and simple to install. Standalone wire shelving units are a great way to store objects like plastic bins, larger containers, and shoes. You can also purchase wall-mounted wire shelves to store objects higher off the ground and save floor space for your vehicles. Don’t forget that you can use the beams on your wall-mounted shelves to hold up longer objects like baseball bats, brooms, shovels, etc.
Experiment further by using different sizes of hanging wire baskets. These can mount directly on the wall or into a pegboard. They’re ideal for storing miscellaneous objects such as power tools, kids’ toys, basketballs, and car products.
Corner Shelving
Aside from looking super chic, floating corner shelves are a great way to take advantage of some extra space in your garage. Use them to store smaller items, such as containers for screws and nails. It’s also worth noting that it is generally easier to find wall studs in the corner of your drywall, so you shouldn’t run into any problems drilling the screws or hooks to install this shelving.
Vertical Shelving Systems
When you feel like you’re running out of space, there’s probably one direction you haven’t tried to go — up. Taking your shelves up even a foot or two can make a dynamic difference in your garage.
One simple way to take advantage of that vertical space is by investing in a large, floor-to-ceiling cabinet with doors that close. This can be a great way to store toys and sports gear. You can even keep everything organized within the cabinets by using plastic bins.
You can also achieve the same effect by installing a wall-mounted shelving unit from floor to ceiling. This gives you the option to start your shelves higher on the wall to accommodate your vehicles. Or, you can start low and gradually add more shelves to the top as you need the storage space. Try using metal shelves and placing storage bins on top of them for extra space.
2. Incorporate Hooks
Hooks are a highly versatile piece of equipment. Purchase a large container of small hooks and mount them into a piece of plywood or pegboard to store wrenches and tools. Large hooks can be used to hang bulky, irregular items that can’t fit on shelves — such as bikes, shovels, and large toys like hockey nets.
Even wheelbarrows, kayaks, and bikes can be mounted on the wall with the proper hook system. Be sure to secure your hook into a wall stud. Otherwise, the hook may pull out of the drywall.
3. Take Advantage of Storage Bins
Buy a bunch of inexpensive plastic bins to store those things you want to keep on hand but don’t necessarily need to access every day. Think Christmas lights, seasonal decorations, baby clothes. Once you have everything sorted, invest in a rack to get the bins off the ground.
For small, light bins, try a wall-mounted storage unit. Freestanding metal shelves are perfect for anyone who can’t hang shelves directly on the walls. They’re sturdy, long-lasting, and will allow you to store all your bins. You can even invest in a ceiling-mounted rack to keep your bins organized and out of the way.
Pro Tip: Use a label maker to mark each storage bin so you can see at a glance what is inside
4. Organize Your Tools
What’s the use of having a whole collection of specialized tools if you can’t find them beneath the clutter? Take some time to organize your tools, and you’ll thank yourself when you are rushing to find the right wrench to fix a kitchen leak.
Here are three easy, do-it-yourself projects that can be completed in an afternoon using scrap lumber and a few tools.
Create an instant Tool Wall by securing a piece of plywood to your wall studs. Mix-and-match different sizes of hooks, shelves, and bins to hang and hold your wrenches, pliers, clamps, wire strippers, hammers, tape measures, etc.
Build Tool Containers by attaching different lengths of PVC pipe to your walls or to the side of your workbench. The resulting tubes can hold power tools, caulk guns, screwdrivers, wrenches, and more.
Build a Mason Jar Holder using a 2X4, pipe clamps, and a few mason or canning jars. Check out this video to see the steps:
Another easy way to get organized is to invest in a simple tool box. If you’re not concerned about floor space, look for a rolling tool chest with multiple drawers so that you can easily transport your tools. If you don’t have many tools to store, look for a tabletop tool chest. You can always purchase a few extra containers to store your screws, nails, nuts, and bolts as your collection increases, and keep those containers on a corner shelf or inside a larger plastic bin.
5. Use Your Ceiling
Most of us don’t immediately think of the ceiling as the perfect place to store our things. But when it comes to the garage, the ceiling is a treasure chest of usable square feet.
There are two basic ways to maximize your ceiling space. The easiest way is to simply purchase the equipment premade. A ceiling rack can hold boxes, bins, suitcases, and sports equipment. A special garage hoist can be used to hang larger items such as kayaks or sports equipment.
The other way is to do it yourself. See those wooden beams that stretch the length of your garage ceiling? They represent a great opportunity for extra storage.
Create Storage Between Your Exposed Ceiling Joists
For this project, you’ll need either metal brackets, wire shelving, or wood planks. Attach the shelving material of your choice to the bottom of the joists with screws, clips, or nails. Now, you have the perfect nook to store small plastic bins or longer items such as ski equipment or curtain rods.
6. Get Creative with Small Items
Left unchecked, the garage has the potential to turn into the room-equivalent of a junk drawer. That can happen even if you don’t have lots of bulky items taking up space. Sometimes all it takes is a simple system of getting the small objects off the floor and into their proper places for the garage to feel like a whole new room.
Try one of these solutions for storing your smaller objects such as loose nails, screws, and tools.
Create A Storage Wall
A storage wall is exactly what it sounds like: a wall that has everything you need to store your stuff. You can create one by installing a mixture of hooks, shelves, and containers. The great thing about the wall is that you can customize it to fit your exact needs today — then add new parts whenever you feel like it.
Pro Tip: Maximize your wall space by securing a piece of plywood to your wall studs. It will give you a larger surface area to attach hooks and shelves.
Make Your Own Pegboard Wall
A simple but innovative twist on the storage wall, pegboard is another way to ensure that your garage storage space will grow with you.
For this project, start by deciding how big you want your wall to be. If you only have a handful of tools and miscellaneous objects to store, you can mount small pieces of pegboard above a workbench or on the wall. But if you have lots of items — or you want to mix in some bigger objects like bike helmets and baseball mitts — experiment by covering an entire wall with a pegboard.
Next, you’ll need to choose the best material to use. Pegboard comes in masonite (a mixture of compressed wood fiber and resin), wood, fiberboard, metal, and plastic. Masonite pegboard is the type you will be most likely to see if you go to the hardware store, and it’s a great choice for storing standard-size tools. For heavier objects, you’ll want to go with a metal or plastic pegboard.
Once you’ve hung your pegboard, add hooks, tool bins, and as many organizational accessories as you need.
7. Store Bulky Items
Every homeowner has something that is just too big or irregular to fit in a traditional storage rack: like a bicycle, kayak, hockey net, or a weed wacker. For these items, try thinking outside the box.
How to Store Bicycles in the Garage
A simple yet effective bicycle storage solution is to invest in some heavy-duty bicycle hooks. You can attach the hooks to a beam in your ceiling or to your wall studs. If you have multiple bikes, start by installing a piece of plywood to your wall studs, which will allow you to attach more hooks across a wider surface area.
How to Store Kayaks in the Garage
You have several options when it comes to storing kayaks in your garage: hang them from the ceiling, mount them on the wall, or purchase a storage rack.
Try to store your kayak in an area that doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic to reduce the risk of bumping it and knocking it off the wall. Though it may be tempting to simply lean the kayak against the wall or in a corner, this is not a good long-term idea. Moisture from the ground can easily cause mold build-up and damage the material.
To wall-mount your kayaks, you’ll need to purchase two heavy-duty hooks. If you have several kayaks, and have plenty of floor space in your garage, look into purchasing a freestanding kayak floor rack.
Another excellent space-saving option is to anchor the boat to your ceiling using a special garage hoist. According to REI, the best way to hang your kayak is by using wide straps that grip the boat’s body.
How to Store Lawn Chairs
Lawn chairs can take up a deceptive amount of space, so getting them up on the wall or the ceiling can save you some valuable square feet. You can create a wall storage rack for your chairs by installing a few heavy-duty hooks.
Or, if you have quite a few chairs to store, try building a storage shelf yourself:
How to Store Shovels, Rakes, Long-handled Garden Tools
Want to do something about all the miscellaneous tools cluttering up the corner? One easy and affordable solution is to purchase 2-3 concrete tubes. You can find these online or at most home goods stores, like Lowe’s and Home Depot. They’re used for pouring concrete, but they double as an excellent holder for tools like rakes, electric trimmers, volleyball nets, and more.
Get Started Today
Organizing your garage can be simple, inexpensive, and even fun. If you’re still nervous about jumping into a DIY project, start small. Add a few shelves over your workbench, take a weekend to build a Mason Jar Tool Holder with your kids, or go online to purchase a few bike hooks to get those space-hoggers off the ground.
Before you know it, you’ll be getting creative with your garage storage ideas and finding new ways to declutter all those odds and ends.
Brandon Hubbard, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C
