Your garage is supposed to be a home for your car… but no one really uses it for that. In fact, 93% of homeowners use their garage for storage, and 16% of people don’t use their garage for parking a vehicle at all.
The problem with garages is the lack of organization. They are just wide, open areas, so it’s easy for them to look cluttered and messy. But don’t worry. If you’re struggling with garage organization, it’s easy to fix.
We’ve put together this guide to show you some helpful garage organization ideas, so make sure you keep reading below!
1. Go Vertical With Wall Shelves
Your vehicle likely takes up most of the floor space in your garage, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a lot of storage room. You just have to take your belongings off the floor and put them on the walls instead. This will keep the floor open and put less strain on your concrete or polyurea coating.
Install a set of shelves that go all the way up the side of the wall. Don’t worry if you can’t reach the top shelf. A stepladder will take care of that problem, and it will give you a lot more space for your belongings.
Make sure the selves are tall, deep, and wide enough to hold standard-size storage bins, though. Otherwise, your new shelves won’t do you much good, and you’ll still feel like you’re scrambling to find space.
2. Put Everything in Plastic Storage Bins
Packing everything inside of the same-sized storage bins will keep your garage organized and make the space look cleaner (and, in some cases, more open, too). These types of storage containers should slide in and out of your shelves easily, so when you need something, you won’t have to do any digging.
Are you worried you’ll forget what items you have if you can’t see them? Use clear bins so you can see everything that’s inside. If you want to hide your clutter, use opaque bins that hide whatever you put inside them.
No matter what you use, though, always label everything.
Make a list of every item inside each container and tape it to the outside of the bin. Then, make sure the labels are facing out so you can always find what you’re looking for when you need it.
It’s also a good idea to store seasonal items or things you don’t use very often on the highest shelves. Keep items you use frequently down low where it is easier to reach them.
3. Designate Different “Zones”
One of the best ways to keep track of your belongings is to store like items in the same place. To do this, create separate zones in your garage for different things. For example, you can create zones for things like:
- Tools
- Lawn care/gardening supplies
- Car maintenance
- Sports items
- Seasonal storage
- Cleaning supplies
- Exercise equipment
- Etc.
When the Christmas season rolls around, you won’t have to search through every shelf to find your decorations or warm coats. These zones can merge with each other, especially if you only have a few items in one category, but everything should have its own designated spot.
4. Hang Things That Don’t Fit on Shelves
Instead of leaning things like ladders, brooms, rakes, shovels, etc. in a jumbled clump against the wall, use wall hooks, pegboards, or slat walls to hang them up. You’ll be able to grab what you need without everything falling over, and when you’re done, you can hang it back up quickly and easily.
You can even hang large, awkward items like wheelbarrows or bikes! And since you aren’t limited to the shelf layout, you can customize the height and spacing of these hanging items as much as you want.
5. Create a Command Station
Do you have items you use every day? Put them in your command station.
This station can include things like:
- A desk or table for working
- Wall hooks to hold small items
- A shoe shelf to prevent your shoes from piling up and getting lost
- Small, open containers for miscellaneous items
- A drawer or container for important paperwork
- Wall hooks for jackets, hats, scarves, and other clothes
- Etc.
This will keep everything you need in an easily accessible area. Not only that, it will make grabbing what you need before you leave the house a quick and simple process.
6. Sort Toys into Baskets
Playing outside is a healthy (and important) part of a child’s day, but those outdoor toys can be a real pain. You can’t leave them outside all the time, so they tend to end up in a pile just inside the garage door.
Buy a few storage baskets and put them on one of your lowest shelves. Then sort similar toys into the baskets. When your kids want to play outside, they will know where to find their toys and, even better, can put them away when they’re done.
Garage Organization Ideas That Will Help Relieve Your Stress
The last thing you want to step into after a long day at work is a messy garage. Fortunately, these garage organization ideas will help you clean up your space and reduce your stress. And they won’t break the bank, either.
Garage Force also offers high-end storage solutions to give you the ultimate workspace and beautiful storage.
But before you start to declutter your garage, you should complete the upgrade with a new concrete floor coating. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team at Garage Force to learn more about polyurea coatings and how they can benefit your garage!
Recent Comments