Shelving and storage ideas: Keeping your garage tidy
| March 23, 2016
Organizing your garage is and can be easy and inexpensive. It is also vitally important if you want a clean garage and find everything relatively easily. There are many shelving and storage ideas floating around that make you utilize the space you have, whether you have a large or small space available to work with.
You firstly need a storage plan. Draw a rough floor plan of the garage area and on the paper, mark where the items – in categories – should go. Once you have an idea of where things should go, you are ready to get started.
If you store things on the floor, it is easy for it to get messy again. Additionally, floor storage also invites water damage, mildew, and collects dirt and dust. Rather get a storage system in place, using different ways to store the various items you keep in your garage. The items that you use often should be stored in an easy to reach place, preferably near the front of your garage, while the items that you don’t use – item that you keep because of sentimental value – should be stored towards the back of the area.
Vertical Space and the Walls
Remember that the walls are an extra way to store and also organize some items. You can make use of wall-mounted storage or even fill a wall with lots of shelves. For the wall-mounted storage, make use of a pegboard or even a row of hooks. Bicycles, gardening tools, and even sports gear can be hung on the wall, thus eliminating floor pileup.
You can also add tall shelving units and even a ceiling-mounted platform. Here you can stack bins and other plastic containers and then hang the abovementioned items below. Just be sure to label those containers and face the labels outwards – this makes items easier to find once you have forgotten in which container you put something.
Storage containers
As just mentioned, stackable or even just clear plastic containers with lids are the best. Even if you cannot label them, their clear nature makes it easy for you to view what is inside when looking for something specific.
You can also use clear jars to sort hardware and small items. They can be stored on medium height shelves, making it easy for you to find screws and bolts.
Also worth considering is a lockable cabinet where you can store lawn chemicals and other equipment you do not want your children near.
These are just a few ideas to get you going; once you have sorted out all your things, you will know how you want to organize and store them.