How To Make An Effective Garage Organization

How's your garage?  Do you have a large garage or a small one?  Do you store tools in your garage? Do you like to park in your garage? The garage is a handy storage area, but if it is not well organized, it can quickly turn into a mess since floor space is limited.  There are many ways to organize a garage determining the best system in up to the user of the area.

So, here are tips to help make an effective garage organization system.

Always use Vertical Space:

Vertical space is when you use the entire wall for storage. Wall mounted shelving and cabinets work great to maximize the room on the wall. This will give you three walls to utilize.

Use lots of different sizes of hooks and create a place to store shoes and other seasonal items:

You can use hooks in various ways on the wall.  Some things you can hang from hooks are hoses, jackets, shoes, racks, brooms, sports, and equipment bags. Winter shoes and other seasonal items can be stored in the garage.  If your winters are frigid or summers are sweltering, you may want to be conservative when it comes to what you store in the garage.

If you have an attached garage, the area near the door to the house is a vital one.

It can hold shoes and other items that are most needed in the home. We like to store our freezer and our shoe storage unit near the garage door for quick access when we need it.  Here's an image of my shoe organization system near my garage door. If you want to see how we made this, here is the post. Looks cute, right?  I love it.  It holds the shoes for the family.

Tip: I have many clients that have a shelf like this next to their door to the house.  It's OK but having a system in place is even better, a labeled shelving system will make this unit even more useful. Otherwise, it will become a catch-all area that never looks organized or put together.

Have a locked door cabinet for toxic or poisonous products:

I wrote a post about this a few years ago, but it still applies. Keep all these items away from children and animals.

Use the outer perimeter of the garage for outdoor equipment:

The cars are in the center of the garage, so it's understandable to always use the outer edge of the garage.  In a large garage, I had clients create a row of free-standing shelving in one of the three car garage areas.  It works but can look quite cluttered. So if possible just store items on the outer perimeter.

Flooring coverage is optional but a great idea if you plan on using the garage often.

Floor coverings can be padded or hard plastic.  I added the padded floor covering to my garage and love that in the winter, my feet don't freeze.

Use Ceiling hangers systems for larger storage bins.

Like in the picture, these lift systems are really neat.  It works excellent with garages with high ceilings. You can store seasonal bins and then crank them up so that they are out of the way.

Tracking systems work great on garage walls.

There are lots of track systems available  Some are complete wall systems (from top to bottom). Others are only tracking horizontal and vertical tracks like the image below. These systems can hold shelves, tools, pots, and other supplies.

If you are storing your tools in the garage, create a pegboard wall for individual tools. The pegboard wall is a very affordable option for people. By buying hooks of all different sizes, you can easily hang anything you have.  Tip: Trace the tool with a large jumbo marker while it is hanging.  It will help others know where it needs to go when they use it.

Using just a few of these options in your garage can make a difference.  Pick the best one that works for your home.

Well, that's it for now, I hope this inspired you to get your garage organized. Let's continue the conversation, what areas of the garage do you struggle with?  Please leave a comment below. 

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