Is your garage piling up with tools, materials, and other things you just can’t seem to find? Well, at Acme Tools, it is time to get organized.
You want to clean and organize your garage this year but need more than standard bins and labels. There are plenty of ways to manage your garage: overhead storage, drawers, shelves, cabinets, and rolling boxes. But no matter what you go with, the overall goal is to make your space neater to walk through and make you more efficient.
You need to know where everything is, have a place, and look neat so that you can work or at least park your car. We will talk about a few ideas, systems, and storage devices that you can use to get your garage to its maximum potential.
What Do You Need?
This one is self-explanatory but is crucial for the next steps. Take a second and look at your garage, the stuff you have, and what you want to do in that space. Once done, you can purge things you do not need by separating them into either a “trash” or “keep” pile.
Now that you know what you want to keep, you can use that information to decide what you want or need in your garage. Is there an assortment of tools lying around? It would be best if you had a toolbox. Screws, nails, and other fasteners everywhere? A little organizer to sort them would be required. Lots of wood is used in your shop. A bin to hold your scrap wood would help minimize the clutter. But if you need to know where to begin, here are a few options to browse.
Garage Storage Ideas
Rolling Toolboxes and Workbenches
A rolling toolbox is for the person who has many tools and works in their garage a lot. Having the mobility of a rolling toolbox means you can rearrange your space to fit the job. Also, portability lets you have your tools right next to you. Perfect for an item you cannot move, but you still need to swap between different tools.
You have stationary workbenches for people who like things set where they are. Have a place to work, store your tools, and do not wonder where you placed them last. You could even make an island workstation and stack other tools on top or secure a few together and make a more massive workbench. Customize your workspace to space to get the best work out of you by having easy access to all the supplies you will need.
Tool Boxes
You might only have a few tools for the handy person in the house, but you must keep them organized and localized in one place. A toolbox will do that while allowing you to store other accessories in the box. Get a compartment to store nails, screws, and other fasteners, as well as separate your tools. A toolbox is crucial as well if you have children in your home. Keeping them locked away and out of reach will decrease the chance of them getting their sharp objects.
Now, for the trade professional, the weekend warrior, or the DIYer, there are also versions where you can store your tools in complicated cases and take them on the road with you if needed. With the Milwaukee PACKOUT system, you can easily stack boxes on top of each other for easy storage and quick transportation. You also have the DEWALT Toughsystem 2.0 for modular organization and storage.
Storage Cabinets and Tool Bins
Finally, to help round out your garage, add some cabinet space and bins if you are always working there. Tool cabinets, standing or connected to the wall, will add storage for things like paint, seasonal tools, or other accessories you do not often need or do not need. Depending on your space, budget, and how you work, you can get cabinets in either metal, plastic, or even wood.
Use bins for miscellaneous items that don’t need to be sorted or for garbage. That way, you keep your shop clean and tidy.
Wall-Mounted Storage Solutions
Wall-mounted storage allows you to take advantage of all the vertical space in your garage. There are several options for wall-mounted storage, such as track systems, pegboard, and panel systems. Going vertical is an excellent option to keep items off the floor. Milwaukee offers an entire wall-mounted storage system with many storage solutions for cordless tools, batteries, and more that are part of their PACKOUT line. The simple movement of items off the floor will make your space appear less cluttered even though the same number of items is still in the garage.
Pegboard is the easiest to use and one of the cheapest options. It is easily customizable and works above a workbench to hold several hand tools, such as wrenches, hammers, and pliers. A track system is the best option for carrying heavier items. The system attaches directly to wall studs and can be used with shelves or hooks, which can be adjusted to many levels to oversee different shaped objects. A panel system mixes a pegboard and a track system with slots that can hold hooks, shelves, or cabinets to maximize every inch of space on a wall.
Storage Organizers
In a garage, hardware is one of the biggest headaches you will deal with. You will find screws, bolts, nuts, and more rolling around in every corner of your toolbox, floor, workbench, and so on. Keep all those little pieces inside a storage organizer. Many storage organizers are split into sections, so you can keep specific-sized screws and such in their bin so they can be easily identified when you need them. Festool has an entire line of storage solutions with customizable inserts to manage everything from screws and bolts to cordless tools.
Overhead Storage
Overhead storage is often an overlooked area of the garage. By hanging items from the ceiling, you can utilize as much space in your garage as possible. Good items to hang from the ceiling include bikes, kayaks, surfboards, and other large sports equipment. There are many ways to accomplish this, whether you go with hooks that screw into ceiling trusses or an entire shelf system. Regardless, keep items up high that you do not need constant access to, such as seasonal items.
Random Tips & Tricks
- Label bins so the contents can easily be identified without pulling them down.
- Use opaque bins so you cannot see the contents; otherwise, your storage area will appear cluttered.
- Organize items into zones of comparable items, making it easier to find things.
- Place frequently used items lower to the ground and seasonal items higher up.
- Use cube organizers to keep shoes looking neat and tidy.
Final Thoughts
Now, there are plenty of other storage devices I could have gone over, but I want this blog post to be brief. When it comes to your garage, only you know what you will need. Garage storage can help optimize your space to work faster, find what you are looking for, and make cleaning easy afterward. Using toolboxes will stop the clutter of tools, workstations with drawers make switching from tool to tool more accessible, and a cabinet or two will keep all the items you rarely use out of your way.
Cleaning out your space may differ from what you need, but having it neat is necessary. You can only get work done if your area is clear, and you cannot park your car if tools and scraps are everywhere on the floor. Keep your garage sorted with some simple garage tool storage. Then, be amazed at how you can #DoYourBestWork under these improved conditions.
Did you find this article helpful?
In the comment section below, let us know what other tricks you use to keep your garage organized. Don’t forget to keep checking our blog for more of the latest tool news and other posts like this. Also, check out our website for great deals on tools and to buy all your storage needs in one spot.
