The garage is usually one of the most disorganized spaces in any home. Built to hold vehicles, garage spaces aren’t designed to handle storage, at least not without a bit of help. Yet many homeowners find their garages filled with a wide variety of items that don’t seem to fit anywhere else.
If you’re tripping over a sea of boxes, need a place to store your tools, or just want to clean up so you can park your car in the garage again, you’ll want to check out these tips to maximize your garage space.
Maximize Wall Storage
One of the best ways to maximize the space in your garage is to get things off the floor and onto the walls. Here are some great ways to make the most of the wall space in your garage.
Wall-Mounted Workbench
Need space to work, but don’t have room for a dedicated workbench? You can build your own wall-mounted, fold-away work bench that provides plenty of work space and a handy pegboard for tools and accessories.
Stackable Bins
Stackable plastic storage bins, available from your local hardware or home store, are a great way to keep a variety of items clean, dry, and ready for use. Plus, they stack easily against the wall to maximize storage space.
Pegboard Sections
Pegboards are a versatile storage option that’s perfect for a wide variety of tools. Plus, you can create a pegboard storage area in a variety of sizes to suit your needs.
DIY Garage Shop Pegboard
Cabinetry
Adding cabinetry to your garage walls can provide secure storage for items large and small. Many big box stores, like Home Depot, carry a great selection of garage cabinet storage solutions to suit your needs and budget.
Ceiling & Roof Storage
When floor space is at a premium, you can make room for more storage by utilizing the ceiling space in your garage. Here are some simple hacks to safely tuck away seasonal decorations or other items you don’t need to access every day.
Cargo Net
Hanging a simple, inexpensive cargo net from the ceiling of your garage can provide storage space for decorations, sports equipment, and even a storage bin or two.
Ceiling-Mounted Shelves
If you want a more stable space to store boxes and bins, ceiling-mounted shelving can provide the space you need. This wire ceiling storage basket, made by Suncast, provides convenient ceiling storage for items up to 250 lbs.
Plastic Storage Bin Mounting System
Looking for a storage solution that’s easy to access? You can build this garage ceiling storage system in a weekend for less than $75.
Organize with Different Zones
Now that you have some ideas for convenient storage options, it’s time to get organized. One of the best ways to make any space more efficient is to divide the space into zones.
Think about how you use your garage.
- What activities do you do there most often?
- What do you need to store in your garage?
For some, the garage is used primarily to store one or more cars. You may also end up storing cleaning supplies, canned goods, pet food, or beverages in your garage. Some families utilize extra garage space to store garden supplies and tools.
You may also use your garage to store seasonal items, like Christmas decorations, or lawn furniture.
If your garage is used primarily as a hobby space, you’ll also want dedicated space to work and additional storage capacity for supplies, tools, or items specific to your hobby.
It can be helpful to list out all of the activities and storage needs your garage currently serves. Next, go through your list and decide whether each activity or storage option needs to happen in the garage.
Do you really need to store canned food items or cleaning supplies in the garage? Or, could these items find a different place to call home?
After you’ve decided on the activities and storage options you need, it’s time to create your zones.
Organize your items so that everything for a given activity is stored in one zone. This makes it simple to locate the items you need and easy to put things away when you’re finished.
For example, if you store your kids’ sports equipment in the garage, decide whether bins, shelving or hooks might be needed to store everything in one place. Then dedicate a specific section of the garage to storing these items.
Try to aim for no more than six zones in your garage to make it easier to remember where things are stored.
After you’ve created your zones, remove anything that doesn’t belong in one of those zones.
Is It Time to Upgrade Your Space?
Do you need more space? If you identified more than six zones for your garage or you’re finding that a particular zone continues to expand, it might be time to consider upgrading your space.
While this isn’t an option for everyone, some households have the space to add an additional shed, garage, or storage building to handle overflow storage or to create dedicated space for a particular hobby. The good news is that Newmart Builders offers a great selection of durable metal garages perfect to store a variety of items from cars and boats to garden tools, hobby gear, sports equipment, and much more. We can even help you build a dedicated space for your favorite hobby, all without the hassles, expense, and time involved for traditional construction. We deliver our prefabricated metal buildings throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Contact us at 1-800-547-8480 to explore your options!
