Garage Storage Ideas – Store and Organize Wisely

Your garage is where you readily dump items you don’t know what to do with them. These items can range from garden tools, sports gear, recreational items, and many more, and they clutter your garage floor so much that the space is always disorganized. However, there are garage storage ideas that you can use to declutter your garage floor and keep things organized in that space, leaving you enough free room for parking your cars.

Garage storage ideas range from simple to complex ones. You can have storage on your garage walls, on the floor, and on the ceiling. Garage storage DIY projects are easy to accomplish if you’re handy. If not, opt for commercial IKEA shelves for organizing items in your garage.

In this article, you’ll have different garage storage ideas to help you clean up your garage space. You’ll also know where you can have storage in your garage.

Types of Garage Storage and Organization System

Storages in your garage can take different forms and positions, differentiating the types of garage storage you can have. Generally, installing storage into your garage is determined by some factors, but the types of garage storage you can choose from include:

Garage Shelves

Garage shelves are open storage spaces and organizational systems that can rest on your garage floor or walls. They provide an extensive stretch of storage options for items of different sizes. They can also be a platform for other storage, such as boxes and plastic containers.

Garage shelves are available as ready-made storage furniture in stores such as IKEA. However, you can easily make yours with some wall brackets and planks.

Garage Cabinets

Garage cabinets are a more sophisticated storage option for garages. They add style to your garage and offer different storage space sizes for your items. They usually rest on the floor and the lower parts of the walls.

You can have a professional furniture maker give your garage a new style by making cabinets to hold some of the items in your garage. You can have them in any color of your choice.

Overhead Storage

This is one of the garage storage options that utilize horizontal space. Overhead storage is suitable for garages with high ceilings. They offer a horizontal storage level other than the floor; your vehicle can be beneath the overhead storage.

Strong overhead storage can hold considerably heavy items, such as your car tires. They can also hold boxes and plastic containers.

Wall Storage

Wall Storage is the most common and simplest garage storage option. You can create one by using hooks and simple track systems. They are convenient for storing irregularly shaped items and hoisting frequently used items such as gardening implements, golf bags, and other lengthy objects.

Good to Read: Garage With Vaulted Ceiling

Factors That Affect Your Garage Storage Options

While you can choose from any garage storage, some factors influence your choice. First, they determine the size and type of storage that fits your garage.

Your Garage Space

The size of your garage influences how much storage you can have in there. A bigger garage means you have wider walls, hence, more room for storing your items on the walls. However, if you have a garage with a high ceiling, you can easily use more vertical space for your garage storage.

Also, a bigger garage will have more storage space than a smaller one, although you can apply some tricks and tips to utilize your small garage for storage fully.

Quantity of Items You Need to Store

How many items do you have cluttering your garage floor? The more you have, the more storage space you’ll need, assuming they all have a purpose. The types and shapes of these items also determine the type of storage you need. Usually, long and weirdly shaped things should go against the wall, and smaller items should fit in cabinets and shelves.

Purpose of Your Garage

A garage serves as more than a park for your vehicle. It is also where you dump items you don’t want littering your bedroom, living room, or hallway. You’ll find chemicals, gardening tools, and other items you can’t put in your attic.

If your garage is for parking your vehicle, you’ll need storage that removes items from your floor to accommodate all your automobiles. However, if it’s a recreation area, a man cave, or a working area, you’ll need storage that fits your purpose.

Good to Read: Garage Conversion Ideas

Garage Storage Ideas

Here are some garage storage ideas you can adopt for decluttering your garage. They encompass all types of garage storage, including those suitable for small garages.

DIY Shelves and Workstation in the Garage

Shelves are excellent garage storage options, allowing you to maximize your garage’s vertical and horizontal space. You can have as many as sixteen compartments on a continuous shelf that holds all your items.

This garage storage idea gives you a dedicated space for your workbench and tools. You don’t have to lose any of your tools, and there’s a platform to do some woodwork. Also, the major shelf compartments can hold different items, improving your organizational skill. You’ll know where certain items are, as you can organize them using them.

Overhead Garage Shelf as Storage

When you have limited space in your garage, you can use the upper layer of the garage to store items. First, however, you’ll need easy access to it, usually by a ladder or stairs.

The overhead shelf is usually made of plank, supported by beams that hold it against the ceiling and joints against the wall. You can have some lightweight materials in this storage space, and it’s easy to accomplish. However, ensure that the planks and beams you use are strong enough for the items you intend to keep.

Garage Shelves With Pegboards on the Sides

Shelves are helpful storage options in a garage, but they may not be suitable for your work tools, especially if you have to use them frequently. A solution to searching for smaller tools in other small tools is to use a pegboard on the side of a free-standing garage shelf.

The holes on Pegboards make them ideal for holding tools such as electric drills, hammers, spanners, screwdrivers, and the like. Although some tools may not easily fit into the holes, you can hold them onto the board by attaching wires. Alternatively, you can mini-shelves with projecting metal parts that can fit and hold into the pegboard holes and hold your tools.

Pegboards and Cabinets Storage Combo

Cabinets are excellent for holding relatively large items. They’ll also hold items that don’t need to be exposed to the atmosphere, such as paints and adhesives. You can have your cans and plastic containers fit into some cabinets. However, they’re not to hold tools.

A pegboard is above the cabinets to hold all your tools in an organized fashion. You don’t have to lose screwdrivers and always search for your pliers.

Stackable Storage Racks Against the Walls

Sometimes, items such as paddles, rakes, and spades don’t sit well on shelves, but they make your garage look disorganized when standing in a corner. So instead, you can have them on stackable storage racks where they can easily be kept dry with air and prevent rust.

This garage storage idea uses more of your garage’s vertical space, leaving you enough horizontal space to park your vehicles.

Shelves and Cabinets Combination for Garages

Shelves may be insufficient for your garage, especially if you have many items to store. Adding cabinets to your shelves gives you more storage space. However, to allow ample space to park your automobile, the shelves should be above your cabinets, making full use of vertical space in your garage.

Your cabinets can hold seldom-used items, while the frequently used ones are better left on the shelf. Each compartment can hold different categories of items for easier location. You can also have storage boxes on the topmost level of the shelves.

Retractable Workbench Below Pegboard

For a small garage, you need to maximize the use of vertical spaces and reduce your dependence on horizontal space, as it should be for your automobile. One of the garage storage ideas that help you use less horizontal space is using a retractable workbench.

When you need to work, you can erect your workbench and do what you must. However, once you’re done, you can release it so that it rests in the wall and uses less horizontal space. An added advantage is that it’s in proximity to your tools.

Full Garage Closets and Cabinets

Modern garage designs require that you have storage areas that are as chic as the garage floor and ceiling. With epoxy floors, you need closets and cabinets that match the style and may use full closets throughout your garage. In some cases, you can add cabinets and shelves.

A complete closet garage holds all items cluttering your floor. However, there may be a pegboard to hold tools. Where you desire cabinets, they can be beneath the pegboard, and their top serves as the workbench. This garage storage idea is the most stylish and expensive.

Final Thought

Garages are prone to holding unwanted items and end up cluttered. However, with these garage storage ideas, including shelves, cabinets, overhead storage, and pegboards, you can organize and have items where they should be.