Garage storage ideas
By Tom Drake | 11th July 2023 | 6 min read
Keep your garage free from clutter
Many people struggle with the challenge of organising and optimising their garage spaces. However, the benefits of tackling this task far outweigh the initial effort it takes. In this guide, we take you through some of our top garage storage ideas, so you can start maximising your own garage space.
Metal shelving units
Shelving units are one of the most simple and cost effective ways to get your garage in order. These units give you huge amounts of flexible storage space that’s perfect for boxes, paint tins, tools and everything else you store in your garage. They're easy to erect and don’t require drilling lots of holes in your wall. This won’t just save you time on installation, it will also make it easier to change up the location of your storage if your needs change.
Ladder hooks
When you’re looking to keep your garage clutter free, you need to maximise every available space including the walls. Ladders are bulky and can take up a lot of room if left at floor level. They’re also an item that you probably won’t need regular access to, which is why we recommend hanging them from the wall using ladder hooks.
These are available in a number of different shapes and sizes but they will all do the same job: keep your ladder secure and out of the way, whilst freeing up space in the rest of your garage.
Shelving brackets
If you want to customise your garage storage to meet your own needs, then shelving brackets are for you. These can be installed anywhere and give you the freedom to choose how big or small and how high or low you want your garage shelves to be.
Shelving uprights
Once they’ve been mounted onto the wall, shelving uprights give you the flexibility to choose how many different shelves you want and what height you want them to be. All you need to do is purchase some brackets and shelves, then you can start adding extra storage to your garage. One of the benefits of this system over simple shelving brackets is the ability to change the number and position of shelves without any extra drilling into the wall.
Storage cabinets
If you’re looking to add a more secure storage solution to your garage, take a look at our range of storage cabinets. These include doors to help keep any dangerous items out of sight of younger family members. For extra piece of mind, choose a storage cabinet which includes a lock.
These cabinets are available in a number of different sizes and can be combined with other shelving types and hooks to suit your needs.
Floor mounted bike rack
Bikes can be a big source of clutter in garages. They have a habit of falling over and can take up a lot of room, which is why we recommend installing a dedicated bike rack. These will keep your bikes organised and upright, and are available in a range of different sizes to suit your family. You can even label each wheel holder so each family member knows where to leave their bike.
Wall mounted bike rack
Floor mounted bike racks are great for keeping bikes organised but they will occupy quite a large footprint. If you want to maximise your floor space and keep your bikes out of the way, take a look at our range of wall mounted bike racks.
These will hold onto your bike by the wheel or frame and will hang it either horizontally or vertically. This will open up extra space in your garage and leave the floor space vacant, which will help it feel more open and less cluttered. Wall mounted bike racks can be more difficult to use than a floor mounted rack, which makes them an ideal solution for bikes that aren’t used as frequently, or for lighter bikes such as road bikes.
Storage boxes
Once you’ve got your shelving set up, you can take the organisation a step further with the use of storage boxes. These are available in a huge range of sizes and can help you keep smaller items together and organised, rather than having them loose on your shelves.
Use labels to help you keep track of what’s inside your boxes, or use different coloured boxes to denote different items.
Tool chest/ box
If you’re a DIYer with lots of tools, a tool chest is a garage essential. These are designed to keep all your tools organised in one single location. Tool chests and boxes are available in a number of different sizes, so you can find one that fits your needs.
One of the benefits of a tool chest with drawers is the ease of finding the right tool you need. By opening the drawer, you can see all the sizes or types of a particular tool you need and grab the right one for the job.
Peg board
As we’ve already stated, to keep your garage tidy you need to fully utilise the available wall space, which is where peg boards come in. Peg boards are mounted on the wall and feature hooks and boxes to hang your tools. These hooks are not set in a particular place, which allows you to store your tools the way you want. Pegboards are ideal for those frequently used tools that you want to keep close to hand like screwdrivers, tape measures and safety glasses.
Storage bins
Similar to peg boards, storage bins are hung from the wall on a specifically designed board. These small bins are the perfect place to keep smaller items such as screws, washers and drill bits. We recommend adding labels to each of the bins to help you keep track of where everything is.
Magnetic tool holder
Even when you have the best storage setup in the world, it can sometimes be difficult to keep your garage tidy. When it’s the end of the day and you’ve finished a long job, sometimes the last thing you want to do is spend more time organising your tools. That’s where the magnetic tool holder comes in.
As the name suggests, these are mounted on the wall and feature magnets that hold your tools, so storage is as simple as placing a tools on the magnet. These are ideal for holding those frequently used tools, or as a place to keep them tidy before you have a chance to organise them properly.
Hang items from the ceiling
If you’re really looking to maximise your garage storage, don’t forget about the ceiling. If you have a ceiling that's tall enough, you can use this space to hang items such as ladders with hooks, or create small cubby holes between rafters to store those lesser used items. When installing ceiling storage, take extra care to ensure items are secure and aren’t hanging low enough to catch someone on the head.
Decant paint into smaller tins
Keeping old paint tins around can be useful in case you need to touch up any marks in the future, but they take up a lot of room which isn’t an efficient use of space, especially if they’re half empty. This is why we recommend decanting your paint into smaller tins. This will help keep your paint organised and the smaller tins will occupy a much smaller space in your garage.
Upcycled jars screw storage
If you’re looking for a way to sort and organise all those screws, nuts, bolts and washers you have lying around your garage from previous projects, look no further than old glass jars. These are the perfect size to hold smaller items and the fact they’re clear will make it much easier to locate the item you’re looking for. Just be sure to completely clean out the jar before using it!
Keep similar items close together
To make finding things in your garage easier, try grouping similar items together. For example, hang bike helmets and locks next to bikes, keep all your gardening tools in one place and keep your drill bits close to your drill. This will make it easier to place items back in the right place when you’re finished and help you save time looking for them.
Use height to define importance
Another way you can maximise the efficiency of your garage storage is using the height of the walls to denote importance. Your garage will contain many items you might only use once a year alongside items you will use more than once a week. To maximise the functionality of your garage storage, we recommend keeping your regularly used items at eye level or lower, and those lesser used items higher up.
Colour code items by season
We’ve already outlined the importance of labelling your storage boxes and containers, but labels can be difficult to see from far away. One way you can add an extra touch of organisation to your garage storage is colour coding by season.
It’s likely you only use a large number of items in your garage at certain times of the year. It’s also likely you’ll want to use all of these items at once, so colour coding can help you identify which of the items are in the same group and can be taken out of the garage at the same time. For example, by adding green labels to your Christmas decorations, or using storage bins that are all the same colour, you can ensure you take out the right items when Christmas arrives and you don’t spend time looking through these boxes for lost items at other times of the year.
That concludes our countdown of our best garage storage ideas. As you can see, with just a small amount of preparation, your garage can become a hugely functional and useful part of your home.
If you're looking to upgrade your garage even further, why not paint your garage floor?
