Garage Storage & Organization Solutions
Keeping your garage clean and organized is not only good for your sanity, but it also has many practical benefits:
- Allows you to park your car inside the garage to protect it from the elements.
- Saves you time from looking for tools or other items.
- Gives you space to work so you can keep dust and dirt out of your house.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through my planning and execution of whole garage storage. It includes everything from large yard tools to Christmas decorations. I’ve considered everything down to the fine details to keep everything clean and accessible throughout the seasons.
Ideas & Inspiration
Wall Storage Solutions
Since buying my first home last year, I have accumulated so many yard tools. They started piling up in my garage quickly! To keep them off the garage floor, I wanted a big wall of hooks and shelves. Many of the commercial solutions available come with options for specialty hooks. So, you can hang just about anything you have. The challenge is to arrange the hooks and tracks in a way that everything fits and looks clean and organized.
Tool Storage
For smaller tool storage, peg boards are the way to go. Hanging up your tools keeps them off your workbench and makes them more accessible. They’re easier to find than if stowed in a toolbox. Similarly to the large tool storage, the challenge is arranging all the pegs so that everything has a place.
Shelving
Lastly, to keep everything else in your garage off the floor, you need some type of shelving. There are many commercial shelving options you can buy. I wanted a specific size that fit into an alcove in my garage, so I found some designs that looked pretty simple to do on my own. Big stacking bins keep small items and holiday decor out of sight. They also keep bugs, dust and water out of your stuff so that they last longer.
Planning
Defining Zones
Get the most out of your garage space by defining zones for what you need, where you need it. Innovatehomeorg.com recommends 7 different zones to unlock hidden storage space.
- Transition Zone – if you don’t have a mud room, create a space near the back door to take off muddy shoes and hang bags and coats. I did not include this zone in my design because my back door opens to a mud room/ laundry room. You should consider a designated space if you have a different setup.
- Trash and recycling center – I keep my trash and recycling right next to the garage door so it’s easier to roll them back and forth on trash day. If it’s not convenient to keep your trash bins in your garage, you can skip this zone.
- Thin wall storage – A wall storage system keeps everything close to the wall so you have plenty of space to open car doors.
- Large bulky storage – Use this zone for your holiday and seasonal decor as well as sports equipment that you don’t use that often. Keep similar items in big plastic bins to keep this zone tidy.
- Outdoor items – I combined this zone with my thin wall storage. The only difference is, you’ll want to keep your most frequently used outdoor items as close to the garage door as possible.
- Garage workbench – This is where I spend most of my time in my garage. I put my pegboard of tools above it for easy access. Keeping tools charged is a time saver, so you never have to wait for a new battery. I set up a charging station in one of the shelves of my workbench. I always have batteries ready for my most often used items.
- Ceiling storage – Great for kayaks, car toppers or extra lumber. I didn’t need this quite yet, but I’ll definitely consider this in the future if I ever run out of space with my current storage options.
Taking Inventory
No need to list every little thing you keep in your garage. But you should list out the large items you’ll need to store on your wall storage system and which tools you use regularly. I also found it helpful to list out categories of items I want to store in bins to get a good idea of how many I would need.
Sketch Out Plans
Now that I know everything I need to store in each zone, I combine that with my inspiration photos and sketch out where I’ll place everything. It’s not really practical to measure each item to draw something perfectly to scale. So, the sketches are approximate, but will still give you a guide to go from once you start placing items.
FastTrack Wall Storage
When I bought my house, there were already Rubbermaid FastTrack tracks placed on each wall in the garage. I decided to move the existing tracks all to one wall and buy the FastTrack hooks I would need for my items. This saved me a little bit of money, but if you’re not lucky enough to already have them, you can buy kits with tracks and some hooks to get you started.
Materials List
The list for this project is pretty simple. A kit of tracks and hooks will get you started. From there, the specific hooks and quantities you need will depend upon the inventory list you made earlier. Here’s what I needed to store all my large items.
- Hang Rail Track
- Ladder hook
- Garden Hose hook
- Utility hook
- Small hook
- Dual Handle hook
- Multi-Purpose hook
- Power Tool Holder
- Wire Garage Wall Shelving Kit
- Locking containers
Other items & tools you’ll need:
- Stud Finder
- Screws
- Level
- Power Drill
- Ladder
Hanging Tracks & Hooks
The most important thing about hanging the tracks is to make sure you secure the steel brackets to studs in the wall. A stud finder makes this easy. Run the stud finder along the wall and mark where it lights up with a pencil. The only other challenge with hanging brackets is making sure they’re level. Once you have your brackets secured, you snap the plastic tracks over them. For the Rubbermaid FastTracks, I found it difficult to snap the bottom over the brackets, so I used a rubber mallet to tap them into place.
With your tracks secure, it’s time to start placing your hooks and shelves. I already had a decent idea of where I wanted to place them from my sketch. It’s important you still work one item at a time to make sure you leave enough space for everything. I started on the left side and worked my way to the right, hanging each hook and the item it would be storing one at a time. It’s really important to have the tool in place on the wall before adding the next hook. It will save you so much time from having to rearrange if you wait until the end!
To store bagged items such as grass seed and fertilizer, I emptied them into airtight plastic bins. The FastTrack system also has shelves that hang off of the same brackets. I placed these bins and plant containers above a trash and recycling station to keep them off the ground.
Workbench & Pegboard Tool Organization
Materials List
Purchasing a work bench or other pre-made piece of furniture makes this project quick and easy:
- (2) 2’x4’ Pegboards
- (1) 1×3 stud
- Pegboard hook kit
- IKEA island
- (4) Cart wheels
- Black paint
- Clamped Work Light
Other tools you’ll need:
- Stud finder
- Level
- Paint brush
- Screws
- Power drill
- Step stool or ladder
- Pencil
- Saw
Hanging Pegboard & Hooks
You can buy pegboard at a hardware store either in sheets as large as plywood, or pre-cut into 2ft x 4ft pieces. You can’t attach the pegboard directly to the wall because you need a little space behind it for the hooks. You can create this extra space by attaching 1”x3”’s to the walls where you want the top and bottom of the pegboard to be. An 8ft 1×3, cut in half, is the perfect size. The holes will be blocked wherever the 1×3’s are, so be careful with where you place them. You’ll need to screw them into studs, and your stud finder will come in handy for this. Once your 1×3’s are secured to the wall, screw your pegboard onto them.
Like adding the hooks for the wall storage unit, adding one at a time is the best way to make sure you have enough space for each item. Your sketch will be a good guide, but since it isn’t exactly to scale, you may have to move things around to get the right placement. The hook kit I bought has little pins to secure the hooks into place. I found these really practical to keep the hooks from pulling out as you’re removing items from the pegboard. So, once you have the hooks placed perfectly, go back and add these pins to each one so that they stay put.
Workbench
I already had a piece of furniture that I used as a kitchen island at my last house that would be the perfect workbench. It has a butcher block top and a couple shelves below for extra storage. You could buy something similar or try to make your own workbench if you prefer.
I painted my bench black and added some locking wheels to the bottom so I could move it away from the wall to work with larger items. A spotlight attached to the workbench top makes it easier to see what I’m working on.
For the shelves, I used the bottom shelf to store the paint cans that I use regularly throughout the house. On the other shelf, I ran an extension cord to a surge protector with several plugs to make a charging station for the batteries that power my tools.
Built-In Shelves
Materials List
- 1×3’s
- Plywood boards
- Plastic bins
- Tap lights
- Labels
Other items & tools you’ll need:
- Screws
- Power drill
- Stud finder
- Level
- Ladder
- Saw
Supports & Shelves
I started out by securing the back and side studs for each shelf to the walls. It is really important that these are screwed into wall studs because this will provide support for two sides of the shelves. Using a stud finder, mark where the studs are along the wall. Measure the height of where you want each shelf to be and mark it with a pencil. With a level, draw a straight line across at the height of each shelf. Cut the 1×3’s to the appropriate size for the back and sides of your shelves. Using the lines and studs as your guide, secure two screws to attach the boards to each stud along the wall.
Complete the boxes by adding the other side and front of the shelf bases. The easiest way is to add the front stud first and secure it to the standing support stud and the side stud that is already attached to the wall. Lastly, add in the remaining side of the shelf base by screwing it into the front and back studs.
The shelves are made of inexpensive plywood since it’s just for the garage. I had to cut my shelves in half to fit them into my car. I’m actually glad I did… because the smaller size made it easier to slide them into place on top of the frame and behind the supports. Prevent the plywood boards from bowing in the middle by screwing the edges onto the frames.
If you have a helper, you can fully assemble the shelves on the ground, then attach them to the walls and supports. The method above was the easiest way for me to build the shelves by myself, but I don’t think this would be easiest if you have someone to help you.
Storage Bins
Pack like items into storage bins. Add labels to each bin so that you can quickly find what you’re looking for. To make it even easier, add a battery operated tap light inside the lid of each bin. When you open the bin, tap the light, and you can see clearly in the illuminated bin.
Budget
I was able to save quite a bit on this project by using things I already had, such as the existing FastTracks and the workbench. I’m not sure I saved much by building my own shelves, but they’re the perfect, custom size for my space, which to me, is priceless! Here’s the budget breakdown for all the materials.
Project Timeline
I stretched this project out over a few weekends, but you could easily knock out the storage wall and the pegboard/workbench in one day. Most of the time was spent on the built-in shelves, but I still think this could be completed over a long weekend.
Since it’s function > form in the garage, organizing everything and experimenting with built in shelving here is a quick and easy project. You can gain some practice before tackling larger projects that you may not feel comfortable with yet. I am so happy with how my garage turned out and now that everything has a place, it will be so easy to keep it clean and organized in the future.
You May Also Like
Must Have Checklist for a New Puppy
Creating a Vegetable Garden with Kids
