Wipe and Organize presents: best garage organizing tips to free up a parking lot!
If you live in a house and have a spacious garage, first of all, lucky you, and secondly, you already know that you can find many things to fill it up. Of course, your car takes up the majority of space, but you probably store other things there too, such as fishing gear, your toolbox, some old things you don’t even use, maybe furniture pieces, gardening equipment, and who knows what other items you might be keeping there.
If you have too many things there and can’t even remember what, it’s time for a good old garage organizing session. If you follow my tips, you can free up a parking lot at the end.
So, are you ready to tidy up and make the most out of your space? Then let’s not keep this intro any longer, because we have things to do. Without further ado, let’s talk about garage organizing!
1. Stack your bins the right way
There’s a chance you keep many things in bins, but if we’re talking about serious garage organizing, you have to stack them the right way! Plastic storage bins will become your best friends when it comes to separating and organizing your items by season or sport.
Sadly, the majority of the time, people forget about them, and those bins remain stacked against a wall in the darkest corner, which means that getting to the bottom can be pretty difficult.
But there’s nothing a little DIY can’t do! You can build some storage towers that look good, and that will make garage organizing way more efficient. If you’re not into DIY, you can get a storage tower from a shop in your neighborhood, and while you’re there, make sure you pick up some bins too.
You can get them in different colors, so each category of things you want to put in has another hue, and if you want to take it to the next level and act like a professional organizer, you could label each bin.
2. Your walls can be great storage spaces
Who said that you only need to use your floor? With these garage organizing tips, your walls can be a great storage space too. Mounting brackets and hooks on your studs might seem like a smart idea at first, but you could actually lose storage opportunities by doing that, considering that there aren’t plenty of things you could store there.
The best thing you could do for your wall is to add a layer of three-quarter-inch plywood over the drywall or your bare studs. That will give you a fastening surface, so you can mount storage hardware without a problem. Now that this is taken care of, you can organize your belongings to maximize the space you have and fit more items against the wall.
3. Corner shelves
Is there someone who couldn’t benefit from a few extra shelves in their garage? You probably already have plenty of shelves in the obvious spots, but let’s think outside the box for a moment, because you might waste precious space.
Your garage organizing might not be a pleasant activity, considering that you have many things you have to store besides your car, so adding some additional shelves in the corners could solve your storage problem in no time.
Take advantage of your existing studs and spend a weekend DIY-ing some shelves, or get them ready from the store. It’s not going to be expensive, but it will save you trouble in the long run.
You can build some useful shelves that fit tightly between your corner studs by following these simple tips: get some leftover plywood or oriented strand board and secure them with 1×1 cleats.
This is going to come in handy for smaller products that get lost on bigger shelves, such as glues, oils, waxes, and polishes, which fit perfectly on these corner shelves, so you can easily grab them when needed.
Keep reading, because we have many other garage organizing tips to share!
4. Add cabinets
One of the best garage organizing tips I have for you is to invest in cabinets because they are going to make your life easier. Besides being the perfect place to protect your car, there’s a high chance that your garage is also like a deposit for your home—the place where you store the things you don’t use on a regular basis, such as winter clothing or fishing gear.
So instead of putting everything in bins, you can invest in some cabinets to store all the items you want. If you customize them, you can build them exactly how you want to fit the dimensions of your garage.
However, you can also DIY your own cabinets to save money; there are lots of tutorials online, and it won’t take you longer than a weekend to put them together, or you can get them ready to install from a shop or online from Amazon.
If you’re looking for the best cabinets to take your garage organizing session to the next level, here’s what might intrigue you: My sister-in-law has the same cabinets in her garage, and she’s really content with the quality and the price.
5. Storage tubes
Garage organizing can now be easier with the help of these storage tubes. These cardboard concrete-forming tubes cost less than $10 at any home center, or you could purchase them online from Amazon, and they’ll be a great place to store your belongings, such as long-handled tools, baseball bats, rolls, fishing gear, umbrellas, or any other thing you might want.
To keep the tubes high and dry, make sure you rest them on a piece of 2×4 and secure each one of them to a garage stud with the help of a plumping strap. That can save you a lot of space and trouble on your next organizing extravaganza.
6. High space
If everything in your garage is within reach, you should know that you’re likely wasting a lot of storage space. Of course, high places aren’t ideal for storing things that you use on a regular basis. For items that you only need during one particular season, such as off-season clothing, camping supplies, or holiday decorations, some deep shelves that are mounted towards the ceiling are going to be wonderful.
If you’re worried about having difficulties reaching there and getting your things, you can use a ladder to climb there, and you’ll have everything you’re looking for in no time.
7. Racquet caddy
If you have an old racquet in your garage, but its only purpose is to gather dust, it’s time for a change. Instead of moving your racquet from one place to another each time you have a garage organizing session, you could use it as a caddy.
Grab your old wooden tennis racquet, drill a hole in the handle, and then screw it to the underside of a workbench. Put it in a position that allows your caddy to swing in and out from under the table. Use it to hold some of your small items, such as tools. Ta-da, you’re done!
What do you think about these garage organizing tips? Did you find any of them useful? Don’t forget to leave a comment below and let me know whether you liked these garage organizing tips or not.
If you’d like to read something else from Wipe and Organize, here’s another fantastic post for you to check out next: 12 Things You Shouldn’t Clean with Water
