1. Utilize Wall Space
Mount hooks, brackets, and wire shelves onto the wall in your garage to hold everything from power tools to camping gear. Using the walls to make a home for all of your items will eliminate wasted space and allow you to get rid of bulkier storage containers that take up valuable floor space.
2. Install Ceiling Storage Racks
Some big box home stores sell ceiling storage racks, but you can also make them yourself if you’re handy. These work great for keeping tubs of seldom-needed items, like holiday decorations, tucked away where they won’t contribute to clutter on the floor.
3. Hang Bikes
Bicycles are great to have, especially if you have kids, but they can take up a lot of room. Since they’re often caked in mud, storing them inside isn’t an option (unless you have a huge mudroom). Leaving them outside isn’t, either, because they could get damaged by harsh weather or even stolen. Storing them in the garage makes sense. Hang bike hooks on your garage ceiling or walls to keep bulky bikes out of the way.
4. Organize Sports Equipment
Sports equipment, like balls, helmets, gloves, and bats, is another set of awkwardly shaped items that are often stored in garages for easy access when it’s game time. Use a cubby system to organize everything. Purchase or build one with square cubbies that are large enough to fit a soccer ball. That way, you can store everything neatly off the ground so you have more room for your car and work bench.
5. Get a Tool Tower
Whether you love it or you hate it, yard work is a part of homeownership. To get the job done well, you need a bunch of tools (think rakes and shovels) that can take up way too much room when they aren’t organized properly. Prevent tools with long handles from falling over and cluttering the garage by using a tool tower, which you can buy at your local home improvement store.
6. Use Pegboards for Tools
If you’re a woodworker, you likely have a setup with tools and a workbench right in your garage. These setups are functional, handy, and fun, but they can be quite big and bulky. In a small garage, big work areas are cumbersome. Keeping it tidy and organized will help reduce the amount of space your workspace takes up while making sure you still have access to it. Save space by using wall-mounted pegboards to hang tools and safety equipment. No more drawers cluttering your space!
7. Clean Regularly
Routinely cleaning your garage will keep your space looking great while ensuring you aren’t losing space to old and unwanted items. Make it a point to go through your garage monthly and donate, recycle, or throw away the things you don’t want to keep. Cleaning regularly may seem like a hassle, but it takes less and less time the more often you do it. Conversely, if you leave it cluttered for years, cleaning it up will be a painfully long ordeal. Tidying up often will prevent those headaches from ever occurring.
8. Create a Dedicated Workout Area
Home workouts can be noisy. If you live with kids or roommates, all that jumping around can be pretty bothersome and can interrupt their valuable nap times. It’s often easier and more convenient to work out in the garage. But left unchecked, workout gear and equipment can get cluttered quickly. Designate a corner to be your workout area and use racks to hold hand weights and install shelves to hold equipment like yoga mats and resistance bands. When you need extra floor space, you can tuck everything against the wall. Then, when it’s time for a workout, it will only take seconds to pull everything out again and get ready to sweat.
9. Add Outdoor Storage
Many yard maintenance and gardening tools and supplies can be stored outside of your garage. Most home improvement stores sell outdoor storage cabinets, so you can have a safe space for your things in case the weather gets nasty. Store gloves, pots, soil, and the like in this outdoor storage space. The space they were taking up in your garage will then be opened up for other items.
