Just because you have a garage does not automatically mean your life will be clutter-free! Imagine not having anxiety about opening “that cupboard” or not dreading the weekend when you know that sorting through “that closet” is coming. 

Here is what we can promise. If you implement some of these ideas in your garage, you will have the ability to maximize your space to work for you. So, what are the most practical ways to implement all of the different garage storage ideas? We are so glad you asked. Let’s start with the items that can help you begin storing things in your garage.

What Products Help With Garage Organization?

Here are 15 different garage organizers you can use to clean up your space.

• Bins
• Shelves
• Totes
• Workbench
• Racks
• Hooks
• Magnetic Strips
• Pegboards
• Cabinets
• Jars
• Drawers
• Baskets
• Cubbies
• Lockers
• Carts

We go into more detail using the items above to store specific things in each of the sections below. Keep reading to find out more!

What Are You Storing In Your Garage?

The first thing you need to do is take inventory of anything and everything you are planning to store in your garage. Here are some of the most popular general items people store in their garages and some ways to make sure you are storing them effectively.

Garage Storage Ideas For Tools

• Pegboards – To keep your tools neat in your garage with a pegboard, first hang the pegboard on a frame so hooks can be added easily. Then, sort your tools into groups, use various hooks for each tool, and you can label where each tool should go. Pegboards can hold a variety of tools, and you can easily rearrange them as your collection grows or changes.

• Magnetic Strips – To use magnetic strips to store tools in your garage, simply install the strips on a wall or under a shelf where you have space. Then you can simply hang metal tools, like screwdrivers, wrenches, and pliers, directly onto the magnet. This keeps your tools organized, easy to see, and gives you the ability to quickly grab them when you need them.

• Wall–Racks – To store larger tools on wall racks in your garage, choose a convenient location to install the rack securely to the wall, then organize and hang your tools by grouping similar items together much like with a pegboard. Wall mounts are the fixed storage version of pegboards.

• Cabinets – Start by selecting cabinets that fit your space and storage needs, placing them in a convenient location, and organizing your tools inside them. Then you can think about using shelves and bins for smaller tools. These also have the added benefit of being mobile!

• Overhead Storage Racks – Make sure you choose racks that can handle the weight of your tools, and then install the racks securely to the ceiling joists. These racks really help to keep less frequently used items or bulky tools off the ground, maximizing your garage’s floor space.

• Drawers – Organize your tools by category or frequency of use, place them in appropriately sized drawers, and consider using drawer dividers or small bins inside the drawers to keep smaller tools and accessories neatly organized.

• Workbenches – Workbenches combine the best of drawers, shelves, cabinets, and surface area, giving you multiple ways to organize your tools.

• Ceiling Hooks – Make sure you choose strong hooks and have them securely placed into ceiling joists before hanging things like ladders or other tools that are safe to hang

Garage Storage Ideas For Screws And Nails

• Magnetic Jars – Put magnets on the base of jars and stick them to a metal surface or a magnetic strip. Store screws and nails in the jars for easy access, and utilize lids if you want!

• Pegboard Bins – Attach small bins or cups to a pegboard. These are perfect for separating hardware and can be labeled for quick identification. It also gives you the ability to move these bins around as you get more hardware.

• Clear Jars – Simple and easy. Take used jars from the kitchen cabinets out to the garage, label them, and place them on a workbench or other shelving.

• Plastic Baggies – Label small, sealable plastic bags with the sizes and types of screws and nails. Hang them on hooks or inside a cabinet door for organized storage.

• Portable Caddy -These boxes, often used for fishing tackle or craft supplies, can help sort and store different sizes and types of screws and nails. For projects that require you to move around, these are also often portable and contain multiple compartments that make it a handy way to carry a variety of screws and nails to each project you are working on.

Garage Storage Ideas For Shoes

• Shoe Rack – Available at Amazon or to DIY, a simple rack can be multi-tiered and hold a good portion of shoes. You often see these right near doors, so you can utilize them as you enter and exit your house!

• Over The Door Organizer – These organizers are great because they don’t take any space away from your garage. You can also store anywhere from 5-12 pairs of shoes on average with these hanging organizers.

• Shelves – Shelves for shoes are more permanent structures compared to the shoe rack. They achieve the same purpose but will give you the option to build them just as you want them, depending on how many pairs of shoes you want to keep there.

• Cubbies – You may remember these from grade school, but cubbies can be a perfect garage storage idea for shoes. They give individual spots for each pair of shoes or multiple pairs of shoes, and you can build or buy these in many sizes.

• Baskets – Whether you are mounting these or storing them in cubbies (or something similar) you can just simply get large baskets for each shoe type or member of your family and toss the shoes in them when you aren’t using them.

Garage Storage Ideas For Gardening

• Wall-Mounted Rack – Everything from rakes and tillers to shovels and tampers…you can hang a racking system to suspend these larger gardening tools. 

• Garden Cart – Getting a good portable storage option for gardening can save a lot of trips to and from your garage. This gives you a great garage storage hack because you get the space you need for small shovels, planters, bags of dirt, and more…and you can wheel it right outside.

• Re-purposed Furniture – If you have an old cabinet, or hutch…you can actually use those in your garage to store both big and small tools. It also helps keep your myriad of gardening tools out of site giving the illusion of less clutter.

• Hanging Baskets – For soil, seeds, small tools, or other various gardening supplies…hanging baskets give you a way to keep your floor space free while still having easy access to your items.

Garage Storage Ideas For Wood

• Vertical Lumber Rack – A wall-mounted rack that holds wood vertically can save more floor space and is ideal for storing long pieces of lumber, depending on the height of your garage.

• Overhead Wood Storage – Whether you have a racking system installed or you are just going to utilize the track your garage is on, keeping your planks elevated will also save floor space.

• Lumber Cart – If you are often taking your pieces outside to craft your masterpieces…you should get something on wheels to help better make fewer trips. Keep the cart to the side of your car and store it along your garage walls.

• Scrap Bins – For those pieces of wood you just can’t seem to throw away, get some bins that you can pull out whenever you need.

• Cantilever Racks – For heavy-duty wood storage, cantilever racks offer adjustable arms for storing various lengths and weights of lumber, keeping them off the ground and reducing clutter. This is going to be the more expensive garage storage idea for wood.

Garage Storage Ideas For Bikes

• Wall Hooks – Install sturdy hooks on the garage wall to hang bikes by their bodies, saving floor space. Be careful hanging bikes by the spokes or wheels in case that would cause any damage before your next ride.

• Freestanding Bike Rack – A version of what you would use on your car, but it can stand on its own. These bike racks can often hold 1-4 bikes and are fairly tall, so make sure your garage height can handle it.

• Horizontal Ceiling Rack – If you install racking on your ceiling, you can easily slide bikes into place so the pedals are what keep them from moving while laying on them. You could also install something with a full base so the whole bike would just rest on board above.

• Vertical Ceiling Hooks – Suspend your bikes in a corner of your garage by hanging them from ceiling hooks. This is especially easy with road bicycles, which are very lightweight.

Garage Storage Ideas For Sports Equipment

• Bins – One of the easiest ways to store sports balls and other smaller accessory items is in a bin. As long as you are okay with a little clutter in the bin, it’s so simple to throw everything in 1-2 bins after being outdoors!

• Wooden Hanging Racks – Given the longer and sometimes oblong nature of sports equipment, it can be easy to let them just rest and hang against the wall. Things like baseball bats, hockey sticks, tennis rackets, or even golf clubs could be perfect to hang on a racking system on your garage wall.

• Pegboards – Whether you want to create pegboard shelving, hang smaller items, or store gloves, helmets, etc, with ease…using a pegboard for your garage storage ideas when it comes to sports equipment makes things easily customizable. 

• Lockers – Bringing it back to high school, sometimes the best place to store sports equipment is right back in the locker. You can often repurpose old lockers to store clothing, and equipment easily in your garage corner. 

• Mesh Bag – Given how compact these bags can get, they’re a really good space saver when storing sports equipment. You can then hang these bags from the ceiling or your wall and keep all of your equipment off the ground. 

Garage Storage Ideas For Kids Toys

• Clear Storage Bins – If you have ever tried to remember where you were storing your kids’ toys, you know that they need them immediately. The best way to know where they are stored is with clear bins. They stack well and take up limited space depending on the size of the toys you are storing.

• Rolling Carts – Keeping things on carts or wagons is an easy way to take the toys outside for the nice days. Then, you can keep those items off the ground and stored for the months when the weather doesn’t work for them. 

• Cubbies– Build or buy a cubby storage system where each child has their own cubby! This can be used for storing all kinds of toys, and it helps to encourage them to be organized as well with their own spaces.

• Chalkboard Cabinets – Convert the doors of garage storage cabinets into chalkboard surfaces. It’s a dual-purpose solution that allows for labeling what’s inside the cabinets while giving kids a place to draw and be creative.

• Colorful Crates – If you have a workbench or any kind of cabinetry in your garage, colorful crates can help store your child’s toys. You can also allow them to paint these crates to involve them in the process!

Garage Storage Ideas For Fishing Rods

• Ceiling Racks – Given the slender nature of your fishing pole, you can easily lay them flat, parallel to the ceiling, and save a lot of space. 

• PVC Pipe Stand – If you enjoy DIY projects, you can create a stand from PVC pipe to store your fishing rods. All you have to do is cut and assemble the pipes into a frame that holds each rod upright.

• Standing Rod Tubes – Use large PVC pipes or quiver-like containers to hold rods vertically. This is a simple solution that can be moved around the garage as needed.

• Fishing Cabinet – For those who prefer to keep their gear out of sight, a cabinet designed to hold fishing rods and tackle can be a great solution. This can be an older piece of furniture where rods can be stored vertically or horizontally, along with all your fishing accessories as well!

• Lockable Storage Option – For added security, especially for expensive rods, consider a lockable storage rack or cabinet. Garages are safe, but it may be smart to go that extra mile to deter anyone!

Garage Storage Ideas For Food

• Heavy Duty Plastic Boxes – Storage boxes like the durable ones from Costco will keep any kind of critters out of your food while also giving you a space-saving and stackable way to store food in your garage. 

• Freezer/Fridge – Obviously the only way to store items that need to be chilled or frozen is with a garage freezer or garage fridge. You can find these on marketplace if you don’t want to spend a ton of money to purchase one!

• Canning Shelves – These shelves don’t just have to be for the hobby of canning. Create a space where you can store all of your canned items from green beans to tomato sauce!

• Drawers – Depending on the food, you can utilize drawers (in the fridge or out) to store food items. There is also the option to vacuum seal some food items and store them in drawers until you need them. 

• Magnetic Spice Rack – For extra or large spice containers, use a magnetic rack for easy access to any spice you may need. 

*make sure you take all proper precautions with your own food storage

How Do I Store Bulky Items In My Garage?

Try to tailor your item to a unique spot in your garage as best as you can. If it has a flat surface, think about storing it along a wall, the floor, or the ceiling. If it is very oblong or has many different components protruding off of it, you may need to give it some decent corner space. There is no real right answer to this question. The best thing you can do is store it in a way that allows you to use the space how you want it. If you are constantly having to navigate around something, it may be time to move it to a new spot. 

Garage Layout Ideas

1 Car Garage Storage Layout

2 Car Garage Storage Layout

3 Car Garage Storage Layout

4 Car Garage Storage Layout

Garage Storage Ideas For Renters

The tricky part of using a rented attached or detached garage for storage at a rental is the need to make sure nothing is too permanent. Here are some ideas we recommend that are more about garage storage hacks and space saving ideas versus permanent solutions.

• Think Moveable Storage – Anything on wheels or with the ability to slide easily is going to be a great option for rental garage storage. This will allow you not to have to build anything for the garage and be able to move it out easily when you leave your rental.

• Bins Are Your Best Friend – Bins are so much easier to manage at a rental vs built shelving. They double as storage and are then already packed for any moving you may need to do. Stackable bins also take away the need for shelving in most cases.

• Collapsible Shelving – I know we just got done saying no shelving, but collapsible shelving is easy to set up and tear down, leaving no trace that it was ever there. If you want shelving in a rental garage, this is the way to go.

• Tension Rods – These rods can be suspended between doorways, walls, or windows and are a non-permanent way to hang things in your garage. 

• Door Organizers – Over the door organizers for tools, shoes, or anything else are really great nonpermanent ways to organize your garage efficiently without hassle. 

Garage Organization Things To Avoid

• Adhesive Strips + Hooks – While these items claim to leave the paint on your walls…the opposite seems to be truer. We would avoid these strips, hooks, and anything else with one sticky side. They can tear off not only the paint but also a part of the wall in some cases.

• Improper Storage Of Perishables – We mentioned this above, but improperly storing food items can lead to bugs and animals, unsafe food, or just some pretty gross smells. Make sure you are thinking about the temperature changes in your garage if you want to store food there.

• Improper Storage Of Hazardous Materials – Flammables, paints, or other chemicals need to be stored based on what each individual product says. Make sure to take the proper precautions as you begin to store these items. 

• Cardboard Boxes Long-Term – Cardboard is subject to water damage, can attract some pests, and just start breaking down over time. We recommend durable and sealable plastic bins.

• Overloading Racking/Shelving – This may seem obvious, but overloading your shelving or racking system will cause it to break or wear down faster, leaving you with a mess in the garage!

• Not Labeling – The quickest way to clutter is not remembering what you have in the first place. Create a good system so you know what you have to limit the purchasing of more of that same item.

• Blocking Access Points – While being a fire hazard, it also is just annoying to try and maneuver around a garage with exits and entryways blocked by the things you are storing. 

Garage Storage Conclusions

Whether you are in a permanent or temporary arrangement, your garage is a great place to be able to store things neatly and easily. We hope this long list of garage storage hacks and items needed was helpful to you! Feel free to ask any questions if you have them, and if you are still in need of a garage, we would love to build one for you! 

Enjoy your life free of clutter!