Tips for Organizing Your Garage

The garage is an excellent place to store bicycles, gardening supplies, tools, sports equipment, the kiddie pool, the lawn mower, and of course the car.  The trick is to find ways to store what you have without spending a ton of money on expensive garage organizing systems.  Below are some creative tips to help you store your items without breaking the bank.

Gardening

• Store small gardening tools on peg boards.
• Store potting soil in a five-gallon plastic bucket with a lid.
• Store pots, grouped by size on shelves.
• Fill a large plastic garbage can 1/3 full with sand mixed with one quart of clean car oil. Place the metal end of your shovel, hoe, and pitch fork in this container. The oil will keep them from rusting. Keep a wire brush nearby for cleaning off stubborn dirt.
• Make sure that children do not have access to weed killers, pesticides and other toxic chemicals locking them up or storing them up high.

Supplies

• Secure the lids to paint cans then store them upside down to prevent the paint from drying out. Clearly label them with the room where the paint was used, the color name, and a dab of the paint color.
• Date cans and labels with a permanent marker so that you know how long you have had them.

Tools

• Hang up as many tools as possible on a peg board. The more you get off the floor the more room you will have to move around in your garage.
• If you have a work bench but not enough space to hold tools, consider mounting your tools on a peg board just above you work bench. You can also install a shelf above your work bench to hold drills, and other small equipment. To store very small items try nailing the lids to jars under a shelf and then screw the jars into the lids. These make great places to store nails, screws, nut, bolts, washers, tacks, and staples.
• Wall mounted paper towel holders are a great way to store rolls of tape. Just place your tape on a dowel and put the dowel into the holder.
• Place car care items and miscellaneous items on shelves in clearly labeled boxes or bins.

Equipment

• Use peg boards with heavy duty hooks and bike racks to hang smaller equipment and ladders.

Sports

• Store skis, golf clubs, and other tall pieces of equipment in a tall plastic trash container or hang horizontally on the wall.
• Put balls in a mesh bag and hang on the wall.

If you have some thrifty tips that you would like to share, tell us about them by using the comment box below.