If you’re one of the many people in California who doesn’t have a basement, you’re probably using your garage for storage out of necessity. And as your holiday decorations, sports equipment, and camping supplies pile up, your garage can quickly become a mess.
Commercial garage organizers can be pricey, so if you’re a handy person, why not create your own garage DIY storage? With a little time and effort, along with some creative storage ideas for the garage, you can transform your space. Take a look at our seven favorite DIY garage storage ideas.
1. Add Your Own Wall-Mounted Shelves
One of the simplest ways to utilize the vertical space in your garage is to add shelving. Pre-made industrial shelving can be expensive, so why not make your own? All you need are some treated boards and L-brackets. Just make sure to anchor the brackets correctly on studs so your shelves will hold. Another option is to attach plywood to the studs to extend your anchoring space.
Installing your own shelves gives you a lot of flexibility to choose the shelf size and spacing that best fits your needs. If you don’t have time to cut and finish wooden shelves, you can pick up wire shelves from your nearest home improvement store.
2. Install Pegboard
As a proud DIYer, you need an effective and efficient way to organize all your tools. One of our favorite garage storage organization ideas for tools is to install a pegboard in your garage. Pick up some pegboard sheets, cut them to size, sand and finish them if needed, and mount them on your garage wall (ideally above a workbench if you have one.)
We recommend picking up a variety of pegboard hooks for hanging different types of tools.
3. Build a Plank Wall
You can use a plank wall to store things that don’t fit naturally on your pegboard. Plank walls are ideal for holding containers filled with nails, screws, washers, and more.
To build one, install wooden strips together in close rows. Slide brackets into the openings between the strips and place small shelves on the brackets.
4. Put In Heavy-Duty Hooks
Garage organizers don’t have to be complicated: the simpler, the better. Just adding some heavy-duty hooks to your garage wall can be an excellent way to store some of your larger, more awkward garage items.
You can use hooks to line your rakes, shovels, and trowels against the wall and hang wheelbarrows, bikes, tennis rackets, and more. (Make sure to use multiple hooks for larger, heavier items.) Another idea is to install two columns of hooks and lay your fishing rods across them.
5. Add Garage Corner Shelves
Functional garage DIY storage means using space as effectively as possible. For instance, it’s easy to overlook corners, but they can be great opportunities for more storage. Corner shelves are great for storing car cleaning supplies, waxes, paint cans, glues, oils, and more.
Cut and finish corner shelves from scrap wood, and use L-brackets to install them. Viola!
6. Create Overhead Storage
You can only fit so many shelves into your garage, especially if it’s small. So don’t let that ceiling space go to waste!
One of our most effective DIY garage storage ideas is to build overhead bin storage. Start by installing 2x2s on your garage ceiling. Make sure you already have your bins so you can measure them and build to their size. Next, screw 1x4s onto the 2x2s to create protruding lips to hold the bins.
This setup is best for holding light- or medium-weight bins. Don’t try to store heavy bins overhead!
7. Stack Bins
What if you aren’t exactly a maestro with a drill and level? We have one more storage idea for the garage that doesn’t require any DIY know-how — just purchase and store your items in bins!
Bins can help you keep like items together. Fill bins with your holiday decorations, extra shoes, or hobby materials. Label them clearly on all sides and on the lids so you can easily find them, then stack them.
Storage bins are designed to stack neatly against a wall; you can stack them all the way up to the ceiling of your garage, but make sure to keep heavy bins on the bottom and light bins near the top.
For All Your Other Items, Try Self-Storage
We hope you found our DIY garage storage ideas to be useful. Just implementing a few ideas can help you keep your garage cleaner, better organized, and more functional. In some cases, however, there just aren’t enough garage organizers in the world to keep your space uncluttered (especially if you need to store an extra car).
For these situations, consider self-storage. A storage unit is a great place to put the large, bulky items you don’t use often. Store your surfboards and ski equipment in the off-season. Add your holiday decorations or the bikes your kids don’t ride anymore.
At Price Self Storage, we offer storage units in a range of sizes, so you can finally get that last bit of clutter out of your garage. Find a location near you today.
