13 Simple Ways To Organize Your Garage Quickly

As I boxed up all of our Christmas decorations this year, I stumbled through our garage and quickly became very frustrated with the way our garage was organized or shall I say, not organized.

Sports equipment is spewed across the garage. From golf clubs to skis and all of Alex’s basketball, football, and lacrosse equipment scattered. Leaning bikes, discarded elbow and knee pads, athletic cleats, and loose basketballs scattered.

The garage is where we all usually drop gear down before heading into the house with the right intention that we will organize or pick it up later. Am I right? During Christmas, it was even worse. I unloaded boxes of Christmas decorations, and it was a mess, people!

I am in this big organizational mood… Just re-organized our bathrooms.

Simple Goals To Organizing The Garage Space

1. Categorize Items Into Zoned Areas

Gather items you use together, such as car items, gardening tools, and lawn chemicals, should be stored close to one another.

2. Frequently Used Items- Store For Easy Access

Place frequently used items, such as sports equipment and bikes, close to the garage door.

I keep items we use often– and particularly sports items that my son uses often– on lower shelves that are easy to reach. I am not a tall person so I arranged the garage so I can reach the items I use most often. 

3. Seasonal Items- Stored Above

Store seasonal or rarely used items in the hardest-to-reach spots.
Christmas and other holiday items place on the highest shelves. Secure air tight storage bins are perfect for these items. 

4. Keep Items Off The Garage Floor If Possible

In order take advantage of the square footage, have a goal of raising stored items off the garage floor.  The garage will feel more spacious and more organized if items are not being stored on the floor.  The floor space is valuable property in a garage. 

We are big skiers so we installed the Wealers ski storage rack seen below and it works great!  You can hang your ski boots from it’s straps on this wall contraption, it’s awesome! 

Let’s Do This! What You Need To Keep Things Organized In Your Garage

Categorize Items by Sports or Recreational Gear

Donate all equipment that you are no longer using. Duh right? Garages are filled with thousands of pieces of worn-out athletic gear. Kids will sometimes outgrow their sports gear in less than a year.

We just installed a sports rack to keep Alex’s sports gear in one place. Frequently used sports equipment, such as bikes, balls, and gear should be placed close to the garage door for easy access. 

Organize sports gear in one place with our sports organizer that holds footballs, soccer balls, basketballs, helmets, and even athletic shoes. The sports rack with adjustable hooks holds all types of gloves, jerseys, ball caps, hoodies, jackets, windbreakers, and all your other sportswear.

Steve installed wire racks to maximize our garage space- racks are meant for bins of camping gear, old photos, holiday decorations, gardening items, and more. I like things organized but I haven’t gotten to the point of making sure all bins match but will in the future as I love the clean look. 

We installed the sports rack and now have a great golf rack that holds golf bags, golf balls, towels, gloves, rain gear etc. It’s helpful to have one area where golf gear is stored and organized. 

Garage Cabinets- Garage Work Station

A corner  or your garage should be your garage command center. This is where you may consider building or installing a work station- cabinet. This is a ideal way to help you completely organize your entire garage.

Just add a workbench, shelving or whatever type of storage that you need. be sure that you utilize wall space with hanging baskets or pegboards and before you know it, you will have a perfectly organized garage where you can find what you need quickly and easilySteel cabinets and shelves are the most popular material because of their durability and strength. 

The drawers is ideal for small screws, nails and tools. 

These cabinets are designed and can hold a tremendous amount of weight, perfect for the garage and necessary storage. Steve has this heavy duty steel cabinet in the corner of our garage that contains his tools….. his command center.

Heavy Duty Shelving

We installed shelving that we could attach directly to the wall as it provided 6 inches more space and opened up the floor space for bikes and scooters that Alex uses often. 

Heavy shelving like the ones below are perfect for storing paint and other items. It is nice to ret a storage rack on wheels so you can move it around. 

Wall Organization- Peg Boards

Steve installed wire racks like the ones showed above to take advantage of every square inch or our garage as possible. The benefit to installing wire racks on the wall is it allows for more floor space. 

With that said, the heavy duty rolling racks are super nice to have as well. We have one rolling rack where we store paint, sand paper etc. 

Pegboards are perfect for storing tools and other small items. Steve has a pegboard above this storage cabinet. Vertically organizing tools makes them easier to use and find as well as saving floor space. Pegboards tend to be the cheapest vertical storage option.

Hang Some Hooks

Get your hands of various types of hooks where you can hang anything from extension cords, buckets, bikes and more. I hang extension cords, bags, buckets and some tools from these types of hooks. It works great. 

Storage Bins

There is nothing better than large water proof storage bins for storing seasonal goods, old photos, or other valuables. The key is labeling each bin so you can arrange the bins accordingly. 

Slatted Wall System

Using a slatted wall system is amazing. The draw back is that it tends to be expensive as compared to other options. It looks nice and clean however. 

Rather than leaning your lawn tools against the wall, place shovels, rakes, pruning shears, and other garden go-tos on a slatted wall panel. That way you’ll have a reminder to get’ er done…Do the yard work you’ve been putting off.

You purchase a track type of system, then there are tons of different hooks and attachments that can hold and store just about everything! 

Consider Overhead Storage

If you’ve run out of wall space, you can always use overhead racks for additional storage. Store all your seasonal and less frequently used items in the overhead storage to make your garage clutter-free.  This type is storage is perfect for garages with high ceilings. 

A Bag Dispenser Is A Great Idea For The Garage

An installed plastic garbage can dispenser is a great idea for the garage. We use ours all the time. Another idea is to install a simple plastic bag storage unit where you can keep all of those plastic bags hanging around your house.  When you have a central place to keep them like in your garage, then you will re-use these bags for garbage in your car etc. 

I hope these storage solutions are helpful for you. The garage isn’t always very fun to organize but it is extremely satisfying when things are in order. I don’t mind pulling into my garage if things look nice and tidy. 

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Please send me pictures of your garage space and let me know if these tips were helpful.  Explore of our DIY home design tips such as the best timeless exterior paint colors, garden design trends and more. 

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