Garage Storage Ideas: Clean Up the Mess

Garages are often the area of your home where you have the least structure and organization. Many people tend to just throw things in the garage and deal with them later. However, garage storage will make your life a whole lot easier when done efficiently.



There are many different methods and ideas for garage storage, but it's important to follow a base so you have a solid understanding of how to go about organizing. Otherwise, you'll end up with a cluttered garage again in a couple months. Plus, with an organized garage and everything cleaned up, you could have the chance to use your garage for more than just storage. We'll go over what you need to know in order to achieve efficient garage storage as well as some inspiring ideas.

Don't Go in Blind

One of the most important things of successful garage storage is to make sure you have a plan ahead of time and know exactly what you're going to do. If you just start putting items away without any structure, you'll end up forgetting where things are and have to make a mess in order to find what you're looking for. A great measure to take is to go through everything in your garage and sort out what you need and what you can get rid of. This allows you to lessen the amount of items that you have to try and store away neatly. After you've gathered everything that's worth keeping, you have three options of what to do with the rest of your items - sell, donate or throw them away. Garage sales are a very common way of getting rid of stuff you don't need before deciding to organize your garage. Once all the clutter is taken care of, you can finally start to implement these great garage storage ideas that we'll go over below.

Overhead Garage Storage

Space permitting, you can implement an overhead storage solution for your garage. Many garages have open ceilings with exposed rafters and they make for excellent storage options. With the addition of a few boards of wood, you'll have a sturdy place to store many items. Overhead garage storage is perfect for seasonal items and other things that you use sparingly. You can easily access your items above with a step stool or ladder depending on how tall your ceiling is. Don't think that just because your garage doesn't feature exposed rafters that you can't utilize overhead garage storage. There are many ways to make your own garage ceiling storage solutions or you can even buy ceiling racks. If you elect to go that route, you can make the storage easily accessible so that you can store more than just items you barely use.

Utilize the Walls

Probably the most common method of garage storage is using your walls to hang your items up. There are a ton of different ways you can use your walls for garage storage. The biggest thing to take into consideration when using your walls for storage is what you will actually be storing on them. When you know what you'll be hanging on the walls, you can get the right storage accessory to properly hang them. For example, you won't want to use pegboards if you plan on hanging really heavy items such as power tools (check this article on power tool storage) and other lawn care equipment. You'll need to make sure you get something strong enough to support your items so that nothing falls and creates a mess or is a safety hazard. Open shelving is a great way to keep everything organized and visible so you know exactly where everything is. It'll prevent from having to look through a bunch of cabinets to find what you're looking for. On the other hand, if you have a lot of things to store, open shelves may make your garage look cluttered. In such a case, you should go with closed cabinets and label each section with what's stored inside.

Floors Should be Clutter-Free

One of the quickest ways that your garage gets messy and unorganized is when the floors become littered with various items. Not only does it make your garage an unruly mess, it creates many ways to cause injury. Now, there are some things you just can't keep off the ground such as lawnmowers and other heavy equipment. It's best to keep those items stored in their own section of the garage or in a shed where they won't get in the way of anything else. Keeping as much off the floor as possible is a proven way to make your garage look, and actually be, cleaner and more organized. No more tripping over baseball bats, rakes, shovels or anything else on your way to get the hedge clippers.

Garage Storage Can Help You Use Your Garage for More

With a properly organized garage and everything out of the way, you'll open up a lot of space that you previously didn't have. It'll almost be like creating an addition to your home depending on how messy your garage originally was. After you've successfully tackled your garage storage project, you may find that you can finally fit your car in your garage. For Chicagoland homeowners, there's nothing better than being able to keep your car stored inside during the long and brutal winters. Or maybe you'll see that your garage can be used for more than just storage. What do we mean by this? There are many different ways to utilize your garage from creating your own home gym to making a garage bar. In some cases, you might find that your garage is actually way past its prime. After cleaning everything out and finding that your garage has seen better days, you can count on Danley's to build you a new custom garage. Since 1959, we've helped Chicagoland homeowners with all their garage building needs. From demolition to the final day of building, Danley's does it better than everyone else. You can start your new garage project today with a free quote online and join the over 100,000 people who have trusted us.