Favorite ideas for garage organization

I have been on the hunt for great ways to organize all the stuff in our garage. And guys, I have been sucked into the black hole of Pinterest. It’s like quicksand. I just can’t get out.

But, this is all for the greater good. The greater organized good.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ideas, in case you are interested. I don’t typically do round-up type posts, but these ideas are just too stinkin’ good not to share.

Right now, we’re still (thinking about) rifling through piles of junk. We haven’t actually starting rifling through said junk. Yet. But when I see the light at the end of the tunnel, you’d better believe I’ll be sharing how we customize these solutions to work for us.

PVC pipes as tool storage.

I love how Ashbee Designs uses PVC pipes to store all those garden tools. We have never been able to come up with a great solution for brooms, shovels and the like. Right now they are just piled up in a corner. And when you grab one, they all tumble. One time, I bought a special corner storage unit and it was worse than just piling them in a corner.

I love that every single spot is labeled in this inspiration. There’s no question about it – A SHOVEL DOES NOT GO IN THE BROOM SPOT.

It is sort of like the silverware at Christmas. My grandma used to polish and count it after supper. Not that she didn’t trust us. (Or maybe she really didn’t trust us.) But you better believe every piece better be in her box or people are going to be digging through the garbage. Because yes, sometimes people accidentally throw silverware away. But not on my grandma’s watch. No fork left behind.

Where was I?

Ah, yes … organizing. No shovel left behind, folks.

 

Gutters as paint storage

I’ve seen gutters used for book storage, but I’m obsessed with the idea of using it for garage storage as done by Anyone Can Decorate. This is such a great “ready-made” and inexpensive solution for things you want to be visible and at-arm’s-reach.

My favorite part about this is that it could work for so many products – oil and automotive fluids, paint, caulk, even nails and hardware could work well (I think) Part of Ryan and my problem is that when stuff gets shoved back on a shelf, we can’t find it and end up buying duplicates. Having everything viewable is a great way to avoid this problem.

 

Use those magnets

At the Woodwards, you can guarantee that we spend more time looking for drill bits than we do using them. It’s seriously insane the random places we find drill bits. (Once, I discovered the tile drill bit hiding in a shoe box in our entryway. But I think that was Ryan’s hiding spot so he could avoid putting up our open shelves in the kitchen.)

This solution from BH&G may just change our lives. For serious – use magnets to store those bits (and really anything metal). Ryan is stoked about this idea more than I am.

 

 

Move the furniture out

This furniture plan from Shanty2Chic would be so handy in a garage. I love that the bins slide off like drawers – perfect for easy access. The chalkboard fronts make it flexible if we change our minds about what goes where. And the top could double as workspace. Bing. Bang. Boom.

 

Keep the cords under control

All those power tools in the garage drive me darn near crazy. Cords. Everywhere. This solution from Woodworking Tips is a wall-mounted solution to keep them from becoming a tangled mess.

I love that the cords have their own homes. No co-mingling. It’s a very strict setup that would work well for those of us who can’t keep our cords under control.

I’m feeling pretty inspired to get our garage whipped into shape. But I’m pretty sure Ryan’s just exhausted thinking about succumbing to all my ideas. Because we all know he’s the real worker around here. I just play a DIYer on this blog.

(Note: Please find all of the original posts, tutorials and images on the blogs links above. I pinned them all from the original sources, and I think you should, too.)