A car garage is not only a home for your car but also a place of strength and self-expression for real men. A beautifully and functionally organized garage storage system, where all the tools are in place, and you don’t have to step over tires and wade through the barricades of boxes is another reason for pride and personal pleasure.
You should consider a garage as a multifunctional space where you can safely store and hide a car from the weather, equip a pantry, organize a workshop and just have a good time with friends or alone at work with your hands. Also when parking the car, you do not need to worry that you will hit the bike, which will suddenly roll and scratch the paintwork of your favorite car with the pedals.
It is not so difficult to organize a garage rationally and neatly. Even if the garage square footage is not big if you use proper storage systems and our garage wall ideas correctly. Even a small garage (for example, the popular 20 by 20 feet) can be arranged so that not only a car, seasonal tires, a bicycle, a lawn-mower, and other garage stuff can be placed but also a mini workshop and even a small motorboat can neatly fit there.
Essentials for organizing a garage storage
In order to properly organize everything in your garage, it is important to plan out each area inside. Interior zoning allows you to find its place for each device, tool, and other garage stuff and not letting it interfere with each other. This allows your tools to be every time in sight and at hand.
The first thing for which a space in the garage is allocated is the car’s size itself, depending on which further garage storage planning will be made. Although it is sometimes important to think about space for a possible future change of car. If the car is small, the convenience of approaching any area will be ensured, otherwise, it is necessary to make the shelves and racks as narrow as possible in order to increase the aisles. Due to enough number of shelves, it will be possible to place absolutely everything that is needed.
So what can you use as a garage storage solution?
In cramped garages, it will hardly be possible to put a big storage rack, so here you will need to implement the garage wall ideas as much as possible. Hanging storage systems are a very popular storage solution for garage, they can be bought ready-made or you can even build it by yourself according to your own sketches.
So you can use the following list for your garage storage system:
- Hanging metal storage cabinets
- Wooden racks
- Metal shelves and drawers
- Wall-mounted screwdrivers holders
- Special design vertical tool storage drawlers with hooks
- Ceiling containers
- Perforated panels
- Various garage wall metal hooks
- Magnetic tool holders
If there is enough space in your garage, be sure to use rack storage when organizing a space inside. It is more rational to use metal frame structures when choosing a garage rack.
They can be angular, straight, or U-shaped. The latter option is possible with sufficiently spacious buildings like a 2 car garage. Standard models have an average shelf depth within one meter. Sometimes this is not enough, so before you buy a garage shelf in a store, think about whether it is more profitable for you to order custom shelves. The required depth of shelves for garage storage systems of this type is determined by the size of the largest item, which is supposed to be stored on the shelves.
When equipping the garage with various storage systems, do not forget about the convenience of cleaning and do not make the bottom shelf lying on the floor. Leave a gap of at least 30 cm between them.
Car owners who are planning to organize their garage in a state-of-the-art and ultra-modern way prefer plastic storage systems. A variety of modular elements, complementing tool holders, mesh baskets for small items, pedestals, and small floating shelves, allow you to organize your garage space with maximum functionality.
Instead of regular shelving, you can make a storage system from a set of shelves mounted on the wall. This option is only suitable for concrete garages with solid walls.
When planning a shelving system for your garage, first of all, you need to make at least an approximate list of items stored in the garage, remember to estimate their weight and dimensions. You should also prepare a garage plan, on which, with an accuracy of a centimeter, you need to mark the design structures (height, width, thickness, step, and the number of shelves). After that, you have to think over the way of assembly and installation and fixing of shelves or a separate storage rack on the garage wall.
The storage system can be supplemented with perforated panels. These garage equipment are wall-mounted panels with hooks and holders for tools, work clothes, hoses, ropes, and other garage stuff.
When attached to a secure bracket, the perforated panel is a great storage solution for tires, wheels, and even bicycles.
Garage interior zoning
Interior zoning is just as important for a garage as it is for a kitchen-dining room or any other multi-functional space. If you can correctly identify your main work areas, consider that half the battle is done. All you have to do is fill them with comfortable shelving and wonder how you didn’t notice how big your garage actually is.
We propose to divide your garage space into the following zones:
1) Entrance area. This is the place where you should always be free. Place there only those items that you need at the exit: shoes, jackets and raincoats, keys and bags.
2) Easy access area. This is the kingdom of everyday little things. Place here everything that you need constantly and, as a rule, urgently: fire distinguisher, first aid kit, animal feed, canned food, recyclable materials, etc.
3) Long. High. Thin. It is worth placing here rakes, shovels, brooms, any oversized equipment for cleaning the yard and the garage itself. There should be objects in this place that will not force you to huddle between the rack and the open door of a parked car.
4) Bulky storage. Large, uncomfortable and rarely used items should be placed in such an area that does not obstruct when you’re passing by. Ideally, hang it from the ceiling or put it on the highest shelf. The first candidates are various tourist and seasonal equipment and others stuff.
5) Frequently used things. The more often you use an item, the closer it should be to you. A snow shovel in winter or a broomstick in summer should be in front of, behind, or even on top of your garage door. It is also worth putting the seasonal sports equipment you are using right now, a car pump, etc. within easy reach.
6) Workplace. What are your hobbies? Create the perfect corner for your favorite hobby, be it gardening, woodworking, car service, or whatever. Focus on your needs and build a versatile folding workbench and cabinets to store all the little things you need. Then your hobby will not only give you great pleasure but also stop annoying your family.
Labels change everything!
Every time you start putting things in order in your garage, you have to remember what and in which container you put it during the previous activities. The only way to solve this problem once and for all is by labeling boxes and shelves. It would seem an elementary solution, but only a few resort to it, and almost everyone puts the garage upside down in search of the right item or tool.
To make the labeling method work as it should, try to keep the labels simple and informative. Use high contrast markers and crisp large print. If you want your shelves to look neat and beautiful at the same time, stick the same strips of light paper or masking tape and write your boxes with a thick black or brown felt-tip pen.
Screws, nuts and bolts storage solutions
One of the smart garage storage ideas is hanging containers for screws under the shelves. It can be appreciated by anyone who at least once tried to open such a jar with one hand, while the other was busy with something useful, and scattered small details. This way of storage – in plastic containers mounted under the shelves, not only adds extra shelf space to you but also helps to keep the little things you need insight.
Garage bicycle racks
The most budgetary and popular solution for hanging a bike on the wall, in which it takes up as little space as possible, is to fix it with a hook by the front wheel. If you think that it is impossible to hang a bike by the wheel, that this can lead to its deformation, then you are mistaken. In practice, there are no problems with this method of hanging, of course, if you do not hang it on a bicycle spoke.
For the convenience of fixing and removing the bike from the hook, when choosing a place for mounting the hook, provide free space above, below and on the sides of the bike, 15-20 centimeters will be enough. The free space will allow you to use the hook every day without great difficulty.
Hooks are the best option if there are several bikes to be suspended, provide one for each bike. In this case, the hooks can be placed close enough to each other and the bikes can be hung with a jack.
Magnetic tool holders
The magnetic stripe is a lifesaver for small metal tools and brushes that must be constantly visible. It is best to hang it near a table, workbench, or over a rack.
Summary
The garage is the home for your car where the aroma of engine oil, tires, and sawdust create a unique atmosphere that is conducive to both creativity and relaxation after hard work.
The optimization of the garage storage system depends on a variety of things, and it is very important to put them together correctly: take the most important and weed out the secondary.
In order for your garage to be a real pride, you need to spend a lot of time and effort. Having considered all the options and thinking over every nuance, you can easily achieve the desired result.
