One of the joys of homeownership is having a garage, which is commonly used for more than just housing your vehicles. A garage can serve as a workshop, storage area and family activity center. However, if you want to use your garage for anything other than parking your vehicles, you need to have an organization strategy in place; otherwise, your garage will become a daily reminder of a mess that needs to be addressed. But what if you have bunches of items that need to be placed in your garage so you can use it as a functional family hub? Well, that’s when you need a good DIY garage strategy. One that will make you the envy of all your friends. Here are some DIY garage strategies to help you create an organized garage that will likely make your garage one of the most favored rooms in the house.
How Do I Go About Creating a DIY Garage?
The first step in creating a DIY garage is to pull out everything you have and put it in one central location, such as the center of your garage or in the driveway. Then you can begin the sorting process. Toss or give away anything you haven’t used in the last year. Next, you will take everything that’s left and divide the items into groups of like uses. For example, sports equipment, chemicals, holiday decorations, and so on. After you have your groupings, you will need to think ahead to any potential future needs you might have for your garage.
Now that you know exactly what your garage needs are for storage and other uses, you can begin to map out how to organize your garage. Pre-thinking about what your garage needs are now and going forward will help you better organize a space that works the most effectively for what your family’s needs are. Next, you will need to think about your groupings and find the best ways to organize and store those items in the most efficient manner possible.
What Are the Best Organization Methods for a DIY Garage?
Well, this is going to depend mainly on your specific storage needs. However, most garages are used for similar types of storage. Therefore, we are going to give you some the most common garage organization techniques the pros use. This should help you develop a plan that will work for you even if you have to get a little creative here and there.
Storage Shelves. Storage shelves come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. The most common are 1×12 wall shelves that are eight feet long and mounted on shelf brackets. These can be easily placed around your garage and they don’t take up much space as they are placed vertically on any wall.
Wall Cubbyhole Shelf. This is similar to the above shelving system except you insert dividers to make cubbyholes on each of the shelves. You just build a four foot by four foot square for the frame, leaving off the top shelf for now. Then you will add some one and a half inch corner braces in each corner of the bottom frame. Now you add your first shelf and add the dividers depending on the cubby spaces you need. Then you keep adding shelves and dividers until you’ve reached your desired height then add the top shelf. You will mount the shelving unit to the wall with four inch corner braces by screwing them into the studs.
Hanging Ceiling Racks. These are probably the best way to make use of the available space in your garage. You simply build a shelf with one by twos and two by twos with braces in the corners for added reinforcement. You will then screw a one by two vertically on each corner then mount it to the ceiling with “L” brackets. These are perfect for scrap wood, ladders, surf boards or anything else that is long and flat.
Pegboard System. You can mount a pegboard system on just about any flat surface, then place a shelf at the top of it for additional storage. Now all you have to do is add hooks to it for your rakes, brooms, hoses, baskets, tools, bins for screws, nails and so on. A pegboard system is the most versatile  method for organizing any garage.
Lockable Cabinets. This method is great for storing chemicals or other items you don’t want little people getting their hands on and they can be placed below your 1×12 shelves. These will also help to avoid spills and other accidents that could pose a danger if accidentally knocked off a shelf.
What Should I Do If I Need More Specific DIY Garage Organization Ideas?
If you have a need for more than just a few simple shelves for storing your things, then you might find you have to do some research into the best ways to organize your garage other than the typical shelving systems. Here are some of the most unique DIY garage storage ideas we have ever seen.
Garage Slat Wall Panel. This system is great for hanging baskets and miscellaneous items while giving you a wide variety of other storage options as well.
Old School Lockers. If you have a large family with each member needing their own storage space in your garage, old school lockers are perfect for individual storage spaces. You can find these on Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist or local auctions and vintage stores.
Vertical Bike Rack. A Stolmen post from Ikea can easily be turned into a bike rack. You can store several bikes vertically on this type of post, which will give you more usable space in your garage. If you don’t want to hang your bikes on a Stolmen post, you can hang them from the ceiling on large hooks.
Shoe Racks. If you find your family has too many shoes and you don’t have anywhere to store them, you can buy some shoe racks and place them along the wall in your garage. This will keep them up off the floor, which will result in more floor space in your garage. Additionally, this could also help free up some space in your closets as well.
Fold-Up Workbench. If you have a small garage, you are going to love this idea. This fold-up workbench can be easily built on the wall of your garage and can be folded up when not in use. Genius!
PVC Pipe Storage Solution. This is another one of those “I wish I would have thought of that” moments. You simply cut PVC pipe into small sections and screw them onto a board then onto your garage wall. These are great for storing your shovels, brooms, rakes or any other long handled items you might have.
2 Point Highlight
1. Â One of the joys of homeownership is having a garage, which is commonly used for more than just housing your vehicles.
2. Â Here are some DIY garage strategies to help you create an organized garage that will likely make your garage one of the most favored rooms in your house.
