Choosing the Best Garage Storage

Garage storage and a tight budget. Makes you want to crawl into a storage tub and hide doesn’t it? Yes, if you think about all the containers and shelving that magazines and website use for garage storage and organization, it can be expensive. It doesn’t have to be though. Here are a few tips on organizing and creating garage storage on the cheap: 

Organize First 

Before you go out and buy a bunch of garage storage tups and shelving, you need to declutter the garage first. Nothing can be more frustrating to buy a lot of stuff and then can’t figure out how or where to use them.  Organize by categories: 

• Sports Equipment
• Gardening Equipment
• Car Tools

Whatever other categories your family may have, sort to organize accordingly. If you don’t use it, or haven’t used it in a year, it goes in the donation pile.

Go Vertical.

Your garage is like a small house, kind of … so use the ceiling and tall shelves or storages. When the floor space in minimal, go vertical! Any items that aren’t used frequently, like holiday or other seasonal items, they go up the highest.

Bulk.

Shop the discount club stores for your bins, shelving, garage storage tubs, etc. he You may have one or two you don’t use right now, but you’ll need it eventually. 

Pegboards.

Fasten 2×4 boards to ¼  inch-thick pegboards and fasten them to the walls with two inch deck or drywall screws. There are multitudes of different hooks for pegboards that hold a variety of things from tools to shoes and more. Fasten the hooks with zip ties to make sure they stay put. 

Old furniture.

Got a few pieces of old furniture stacked in the attic, basement, or garage? These unused items can be repurposed into a workbench or garage storage bin. Use your imagination! 

Hanging Hooks.

Yup, get those bikes out of the way when the kids aren’t riding them, and you don’t need to buy the specified garage ceiling mounts either. Those get pretty pricey.  Just get some heavy-duty hooks with plywood and get those bikes hanging for cheap. 

Can I use kitchen cabinets in garage?

It depends on what they are made from. Melamine or metal kitchen cabinets are excellent for the garage. Wood cabinetry will only work well if the garage is climate controlled.  Both the upper and base kitchen cabinets make great garage storage with the base cabinets being the best! With the base cabinets, you get deep inner storage, and the drawers can be used for fasteners, hardware, and small tools, not to mention the work surface they provide. 

How deep should garage cabinets be?

The average depth for garage storage cabinets are either 16” or 24” deep. The recommended height for garage storage cabinets are 36” and 4” up from the floor. Well, why are garage cabinets off the floor? There are a couple of reasons why experts in garage storage advise not to place your cabinets on the floor. 

1. If your garage with a concrete floor, it will wick water and ruin the cabinets. 
2. Garages have spills, especially if it is used for working on vehicles. You don’t want those spills getting into the wood cabinets either. 

How do you attach cabinets to a garage wall?

As you plan your garage storage cabinet and shelving, make sure you have room for vehicle parking and the gardening, bike, yard toys, etc. are easy to get in and out. If you’ve hung kitchen cabinets, then you already know how garage cabinets should be hung.  Here are the basic steps for installing upper and lower garage storage cabinets: 

1. Locate the highest point from the floor and mark it. 
2. Draw a line along the wall where the cabinets are going using a level as a guide..
3. Draw lines for the upper cabinets as a reference.
4. Locate the wall studs with a stud finder.
5. Attach support ledgers to wall.
6. Using drywall screws (2-1/2” long), attach the first cabinet.
7. With panhead screws, connect the wall cabinets.
8. Directly below the first wall cabinet, place a base cabinet, using drywall screws to fasten to the wall. 
9. Install the other base cabinets in the same manner as you did the top cabinets.
10. Attach the cabinet doors and insert the drawers. 
11. Attach the work surface.

How can I hide my garage storage?

Remember, we’re doing this garage storage project on the cheap, so we’re going to take an economical approach for hiding the garage storage too: 

• Hang Old Curtains: Nothing can hide messy better than an old curtain. Hang them from the ceiling in front of the open shelving. This keeps it out of immediate sight, but you can still have easy access to them too. 
• Hang Cheap or Old Shower Curtains: A plastic shower curtain can be bought for $2 at a local thrift store or go to a resale shop that sells old curtain, you may have some already. These are great for covering up the sporting goods and gardening tools. What if it gets dirty? Wash and rehang! 
• Waterproof Sheets: If your garage storage is on the outside, a great way to hide the items from sight is with a heavy-duty waterproof  all-purpose sheeting. These can be found at your  local big box home improvement store. 

Can furniture be stored in a garage?

If the furniture is wood, garage storage is not recommended due to its closeness to the weather elements. When cars are kept in the garage, no matter how new and how well they are running, they will emit odors that the furniture absorbs. The best place to keep furniture is in a climate controlled environment. 

What can I store in my garage?

No doubt about it, the garage is an excellent storage area for anyone. However, garage storage isn’t always best for everything. So, what can you keep in garage storage? 

• Car supplies, tools, and the car
• Gardening tools
• Yard equipment
• Bikes and outdoor toys
• Holiday and infrequently used stuff