Easy DIY Garage Hacks and Tricks To Maximize Your Storage

Ashley - April 9, 2023

Photo: Photo Credit: hgtv.com

Is your garage full of dusty boxes, unorganized tools, and dull storage totes? It’s time to spice up your space and take your organizational skills up to eleven! Your garage is the perfect space for keeping all the extra necessities of life, rotating seasonal furniture and decorations, and having a nice spot to work on your projects and hobbies. If you’ve wanted to reorganize your space but felt overwhelmed by the start-up costs, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to walk you through some super cheap and easy DIY projects that will help you get your garage organized and looking like a total storage haven. Get comfortable and ready to take notes because we’re going to dive right in.

Store Garden/Garage Tools With An Old Pallet

There are plenty of organizers you can buy to keep your various garden and garage tools organized, but there’s no need to spend the money when you have perfectly good equipment lying around! All you need is an old wooden pallet and some screws or anchors to attach it to your wall. Set the pallet against the wall, drill holes for the anchors, or screw it in place, and then slide your tools between the wooden slates. This is a super cost-effective and eco-friendly way to reuse old materials and create a rustic storage spot in your garage. If you don’t have an old pallet around, you can often find one for free!

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Install A Pegboard Wall

Anyone who’s attempted to transform their garage into a storage haven knows the power of pegboards! Turning one wall of your garage into a pegboard wall will give you a spot where you can store all of your tools and keep the smaller items, like screwdrivers, pliers, and wrenches, easily accessible. It’s also very easy to attach shelving to a pegboard, giving you even more storage opportunities. Place a few different colored bins on the shelves to keep your screws, nuts, nails, and other tiny items properly stored and separated.

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Use A DIY Storage Lift To Haul Boxes

Most garages have a small attic or crawlspace where you can store extra boxes full of seasonal outdoor equipment, holiday decorations, old hobbies, etc. Hauling boxes up the small ladder leading into your garage’s attic can be risky and hard physical labor. Instead of risking an injury or wearing yourself out, create a DIY storage lift like the one seen in this picture! You can use a pulley system to slide the boxes up the ladder and then go up and organize them in the attic.

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Mimic A Mudroom In Your Garage

If your home doesn’t have a proper mudroom, then you’re probably struggling with storage space inside the home. A great way to reduce clutter in your entryway and put the space in your garage to good use is by mimicking a mudroom in your garage! All you need is a shoe rack or organizer, a couple of hooks to hang jackets, hats, and backpacks, and a cute little welcome mat where your family and visitors can wipe off their shoes. Not only does this prevent clutter from piling up, but it also provides a comfortable transition space from your garage into your home.

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Upcycle Your Old Filing Cabinets

Most people would simply throw away their old filing cabinets, but you can turn this piece of furniture into an excellent storage compartment for your garage tools! Remove the draws to create empty spaces where you can place rakes, shovels, leaf blowers, and other gardening equipment. Then, you can install a pegboard on either end of the filing cabinet to hang smaller tools like painting equipment or other items. Not only is this a great storage option, but it’s very eco-friendly because you’re preventing that filing cabinet from ending up in a landfill!

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Use An Old Shutter For A Shelf

Once you start upcycling old materials, you’ll realize there’s a secondary purpose for everything! Instead of throwing away your old shutters when you replace them, turn them into shelving for your garage instead! These shutters won’t be able to hold a ton of weight, but they provide plenty of storage space for light items like extra pillows, sleeping bags, empty bottles/containers, and more! A little creativity goes a long way toward protecting the environment and providing you with unique storage opportunities.

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Use Wall Tracks To Store Big Items

Finding creative ways to store smaller items in your garage isn’t tricky. It’s finding a way to store all your big, bulky items without creating disarray or dangerous spaces that give most people a challenge! However, there is a super easy and affordable solution waiting for you. All you need is to install some metal tracks along one of your garage walls. These tracks are strong enough to hold up bicycles, step ladders, and even full-length shelving units! Installing wall tracks in your garage will seriously change your entire storage game.

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Use Bungee Cords To Bundle Tools Together

Many garages have a space with exposed beams that often get left alone. You can turn this awkward space into a little storage compartment with the help of some nails and bungee cords. Just hammer some nails into the beams (make sure they’re even!) and then use bungee cords to hold bigger tools inside the space. It’s a great way to make use of every bit of space you have, and you likely already have all the supplies you need lying around in your garage, so all this project will cost you is ten minutes of your time.

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Install Corner and Over-The-Door Shelving

Whether you have a lot of hobbies, a large family, or a lot of general items you need to be stored in your garage, it’s essential to make use of every inch of space you have. Plenty of garages have little awkward corners like the one shown in this photo, where there are only a couple of feet of wall space next to a corner. It doesn’t look like you can do much with this space at first glance, but it’s the perfect area to add some extra shelving! All you need is some wood cut to the right size and the proper installation tools. These shelves are the perfect spot for storing your recyclables, garden tools, or items you want out of reach of children.

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Build Your Own Dolly

Do you need a dolly to help with your garage projects but don’t want to buy one? It’s super easy to make your own, and you can make one out of virtually any spare piece of wood or strong plastic you have lying around. You could even use an old cabinet door to create a new dolly! Just grab yourself some wheels, attach them to the bottom, and voila! You have a DIY dolly that will impress your friends and help you get your projects completed.

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DIY Organizer For Fishing Rods

This DIY organizer will keep your fishing rods off the ground and separated from each other without costing you much. All you need is some PVC piping and a pool noodle to get started! Cut holes in the PVC piping and make sure they’ll fit the bottoms of your reels. Then, cut slits in the pool noodle and make sure the slits are evenly spaced with the holes in the piping. You’ll easily be able to access whichever rod you need without worrying about having to untangle pieces or lines!

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Use PVC Pipes On Your Pegboard

You’ll discover there are a ton of creative uses for PCV pipes once you start reorganizing your garage. Cutting out pieces of PVC pipes and attaching them to your pegboard will give you a perfect place to hold all the small objects that you want within easy reach. Use the pipes to hold pencils, small paintbrushes, craft supplies, or whatever else you need organized. The best part about using PVC piping is it’s an incredibly inexpensive material and super easy to work with!

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Use A Coat Rack For Extension Cords

Many of us keep extra extension cords, chargers, holiday lights, and similar equipment in the garage. It wouldn’t take you long to build an organizer rack like the one shown in the photo above, but there’s another option. Take an old coat rack, place it in your garage, and wrap your extension cords and other equipment around the hooks! This will save you time and money, and make it much easier for you to find what you need.

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Use Bungee Cords To Keep Balls Together

Families with kids know the hassle of keeping track of all the footballs, soccer balls, and basketballs in the garage. This simple DIY hack will give you an easy spot to store these balls without putting them out of your kid’s reach. All you need are a few pieces of wood and some bungee cords. Attach the wooden slates to your wall, then drill holes for the bungee cords. Put the bungee cords in place and then fill the space up with the balls!

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Create A Charging Station

What do you do when your tools need to be recharged? Do you lay them on a counter to plug them in and then invariably forget about them for a while? What you need is to create a charging station! In the picture above, you can see an open-concept shelving unit that holds all kinds of tools. There are holes drilled in the shelves that allow you to run cables through them, so you can charge your tools while keeping them in their proper place.

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Mount Bikes On The Walls

There are tons of bike mounts available for sale, but it’s not difficult to create a DIY bike mount. Keeping your bikes up along the walls will open up a ton of extra space and prevent them from getting damaged when you’re working on other projects. Just install a strong metal mount to your wall like the one shown in the photo above and you’re all done! There are also options to hang your bikes vertically if you need even more room.

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DIY Scrap Wood Wall Brackets

Things like folding chairs tend to take up a lot of space, but you can get them out of your way and safely stored with ease when you know about this DIY hack. Use some spare wood to cut out angled slates like the ones shown in this picture. Then, use brackets and screw them into the sides of exposed wall beams. You’ll turn this bit of unused space into an efficient storage solution with minimal time and cost!

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Double Your Shelf Storage

One of the best ways to ensure you’re using up every inch of space is to get creative! Finding ways to double the storage space of shelving units will open up much more room in your garage. This simple DIY hack will only take a few minutes to get set up. Screw the plastic lids of small storage containers onto the underside of your wooden shelves. Then, fill the jars with rubber bands, nails, screws, small craft items, or whatever else you need stored, and screw the jars back on.

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Use Pool Noodles To Protect Your Car’s Doors

Some garages have very limited space. Parking your car in the garage should be a simple task, but if you’re really tight on space, then you risk scratching the paint on your doors every time you get in and out of your car. A super simple and effective solution is to cut pool noodles in half and attach them to your walls. The pool noodles will absorb the impact when you open your doors and won’t cause any scratches or chips on your paint.

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DIY An Overhead Storage System

Storing items against the ceiling is a great way to open up more space in your garage and get the things you aren’t using out of your way. There are tons of overhead storage units on the market, but these can be very costly, so give this DIY overhead storage system a try instead! You just cut pieces of wood like the ones shown in this picture and attach them to your ceiling. Then, you should be able to easily slide storage totes into the storage system.

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Use A Shoe Caddy To Organize Paint

Those who enjoy doing a lot of projects that involve paint know the importance of keeping these containers properly stored. There are a lot of options for storing your paint cans, but this is one of the simplest and most convenient! Take an old hanging shoe caddy and place it over the back of your door or the side of a shelving unit. Then, fill each of the compartments with paint cans! You’ll be able to separate them by color, brand, project, or however else you need to keep them organized. The best part of this hack is that if some paint happens to leak on the shoe caddy, it’s no big deal! You can always get another one for super cheap if you want to replace it.

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Use Your Garage Door For Extra Storage

Most people assume there isn’t much they can do with their garage door since it needs to be able to pull up and slide down easily. However, there are ways you can make the most of this space! Mesh bags attached to your garage door can hold light items like flip-flops, outdoor toys for children, and small gardening tools. There are also fishing rod racks you can purchase that are specifically made to attach to your garage door! This will free up some wall space for you to store other items that are heavier or bulkier.

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Turn Old Fencing Into An Organizational Tool

Storing all your rakes, shovels, garden hoes, and other long equipment can be challenging. These things will fall over and get tangled up very easily if you don’t have a way to keep them separated from each other. This DIY hack gives you an excellent opportunity to put some of that old lattice fencing to use! Cut out squares of the fencing to put inside your organizer as shown in this picture. Then, place the tools handle side down through the latticework to keep them separated and standing tall.

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Create Another Level

When you’re struggling with storage space in your garage, adding another level is a simple and easy fix. These drop-down storage units will provide another level of storage space and can easily hold heavier items and totes full of various tools and supplies. Buy one from your local home improvement store or DIY it if you’re super handy! This is also the perfect spot to put things you want out of reach of young children or pets.

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Rehome Your Freezer

There are tons of good reasons to rehome your freezer in your garage. Maybe you need more storage space in your kitchen, or maybe you’d like access to cold drinks in your garage. Perhaps you love to fish or hunt and want the freezer in the garage so you can easily store your fresh meat. Whatever the reason is, moving your freezer into the garage can be a very helpful trick! Whether you have a compact chest freezer or a full-length model, it will fit well in your garage.

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Use Chalkboard Paint On Your Shelving Units

Many people will suggest labeling your shelves, especially if you’re putting plastic totes on them, to keep track of your stuff more easily. But what happens when you need to rotate stuff around? Then you have to rip off old labels and attach new ones- unless you try this hack! Use chalkboard paint on your shelving units and label everything with chalk! This way, when it’s time to rotate things, you just erase the previous label and write a new one.

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Choose Wire Shelving

Wood and plastic shelving units aren’t always the best solution. If you live in an area with a lot of rain and high humidity, then your risk these materials becoming moldy and damaged over time. Wire shelving is an excellent alternative because it’s strong, easy to clean, and doesn’t become moldy or rusty as easily as other materials. Knowing the right materials to use in your area will save you from having to replace your shelving units in a few years and makes it much easier to keep them clean!

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Don’t Compromise On Aesthetics

There’s no need to compromise on the aesthetics of your garage when doing an organizational overhaul. Ugly gardening tools, rough half-finished projects, painting equipment, and other items can make your garage look dank and unwelcoming. Use cute storage containers, fabric cubes, bright colors, and closed cabinets to keep your garage looking bright and inviting!

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Reuse Old Kitchen Cabinets

There’s no need to go out and buy all new cabinets and countertops for your garage when you can install the old ones from your kitchen! This is a great time and money-saving hack that will always give your garage a unique feel. If you aren’t redoing your kitchen, then search local groups online to see if anyone else is doing some home renovations. Many people will give away their old kitchen cabinets for free in exchange for not having to pay to throw them away.

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Choose The Right Lighting

Installing the wrong kind of lighting can turn your garage into a dim and spooky place. Make sure to use LED bulbs to give your space plenty of bright, vibrant light. Use overhead lights when possible, and attach wall lights to shadowy areas. It’s also helpful to let as much natural lighting inside your garage as possible, so make sure to open your blinds whenever you’re spending time in your garage!

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Add A Laundry Nook In Your Garage

While you’re working on reorganizing things and upping the efficiency of your garage, you should consider adding a laundry nook in your space. This is especially helpful if you don’t have a dedicated laundry room in your home, and it gives your garage an even more productive feel. You can add storage containers and shelving units around your washer and dryer to hold laundry soap, dryer sheets, paper towels, scrub brushes, and more!

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Use A Curtain Rod

Some items are very cumbersome to store and create a bit of an eye-sore in your otherwise stylish and functional garage. So, how do you hide these big and bulky items from sight? Install a curtain rod and use a long curtain to cover the items from view! This works especially well if you have a little nook or “clutter corner” in your garage that you want to keep out of sight.

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Use A Tennis Ball To Help You Park

Let’s face it- not all garages are spacious, and some barely allow you to park your car inside. If you have a smaller garage and you need to park your car inside, then you need this hack. Hang a tennis ball on a piece of string from the ceiling of your garage where your windshield should be when parked. You’ll never bump against your storage bins or risk scraping your paint on the wall again when you start using this hack!

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Use Locking Cabinets For Dangerous Equipment

Garages are often a place where dangerous equipment gets stored. No one wants their child to get a hold of their power saw or leaf blower. Instead of locking the entire garage at all times, invest in a few large locking cabinets like the ones in this picture. These cabinets are large enough to easily fit large equipment like leaf blowers or power tools and they can easily be fitted with different types of locks. Make sure you’re also storing any flammable or other dangerous materials behind these doors!

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Store Extra Tires Up High

Extra tires take up a ton of room on the floor of your garage or in the bed of your truck. There are simple wall mounts you can buy that only take minutes to install. These wall mounts allow you to store your tires high up on the wall, out of reach of children or pets, and safely waiting to be used. This is a great option for storing different sized tires for your vehicles and will save you time when you need to quickly grab a spare tire.

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Create A Kid’s Corner

Kids love to be involved in what the grown-ups in the home are doing. Rather than try to keep them out of the garage while you’re working on your latest project, try giving them their own safe, dedicated space to play near you. Put in a little table, a soft rug, and some toys. Your kids will love playing in the garage while you work, and they’ll be less likely to come and interrupt your project every few minutes if they have some toys to keep them engaged!

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Create A Cute Screwdriver Rack

Screwdrivers are notoriously hard to store. Most people just throw them in a draw and shift through them when they need one, but that’s not very efficient. Instead, create a cute screwdriver rack like the one shown in the picture above. All you need is a spare piece of wood and a drill. Drill holes in the wood, and then attach the wood to your wall or pegboard. You’ll have an easy organizational system for your screwdrivers that is both stylish and functional.

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Store String In Old Coffee Cans

Keeping old string, twine, or rope sitting in a drawer will guarantee it gets all knotted up. Rather than spending ages untangling your string every time you need some, try this DIY hack instead! Use some old coffee cans to store your string, twine, and rope. Cut holes in the top and feed out a bit of the string. Now, whenever you need a length of string, you just pull it from the hole in the top of the can.

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Use Magnetic Strips To Hold Everything Up

Smaller tools and objects are easily lost and misplaced in garages. For a unique storage idea, try installing magnetic stripes along your wall where you want to store these objects. You can easily attach paintbrushes, pliers, wrenches, and other tools along these strips. For pencils, tiny paintbrushes, and other tools, throw them in a couple of soup cans and attach those to the magnetic strips!

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Create A Gardening Corner

Keep all the items in your garage organized by category. Have one wall for all your tools, one area for a laundry nook, and one space just for gardening supplies! Grab some metal storage units to keep your soil, extra potters, small tools, and other equipment. If you put your gardening corner next to a window with plenty of direct sunlight, you can even keep a few potted plants in your garage to brighten up the space.

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Use Clothespins To Hold Small Objects

Small objects you use every day, like hats, gloves, and bandanas, deserve their own little storage space. This super easy storage board allows you to hang these little objects with clothespins, so you can easily remove them and replace them whenever you need them. You can hang this board anywhere you have a little free space in your garage, and it’d make a great addition to your gardening corner.

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Use Buckets For Small Items

You can use little buckets to hold all your golf balls, tennis balls, frisbees, and other fun outdoor equipment. A simple Sharpie will easily label these buckets, and they’re super easy to hang anywhere in your garage. Take the whole bucket outside with you and let your kids go crazy- if you dare!

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Reuse Your Old Golf Caddy

What do you do with your old golf caddy? Rather than throw it away or shove it in your closet, put that caddy to good use! They make excellent holders for gardening tools or outdoor toys. The best part about this trick is you can pick the whole caddy up and bring it outside with you when it’s time to do yard work or play. Then, replace everything and carry it back inside. This is a super functional and helpful organizational trick!

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