Your car is an important asset that should always be parked in your garage. Why not park it there, then? Leaving your car outdoors degrades its quality due to prolonged exposure to sunlight and outdoor debris. 

No space in the garage to park your car? KLT stacking boxes Just follow these simple tips to organize your garage and pursue similar DIY projects as well.

Organizing Your Garage

Allot a whole day or a weekend for organizing your garage only (and that includes building DIY garage shelves) because organizing the garage means going through everything. Categorize all the items in your garage into three piles: the things you will keep, give for free, or sell. Give away or sell the things you have not used for years, though you can retain some items you value personally. Save items you wish to keep in a separate bin and let go of the items you are donating or selling immediately. 

As you go through your things, remember to avoid storing the following for safety reasons:

• Paper – Paper materials, like tissue, attract insects. 
• Propane Gas – Avoid fire accidents by keeping propane tanks outside. 
• Refrigerators, freezers, and other food containers – These can consume lots of electricity, and having food in your garage can attract wild animals from outdoors.

Take note of your garage’s dimension and outline a garage floor plan. After you’ve taken out all the materials in your garage, you can group similar things and place them in the area of your choice.

Store heavy materials in a spot that will not be bumped by your car. 

As much as possible, do not place things on the floor. Instead, make more room for your car for safety reasons and to avoid scratching or damaging the car paint.

Build Garage Shelves

Garage projects such as DIY garage shelves can be done in less than a day. You can build a garage shelf in many ways, using humble materials such as 2×4 plywood. Creating garage shelves instantly compresses the volume of clutter in your garage, so you save space. 

Garage Shelf Ideas That May Help

• Simple Wooden Shelf

Maintain your garage’s neat and organized appearance with a wooden shelf to store your plastic containers. Your plastic boxes will serve as containers of all the materials in your garage for a tidy and organized look.

When building a wooden shelf, make sure that you choose the right materials to use for the long term. For example, you might want to add a multi-purpose compartment in the shelf where you can add hooks to hang other stuff.

If you think plastic containers are costly, you can also choose to add a door to your shelf. This way, you can hide your clutter by sliding or closing the door.

• Wall-mounted Shelves

Mounting wall shelves let you save space while keeping your garage organized. Depending on the width and length, you can store big and small things on your wall-mounted shelves. You can also mount your bike on your wall, as well as put hooks where you can attach or hang rope, extension cords, and other materials.

• Corner Shelves

Corner shelves are handy, mainly if you have limited space in your garage. This is a simple way to use every part of your garage. It’s ideal to use lumber for your corner shelves as well.

• Floating and Overhead Shelves

You need to save space on your garage floor because your car needs the room. If the floor of your garage is already maximized, make DIY floating or overhead shelves instead. This means your garage ceiling could be used for storage. For a floating or an overhead shelf, you need to attach plywood to vertical support or chains. You can store rarely used flat equipment on the overhead shelves, like a ladder.

These types of shelves can be reliable storage for harmful materials you want to keep away from kids, such as garden fertilizer or rat poison. You can also place the stuff you don’t frequently use on these ceiling shelves. In building these shelves, make sure you do not block the door as well.

Other DIY Projects for Your Garage:

• Showcase Your Lawn and Other Tools

Nowhere to place your lawn equipment? Why not install a pegboard to store and display your gardening tools like shovels and rakes? A pegboard has so many possibilities when it comes to design and functions. This way, there are no more lawn tools scattered around or leaning against the walls.

You can hang other tools on your pegboard, such as power tools. You can also bring out the creativity in you by categorizing your tools by color or size. It’s also great for storage because it keeps your tools vertically arranged instead of getting stacked in a cabinet.

• Create a Gardening Corner

Now that you’ve saved up space with your DIY shelves, you can finally build that gardening area that you’ve been dreaming of! Save a corner for all your gardening tools and designate a working space where you can put your pots and plants.

• Hanging Baskets

For light things such as bags, or wet materials like an umbrella, it’s best to use a basket for storing them. Hang these baskets vertically and put a label on them so you can separate materials accordingly. You can put your go-to items in these baskets and hang them beside the door, so you are reminded of the essentials you need to bring. 

• Bike Storage 

If a wall-mounted shelf is not enough to store your bikes, you can build bike storage that you can hang and attach to your wall. An ultimate space saver, you can store multiple bikes and scooters with just one bike rack. 

Conclusion

A garage is supposed to be reserved solely for car storage. But in practice, you can find areas in your garage that are perfect for storing your clutter. Protect your car, too, by ensuring the garage is well organized and tidy. DIY projects like these can transform your garage and your life, so you don’t feel so scattered. Make space for your car by installing vertical, wall, and ceiling storage. DIY garage shelves will maximize the space in your garage so that everything is neat, tidy, and easy to find and use when you need them.