Tool Shed organization Tips

Does your garage look like this?

But you want it to look like this?

A shed or a garage can easily become cluttered. Your storage building can become more of a trash & clutter trap than what it was designed to be. Everyone loves to have their storage spaces and tool sheds organized. Here at Overholt & Sons, our wish is for you to experience the joy and freedom of an organized storage building.

With a few tips on garage and shed organization, your building could be transformed into an inviting and enjoyable place. Your shed organization does not need to be expensive, time-consuming, or difficult. A few simple and cost-free tips can go a long way. All you need is old materials, a few tools, a little creativity, and you are ready to go.

Why Is Organizing Your Shed Important?

There are a few reasons why it’s important to keep your shed organized. The biggest reason is that an organized shed ensures that you have a designated place for everything, so you’re not left hunting through a cluttered space for the items you need. Second, it makes it easier to find things when they’re organized – meaning you’ll spend less time searching and more time enjoying your backyard. The last reason is that an organized shed creates a tidy appearance and can even add value to your home. So if you’re looking to save time and money, as well as increase your property value, it’s well worth taking the time to organize your shed.

Small Tool Shed Storage Ideas

Here is a compiled list of 26 DIY storage shed organization ideas that you can use to get your shed reorganized. Having an organized shed has many benefits some of which include not having to search through a cluttered space to find things and just a better overall appearance. Read on to learn more!

Magnetic Tool Holder

If you have some old magnets laying around, they can help hold your hand tools. Make a slot in a piece of wood. Then glue the magnets into the piece of wood. Fasten the piece of wood to your workbench. Enjoy the simple way of keeping your tools orderly.

closet Rack

Instead of throwing out your old shoe rack, this is a great way to put it to use. Simply hang it on the wall of your tool shed or garage, and you can use it to store paint cans, small tools, and other similar items.

Pegboard Organizers

Pegboards make a great way to make your shed or garage orderly. Even just a small piece of leftover board can go a long way. The beauty of pegboards is that you can adjust your hooks and shelves as you go. Even if you want to hang some other tools later, simply adjust the hooks to accommodate the new tool.

Pegboard Plastic Cup Organizers

For a really simple tool shed organization tip, try this plastic cup organizer. Start with some old plastic cups. Drill two holes, 1-2 inches apart, in the back of the cup. Then simply zip-tie the cup to the pegboard. Bingo! Now you have great storage for all kinds of smaller items.

Storage Ideas For fasteners

Storage in extra jars

Do you have a bunch of old plastic peanut butter jars that you are about to throw away? Why not put them to good use. All you need is a simple wooden shelf and a few jars. Grab a few screws, a screw gun, and a little bit of time. Unscrew the lid from the plastic lid and fasten it with two screws to the underside of a wooden shelf or something similar. Then fill the jar with fasteners or other small items from your tool shed.

Then simply screw the jar back onto the lid. Your fasteners are out of the way, but they are easily accessible whenever you need them. All you need to do is loosen the jar, take out what you want, and then fasten it again.

Fastener Organizer Case

We have all been amazed at how easy it is to find fasteners at our local hardware stores due to their simple organized cases. You can easily install any of these in your shop or garage as well. This keeps your work area clean and organized. Now you can have specific areas designated to certain types and sizes of fasteners.

DIY Garden Tool Storage

Wooden Slotted Shovel Rack

A piece of wood with slots also works perfectly to hold garden tools. Nail a big piece of 1″ or thicker piece of wood to the shed wall. Make sure that it is braced correctly. Then cut slots in to the piece of wood. It is a great way to implement tool shed organization even with bulky items like garden tools.

PVC Garden Tool Organizers

If there are old PVC pipes lying around, they would make a great way to store tools. Cut the PVC into 6″-10″ pieces. Then fasten the pieces (one a few inches from the garage or shed floor and one about 36″ from the floor) to the wall of the shed. This makes a great place to store your more bulky garden tools in your tool shed.

Mobile Garden Tool Caddy

How many times have you gone out to the garden or flowerbeds, and realized you needed more tools? Sometimes continuous trips back and forth to your shed take more energy than the work itself. A simple mobile tool caddy is easy to pull behind you as you work in all your various flowerbeds. It keeps all your necessary tools together no matter where you take them. When you are finished working, simply place it back in your tool shed, and it will help with shed organization.

Garden Tool Racks

Do you have an old piece of slotted material laying around? That will make a great way to hang your long garden tools or store any extra pvc pipes in a neat fashion. This is a great alternative if you do not have much floor space in your tool shed. Slotted shed hanger

Storing Garden Chemicals

Original Container/Away From Sunlight

Storing hazardous garden materials correctly is sometimes easy for us to overlook.  One of the most important factors is to keep the chemicals and materials in the original bottle. This way you know exactly what to do in case of emergency, how long the shelf life is, and what the chemical can be used for.

Also, it is important to keep chemicals out of direct sunlight. This helps to prevent heat buildup and any potential fire hazards. Take your shed organization to the next level and keep your tool shed safe by safely storing your hazardous garden chemicals.

Designated Cupboard

One of the most effective shed organization tips is to keep chemicals inside a simple cupboard. This protects them from any ultraviolet rays from the sun and random sparks that may come from your current projects.  Most cupboards provide you with the opportunity to lock the doors to help prevent pests, children, and pets from tampering with them. Storing chemicals inside a cupboard greatly improves your shed organization.

Overhead Totes

If you are worried about your kids or pets getting into any harmful garden chemicals, simply store them in totes in over head compartments for good shed organization. No more worrying about watching the kids or making sure the cupboard door is securely locked. Garden chemicals stored overheard are safe from curious children and innocent pets.

Lumber Storage Ideas for shed organization

Overhead Shed Organization

If garage floor space is hard to come by, you can easily store those little scraps of lumber in an overhead shelf. Whether it is small wood pieces, PVC pipes, metal pipes, or other random straight pieces, you can store them safely overheard, and keep it out of your walking paths. Overhead storage organization

Lattice Rack Storage

Old or left-over lattice also makes a great way to store long items like pipes, rods, smaller pieces of wood, etc. To make use of this great shed organization tip, start by cutting the lattice into 2 triangle pieces. Then nail 2x4s in place to frame the lattice. (The optimal place is in the corner of the wall and the rafters or ceiling joists.) After that nail the lattice to the 2×4 frame. The lattice is now ready for pipes and other long materials. It will help with your garage and tool shed organization and keep long annoying materials out of the way.

Barrel For Wood Scraps

If you often use small wood scraps for random projects, you can simply use an old barrel to combine them in a small corner of your tool shed or garage. With the ends sticking out, you will be able to see the thickness and size of each piece. No more rummaging through a pile on the floor since they are all accessible in your barrel. This simple shed organization tip works for any kind of scrap material.

Random Storage Ideas

Ceiling Storage

If you are serious about your shed organization, ceiling storage might be great. It helps to remove things that you rarely use from your precious floor space. While most of the garage and shed organization tips in this list can be done with old or reused materials, this one may require buying storage boxes. To use them cut 3 pieces of wood at about 4′ in length. (A 2×6 and 2 pieces of 3/4″ or 1″ plywood are ideal.) Then nail the 3 pieces of wood together forming an I-beam. Nails these I-beams onto the ceiling at the proper spacing.

The boxes make great storage for less frequently used items. With a simple step ladder you can easily reach the storage boxes and add or remove any of your items. The best part is that it keeps things from cluttering up floor space that you could use for more important things such as parking cars, ATVs, or lawn equipment.

Bungee Cord Ball Storage

Wood Shed walls make a great place for shed organization. The space between the studs is often unused. One way to use this space is by using it to store balls. What you need are some old wood scraps that are lying around and a few unused bungee cords.

Build a little frame from 2x4s, or something similar, and nail it inside two wall studs. One should be at the bottom and one about four feet high. Next drill 1/2″ holes into the frame where the bungee straps need to be fastened. Lastly, stretch the bungees from the bottom frame to the top frame. This will keep your balls in one place and also make them easily accessible whenever you want to use them.

Trash Bag Roll Hanger

If you have an old toilet paper holder that needs to be retired, this is a great way to reuse it. Mount it on the wall, and use it to store your roll of trash bags. (Note: you may need to also put a small rod inside the towel holder rod for added strength because a trash bag roll is much heavier than a roll of toilet paper.) No longer do you need to go hunting for your trash bags every time, and now they will not roll all over the place. The next time you need a trash bag, you know where to go.

DIY Bike Rack

Why pay for a bike rack if you do not need to? And why have your bikes all over the garage or shed? Instead, improve your shed organization by simply nailing two old pallets together in the corner of your garage or shed? Use the slots between the pallet slats to keep the bike upright. It only takes up a corner of the building to store a number of bikes.

Tape Organizer and Dispenser

Are you tired of tape everywhere but really not anywhere? Maybe you see tape, but it is not the tape you want. Try this simple and cheap tape dispenser. The materials you need are: a little wood, a few screws, and an old hack saw blade. With a little time, and a few tools, your shed organization can improve tenfold.

Bucket Hose & Cord Storage  

An old…or even a new…bucket can be an awesome way to store hoses and cords. Start by finding an old bucket you longer use. It can be either plastic or tin/steel. Drill two or three holes in the bottom of the bucket. (They should be big enough for a 1/4″ or 3/8″ lag bolt.) Then find a good and solid place on the wall that will support the weight of the bucket. (You may need to nail a 2×8 to the wall between two studs to make for a solid place to lag to or in the case of a drywalled garage you will need to find a stud to log to.) Finish the project by driving the lag bolt through the holes in the bucket and into the wood on the wall.

This will keep your garden hoses and electrical cords safe and neatly stored. Hanging cords and hoses is one simple, easy way to greatly help with your shed organization. An organized tool shed makes your storage building way more pleasant to work in.

Shed and Garage Organization Tips Video

The following video puts the above shed organization tips in more of a visual form. It also has some additional tips and some tips presented in a different way from what is shown above. Your garage or shed can be transformed from a cluttered mess to an organized place to work, to store tools, and to park your car.

Getting Started with Organization

Garage or shed organization can be difficult, pricey,  and time-consuming. However, it does not need to be. It can be easy, cheap, and quick.

First of all, separate your stuff into three categories. 1) Items to keep, 2) items to sell or send to reuse, and 3) items to throw away.

Secondly, divide your garage or shed into zones. The following picture gives an example.

Now it is all up to you what you are going to do to make use of these simple, affordable garage and shed organization tips. It is really that simple. All you need is some time and reusable resources, and then you are good to go.

One more tip before you go… if you just need a place to move your extra things out of your garage, a simple storage shed in your backyard can do the trick perfectly!