After extensive research, the Lehigh Group found that people generally embraced garage storage ideas that “got things off the floor” and “used unused space” creatively as a way to be safer. For example, the space between the two overhead doors of a two-car garage is a perfect place to store that torpedo-shaped car top carrier when it’s not being used. You won’t hit it with the car or trip over it there.

The wooden, metal or resin-based storage cabinets, available at modest prices from the big box retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot, are still very popular, but more and more homeowners seem convinced more sophisticated systems are worth the extra cost.

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

Bicycle storage is a great slatwall application. Getting bicycles off the floor not only reduces the chance they will fall over and scratch the car, it also minimizes the storage footprint. And, hanging bikes on a slatwall system is preferable to hanging them high overhead on ceiling hooks, as it takes a great deal of strength and coordination to hoist a bike high overhead. Not everyone can do it as easily as they can pick up a bike and place it on a slatwall hook at chest or eye level.

Storage cabinets with doors are a popular garage storage solution because, by their very nature, they can mask unsightly home maintenance items we need to store. Typically, garage storage cabinets are used to house items like cleaning supplies and leftover paint – that is, items that can look like a cluttered jumble if left on an open shelf. Some homeowners opt for lockable storage cabinets to house toxic items, especially if there are children in the home (see example below).

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

Because garage storage cabinets are enclosed, the interior space can contain more than a simple shelf. They can be subdivided into “cubbies” (useful when you want to maintain separation between items or different groups of items) or you might equip your shelves with drawers (as shown below) to organize smaller items like hardware or craft supplies.

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

A cabinet that stands on the floor and is over five or six feet in height is sometimes called a “closet” rather than a storage cabinet.  This type of storage unit might not have shelves at all; instead, the entire vertical space might be left open (designed to store garden tools or sports equipment) or equipped with a hanging bar across the top (useful, perhaps, for storing bulky off-season clothing). Here is an example of this type of storage cabinet / closet on Amazon.

When Are Storage Cabinets Better Choice Than Shelves?

Storage cabinets are typically a more expensive solution than shelves, so when should you spend the extra money and opt to use them instead of garage shelving?  There are three main reasons:

To Hide Clutter.  A set of shelves where all sorts of “stuff” is left visible is simply not aesthetically pleasing. Some people don’t care how their garages look; others do. There’s not one right-or-wrong answer, of course, but the reality is storage cabinets make garage look more organized and tidy.

To Protect Items from the Elements.  Garages are seldom heated or air conditioned.  Often doors are left open for long periods of time, and cars drive in wet from rain or snow. Given these environmental considerations (not to mention dirt, insects or other vermin), some of your items in storage may need protection. 

For Safety’s Sake. Some commonly stored items really shouldn’t be left readily accessible — toxic chemicals, sharp tools or BB guns, for example — especially if there are children living in or visiting your home. For these items, lockable storage cabinets are strongly recommended.

Important Note: The images above are from Amazon.com, and clicking them will present pricing information and customer comments about the individual products for your perusal. The products featured on GarageCabinetSense.com are some of our favorite garage organization solutions and, as you’ll see in the customer reviews, they’re well-liked by others, too.

If you prefer, you can also click this link >>>– garage storage cabinets and organization –<<< for a more inclusive list of Amazon’s offerings.

Below you will find a step-by-step guide that’s chock-full of garage storage ideas. We hope you will simply take what works for you from the list and leave the rest for someone else. There’s truly something for everyone!

Basically, we are going to look at the SPACE you have for storage and the STUFF you need to store.  Then we’ll look at the different storage systems and solutions you can use.

First, start at the beginning – and think broadly about your STUFF:

image credit: flickr's rynosoft

• What can you throw away or sell and not store?  (One “solution” or “good idea” is to avoid the problem, right?)  Seriously, do you really need everything?  Is it time for a garage sale?
• What’s in your garage now that you need to store?  Would it make more sense to store some of those items elsewhere in the house – in a laundry room, a hall, a bedroom or the kitchen, perhaps?
• Conversely, what’s presently stored somewhere else in your house that should probably be stored in the garage instead?
• Now, move the car outside for the rest of this exercise.  That way you can use the space where the car will sit as a “holding pen” for the items you need to organize as you decide where and how best to store them.

Second, inventory all the SPACE that’s realistically available for storage.  How about the back wall?  The side wall(s)?  Overhead areas? For each such space you identify, determine:

• How deep and tall is the space?  Take measurements and try to envision the “volume” of stuff you can store there. Think about how often you might need to access specific groups of items. For example, holiday decorations are usually great candidates for utilizing your overhead garage storage space, whereas tools that are heavy that you may want to access frequently and in a hurry probably shouldn’t be stored in that area.
• What amount of space do you need to reserve for passage ways –- to get in and out of the car, for example, or to get to some of the storage areas directly?

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

Take a moment to think about how you might logically group things together so they are easy to find – for example, painting supplies should be all in one place (the half cabinet to the right might work well), all tools and hardware should be in another and you might need separate spaces for sports or camping equipment, gardening supplies or holiday decorations. This step is really important!

Next, consider the size, weight and other characteristics of each GROUP of items to be stored.  Generally, open shelves and cabinets with shelves should house heavier items LOW in the space, preferably contained in boxes or bins that hold several items and can be labeled.  Lighter, smaller items, on the other hand, should be stored higher, closer to eye level, and not piled deep. Again, use boxes or bins or, perhaps, drawers or trays or other “organizer” storage systems designed to corral smaller items to aid your future access.

Then, start evaluating different garage storage ideas and manufacturers’ solutions in light of the space you have and the stuff you need to store.  Consider each of the following and then sketch out how each solution might fit in your available space and best store your stuff:

• Freestanding garage cabinets – either full-size cabinets (6’ or taller) or half cabinets (30 – 36” tall).  The Sterilite half cabinet shown above is from Amazon, and they offer matching full-size garage cabinets (as shown on our home page).  You might also want to check out our Popular Brands of Garage Cabinets article for additional examples of freestanding garage cabinets.


~clickable image goes to Amazon~

• Wall-mounted storage cabinets typically hang on the wall at or above eye level, like the Stanley Tools wall-mounted cabinet shown on the right (available from Amazon). There are matching freestanding garage cabinets in the Stanley Tools line, as well, which you can view by clicking on the preceding link.
• Workbench – a handy addition if you frequently need a flat surface to work on. (Don’t forget the storage space under the workbench!)
• Garage shelving, with the following alternatives:
  • open sides and back, floor mounted
  • closed sides and back, floor mounted (like a bookshelf)
  • fixed shelves
  • adjustable height shelves
  • shelves on wall-mounted brackets
• Rail-systems where the rails hang on the wall and everything else hangs on the rails.  See Garage Cabinets on Rails for more information.
• Hooks, pegboards and other wall-mounted systems to hold and display smaller items or to utilize wall space for bike or other sports equipment storage.
• Ceiling-mounted storage systems. See our Overhead Garage Storage article for more information.

Last, on a piece of paper, act like you’re an architect or interior designer: Sketch the SPACE you have (whether or not you already have garage storage cabinets, shelves or other solutions already in place) and then sketch the volumes of STUFF you have to store.  From there, just mix and match and play with the alternatives (e.g., bikes on the floor?  on the wall?  hanging from the ceiling?) Think about how you want your garage storage to serve you and other members of your family (e.g., do you really need a workbench or simply a “lower” cabinet with a flat top?) and focus on garage storage ideas that will be easy to maintain.

If you’re reading this, you probably have some empty space in your garage (or space you plan to make empty soon!), and you have items you want to store and keep organized there. Work on different arrangements on paper, utilizing storage cabinets or shelves you may already have and supplementing them with additional storage units you need and/or those handy bins and boxes. Remember, too: this doesn’t all need to be accomplished in a single weekend! When all the pieces for your perfect plan arrive, then physically move the items into the space where they will be stored, pat yourself on the back for adding value to your home should you ever wish to put it on the market and then just enjoy your new-found sense of organization. It truly does feel good!

Choosing Garage Storage Containers – Cardboard, Plastic or Metal?

While buying special containers to use for your garage storage may seem like an unnecessary expense – especially when you have an ample supply of cardboard boxes at the ready – all you need is one instance of animals damaging an item you’ve stored to convince you it’s wise to invest in an alternative. If you’re storing items of value, then you’re going to be better off with a plastic or metal bin or tote. (And, if you don’t deem what you’re storing as valuable, then why are you hanging on to it?)

For my money, plastic storage bins are the best choice for use in the garage. Not only are they less expensive than their metal counterparts, they are not as sensitive to the climatic changes which should always be a part of garage storage considerations. As to whether to choose clear or opaque plastic containers, that really comes down to your personal balance between utility and aesthetics. That is, while clear plastic allows you to more easily view a bin’s contents, the opaque option may be preferable if your main goal is to achieve a tidy and organized environment.

The ability to know what’s inside and to be able to easily retrieve stored items is really as simple as labeling opaque containers. Further, a “clean” way to accomplish this is to unobtrusively number the containers and then create and keep a written document that corresponds to the numbered containers and details their contents.

That should give you a good idea of which garage storage solutions will work best for you, but if you have items that might require specialty storage considerations (e.g., tool storage), you might want to scroll up and check out some of the articles on offer in our Advice Center. We’re here to help, and we aim to please!

Important Note: Except where noted, the images above are from Amazon.com, and clicking them will present pricing information and customer comments about the individual products for your perusal. The products featured on GarageCabinetSense.com are some of our favorite garage storage ideas and, as you’ll see in the customer reviews, they’re typically well-liked by others, too.

If you prefer, you can also click this link >>>– garage storage cabinets and organization –<<< for a more inclusive list of Amazon’s garage organization offerings.

Here’s an easy riddle:  What’s the difference between garage shelving and all other kinds of shelving?

Know the answer?

Well, the answer is … “Nothing.”  There is no real difference. Shelving is shelving, and you can buy shelving intended for some other room of the house – or for industrial uses – and use it in your garage instead.

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

Because it’s relatively inexpensive when compared to the cost of storage cabinets, shelving should definitely be on your garage storage ideas list. You might look in a shelving store (here’s a handy online one – ShelveShop.com), either focusing on units designed especially for use in the garage or venturing into utility shelving that’s primarily intended for use in kitchen pantries or bedroom closets. Be sure to have your plan and space measurements on hand as you investigate your garage shelving options.

Shelves with their front edges fully supported can be either free-standing (on the floor and/or on wheels) or they can be mounted to the wall (the rear part being attached to the wall and the front being supported by vertical legs.)  These shelves work well for storing boxes, bins and heavier items.

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

Up to this point, we’ve been talking about traditional garage shelves – that is, shelving that sits fixed on the floor or is mounted to a garage wall. There are more exotic solutions you may want to consider, though, like a corner shelf. Solutions such as these are especially valuable when space is at a premium – that is, most people’s garages.

~clickable image goes to Amazon~

You can even “do it yourself” and build shelves, of course, either using an existing bookcase form or using wall brackets. You can even paint them the same color as the rest of your cabinets for a cohesive, complete and attractive storage solution. For all intents and purposes, shelves should be included in any garage, as they are perfect garage storage solutions for smaller items that need to be stored off the floor. Find the garage shelving system that works best for your space and your budget, go forth and organize your garage!

Important Note: The images above are from Amazon.com, and clicking them will present pricing information and customer comments about the individual products for your perusal. The products featured on GarageCabinetSense.com are some of our favorite garage organization solutions and, as you’ll see in the customer reviews, they’re well-liked by others, too.

If you prefer, you can also click this link >>>– garage storage cabinets and organization –<<< for a more inclusive list of Amazon’s offerings.

Tool storage is an oft-sought garage storage solution, and to begin this search one should first know the difference between a tool chest and a toolbox. Quite simply, a tool chest is usually on rollers (i.e., not designed to be picked up), whereas a toolbox is smaller and meant to be carried by hand to your work site.

We will discuss both tool chests and tool boxes below, as well as provide examples of some interesting hybrids that are both tool chests AND toolboxes and, thereby, provide a unique and very efficient tool storage solution for your garage.

Craftsman Tool Chest

Virtually all tool chests (which some people call “tool cabinets”) — like the one shown on the right — are intended primarily for metal working tool storage. You can easily imagine having a complete set of socket wrenches in the top drawer of this tool chest, with maybe a metric set in the next drawer and then the third drawer might hold pipe wrenches, crescent wrenches or spanners suitable for automotive work. Whether its wrenches, cold chisels, punches, screw drivers, ballpeen hammers or other metalworking tools, a tool chest such as this is most likely dedicated to automotive or other machine shop applications. The heavy metal tool chest is needed to house the heavy metal tools.

More cumbersome tools could be placed in the bottom drawers, and each drawer could be dedicated to a single purpose. For example, all drills and related fittings could be house in one drawer, while electrical or woodworking tools (sanders, scrapers, planes, rasps, etc.) might be stored in another drawer or two.

Fluid items like oils, degreasers, paints, solvents and the like really should NOT be put in your tool chest. Because the tool chest allows motion, it’s possible the fluid would spill and create a huge mess or even a hazard or fire if toxic chemicals are spilled.

HOMAK Tool Box

Toolboxes, on the other hand, should be small, especially if you plan to fill them with dense, metal tools like wrenches. It can’t be too heavy if you plan to carry it. Because toolboxes are small, it’s perfectly plausible to have more than one — perhaps a few, even — for different purposes.  A toolbox like the one here — just click the image to read customer feedback and learn why it’s an Amazon bestseller — is best for organizing your small hand tools.  

One might also want a long, wooden “carpenter’s box” in which to store saws and other woodworking tools and/or a compact case to organize smaller, more intricate tools like torx or allen wrenches or small screwdrivers for work on electronics.  A small plastic box or attache-like case might be the best solution for keeping specialized tools (like soldering equipment, including flux and solder) at the ready and easily transportable.

But why is the title of this article about a single, great tool chest, and not a survey?  That’s because it may be possible to have your cake and eat it, too (so to speak):  You can have a large tool chest on rollers and yet have a detachable toolbox on top.  They are called tool chest / cabinet “combo units,” and if you think you’ll ever need to transport some of your tool chest items in a toolbox, this design offers a the perfect way to achieve that:

Craftsman Tool Chest image by flickr’s Charles & Hudson, Creative Commons license.

All garage organization is animated by the principles of retrieval, not of storage.  Storage is easy.  Remembering where you put something –or finding what you want — well, that’s hard.  So, if you put all your “electrical stuff” in a single garage cabinet, that is a form of “garage organization.” Either you will remember that all electrical items are there. Or you will see it fairly quickly when you start searching. You might even label the cabinet itself.

Garage cabinets assist in organizing your garage two ways:  first by getting the items stored away, out of sight and second, by putting similar stuff in the same space, be it a garage cabinet, a drawer or a shelf inside a garage cabinet.

Generally speaking, garage cabinets come in four flavors:  garage cabinets that mount to the wall, often at eye level; half cabinets that fit on the floor and come up to your waist; workbenches that have drawers or shelves below the main workbench surface; and full garage cabinets that stand on the floor and extend to 6, 7 or 8 feet tall. Of course, there are also overhead garage storage solutions, but “cabinets” are simply those enclosed storage containers that are on the floor or attached to the wall.

The best way to plan your garage organization is to assemble your “stuff” into the logical categories you’d  use to find it. In my case, that’s “fasteners” (nails, screws, bolts, glue and bailing wire!), “sports” equipment, “off season”, “painting” supplies, “drills/saws”, “electrical, TV and computer” (primarily cables, antennae, converter plugs and those teeny screwdrivers used on computers), “Christmas” stuff and so on.  Some items fit nicely into a whole cabinet.  Others only need a drawer.  One shelf might be assigned to “drills”.   A whole floor-to-ceiling cabinet might hold “sports equipment.”

Often, a cabinet is too big to properly organize all the items within it — hence the need for drawers, shelves, cubbies, hangers, etc. Once you have the main organizing done — say, “electrical, TV and computer” — how you sub-divide the space inside the cabinet is driven by what you are storing. In my case, a drawer for each one: electrical” holds octopus plugs, three-prong to two-prong converters, electrical tape, soldering stuff, extension cords, and so on. The computer drawer has some extra mice, some printer cables, and the detrius of earlier computers I’m saving for some unknown future need!

The measure of success is whether you can tell a visitor where something is and they can find it without you. And you get extra credit if they can find it without you telling them where it is. Hopefully, they can simply SEE from the gross organization that an extension cord won’t be in the paint locker but might be in the cabinet with a bunch of TV and computer stuff. That’s the acid test for great organization.

A “garage organizer” is any device that contains and subdivides space so that stored items have a logic or a visibilty aiding retrieval.  A rolling mechanics tool chest is a “garage organizer” to the extent it keeps wrenches and other tools organized in a way let’s your FIND what you need.

Chest serving as a garage organizer

Remember: Storage is only half the problem. Knowing where something is and being able to EASILY find it is the real success.   Garage organizers exploit the fact that having a specific place to store a logical grouping —  e.g., all your nails, nuts, bolts, washers, screws, clips, grommets and other “fasteners” — will help you find that 1-1/4 inch wood screw you need.   Likely, the garage organizer you select for your “fasteners” (or any other logical category of things)  would quickly display everything — so you  see all the different sizes and can quickly find what you want.   This can be done with an organizer chest, like that shown here.  Or it can be an insert in a drawer – something like the organizer you use in the silverware drawer in your kitchen.

Freestanding, garage organizer

My favorite garage organizer is this wonderful standalone tower by S. Kuramata comprising a rod which serves as a hub for a stack of rotating shelves.  It’s beautiful.  It’s elegant.  And it will give you lots of ideas about how to think about “garage organizers.”  They don’t need to be boring, that’s for sure!

The most popular types of garage organizers are those which hang items on the wall.  The old-fashioned pegboard system  was a very popular way to hang up tools – easily seen, fetched, used and replaced.  But as power tools proliferated and as single tools became sets (e.g., of wrenches or Torx bits), storage of these items on pegboards became more problematic.  Have you ever seen a Skil saw hanging on a pegboard?

Popular "rail" systems serve as garage organizers

Some wall-mounted systems – sometimes called “rail systems” or simply “rails” – are meant to carry heavier, bulkier items.  Special hooks can even carry bicycles and cantilevered boxes or shelves that support heavier loads.

Cubbies, especially those that can be adjusted, create nooks which can hold medium sized items, be they sporting equipment, tools, paint supplies, woodworking materials or whatever.  Cubbies are like a constellation of open-faced (doorless), small, compact, garage cabinets where “everything has its place and everything is in place.”

Cubbys serve as garage organizers

The last popular non-cabinet garage storage solution is simple:  garage shelving.   Shelving is just cubbies without the vertical dividers!

Standlone bookshelf-type shelves are popular, and  the shelving that attaches to walls offer great space to store and then see the items stored.

An old fashioned manual winch can open up lots of overhead garage storage

In the garage, a winch is used for lifting something heavy — the classic case being lifting an engine out of a car.  But our interest is more in how you can use it for creating garage storage — specifically, overhead garage storage.    Sure, if you have a garage winch, you can use it for anything, but a cheap winch, especially a hand crank one like that show here, is often all you need.  Just imagine this winch anchored near a side wall with an attached cable that goes up the side wall to a strong pulley where the wall meets the ceiling (or roof), which then goes over to a pulley or two in the center of the garage, and then down to a basket or platform that is raised or lowered.

Lower the platform or basket, put items to be stored on / in it, and then use the winch to lift the platform or basket out of the way.  This works especially well with open ceilings.  This is a great solution if all your garage cabinets and other garage storage places are full.

This electric winch is probably overkill for most garages

Sure, you can buy an electric winch and save yourself a little cranking.  But that adds cost and complexity.   If all you are doing is adding some garage storage solutions to your garage, you don’t really need to set up an electric winch.   It definitely would be more hoisting power than the typical overhead storage solution would need, that’s for sure.

A garage winch powered by your existing drill might be a solution

If for some reason you don’t want to deal with a hand crank, but you want to avoid the expense of a permanent, electrical winch, consider a hybrid system, like the garage winch provided by Pulley-Man(tm),  pictured here.   This device has the anchoring hooks, coupled with some steel cable running through a geared-down pulley that can be powered by a conventional 1/4 inch power drill — you know, a Black and Decker or other drill found in almost every workshop in the USA.   When you need to raise or lower the overhead storage, you just get your drill and voila! you have a powered garage winch for the time that you need it.

So, fear not.  That overhead space is ripe for the storing.   And if you don’t want to deal with ladders, then have the storage space come down to you on a pulley and cable system, then hoisted back up using your new garage winch!.

Kuramata's Homage To Piet Mondrian

Kuramata created two cabinets (for the Cappellini collection) paying homage to the 20th century artist Piet Mondrian. The rectangular, geometric shapes are perfect for a garage cabinet door. And the colors can complement most any garage.

But why stop with that idea? How about a Jackson Pollock? After all, your paint splatters could be repurposed to high art! Or buy some poster of a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt … or anyone really … and adhere it to the garage cabinet door with some shellac (for wooden cabinets) or clear lacquer (for metal ones). See also Should Garage Cabinets Be Wood, Metal, Plastic or Other? Should Mona Lisa be on your paint locker?

Don’t forget that there are multiple cabinets to take care of. Let’s say you have two doors on workbench cabinets that are on the floor and two that are wall-mounted, just above the workbench. What four pictures might work together to form a coherent whole? Aces of spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds? The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Or maybe something whimsical, like a four quadrants of compass rose, showing NE, NW, SE and SW respectively.

When you consider planning out your entire garage cabinet system, don’t forget to add a touch of color this way, or a unique, personal touch.

Here’s a very short video that shows one rail and a couple brackets:

The most popular rail systems are made by Rubbermaid™ and FreedomRail.™   The Rubbermaid FastTrack system  (which is shown in the video) installs horizontally and claims a 2000 pound carrying capacity.

By staggering the rails, you can make room for long items like rakes or shovels and shorter items like baskets or boxes (which can fit on a shelf).

The main benefit of garage rail storage solutions, other than flexibility, is keeping everything off the floor. By keeping the floor completely free, the garage is easier to keep clean, pests are not invited to make nests and the items you are seeking are closer to eye level.  And because there’s a “system,” there is a wide range of storage components – from open mesh or solid shelves; to boxes or cubbies; to S-hooks or dual prongs; to multi-drawer units; or to complete 2-door or 4-drawer cabinets.    And the systems can support organizers of varying depths – 9”, 12” or even 16” depths, as well as those that hang on the wall.

Another approach to a rail system is to mount the rails vertically, as is shown just below. There, the rails are attached vertically, several times to the same stud, and the rails have reinforced holes where shelving, garage cabinets, storage baskets, brackets or other garage storage solutions can be attached.

Garage Cabinets On Vertical Rails

Most people think of rail systems as a sort of heavy-duty pegboard – something that will support garden tools, bikes and stuff on a shelf. But they also can hold a more conventional garage cabinet, with or without doors or drawers. Even a sort of bookshelf can hang on a rail, either a rail mounted horizontally or two rails mounted vertically. We have even seen a “worktop” cantilevered off one of the vertical systems — although we wouldn’t want to load it as heavily as a traditional workbench. (Also, at 16 inches in depth, it isn’t as useful as a full workbench.) But rest assured: If you want a tall cabinet, bookshelves or other traditional garage cabinets, they all are available on rail systems.

These solutions are better than Ikea garage cabinets or Craftsman steel garage cabinets. But you can get hardware that can attach to the back of these and regular, plywood garage cabinets and then attach to the rails.  Very cool!

The systems can be a bit expensive if you have a huge space to cover, but for modest installations, or for filling in just a portion of your garage, these “rail” oriented garage cabinet storage solutions are great.