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 pegboard 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 – 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:  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.

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.

If you want to start a fight, just say which brand of garage cabinets YOU think is best! I have my preferences, but, bottom line, there are many brands that can meet your particular needs better. I’ll mention the leaders here to give you a start.

Second, decide if you need to buy installation services with the cabinets. That’s much easier to do in a local retail store.

Okay, here are the major / leading brands you should consider and my comments. ($ numbers in parentheses are street costs of a middle sized wall cabinet.) At the outset, let me remind you that a “garage cabinet” is just a cabinet in the garage, not some exotic beast of its own. You can easily consider regular cabinets or furniture – even things from IKEA or industrial shelving – in addition to items specially designed for the garage.

• Ameriwood – Ameriwood is known for kitchen and bathroom cabinets, but they make “multi-purpose cabinets” that work just fine in the garage. ($150)

• Closet-Maid – Again, this company makes all sorts of storage products for inside the house (and closets) as well as wire and laminate products (white melamine, too) for the garage. ($150)

• Coleman – Coleman makes private labeled cabinets for Lowe’s and Builder’s Square. Some Coleman products are metal, but many are MDF, so be sure to check. ($160)

• Craftsman – The store-brand for Sears, known for tools, it’s not a surprise that Craftsman also sells garage cabinets, workbenches, and floor cabinets with tool-storage drawers. Most Craftsman models are made from heavy-duty steel construction with baked enamel finish. ($140)

• Frontgate – Yes, this is the same Frontgate that makes beautiful furniture for your house. They have a line of steel garage cabinets, one with glass panels on the front doors. A bit pricey, but also nice. ($ N/A)

• Hercke – a collection of stainless steel and baked steel cabinets, drawers, and work surfaces — some on legs, some on wheels and a real mix ‘n match set of possibilities. ($219)

• Husky – Available at Home Depot. Some are all steel construction and some are advertised as “metal front” – the latter being resin (synthetic) cabinets with metal doors. ($150 for the all steel; $80 for “metal front”)

• Powell – the “hot rod collection” includes steel cabinets and a butcherblock workbench. ($250)

• PremiereGarage – garage storage solutions delivered by a nationwide network of specialty shops – and solutions range from custom-designed layouts to “standard cabinets” in a host of materials from maple to stainless to “powder-coated” (whatever that means) to melamine “cabinetry systems.”

• Ulti-Mate – Two lines – Ulti-Mate and Ulti-Mate Pro, the latter being optimized for auto enthusiasts. Ulti-Mate cabinets are constructed from MDF with solid hardware and nice finishes. Middle-of the road options. ($120 – $185)

• Vault – An upscale provider of garage storage systems.

The two most popular places for garage overhead storage are 1) between an overhead garage door (when it is up / open) and the ceiling and 2) a platform which extends out over the hood of a car.

Some overhead storage solutions use a pulley and winch to hoist a basket or platform, like that shown here. You put the items to be stored in the basket or on the platform and then pull on the rope or cable to move the basket / platform up toward the ceiling and out of the way. The benefit of this system is that you don’t need a ladder and you may not need to move the car to get something out of storage.

Another solution which is common but far less popular is the “overhead bike storage.” Unlike the platforms or baskets that basically hang in the middle of the garage, the bike storage takes advantage of the headroom over the passageway along one of the passageways around the cars. You wheel the bike into the garage, and either lift or hoist the bike into the space above the heads of those who walk through the space.

Overhead storage can be a real blessing, but there are some warnings: 1) Don’t invite “varmits” to nest there. The fact is that an undisturbed spot in your warm, dry garage is pretty attractive to squirrels, birds or other pests. 2) Don’t store gasoline or other items that won’t handle heat well – as the area under the roof can get very hot in summer and 3) Make sure you have adequate ventilation and no leaks in the ceiling before installing an overhead storage area. If moisture accumulates there, in an enclosed area, mold, mildew, rot or worse might be the outcome.

Last, remember: Storage only makes sense in the context of retrieval. If you store something and can’t find it … or can’t get it back – then the item is “lost,” not “stored”! Most overhead storage systems help you FIND what you stored by being made of wire racks – so you can see what is being stored. And use either clear plastic bins so you can see what’s inside without climbing a ladder or label things boldly enough to be visible from below.