What are your BEST garage organization tips?

Surplus AV carts. Watch your local auction websites for these. The black one on the left. If I win this lot, I have no use for the white one.

 

We are in process of buying a new home and my absolute must is a basement and 3 car garage. Being in manufacturing, I absolutely lean everything out. Everything has a place, and there's absolutely nothing left out after the job.

I can't stand leaving my office at night with a stack of paper on my desk. Like Broome, I recognize my ADD and have to remove the distractions.

 

I have a 5 car basement garage and a 40X80 pole barn.....be careful what you wish for as stuff will accumulate to fill the space available. 13 bikes, 4 bicycles, 2 trucks, 2 trailers, 2 tractors and 3 cars.....no room!

 

I'm still trying to gather myself after seeing Jake's (renegade) photos. I feel I've just seen a side of him I never knew existed ..

 

you havent seen the best of it yet. Just think of how much money on pre-workout supplements i could save you and Broome by simply texting you those pictures every morning.

 

Organizing a garage is pretty easy. Keeping it organized is not.

As an aside, sheds with the "gambrel" roof style are the dumbest invention known to man. I have an 80 square foot floor with about 60 square feet of useable floor space. Can't even lean a damn shovel against the wall.

 

He's not lying. That's a very small sample size of the chaos.

 

Cabinets, as many as you can get, hung from the wall, off the floor. I try not to have clutter, but it builds, than I have to clean, then it builds again.

This is from a couple years ago, just after I finished the inside of the garage.



Oh, and no yard equipment in the garage. those go in the shed(or pole barn).

 

this - i will have to change the sliding door to the side attachment of my barn, that the lawnmower doesn't end up in the main part, where project car and bikes are...

 

A shed and some cabinets/shelving make a big difference

 

I built a giant modular shelving system all around my garage out of 2x3's and 3/8in plywood. I'd take a picture but it's a freaking mess in there right now.

 

Any ideas on how to store lumber? I have sheets of plywood and 2x4s of varying sizes. Stacking it against the wall still took up a fair amount of room and also made it a pain to dig a piece out if I needed to. I built an A-frame cart and put wheels on it. That makes it easier to get pieces out but it still takes up a lot of room.

 

oh the irony, i gave you that large shelf out of the kindness of my heart.

 

You had a nice 60x40 to keep stuff in back then.

One shelf for you is like pissing on a forest fire.

 

The pulley system rafter shelves are pretty cool.

I don't have one, but my bicycle racks are 50% of one...

 

just did this last week. Worked out great. Removed the roller piece from the reel and mounted it to the truss so the reel is above the ceiling too and the only thing that comes through is the hose. Still will probably make a small metal cover to clean up the look. Best part is while I was getting parts together I found a wireless outlet switch for $16 (and it even works) so I didn't have to bother running wires to a switch and just use the remote to power on the compressor. Now I just need to upgrade my compressor.

 

^^^ that might be OK for tires but how do you sand blast, paint or use real-man air tools?

 

Katie - I would suggest making a scale model of your garage. I have made several out of the top of a pizza box, but graph paper works too.

Then you measure the bikes, etc., slightly over-estimate their size, and you can get a MUCH better idea of where everything will work best. Make rectangular cut-outs of each bike, and you can move them around, stack them, etc. until they all fit in a realistic layout.

I think it's almost a 100% certainty that the 150's are going to have to be stored off the ground, and above something else, but I'm also assuming those are less than 200 lbs, and relatively easy to roll onto an elevated platform (above the R6's?). That's probably 1 wall of your garage. The 450 and the shifter kart are harder, because one is wide, and the other is tall... Groms will need to be accessible, since I assume those are in and out of the garage most often.

Wish I was close enough to just help you build the shelving. I enjoy these types of projects - especially when it's not my money being spent on materials :P

 

Almost forgot - i think cabinets suck. They require a step-stool or ladder to see into effectively. I much prefer shelving that is custom-built to the size of cheap plastic bins. Then rather than trying to find something in the cabinet, you can just pull the bin off the shelf, grab what you needed (or move on to the next bin when you don't find it), and put the bin back. Much easier, IMHO, and easier to build.

 

ok who makes that black folding/reclining chair in the lower left of your picture? I sat in one a few weeks ago and want one, just forgot to check out who made it.