Garage organization

[madison069]

I've been going through my garage and getting it organized some more and I'm at that point of WTF do I do now?

I want to put some tool on the peg board but I just don't know how I want to organize it. Along with i got a lot of other stuff to determine where it goes. Being limited in space is making me think harder about what I keep and what I let go. ALong with trying to make it easier to work in the garage without letting go too much of my stuff!!

I laid out my wrenches that I plan to put on the peg board and now starting to think of what else I want to put there. But at the same time i got stuff that just have to go somewhere and the board seems to be the ideal spot for it so I have to put it on there. Then there's the how do I hang it all?

Along with the open shelves, I've come to the point that I want to close everything so it's not as open and allow dirt/wood/etc collect on everything as this is my only place to do automotive work and wood work so trying to make it work for me. Been looking at lateral cabinets but trying to find that style I want is being challenging so I just wait and keep watching craigslist for new ones to pop up.

None the less I just keep plugging away a little at a time and as I go I keep thinking of different ideas and I get irritated that i wasted time on one way and decided later that another way is better.

Surely I'm not alone.....

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Pictures of your space will help people visualize your situation and GLA members love pretty pictures.

What is the main use of the space? Automotive? Woodworking? Metalworking? Weekend hobby projects?

What types of tools are to stored?

What raw materials will be stored?

How many non-garage related items are in there? Lawnmower, bikes, house storage, mother in law, etc?

Open shelves are fine and to keep things dust free, plastic bin containers with lids are your friend. They also let you reorganize readily.

 

[madison069]

Need some recent pics but that the recent i have right before I started.

 

[Enad308]

I installed an attic ladder, do you have room for one. Frees up plenty of space.

I know it's hard, but do you need everything you have, can you sell or throw away anything?

I'd lose the white shelving on the ground, ect as much off ground as you can

Do you have things in boxes still that doesn't need to be, take them out and lose boxes.

Does your power tools have cases, do they need to be in there? Not all do.

Combine dual bottles e.g. Do you have 2 open oil containers, if they are the same pour them into one.

Loose the old school television, get a cheap small second hand flat screen, if you need one at all

Some wall space under power cords you could use, and find another way to store power cords and have that whole wall

The stuff you want to keep can you put in storage container and bring into the house in a cupboard?

Hard to say without looking in detail, those may help, may not

 

[madison069]

Good suggestions, I'll look through the stuff as I go.

Here is some recent pics,

I went through the toolboxes and got them organized, just want to do something with the stuff on the bottom toolbox as those are mostly home repair tools.

Basic stuff that i know i want to go on the peg board,

Just random pics of what I got around the garage, Along with stuff i need to go through and throw away/sale/organize better.

Random car parts for my ranger/toyota/jaguar that's in the fleet right now.

PPE breathing stuff, gloves, cleaners and sealer.

bolts on right, bits in the center that needs to be sharpen (want to get a drill doctor, but figured I'd wait til christmas or my birthday as a suggestion to the wife) heat gun/solder gun and glue gun on left.

The storage bins has odds and ends that keeps me going during projects, and then there's the grout stuff. How long is that stuff good for?

Fishing tackle stuff, I need to go through this and declutter it. I would like to have better storage options but this was what I made up out of what i had at the time.

Area the car will park at in winter time. How do other store extension cables?

Paint and oil cabinet, Books manual, and air tool on upper left.

scrap lumber that get used from time to time.

Haven't gone through my wood working tools and such, but you get the mess, i mean idea.

I got ideas like reduce the size of my speakers with little speakers I got from a surround system that died. Put the floor drill press on a wheel base soI can move it around.

But basically I just need to work through it all and get rid of what I don't need and organize what I got into better use. But basically I was just ranting when I started but I welcome ideas as I keep looking through the forum and think up ideas from others!

 

[Leopard Garage]

What do you do?
What is your shop for?
If you like to weld, set it up for your hobby, or money making venture.
Then you can decide what to put on the peg board.

 

[madison069]

Oh I agree, What i like to do is work on my hotrod but with limited space my cars sit in Texas at my parent's place.

In the mean time this is where i work on cars in the family, doing plumbing, electrical, drywall, general construction around the house, and fix any of my daughter's toys/jelwery as they break.

Basically I'm the maintenace man of this house! LOL

 

[Kevin54]

check out the thread in my signature of lil'scorpions shop and his organizing

 

[madison069]

check out the thread in my signature of lil'scorpions shop and his organizing

Oh I've read that thread and some of his ideas are great!!

 

[egnorant]

All the planning in the world will change once it meets the real world. Pegboard can be rearranged and may evolve over time. Some of my changes were big...got a tire machine that gets used a lot, had to make room by chuckin' the love seat that never lived up to its original plan as a place to sit and just got covered with **** and stunk. Moved my big work bench 3 feet and moved the grinder to the other end.

Found I used those screwdrivers mostly over there, since I added my 2 electrical drop reels my extension cord storage moved and that space got pry bars that get used a lot!

Even little things evolve! My pens and pencils went from just laying on the bench to a cup sitting on the bench through custom mounted cup holders (GODZILLA!!) with a metal cup that also has paint pens, and a couple of super useful punches and a cheap plastic caliper that goes in my pocket before I jump under a car so I grab the 9/16 deep six point socket rather than 3 sockets that ride in my pocket until I put them back later (sometimes they ride all the way to the laundry...we don't want that!).

Bruce

 

[madison069]

All the planning in the world will change once it meets the real world. Pegboard can be rearranged and may evolve over time. Some of my changes were big...got a tire machine that gets used a lot, had to make room by chuckin' the love seat that never lived up to its original plan as a place to sit and just got covered with **** and stunk. Moved my big work bench 3 feet and moved the grinder to the other end.

Found I used those screwdrivers mostly over there, since I added my 2 electrical drop reels my extension cord storage moved and that space got pry bars that get used a lot!

Even little things evolve! My pens and pencils went from just laying on the bench to a cup sitting on the bench through custom mounted cup holders (GODZILLA!!) with a metal cup that also has paint pens, and a couple of super useful punches and a cheap plastic caliper that goes in my pocket before I jump under a car so I grab the 9/16 deep six point socket rather than 3 sockets that ride in my pocket until I put them back later (sometimes they ride all the way to the laundry...we don't want that!).

Bruce

THis will be change number 5 for this peg board.

 

[madison069]

Just for giggle, this is what I started with when I first moved in with my wife.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Got any pictures of the outside of the garage walls? Interested in the side and back. Might have some options open there.

 

[madison069]

Got any pictures of the outside of the garage walls? Interested in the side and back. Might have some options open there.

It's in the ground, this is a cinder block garage with a back porch on top of the garage. There's no expanding this garage.

 

[OJ Bartley]

madison069, it sounds like you're on the right track. Organizing all at once is hard, especially when you don't specifically know HOW you plan to use everything, or even WHAT you will actually be using. I think really good organization has to evolve, as Bruce mentioned above.

I'm just starting to organize my garage too, and feel a lot of the same things from your first post. I say give it a little thought, get as much as you can up on the peg board, and you can change that as needed later. Put as many loose items as possible into boxes or bins. I happen to have an abundance of empty diaper boxes that will be my temporary storage for things like that.

Priority #1 is to get everything off the bench/floor/out of piles and get it so you know what you have and where it is. Then you'll discover what you use and what you don't. Then you can thin out the collection to make some more space too. If you have room to add more shelves, that always helps.

I think you're off to a good start.

 

[Trey T]

What you're doing is making it neat, which is an improvement but you ARE NOT ORGANIZING.

If you study the Lista cabinet company and understand their philosophy, you'll realize the common attribute for orgnization is having DRAWER or movable shelf.

Solution?
Purchase more or larger cabinet w/ drawers of variety size.

I believe the problem you have is having too many nested box; although it's neat, it's not structured or organized. Nested box is a box that get stored in a drawer or enclosed cabinet. I learned over the years with switching to different organizational solutions is to minimize having nested box. I suggest you look at Lista website or google "lista cabinet" for inspiration.

 

[egnorant]

I see good progress! You actually have more drawer and shelf space than I do.
You will notice things you have to often dig for and move them more to the front, stuff you must squeeze by or bang an elbow on that get shoved back or even out!

I know that last cabinet door on the left would bug me until I made it open the other direction. The air hose would be another item on my list. I might tuck a hose reel below the counter coming out of the corner, but I have a thing about walking on hoses or cords.

Don't overthink things, you have a great start.

Bruce