We’ve all got them, those essential items that are so awkwardly shaped it’s impossible to know how to store them. And for those of us who use the garage for storage, this can mean there’s always one corner (or more) that is a health hazard of jumbled scooters, bikes, rackets and snow or beach gear, to name just a few.
To help you get that corner of your garage under control, we’ve done some research and come up with what we think are the top 5 storage solutions for those things that just won’t fit in a box or sit neatly on a shelf.
1. Bikes
Bikes pose one of the greatest challenges to a tidy garage, particularly if everybody in the family has one. They take up lots of space; they’re a mess of chains, pedals and gears; and each one is a different size.
While there are a number of commercial, purpose-built bike storage solutions, in general these are very expensive. Some of them are pretty ingenious though, so if you’re a bike obsessive, you might like to have a look around and lash out on one that suits your garage and lifestyle.
For those who are more interested in an inexpensive DIY solution, the one we liked the most was an overhead shelf with a horizontal steel pole between its brackets. The bikes are then hung from the pole with large steel hooks, with the largest bike’s back wheel just touching the floor. The kids might need some help getting their bikes down, but overall we reckon this is a neat and simple solution to the bike storage issue.
2. Scooters
If you’ve got kids, you more than likely have scooters, which have to be the one of the most annoying items to store. Who hasn’t been kicked in the shin by a scooter when it falls over? And they seem to fall over so easily. And then there’s an avalanche of scooters …
Our favourite DIY storage solution for scooters is the wooden panel (30cm wide and approx. 2m in length) mounted on the wall on an angle, with a series of pegs on each side of the panel. The pegs also need to be on an angle, so the scooter bar can sit under and over them, and they should be at least 5cm long, so the scooters can’t fall off the wall. You could also add a couple of spots for skateboards, using three pegs in a triangular shape.
3. Miscellaneous Sports Equipment
Although there are lots of ideas out there, the easiest and most inexpensive way to store sports equipment is on a piece of pegboard mounted on the wall. This can be customised to suit any sport and any sized space, with baskets attached for things like tennis or golf balls, or shuttlecocks and swimming goggles (place a couple of wire baskets underneath the board for larger balls, such as basketballs or footballs). And it’s a perfect place to hang rackets, hula hoops and skipping ropes so they’re out of the way and easy to access when they’re wanted.
4. Garden Tools
Almost as annoying and as hazardous as bikes and scooters, garden tools are notorious for toppling over at the slightest nudge and causing bruises, cuts and loud swearing. And yet, they have to go somewhere, right?
We came across a number of good storage solutions for garden tools, including the one in the feature image, which utilises a simple wall rack and hook system that can be adapted to hold most tools, and not just those for the garden.
But the best and cheapest DIY garden tool storage idea we found was a couple of wooden pallets mounted against the wall, perfect for slotting in your spades, forks, rakes and clippers so they’re right there at hand height when you next need to use them.
For more great garage storage ideas, check out our article ‘Can’t find the car? Time to organise your garage’. Or click on the link below for more articles from Best Doors.
