5 Ways to Organize Your Shed for Maximum Storage

A shed is a wonderful way to declutter other areas of your home whether you use it as a storage shed, garden shed, or workshop. But the cycle of unorganized clutter will just repeat itself if you don’t figure out how to organize your shed for storage. Here are several shed organization ideas we’ve discovered for putting everything in its place.

One of the best ways to keep boxes, bins, and bags from overwhelming your space is to choose a shed design that offers loft space. A loft is a perfect area for storing those seasonal items that you’ll only need once a year, including holiday decorations, beach chairs, or coolers. Taking full advantage of this area ensures that items will not be underfoot and you won’t need to constantly move them around as you try to find items you use on a day-to-day basis.

With your storage shed’s loft space filled, here are ways you can organize the items in your shed that you’ll need to access more frequently.

1. Large Tools

Rakes, snow shovels, garden spades, and brooms are tall, unruly items that are often shoved into a corner where they slip and fall out of place. To keep them organized, people often add hooks to their wall and hang these items one on top of another. It seems like a good idea until you need the tool hanging all the way in the back.

Using just a few pieces of PVC piping, you can utilize empty wall space and give each tool an individual home.

source: Newly Woodwards

2. Hand Tools

A pegboard is a staple for garden shed or workshop organization. You can buy pegboard in multiple sizes, which allows you to fill just a section of your wall or an entire wall. With heavy duty pegs, you can hang a variety of power tools like your cordless drills, jigsaws, or electric sanders. They can even hold larger items like leaf blowers, hedge trimmers, or ladders.

Here’s another shed organization idea — use the backside of the doors! Add sections of lattice, hooks, pegboard, or even a plastic shoe organizer to keep small hand tools, gloves, protective eyewear, seeds, or screws close at hand.

source: Ty Pennington

3. Rubber Bins

If loft space isn’t an option for your shed, you can still utilize the empty space overhead for creating a storage solution for rubber bins. This simple DIY storage project lets you easily slide bins in and out of overhead storage. If DIY is not your thing, you can always install overhead metal wire shelving to hold your bins.

source: The Family Handyman

4. Sports Equipment

With bats, hockey sticks, golf clubs, balls (of all sizes), gloves, and bike helmets, it’s really easy for sports equipment to quickly take over your entire shed. And let’s face it, kids aren’t always great at keeping things organized. To organize your shed for maximum storage, it’s essential that sports equipment be contained. If you have a smaller shed and are tight on space, an all-in-one sports organizer is a perfect addition.

source: Tidy House

5. Small, Loose Items

They don’t take up a lot of space, but even the smallest items can lead to a disorganized and cluttered shed. Everything from nuts & bolts, screws, and drill bits, to paint brushes, twine, and seed packets need a storage space. There are lots of creative options for housing these small items in your shed.

Take advantage of previously wasted space by adding plastic containers under your shelves. Screw the lids to the bottom side of a shelf and then you can simply twist the containers on and off as needed.

A strip of magnet attached to your shed wall is another easy way to keep track of paint brushes, scissors, screwdrivers, or hand trowels.

source: DIY Cozy Home, Martha Stewart

Keeping tools, bins, and sports equipment corralled on walls, in organizers, or high up above the main shed space will give you plenty of room for larger items like lawn mowers, snow blowers, or bikes, with plenty of room to maneuver around.

4 Items You Should NOT to Store in Your Shed

While you’re looking for inspiration on how to organize your shed, it’s important to make note of a few things that you should not store in a shed.

Cardboard — Cardboard boxes are extremely susceptible to damage from humidity or moisture, causing them to disintegrate. Cardboard can also be infiltrated by insects, rodents, or mold. Instead, use water-proof plastic bins for storage.

Bulk Food/Pet Food/Bird Seed — Food will invite rodents and other pests to invade your shed. Additionally, storing foods in a space that’s not climate-controlled can cause them to spoil. Even canned foods are in danger of spoiling when stored in temps over 95 degrees or below freezing.

Paint — Storing unused paint in storage shed exposes it to extremely hot and cold temperatures, which can degrade the quality of the paint. Your basement is a more suitable storage space for paint.

Gasoline — Gasoline is a debatable item. Of course, it safer to store gasoline in a detached shed rather than a garage attached to your house. But even in a shed, gasoline can pose a danger, so be sure to follow these safety guidelines:

• Store in an approved container that holds 5 gallons or less.
• Store at least 50 ft. away from pilot lights and ignition sources such as a water heater, space heater or furnace.
• Store on the floor in a place where children can’t reach it.
• If you have a concrete floor, place a piece of plywood under the container.
• Place the container out of direct sunlight.