Having too much garage clutter really hampers your ability to use your garage for what it was really meant for – parking and efficient additional home storage.
So is eliminating your garage floor clutter really as simple as making use of a few garage wall storage tricks? Absolutely.
When you take a smart approach to maintaining your garage with effective storage systems and sound organization strategies, clutter will cease to be a persistent problem.
Using even just a few of the following garage wall storage tricks will pay off immediately. Your garage space will be tidier, more functional, and safer.
1. Maximize your garage wall storage space
One of the key ways to keep your garage floor clutter-free is to utilize an area of your garage that’s mostly underutilized – its walls.
Some homeowners may use a few hooks for hanging yard tools and some DIY shelving on their garage’s walls. Look at most garages, however, and you’ll typically find a lot of wall space that could be used better.
When choosing a garage wall storage system to maximize your wall storage space, the two main options you’ll find are slatwall and pegboard. Both allow you to hang panels up to 4′ x 8′ on your garage walls.
As we discussed in a previous blog post, you’ll find a lot more limitations with pegboard compared to slatwall (including looks, versatility, and durability).
A high quality slatwall garage storage system is your best option. It’s designed to make the most efficient use of your wall storage space and also adds a more finished look to the interior of your garage.
Slatwall storage maximizes your storage space and gives you the flexibility to create a home for any hangable item.
2. Make a home for everything
Your garage floor is filled with clutter because you haven’t taken the time to create proper storage spots for items like bikes, yard tools, sports equipment, and extension cords.
One of the major benefits of using a good garage wall storage system is that it allows you to create a home for anything in your garage that can be hung. This leaves everything highly visible, easy to find, and makes it significantly easier to keep your garage organized.
Once you get all the floor clutter stored on your garage walls, your garage floor space will open right up. It will be easier to park vehicles inside, where they should be stored.
Many things that are commonly found on garage floors also pose tripping hazards or have sharp edges. Hanging tools like rakes, pruners, hedge trimmers, and shovels on your garage walls is safer than keeping them on the floor. They’ll also be less likely to get damaged.
Your garden hose can also be kept off your garage floor and stored on a wall-mounted hose reel.
3. Use labels
Using a garage wall storage system automatically makes it easier to keep your garage organized. When making a home for all of the things you’ll be hanging on your garage walls, using labels can also be very helpful.
Some homeowners like to outline the items that are hung on their garage walls with paint or a black marker to remind them where they’re stored. Aside from the fact that this doesn’t look very good, it it also poses a problem if you decide to shuffle around where items are stored.
Labelling your hung items with a handheld label maker or labels printed from your computer or smartphone is much easier and certainly looks much nicer. Neatly printed labels that have a uniform look also help minimize visual clutter.
Labels encourage good organization maintenance by clearly spelling out (literally) where an item that was used should be returned to.
4. Look for storage flexibility
Your garage storage needs are guaranteed to change over time. Worn out and damaged tools will be discarded and replaced eventually with new tools of varying sizes.
You’ll also find that certain tools you may use frequently for a certain amount of time for a specific task may not be needed again for quite awhile.
That’s why choosing a garage wall storage system that provides flexibility when it comes to storing your belongings is so important. You want to be able to freely move items around and have your most regularly used tools as accessible as possible.
There’s no better garage wall storage system for this than a slatwall system. The horizontal slats on the wall panels allow for very easy movement of all your hung items and their hanging accessories.
5. Use the right hanging accessories
A big part of ensuring your garage wall storage system provides enough storage flexibility lies with the types of hanging accessories that are available for it.
It’d be a shame to buy a wall storage system for your garage and then find out that not enough of its hanging accessories fit your storage needs.
With Garage Living’s slatwall storage system, you’ll find more than 40 types of sturdy hanging accessories that have a wide variety of applications:
- garment hooks, double hooks, utility hooks, loop hooks, single hooks, and industrial hooks
- magnetic tool bars and tool racks
- bike hooks, golf racks, fishing rod racks, and racks and hangers for other sports equipment
- hanging baskets in sizes from deep to shallow
- wire utility shelves
- tilt-out storage bins and utility bins
Look for a garage wall storage system with plenty of hanging accessories to fit your storage needs.
6. Look for stability with your garage wall storage
The stability of your garage wall storage system is another important factor to consider. Both the surface items are being hung on and the hanging accessories you’re using need to be sturdy, reliable, and able to hold heavier weights for reasons of safety.
A lot of garages with a pegboard storage system only use panels that are 1/8″ thick. That thickness is easy to find in any home improvement store and is also attractive because of its cheap price.
You’ll find, however, that using such a flimsy material for hanging items on isn’t an ideal long-term storage solution. Between the fluctuating temperatures in a garage environment and the wear and tear that comes with tools being handled, even thicker pegboard panels will degrade quicker than you’d like.
A more resilient material like our 5/8″ thick slatwall panels are more capable of handling the needs of a garage wall storage system. Their rigid cellular foam PVC construction will last much longer and can handle a load capacity of 40 lbs/sq in.
Pegboard hanging accessories usually only have two small hooks that fit into the pegboard’s holes. That doesn’t provide much of a stable anchor point.
Slatwall hanging accessories, on the other hand, are anchored over a larger surface of the panels to provide more stability. In fact, items weighing up to 50 lbs can be stored on a slatwall panel.
7. Use common sense with your garage wall storage system
Even as sturdy as some garage wall storage systems are, not everything in your garage is meant to be stored on the wall, nor capable of being stored there.
Common sense will dictate when to look at alternative garage storage ideas for items that aren’t suited to wall storage. Bulky items like holiday decorations and seasonal tools and patio furniture can be stored in overhead storage racks. If you have two sets of tires for your vehicles, free up garage floor space by using heavy-duty tire racks.
Industrial standalone shelving racks and garage cabinetry also provide additional storage options for items that are best stored somewhere other than your garage walls.
Use garage wall storage to reclaim your garage floor space
Reclaiming your valuable garage floor space is as simple as using the right wall storage system in your garage.
Schedule your free consultation with one of Garage Living’s design experts to begin the process of getting your garage organized.
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