There are generally four major storage areas in your house outside of cupboards, drawers, closets and under beds. These areas are attics, garages, basements and outdoor sheds. These major storage areas are designed to allow you to store seasonal items or less frequently used items. Attics and basements are also often used to store keepsakes and memories. Memories in the forms of photos, childhood trinkets, special pieces of furniture and more. While garages are often used to store items needed quickly like sports gear or lawn equipment. Sheds are also used to store lawn equipment and sometimes tools. What more could you do to maximize these areas and get the most of your main storage areas.
Attics
Attics are great places for storage because they are generally easy to access and are protected areas. But attics can quickly become disorganized rooms. Many folks will simply move a box to this area. Boxes start to pile up and there is no sense of organization. Therefore, it is hard to find anything with mix matched boxes and no labels.
Using bins that are stackable is the start to creating an organized attic. Stackable bins will allow you to walk around in your attic. Clear bins will also go a long way to seeing what items are in which box. Using a label maker or masking tape, you can create labels for your bins for easy retrieval. Adding labels to multiple areas on the bin will be beneficial should you need to see the bin from multiple angles.
Use bins that are not too big in size or too heavy as you will be moving these bins in and out of the space. Some attics require ladders which could make it difficult to get the items down from the attic or back into the attic. This could result in adding more items to your attic and not bring anything down… ever. You could end up with a house full of items in one space and never remember what was in this space. Getting organized can help keep items from being tossed in the attic because they are just not used anymore.
Basements
Basements generally have a lot of space unless otherwise used as additional living area. If you have an area in your basement or your full basement is available for storage, similar principles apply in this area like in the attic. Basements can sometimes suffer from leaks due to foundation damage, so be sure to check the basement for any leaks prior to getting organized. Most basements generally have a lot of space and can add square footage to a home.
For additional organization, use shelving units along walls. Shelving units that can hold large bins or small bins can help give you easy access to the items you need and when. Using shelving units can also free up area in the basement for more storage.
Basements are also a great place to store holiday decorations. If your basement is tall enough and you have enough space, you can easily store artificial Christmas trees. No disassemble required. It is really that simple. Basements generally have staircases that give you a bit more flexibility in moving items to and from other areas in the house seasonally.
Garages
Adding cabinets in garages is an added benefit to storing and locating your tools when you need them. This is provided you actually have the room for cabinets in your garage. If you do not have enough room for cabinets but need to store items that require quick access, try using shelves or specifically designed organizer systems. Systems that organize golf clubs and sporting equipment can help keep the whole family in line when trying to store these items.
Overhead storage is another option to maximizing your space in your garage. Garages are designed for trucks or other large equipment. So adding racks from the ceiling that can hold weighted items can give you more room for cars and other equipment. Luggage when empty is light and can easily be stored above a car until is needed. Camping and fishing equipment is also easy to store on overhead racks. Even empty coolers can easily be lifted to hoist over your head and onto racks.
Sheds
Sheds are great work spaces as they are generally outdoors and it is known that lawnmowers, hedge cutters and other lawn equipment is often stored in sheds. Therefore, keeping a completely clean shed is not necessary because grass cuttings and dirt will inevitability make it into the shed. Keeping your shed organized so that all your equipment can fit will be the most challenging part of maximizing your shed space. Adding hooks to hang tools on walls can give you more space for the larger items. If you have some tools that can hang easily on the walls whether you use hooks or even mount peg board, you will find it easy to access the tools and view them when needed.
If you need your shed as a workspace also, you can build a foldable table on the wall that can come down when needed and then mount against the way when not needed. This type of table would require a small construction project to add it to the existing shed, however, this foldable table can be useful when you are involved in gardening projects. Additionally, using small containers for items like screws, nails, and nuts and bolts will also help store these items easily in either a shed or a garage.
When we have a house that needs to be cared for, we often need more items to care for it. However, these items need a home of there own. With these tips on better storage, we hope your homes tools can find a place to better serve you.
