Get your garage uncluttered with some tips from The Lawhead Team.
If you have lived in your home for a while, your garage is probably pretty cluttered with things you have collected over the years.
We would like to share some helpful tips on how to use stuff around the house to get those small items in your garage fully organized. Check them out, you’ll be surprised at some of the items you can use to organize your garage and help you learn how to store hardware so you can actually find it.
Muffin tins are perfect for small parts – Put those neglected muffin tins to work holding small fasteners, electrical parts and more. Screw together a tote from three pieces of 1/2-in.-thick plywood cut to fit the width and height of your trays. Screw plywood strips on the inside to act as drawer runners for the tins and glue or screw on a thin plywood back.
Steel boxes keep parts from rusting – For rust-free storage of expensive air nailer fasteners, use steel ammunition boxes from an army surplus store. They have a watertight seal to help prevent corrosion and they’re cheap (about $5). Perfect for in the garage!
Hang up shower curtain rings – Old-fashioned shower curtain rings ($2 for a 12-pack at a home center) can organize and conveniently display nuts and washers on your pegboard. Load up the rings, add a tape label, and hang them near the wrenches. You can also toss them in a nail apron for on-the-go repairs.
Mount plastic jars under shelves – Plastic peanut butter jars work better for storage than glass baby food jars because they hold a lot more hardware and won’t smash into slivers if you drop one. Attach the lids of 28-oz. jars under a shelf with two screws (so the lid can’t spin when you loosen the jar) and screw on the loaded jar. For quick access, cut away half of a 64-oz. peanut butter jar with a sharp utility knife, leaving the neck intact, then attach the lid and jar to the side of a cabinet.
Use a magnetic strip, glue and washers – Want a handy storage roost for all the little screws, earplugs, nuts and washers in your shop? Pick up a package of Glad 4-oz. cups, a magnetic strip, several 7/16-in. washers and a tube of E6000 glue. Apply glue to the cup’s concave bottom, press in a washer flush with the bottom rim and let the glue set for 24 hours.
Install muffin tins under shelves – Garage work surface cluttered with miscellaneous nails, screws, hardware, whatever? Clean it up and still keep that stuff at your fingertips. Attach a muffin tin under a shelf with a single 1/4-in. x 1-1/2-in. flat head machine screw. The tin pivots out from beneath work surfaces to organize and serve up any little doodad you frequently use. And you store all that little stuff without using up a single square inch of workspace.
Recycle oil containers – Save up 12 plastic oil quart bottles, cut away one side with a utility knife, scrub out the oil residue and load them with nails and screws. Build a carrying case from scrap 1/2-in. and 1/4-in. plywood.
Do you have garage organization suggestions that have worked for you? Please comment on our blog!
