Top 46+ Garage Storage Ideas You Can DIY

Garage Overhead Storage

The garage ceiling is a perfect place to store light and medium-weight seasonal items like holiday decorations and camping gear. Get those big plastic storage bins up off the garage floor and onto the ceiling!

• Screw 2x2s to the ceiling framing with 3-1/2-in. screws spaced every 2 ft.
• Use the bins as a guide for spacing the 2x2s. The lips on the bins should just brush against the 2x2s when you're sliding the bins into place.
• Then, center and screw 1x4s to the 2x2s with 2-in. screws.

Easy Overhead Garage Storage

Stow bulky items overhead by cementing together a simple rack from 2" PVC pipes and fittings. Bolt the straight pipe to the ceiling joists to support heavy loads, and screw the angled pieces from the 'wye' connectors into the cross brace to stabilize the whole rack. The PVC's smooth surface makes for easy loading and unloading.

Garage Storage Tubes

Cardboard concrete-forming tubes are inexpensive and provide a great place to store baseball bats, long-handled tools and rolls of just about anything. Rest the tubes on a piece of 2x4 to keep them high and dry and secure each tube to a garage stud with a plumbing strap

Gladiator GearTrack

Gladiator GearTrack wall storage offers flexibility: You can mount the horizontal track, then choose suitable hangers and slide them where needed. The best small garage storage ideas make use of vertical space.

Sports Equipment Storage

Every sports kid dreams of being in the big leagues. Why not make that dream a reality by building a sports storage locker just like the pros? This entryway storage and organization center is the perfect way to give them a dedicated space to store their sports gear while keeping clutter to a minimum. The open design allows you to air out sweaty equipment and provides tons of space for all your sports accessories. Add a personalized nameplate to the top of the cubby, and your child will feel like their favorite sports-star!

Customizable Wall of Storage in One Weekend

This DIY garage storage system has the versatility of expensive store-bought systems, but you can make it yourself for a few hundred dollars in a single weekend.

Don't Waste the High Space

If all the stuff in your garage is within easy reach, you're probably wasting lots of storage space. The high spaces may not be prime real estate for often-used tools, but they're perfect for long-term storage. Deep shelving or cabinets near the ceiling can hold a ton of seasonal stuff like holiday decorations or camping gear.

Upcycled Garage Storage Idea

Here's a creative hack for that old wooden tennis racquet that's gathering dust in the garage. Drill a hole in the handle and screw it to the underside of a workbench. Position the racquet so it can swing in and out from under the table. Use it to hold tools, parts, or other small items.

Beyond Hardboard

Most home centers carry only hardboard pegboard, but you'll find other materials by searching online for 'metal pegboard' or 'plastic pegboard.'

• Metal pegboard has 1/4-in. holes and L-shape edge flanges that create built-in standoffs. The panel sizes are normally in 16-in. and 24-in. increments. Metal pegboard has a cool industrial look and is darn near indestructible.
• Metal pegboard strips are ideal for situations where you need a single, sturdy strip of pegboard—like in the garage for hanging long-handled tools. The strips have 1/4-in. holes and built-in edge flanges for standoffs, and they're outrageously sturdy.
• Plastic pegboard has 1/4-in. holes, folded edges to create standoffs, and center ribs for rigidity. Many systems come with slide-in connectors for joining panels. It's at least as sturdy as hardboard pegboard.

How to Mount Pegboard Walls

Create pegboard walls by running 1x3 strips horizontally at the top and bottom of the panel and every 16 in. or 24 in. between. Use 1/4-in. pegboard and attach it to the strips with washer-head screws. The strips will also allow you to mount screw-on hooks to the wall for heavy items like bikes and wheelbarrows.

Ball Storage

If you have kids, you have balls—basketballs, soccer balls, rubber balls, and other round objects that roll around underfoot. Here's a perfect way to use that narrow gap between a pair of garage doors (if you're blessed with such an awkward spot). Just install angled “ball ramps” made from scrap wood. The balls fit neatly in the gap, and because the ball ramp is right there at the edge of the garage, kids are more likely to use it.

Pegboard Cubbyholes

Here's a tool storage technique for all those slender tools and shop accessories. Cut short lengths of PVC pipe (1-1/2- and 2-in.-diameter pipes work well for most items) and slide them over pegboard hooks. Then load them up with files, hacksaw blades, zip ties, pencils, stir sticks...you get the skinny.

Pegboard Shelves

Here's a slick idea to store a whole cluster of tools on a pegboard with only two pegs. Cut some 2-1/2 in. wide mini shelves; drill holes or slots for router bits, screwdrivers, chisels, and files; then drill a couple of 1/8-in. holes in the edges for the 1/8-in. diameter pegs. With a vise and pliers, bend the pegs to about 85 degrees and hammer them into the holes. Be sure the pegs fit tightly in the wood so the shelves can't fall off.