Does the inside of your shed look like it has weathered several earthquakes over a long period of time? Whether you use your shed for tool storage, projects, as a greenhouse, or anything in between, there is always a way to organize it. Here is a plan that will save you time, space, and energy.
Get Rid of Items You No Longer Need
Be honest with yourself – there will always be those items you no longer need. And for this reason when organizing a shed (or anywhere else), you should always start by removing everything. Then sort through it and create two piles – one for things you no longer need and one for the rest. This serves several purposes. It will make the task of organizing what you do want much easier. It will also save you time and energy when you go back into the shed to retrieve items later on. Finally, you can add to your karma and help our ecosystem by giving away the items you no longer want!
Sort Your Items According to Priority
After removing all your items, make a quick mental inventory of those you still want. Then think about which you will use most frequently. You will be putting these items in the most convenient locations . The goal here is to make your most used items easy to reach, whilst lesser used items take up space in the more difficult places. This will also save time and energy when you retrieve them later on. It will also increase your motivation to put everything back the way it belongs.
Organize Your Shed for Maximum Space
Finally, after removing items you no longer want and prioritizing that which you’re keeping, it’s time to put it all back. And for this, you want to make the best use of your space as possible. Fortunately, there are a myriad of organizing solutions available. From cheap and effective home made storage to specialized and highly efficient store bought solutions, you can be sure something exists to hang up that tool or organize those supplies. Here are a few ideas:
Shelves – the all important stand by. Obviously you’ll want these, but you don’t have to buy them. Just get some scrap wood and some L brackets and go to work. Put them between joists, stack them, wherever they fit best.
Storage Bins – this is a super common space saver. And today they come in all shapes and sizes. Some with little drawers for small things, some with big spaces that carry a lot of weight.
Jars – these serve as multi-purpose home storage bins. Attach the lids to the bottom of shelves and fill the jars with nails, screws, seeds, or other small items.
Cloth – whether it be leather, vinyl, or other cloth, use it to hang easy access tools on the door, create pockets, or fill odd shaped spaces.
Rods, Hooks, and Magnets – you can buy these or find them around the house. They work for everything from bicycles to sleds to unused hanging planters. They fill spaces on the ceiling which otherwise might remain empty, and lonely.
Old Furniture – there’s always some of this around. At places like garage sales or your neighbor’s basement. Look for trunks, dressers, stands, etc. They can serve instead of buying plastic storage bins. They also create more shelving space, and sometimes they’re even thin enough to hang on a wall!
When you’re finished, you’ll have an organized, clean shed that will save you tremendous time, energy, and space for adding more thing later on! And you’ll feel better about it every time you walk inside to work on a project or retrieve a tool.
