How to Organize a Shed

Picture this: a shed transformed, where every tool and gadget finds its rightful place. No more rummaging through the labyrinth of clutter. 

Banish broken brushes, and bid adieu to scattered screws! Discover the joys of an organized shed, where everything has its place, ready and waiting to help you bring your projects to life! 

Why is Organizing Your Shed Important?

The satisfaction of a tidy shed cannot be overstated; it’s a testament to your organizational prowess and offers a terrific sense of accomplishment. 

An organized shed makes it a breeze to retrieve items quickly as you’ll know exactly where everything is and you’ll minimize the frustration of searching through clutter. 

How to Organize a Storage Shed

Ready to conquer the clutter in your storage shed? Here’s a game plan to restore order and reclaim your space. 

From clever categorization, dynamic decluttering, and strategic storage solutions, I’ll guide you through the art of shed organization, ensuring every item finds its rightful place. Let’s dive in!

Related: Episode #002: Letting Go of Stuff

Shelves

To kick off this list, where better to start than with shelves? Shelves are used nearly everywhere, and they will be right at home in a shed, too. 

Built-in

You can build custom shelves using long planks of wood and suitable brackets to support them. 

This method is great as you can get the boards cut to the right length and width for your space. 

The Carpenter’s Daughter has a fantastic guide on how to build and install shelves yourself. 

Free-Standing

If you prefer an ‘off-the-shelf’ solution (see what I did there?), you can buy free-standing shelves that fit your space (be sure to check the dimensions). 

Stackable Bins and Boxes

Stackable bins and boxes are very useful. You can put them on shelves or the floor – the choice is yours! 

You can opt for practical, basic bins with locking lids stacked on top of one another.

We just love these IKEA Sortera bins in my house. They can be used for nearly everything. We use them for our glass recycling, but you could even use them to store kids’ toys. 

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These stackable AND collapsible boxes offer a practical and attractive storage solution. I love that they can be folded away when you’ve finished decluttering! They even come with wheels, how useful is that?

Wall Systems

Maximizing every available space is key, and using wall space helps free up floor space! 

Hooks

Hooks come in many different shapes and sizes, and these are perfect for stowing away chairs, tools, hosepipes, and many other things you might otherwise trip over.

Pegboards 

Install a pegboard onto your shed walls for a fully customizable, wall-mounted storage solution. Use hanging hooks, baskets, shelves, and more to organize your storage shed’s contents.

Panel or Slat Wall System

Panel or slat wall systems are customizable and perfect for storing anything from sporting goods, to yard work tools, to seasonal decorations. Simply arrange as you see fit and add hanging accessories to tidy away that clutter for good!

Ceiling and Loft Space

If your shed is big enough or has an apex roof, you’re in for a treat. The amount you can cram into the ceiling or loft space is truly astonishing. 

However, be mindful of what you store up there, as these could easily get wet or damp if your roof hasn’t been waterproofed. 

You could store some simple tent poles or trekking poles along the rafters for easy access, or if you want, you can board it out with some wood and store some larger, more cumbersome equipment such as camping chairs. Beware of spiders and cobwebs is all I can say…! 

How to Organize a Gardening Shed 

In a gardening shed, you’re likely to have a LOT of clunky and cumbersome outdoor power tools and equipment. Space may be limited in a shed, and you may have a lot of stuff to store, so let’s explore the best ways to organize all of your gardening kit.

Shelves 

If you get the size right, shelves can be big enough for potting trays, pots and buckets, and watering cans. 

You can use free-standing shelves or custom-built ones. Opt for a metal and rust-resistant shelf.

Stackable Bins and Boxes

Stackable bins and boxes work a treat for storing seed trays and pots for easy access. You could even store supplies such as compost and fertilizers in them.

At my house, we store gloves in an old plastic basket and keep it in a readily accessible place on the workbench: 

Seed storage boxes 

I searched high and low to find a suitable seed storage box for all of my seeds until I finally settled on a photo album container. 

This certainly wasn’t its intended use, but I needed help finding something big enough to accommodate all of the seeds I seem to accumulate each growing season! 

I used a Dymo label maker to make the labels for each box, which isn’t necessary, but I liked the aesthetic, and it’s great to use for labeling other things too! 

Alternatively, if you’re committed to avoiding plastic, there are also wonderful metal or wooden seed storage boxes available.

Wall Systems

Hooks 

These hooks are great for storing heavier tools such as spades and shovels. If you have more tools, then this larger heavy-duty hook is for you.  

Pegboards

This wooden pegboard wall organizer looks super cute and even comes with some woven storage bags. Perfect for hanging up small things such as wire and plant labels!

Hose Reels

Hose reels are great for storing, yep, you guessed it, hoses! These hose reels will help you keep a tangled hose at bay. See more of our favorite hose hangers and reels.

Doors

While we’re sorting out storage for walls, why not make use of the door? The door can be a great space to put things you need readily accessible, such as plant feed or handheld tools. 

Floor Space

The floor is the perfect place to store heavier and more cumbersome items, such as a lawn mower. The trick with storing anything on the floor is to make sure it is accessible and not going to cause trips and falls. Limit the use of floor space to just under a shelf or a workbench, as otherwise, it’s simply dead space.  

While we’re here, why not vacuum up any mess in your shed with the best garage vacuums. 

Crates

We place bulkier objects, such as clippers in a wooden crate equipped with caster wheels. This crate effortlessly glides underneath our workbench and provides a practical storage solution. 

Another bonus is that it gives our space a rustic aesthetic which we quite enjoy! 

Potting Benches

A potting bench is a very practical piece of equipment in a gardening shed. This is somewhere you can easily take trays of seedlings and transplant them into bigger pots (potting on). 

You can choose from many options, and you can accessorize them with hooks to give you even more space to store hand tools. 

How to Organize a Tool Shed 

Are your tools seemingly forever playing hide and seek? Worry not, DIY Warriors. We’re going to help you unleash the power of your tool shed. Buckle up and get ready to shed the mess once and for all!

Shelves 

In a tool shed, you’re going to want enough shelves to store all of your tools. Here we revisit our built-in and free-standing options but with a twist… 

Twin-slot shelving

Twin-slot shelving makes for a highly customizable tool storage solution, and it can be used for all sorts of storage needs. 

All you need are some twin-slot uprights, brackets, wall plugs and screws, and either a metal or wooden surface. 

We have done this before, and it required measuring the space to ensure that the uprights were the right size and they could support the weight. 

We decided that for every 30 inches, we would have one upright, but you may need to increase or decrease this measurement depending on how heavy the load will be. Here’s a useful guide.  

[Note: while this is in the section for tool sheds, this can be replicated for any storage solution of your choice!]

Free-standing shelving

This shelving unit steals the show for free-standing shelving due to its impressive load-bearing weight of 264 lbs (600kg) and excellent customer reviews.

Toolboxes

Fortunately, a lot of power tools come with their own cases. However, you may have the odd power drill without a home. 

This Black+Decker toolbox was rated highly by customers. It is both stackable, water resistant, and moveable thanks to its sturdy wheels and handle. 

Wall Systems

Wall systems can accommodate a lot of storage solutions. Here are just a few to get you started. 

Pegboards

Install pegboard onto your shed walls and accessorize with compatible hooks, shelves, and other storage solutions. 

Panel or Slat Wall System

Panel or slat wall systems are great choices if you have a lot of little things that need a home, such as drill bits and screws. 

They offer a more permanent storage solution and are extremely customizable and adaptable to your storage needs. You can clip the accessories into place and move them around as often as you like. 

Plus, they look very smart. 

Magnetic Bars

Magnetic bars are magnificent for storing tools that you want easy access to. You can put hammers, screwdrivers, basically anything on them as long as they’re magnetic!

Workbenches and Cabinets

If you’ve got a big tool shed, you might as well go all out and get a workbench or some cabinets in there. Rainy days will no longer affect you and your DIY project if you’ve got covered bench space! 

Repurpose Kitchen Cabinets 

Have you had a new kitchen installed, or do you know someone who has and wants to get rid of old kitchen cabinets? 

What better way to reuse them than sticking them in your shed? If they are wall-mounted, you can still put them on the floor and even put some wood on top to make a makeshift workbench.

Jars and Small Containers

I’m guilty of accumulating glass jars “just in case they come in handy.” They are very useful for storing the odd little tidbit. 

You can place jars on nearly every surface, from shelves to workbenches, and have them labeled so you know exactly what should and should not go in them. 

Small containers can be used for these things, too. I have an old biscuit tin that I store tape in, such as gaffer/duct tape, parcel tape, and electrical tape. 

The best thing about this is that you can reuse so many containers and label them.

How to Organize a Sports Equipment Shed

From tangled skipping ropes to misplaced rackets, taming the clutter in your sports equipment shed is no fun game… or is it? With these ideas, you’ll whip that messy space into shape before halftime!

Shelves

Use shelves, such as metal wire shelves or built-in ones, to store a wide range of sporting goods. Get big enough containers to store whatever you need in them, from soccer balls to tennis balls and everything in between! 

Stackable Bins and Boxes

Stackable boxes of different shapes and sizes can be used to store a huge range of small sporting items, like energy gels and bars.

Wall Systems

Hooks

I’m hooked on hooks! No, really, you can put hooks almost everywhere, from the ceiling rafters to any available bit of wall space. 

Our badminton and tennis rackets hang from hooks, creating an aesthetically pleasing display and easy to grab for a quick match. 

You can get these really sturdy hooks which you can even hang bicycles from. Just make sure your shed can take the weight! 

Pegboard Wall

You can build a large pegboard wall and store a huge range of sports equipment, including resistance bands, helmets, hats, and yoga mats. Check out this tutorial from Clean and Sentsible on how to build your own bespoke pegboard wall. 

Bicycle Wall Mounts 

Store your bikes vertically with these bicycle wall mounts. Make sure to install them on solid wood studs or concrete walls! 

Floor space 

Got a lot of gym equipment such as dumbbells, resistance bands, and foam rollers? This nifty storage device is your friend. Simply place it on the floor, propped up against any remaining wall space, and store away all of your equipment. 

Ceiling and Loft Space

You probably won’t be able to get a bike in the ceiling or loft space, but you can certainly hang a few things off the ceiling rafters. Apparently, you can hang bicycles off these heavy-duty hooks attached to ceiling rafters, which is great for getting them off the floor! 

Or consider pulley systems for easy access: Bike Hoist for Garage.

FAQs