One main principle for garage organizing is: “Keep things off the floor!”
There are many good reasons for that. Just two are::
- Cement (the material of most garage floors) is porous and moisture travels through it.
- It is more difficult to clean a floor with things on it as dust and debris gets between things easily.
Wall Shelves Are the Best Solution
They keep things totally off the floor.
This allows for more room to park your car.
If your have a high enough shelf you can easily fit the nose of your car under it.
It also allows you to hang things from the bottom of the shelf of store things like bikes and lawnmowers under them.
Rhino Shelf DYI
This is simply the best and strongest shelf system.
I go into some detail in this article here but I would go with these in a heartbeat.
The brackets (which is what you are buying) are made from high grade aluminum which you mount on to the studs on your walls.
Then you install 2x4s in between them. (That's the DIY part. The wood is not included).
You use either 4 or 8 pieces of wood depending on whether you want a solid shelf or alternating gaps.
They are the perfect depth for storage bins to be stored lengthwise and because the shelving is made from 2×4 it is strong.
You can screw anything you want to the bottom of them so you are not limited to branded hooks and other solutions like with other shelves.
The brackets are designed to hold 600 lb per 4′ length which means they will stay level and strong under load.
All the weight is supported from the top (no braces under the shelf ) which means the bottom of the shelf is totally free for storing longer items or walking underneath.
You can totally customize your solution to have a longer shelving area or go around corners.
They come in two widths so if you need a narrower but strong solution Rhino Shelf has you covered.
Rhino Shelf has a number of different size configurations depending on your needs. They do one thing and they do it really well and that is to make very strong garage shelving. You can buy them on Amazon by clicking here on our link.
Keep in mind that these shelves are only meant to be supported by wooden studs.
Fleximounts
In general I am not a fan of wire shelving but if that is the way you want to go then by all means choose the Fleximounts brand.
They are strong for wire shelves (not as strong as Rhino, but few things are) and they have a variety of different products including ceiling mounts and adjustable shelves and accessories.
If you want more info there's an article we wrote here.
Fleximounts is a solid choice for garage storage with a wide variety of products to choose from.
You can take a look at what they have here on Amazon just follow our link to their page.
Wall Mount and Rail Systems
Holeyrail and Gladiator systems each organize your tools and garden implements.
Holeyrail, as the name suggests is a rail upon which you can insert hooks and other brackets and attachments that will allow you to hold various tools etc.
Gladiator will allow you to create a storage wall by combining a number of slats vertically to form an organizational system.
There is more information here in this article.
You can get a variety of Gladiator wall system products on Amazon by clicking here on our link to their product page.
Holeyrail is a little more “old school” and has a more pegboard feel to their products.
You can check them out on Amazon as well by clicking on our link here.
Edsal Type Shelves
These are the stand on the floor shelves that you see in your grandfather's garage.
Nothing much has changed here except that some folks claim that “they don't make ‘em like they used to”.
Be aware of how they are attached and stay away from the kind that use screws as they can get lost and are more of a chore to put together.
Edsal has been making shelves for about 50 years so they have a track record of happy customers.
You can purchase them on Amazon by clicking here on our affiliate link.
Also be aware of what the actual shelf is made out of some use particle board and others use wire.
The good news is that for the most part these are tried and true designs.
If you need storage in the middle of a room then they are fine but I still prefer to have things off the floor.
