How to Organise a Garden Shed: Ideas for Your Outdoor Storage Space

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

Garden sheds are a useful place to store tools of all shapes and sizes. Considering how your garden shed is outside of your home, it is not uncommon for it to become an untidy mess. However, when your garden shed is organised, it is much easier to use and locate the tools and other items you need.

This article explores how to organise a garden shed using a myriad of storage ideas to meet your organising needs. We discuss pro tips and tricks so you can organise your shed and everything in it with ease. You can also use some of the same techniques for garage storage.

Organising Your Shed: Getting Started

Take Inventory

Before you begin organising the tools and equipment in your sheds and garages, you may want to start by taking an inventory of all of the stuff you have.

This can make it easier to decide which shed storage ideas you want to try and how many supplies you will need to complete the job.

Categorise Your Equipment

If you separate and organise your shed contents, it can make the process go faster. This will help you store similar items together as you replace them in your shed. After taking inventory, this step should be fairly simple.

7 Practical Garden Shed Storage Ideas

Using the following shed storage solutions can help improve your work and storage space immensely. Choose and implement the shed storage ideas that seem to be the most useful for your specific type of garden tools and equipment.

Extra Shelving Units

Shelving is one of the best places to start when you want to organise your shed. Shelves add a significant amount of extra storage space by allowing you to utilise more vertical space without taking up a lot of floor space. They also get garden tools and other equipment off of the floor, where they are more susceptible to changing temperatures and moisture.

Stand-alone shelves, adjustable shelving, cabinets, and floating shelves all make good choices for shed storage. You can also repurpose old, worn-down furniture like bookshelves, cabinets, and desks for use in storage sheds instead of throwing them away.

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Depending on the shelving unit or units you choose for your shed, they should be able to store just about any of your equipment, even the heaviest items. Storage boxes and a smaller storage caddy can also be placed on a shelf and used as a tool holder or storage for smaller gardening equipment.

To make the most of your shelving, we recommend storing your most used items on shelves that are at or near eye level—some lesser-used items on higher shelves and heavier or larger items on lower shelves to prevent possible injury.

Rack for Long-Handled Garden Tools

Long-handled garden tools like rakes, shovels, and brooms can easily become tangled and messy when shoved in the corner of a shed. Make a rack to hang tools with long handles out of plywood or possibly an old pallet to keep them all contained and organised. We recommend hanging them with the heads pointing up with similar sizes together so you can easily identify what each tool is when it comes time for use.

Suppose the interior space of your garden shed is somewhat limited. In that case, you may also want to hang your long-handled tools on one of the outer walls, preferably one with a slight overhang to protect them somewhat from inclement weather. Either way, generally, this type of tool is extremely durable and should not have issues getting wet.

Clear Jars

Mason jars or other small, clear jars and pots can be useful strong smaller items like screws and nails. Place the screws in the jar according to size so they can easily be located for use. You can place these jars on shelving or nail the lids to a piece of wood and hang them. We love this method because the jars are easily unscrewed, and it saves shelf space for other tools.

Drawer Organisers

If you have drawers in your shelving units, one of the ways to keep your is using drawer organisers inside for more separation. This way, the tools inside don’t get tangled, leading to an eventual junk drawer that you don’t even use. If you place small dividers into the drawers, you should locate each type of tool with minimal effort. We like to group them by size and activity.

Utility Hooks

Utility hooks are great for use as a shed organiser because they allow you to take advantage of as much vertical space as possible. Utility hooks cab be hung on the walls or hung from the roof or rafters of a garden shed. Hooks also come in a wide variety of sizes to accommodate any tool.

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You can use the hooks to hang just about any type of tools and gardening equipment because almost all feature a hole or loop at the tip for just this reason. We recommend hanging your cords and hoses from the wall in this way. You can also thread the tip of a cord through a small section of PVC pipe to help keep everything more contained and tidy.

Pegboard Organisers

Pegboards are a classic tool used for wall organisation of tools in garages. A pegboard also works wonderfully on the wall of your garden shed for tool storage. The best part about a pegboard is that it maximises wall space; it is completely adjustable and can accommodate a growing number of tools with ease. You can hang your items flat or extending off the pegboard and wall, whichever way you think you will get the most use.

Heavy-Duty Magnetic Strips

A heavy-duty magnetic strip, similar to the ones people have in their house for kitchen knives, is a great way to keep metal tools and paintbrushes in your shed organised and easily accessible. Try placing a metal strip or two over your workspace or near the door so you can easily grab the supplies you need hassle-free.

Keeping Garden Sheds More Organised: Pro Tips

Why Should You Declutter Your Shed?

Aside from the sense of accomplishment provided by implementing shed storage ideas, you can expect several other benefits from this task.

Reasons for shed organisation include:

• A clutter-free garden shed allows you to easily find everything and access the tools you need when you need them.
• Having an organised space saves you time and energy when you don’t have to search for the right equipment.
• Shed organisation is one of the best ways to facilitate a better workspace, with more room and a wider range of accessibility.
• A well-organised garden shed lets you maximise the storage capacity of the space.
• It makes your storage shed less hospitable for rodents and other animals that could cause damage or pose a risk to your health and safety.

What Should You Not Store in a Shed?

While a shed is a great place to store garden essentials, several things should not be stashed in a garden shed because they won’t withstand the harsher conditions, are overly fragile, or could attract unwanted animals or insects.

Items not suited for shed storage include:

• Money, jewellery, or important documents like passports and other official documents should never be stored in an outdoor shed. Storing them this way could speed up the natural deterioration process, expose them to possible leaks and insects, and expose them to theft.
• wine is better preserved when stored in a temperature-controlled climate, something a garden shed can not provide—store wine in your kitchen pantry.
• Rubber tires are also better preserved at a consistent temperature. Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, can damage the integrity of the rubber and even cause it to crack.
• Paint might seem like a normal item to store in a shed, but it will not last as long when stored using this method. If you choose to store paint in your garden shed anyway, make sure to keep it elevated off of the ground or cement floor as this can cause the can to rust prematurely.
• Musical instruments can also be susceptible to rapidly changing climate conditions. Heat and humidity specifically can cause the wood on certain instruments to expand or warp and can cause metal instruments to oxidise.
• Clothes that you don’t often wear or are out of season shouldn’t be kept in a garden shed either. This exposes them to insect and other critters, who may find them to be a hospitable nesting area, and can wear down the fibres in your clothes as well.
• Food in an outdoor storage shed is one of the top attractors for rats, insects, and other unwanted animal visitors. If you choose to store food items like animal feed or birdseed in your garden shed, make sure you keep them elevated off the ground in an enclosed container with a lockable lid.

Organisation Made Easy

Now that you know how to organise a garden shed, what are you waiting for? Implement our storage ideas today so that the next time you need to retrieve equipment, you can find it quickly and efficiently without searching through storage boxes unnecessarily. Just remember to group your tools into convenient categories and create a specific home for each item, and you should be more than ready.

Let us know what you think about our garden shed storage tips, which idea you like best, and how your project goes in the comments below.