How to Organize a Tool Shed
Whether you own a tool shed, garden shed or workshop, keeping tools organized is a useful idea. Any repair person can tell you that searching for tools in the middle of a project is a frustrating waste of time and energy. By taking the time to organize your shed, you can quickly find the right tool anytime you need it. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Eliminate junk from the shed. Pull every item out of the tool shed. As you handle each one, look at it closely. If it's broken, not under warranty, and not repairable, chuck it. Do it quickly, before you talk yourself out of it. Broken tools are space wasters so don't keep them around.
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Sort your inventory. Lay all "keepers" on the lawn. As you empty the tool shed, sort every item by use. Put all garden tools in one pile and all lawn equipment in another. Put hand tools such as screwdrivers and hammers together with screws and nails. Make as many piles as necessary, but keep them organized.
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Prioritize your tools. Decide which are the most important to have at your fingertips. You will be stacking items, and it's important not to bury commonly used tools at the bottom.
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Take advantage of unused space. Add shelving and hooks to the ceiling and walls of your tool shed. Decide which tools will go up, and then install shelves and hooks to create a custom fit. Be certain they are strong enough to handle the weight. Damage can occur when tools fall to the floor.
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Protect small tools by storing them in plastic containers, keeping similar items together. Major retail stores carry totes in a variety of sizes. Purchase clear containers if possible or write on all sides of the totes so you can stack them a variety of ways without having to guess the contents.
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Work around large items. Park your riding lawn mower and other large equipment in the shed before putting your totes inside.
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Stack totes in the shed, placing least-used items on the bottom of the piles. Work around large items and try not to block large tools that you use often such as lawn mowers or snow blowers. Keep the most commonly used tools front and center, where you can grab them quickly.
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Tips & Warnings
Return tools to their proper places after each use, and you'll never have to do this project again.
Comments
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myhellmonkey
Oct 18, 2008
My husband installed a pegboard with pegs and hooks to hold common hand tools like his hammers, screwdrivers etc. To make sure anyone around the house that used his tools could put them back where they were supposed to be he outlined each tool on the pegboard with a permanent marker. When there was a missing tool, the outline would show where each tool should be placed back on the board.
