What’s inside your garage? I’m sure it’s a mix of things in there — from tools to sporting equipment, from discarded clothes to old books and magazines. In short, it’s a mess to the point that you ran out of ideas for how to organize a messy garage.
Don’t worry, let us help you with that. These tips will give you garage inspiration for how to make an organized garage setup. They’ll also give you cool garage ideas to help make organization a breeze.

Containing sports balls
Here’s another fantastic storage solution for sports balls.
Just hang up a wire rack onto the garage wall and throw in basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, and any other sports equipment that fits.
Coffee bin rope dispenser
Here’s an organizational hack for all that rope or twine taking up space in the garage. Take empty coffee cans, cut a small hole in the plastic lid, set the rope in the can, and pull a tiny bit of rope out of the top of the can.
Then when you need to cut off the rope, pull it out of the can and cut off the amount you need.
Hanging tin cans
Here’s a helpful storage hack that you can use in your garage as suggested by Hi Sugarplum!
“For small items like craft brushes and pencils, I wrapped a recycled soup can with coordinating washi tape, drilled a hole in the back, and hung it on a hook.”
How to organize a messy garage? Label everything!
Labeling all of your bins, boxes, and drawers stored in your garage will definitely make your life easier.
All you need to do is get some white labels, add a title on the label, and stick them to the front of the box or bin. No more searching for that one thing you need “right now!”
Paper towel holder
This organization hack is simple yet helpful. Hang a paper towel bar on a wall in your garage and hang trash bags from it.
Then when you need to clean up yard clippings or throw away any items, the garbage bags are right there.
Bungee cords
This easy hack makes storage of basketballs, soccer balls, and footballs convenient. No more tripping over loose balls on the garage floor! You can see more about how to make this storage solution here under the header “Stud Storage.”
Wire baskets
Wire baskets are extremely handy, not only in the kitchen, but also in the garage.
Hang a few wire baskets from the garage wall and store any type of items that fit inside the basket, including small household items and even groceries that don’t need to be refrigerated.
Clear, plastic bins
You can use clear, plastic bins to store items in your garage. This way, you can easily see what’s in each bin. Plus, you can label each bin as well.
These bins can be tucked away in organizing shelves for later retrieval.
Workshop zone
You should also consider creating a workshop zone in your garage. In this area, you can take advantage of wall space by mounting a wall tool organizer to hold tools and other items. It will definitely help with organizing your garage.
You can also add some shelves for tools near your workshop table to make it more accessible for you.
Kids’ zone
A kids’ zone in your garage is also a helpful organizational idea.
You can keep sports equipment, jackets, shoes, etc., in this area. Plus, it’s a great place to place backpacks and even a storage bench for notebooks and other school items.
Utility cart
Using a utility cart or two in the garage is a great way to store items and be able to move them around easily to another location in the garage when necessary.
For example, you can wheel a utility cart over to your car if you need to work on it or clean it out. Or you can use one of these carts to hold gardening supplies.
Extra bags
Keeping some extra bags on hand in the garage makes it easier for you to grab and reuse the bags for different purposes.
For instance, you can take them to the grocery store to carry your groceries home. This way you don’t have to use the plastic bags at the grocery store.
Wall-mounted rail
If you want to maximize garage space, consider installing wall-mounted rails. This is one of the most useful small garage ideas for using the available space for more storage.
This helps keep all types of items organized and out of the way, including mops, brooms, hoses, cords, etc.
Golf bag hack
Make good use of an old golf bag by transforming it into a storage holder. You can insert gardening tools in it, certain types of sports equipment, and or mops or brooms.
Organize by item
When you organize your garage, make sure to put similar items close together. For instance, keep paint cans by the paint brushes.
Or keep nails and screws near the hammer and drill set. This way you know exactly where to go for a specific item and won’t have to rummage through the garage.
Spray paint can organizer
If you’ve got a bunch of spray paint cans laying around, then you know how hard it is to round them up. You can keep them all organized in one spot by using “an over-the-door plastic shoe organizer to hold spray paint cans,” according to hgtv.com.
Cleanup center
Add a cleanup center to your garage. It won’t take up much room at all. Hang up a wall-mounted towel dispenser in the garage.
This will hold paper towels, as well as cleaning solutions and scrub brushes on top.
Takeaway
Knowing how to organize a messy garage doesn’t only help in cleaning up the mess inside. It also helps you to locate things easily and make them more accessible when you need them. Remember to maximize the space — walls and ceiling included.