Shed Storage Tips

Maximise your shed storage

It’s that time of year, when, in England, it’s moderately likely that we will get a day or two of sun.

As a result of the potential for such an unbridled heatwave, a lot of Brits will be feeling the call of the garden. And, what’s more, the call of doing some gardening.

It often isn’t as easy as all that, though. If your shed is anything like mine, during the winter, it has become somewhat less than organised, meaning that before you even contemplate gardening, you need to sort out your shed storage.

To help you out (and, admittedly, because I had to do it myself and thought I’d share), I’ve put together a simple guide to help you make the most of your shed storage and get it back in shape, quickly and easily.

Assess your requirements

First things first, you need to know what you need from your shed, and which items that have been haphazardly flung into it over the winter are essential. Sheds are usually fairly small and most people try to store too much in them.

So, be realistic about what you need, and what you can actually fit in there. If you need somewhere to store garden furniture and a lawnmower during the winter, make sure the storage space is available inside your shed by being organised.

Make a list

Don’t just pull everything out of the shed at once and dump it on the lawn. Make an inventory of what you have and use it to help you to catalogue what you need and what you can throw out.

Then, once you have an empty shed, take stock of your shed storage options.

Hang things

Think about how often you use things. Things that you don’t use as often can be stored on higher shelves. Also, consider adding some roof hooks, so you can hang things from the ceiling.

You can also store things on the walls – by hanging them from track systems, or by using nails to provide hanging points on the wall; perfect for rakes, shovels, and sledgehammers.

Make sure that you leave enough space between your tools, so they are easily removed when you need to use them.

Use buckets

If you haven’t got enough wall space to hang your tools on, then try using buckets. If you get a couple of large, deep buckets, then you can store your tools and keep them organised with minimal effort.

Just make sure you don’t put too many tools in each bucket, so you aren’t constantly fighting to untangle brooms from rakes.

Get some decent shelving

If you install adjustable shelving in your shed, then you can change your shelf height and placement as your shed storage needs change over time.

In addition, using shelving will keep your tools off the floor; keeping them organised and allowing you the room to actually walk into your shed without needing to be a master at negotiating assault courses.

Recycle things from your kitchen

You can use empty jam jars to store seeds, just label them, so you know what is where.

Use empty tins for storing screws, nails, nuts and bolts. You can even go as far as using accordion recipe files to put your seeds in. Tupperware and empty ice cream tubs can make for great storage dividers for your myriad garden shed accoutrements, as well.

If you’re storing bird seed and bird feed of any kind, make sure that it’s in sealed containers, to protect it from rodents.

Use the storage space on back of the door

You can hang storage nests or hooks on the back of your shed door. You can then store the things you use most regularly there. Secateurs, twine, slug pellets, gardening gloves; all used regularly, all easily accessible, stored on the back of your shed door.

Keep it clean

Once your shed storage is organised like a military storage cupboard, make sure you keep it that way. Keep the shed clean, keep your tools in their places, and you’ll never have to fight your way to the back wall to untangle things again.

And if your shed is still not enough for all the things you need to store, why not give Store First a call? We’ll take care of all your self-storage needs in no time.