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For many people, garages aren’t just for parking — they also serve as utility spaces for storing items and as open spaces for DIY projects. However, not all garages are made equal, and there are many that only have enough room for a single car. You can temporarily leave your car parked on the driveway if you need the room for an activity, but this isn’t a solution if you want to use the space as a storage area for your equipment, too.

So, if you want to keep your vehicle parked inside your one-car garage and use it for storing items or as a workshop, here are some space-saving solutions that will let you get the best of both worlds. These suggestions are listed from the easiest to the most complicated projects, allowing you to pick and choose ideas that fit your budget and lifestyle.

The easiest thing you can do to make more space in your one-car garage is to minimize your car’s footprint when it’s parked. While you cannot make your ride smaller or trade in (or sell) your big SUV for a smaller sedan, which might not be possible or practical, the least you can do to get more space is to ensure that you’re parked properly.

The simplest way to do this is to add tape markings or paint a line to mark your optimal car placement. That way, you can keep your car in your garage while still leaving space for storage and other activities. This marking is difficult to see from inside your vehicle, though, especially if you do not have a 360-degree camera installed. Installing a rubber wheel stop could help with this, as you’d feel it whether you’re driving or backing into your garage — when your tire hits this small barrier, you’ll know it’s the perfect parking position for your car.

A disadvantage of floor-mounted wheel stops, though, is that you might trip on them, especially if they’re newly installed. A more creative alternative is to use tennis balls to mark where you should stop your vehicle. When one hits your windshield, it’s a sign that you’re aligned within the allocated space in your garage. You can also tuck the balls away when you’re using your garage for other activities so that they’re not in the way as you move around.

Some houses might already come with built-in cabinet storage in the garage, or you might’ve added one to store random items. One problem with this storage solution, though, is that the doors take up so much space when you open them. Most garage cabinets are 24 to 48 inches wide, meaning their doors will take up somewhere between 12 to 24 inches when you open them. You might not think much of this when the cabinet is in your bedroom, but this might be a hassle inside a cramped garage. If you only have three feet between your car and the storage cabinet, you’ll have trouble opening them when your vehicle is parked inside. This will make getting items from those cabinets harder, especially large, bulky ones, and you might even end up scratching or dinging your car.

One simple solution to this problem is to just remove the doors and convert the cabinet into open shelves. That way, you don’t have to deal with the hassle of opening the cabinet in such a tight space while still retaining the storage capacity that the shelves offer. This is also a good option if you’re just renting your house and cannot make substantial changes to the space. If you don’t want to see the clutter on your shelves, you can alternatively replace the swinging doors with sliding ones. While this will make it harder to put bulky items inside the cabinet, it will at least not take up space when you open the doors.

You might not think much of the door separating the interior of your house from your garage, but it also occupies space, especially if it swings outward into your garage. If you have a 36-inch door, then this would occupy roughly seven to 15 square feet of space when you open it. One way to use this space without blocking the door is to use a door-mounted rack. This accessory hangs from the top of your door, allowing you to use it for storing small and light items.

This might not be much, but it could add easily accessible extra space in your home. For example, you can find several over-the-door shoe organizers on Amazon for under $30, giving you space for keeping your footwear instead of leaving it cluttered all over the floor. Alternatively, you can buy a hanging rack designed for pantry doors and use it to store accessories like tapes, extension cords, and adapters. Just ensure that you don’t overload the rack, especially if you’re using one made of softer material like cardboard or plastic.

If you find racks too large, a door hook is also an excellent solution to use the space behind your door for hanging long and tall items like brooms and mops. Best of all, you don’t need to do any drilling or installation as you simply hang these racks or hooks on your door to use them.

Long and tall items — like umbrellas, sports sticks, fishing rods, and poles — can be awkward to store in your garage. You can place them on top of cabinets, but that makes them difficult to reach. Alternatively, you could leave them lying on the floor on one side of your garage, but that makes them a tripping hazard. Some just lean them in one corner, but that adds to clutter, and there’s also the risk of items falling and hitting your car.

While you can hang some of these items from a door hook, it would be difficult to place them there if they do not come with a hook or loop. Some items might also be a bit too heavy for a hook or hanger, meaning your best option is to have a deep bin for storing items like these. Umbrella storage bins are good examples for this purpose — you can just place one in a corner in your garage where it will be out of the way. You can also lean items that are significantly taller than the bin into the corner to help keep them in place.

While deep bins are useful for storing tall and narrow items, they’re kind of awkward to use with brooms, shovels, and other long, irregularly shaped tools. Instead of leaving them laying around, hang them on your wall using hooks. This versatile solution ensures that these tools are within easy reach but aren’t in the way when stored.

Be careful when installing a storage solution like this, though. It must be properly mounted on studs, so you don’t accidentally damage it by placing heavy items on it. Aside from that, consider the length of the items you’re going to put on it. If you place the hooks too low and hang a tool that’s too long, then its bottom might touch the floor, making it impossible to store properly. It’s also important to consider the weight limit of the hangers. They might break if you put too much weight on them, even if they’re sturdily installed on your wall studs.

Rolling tool chests, like this four-drawer tool chest from U.S. General, help keep your tools near you where you’re working and serve as a surface for holding items that you need. However, this useful accessory is also quite bulky, and you might have trouble finding a place in your garage to stash it. So, if you have limited space, consider getting a narrower cart instead.

One good example is the 30-inch U.S. General service cart with drawer from Harbor Freight, which offers up to 3,780 cubic inches of space and can hold up to 350 pounds. If that is still too large for your space, the NISSAFORS utility cart is also a good alternative and is one of the IKEA finds worth buying for your garage. These rolling surfaces might not carry your complete tool collection, but they should at least be enough to keep the tools that you actually need for the job within easy reach.

If you like working on small projects on a workshop table, you’d probably need a bench or chair to go along with it, as it’s difficult and tiring to stand and bend over your desk to complete your tasks. One way of hitting two birds with one stone is to get a bench that doubles as a storage solution instead of settling for the usual stool. That way, you can use the space underneath the bench for storing small and medium-sized items that you use seldomly but might come in handy if you’re working on a small project at your desk.

You can get benches like these in various styles, but a drawer-style design would be the most accessible, as you can still get the items stored under the seat even if you’re using it (provided that your legs aren’t blocking the drawers). Alternatively, a chest-style bench would offer a larger, more flexible storage space, but you’ll have to stand up every time you need to get something from it.

In the end, the ideal solution would depend on your lifestyle

If you frequently work at your workshop desk, then a drawer-style bench would be ideal for your garage. But if you want to store larger tools inside the bench and frequently work on projects away from your table, then a chest-style design might be more suitable for you.

If you have a lot of tools, one convenient way of storing them is to put them in a rolling tool drawer or tool chest. However, these storage solutions are often large and bulky and will take up valuable space in your tiny garage. Some people also have the tendency to just drop their equipment in the storage compartment after use, resulting in a mess in the long run. Unless you follow the best way to organize your toolbox, you might end up with a lot of clutter and have a hard time figuring out where your tools are.

One way to fix these issues is to use a pegboard — this wall-mounted storage solution will keep your tools and other equipment on the wall, ensuring that they’re not in the way whenever you move around in the tight space of your garage. And since each tool is mounted individually on the pegboard, it ensures that your items are organized on the wall, allowing you to see exactly where everything is at a glance. It also has the added bonus of making your space a little bit more aesthetic and reducing the eyesore of garage clutter.

It takes some time to build a pegboard tool storage solution, and you’ll have to invest in a pegboard and the various accessories needed to hang your items. Nevertheless, there are many affordable options from IKEA (which you can also use for other rooms), and you only need to set it up once to enjoy extra space and better organization in your garage long term.

Many people have thin but bulky items at home, like bicycles and ladders. The former is great for exercise, an alternative form of transportation, and supports an adventurous lifestyle, while the latter is an essential home improvement tool for anyone living in and managing a house. But when they’re not in use, they’re often just left leaning against the wall in the garage, taking up precious space and making it harder to move around, especially if your car is parked inside.

So, whether you have one or both of these things (or other items with similar dimensions), wall-mounting them is a great way to store them in a limited space. Putting them up on your wall will reduce their footprint, which is essential if you don’t want them cluttering your garage. You just need to ensure that there’s enough space underneath them so that you don’t bump your head as you pass by.

You need a workbench in your garage if you’re into tinkering and DIY projects. However, a fixed desk will take up precious space in a tight garage, making it hard to move around if your car is parked inside. One solution to this is to build a wall-mounted table that folds away when not in use. This piece of furniture tucks away neatly when not in use, so you don’t have to sacrifice space just so you’ll have a spot for getting things done.

A good example is this space-saving 47-inch wall-mounted folding worktable from Lifetime, which is one of the workbenches that you can get from Home Depot. This desk is mounted directly on your garage wall and comes with feet to support its free-standing edge. It can support up to 500 pounds of weight, allowing you to place heavy tools and objects on it and making it as sturdy as a traditional table. If this is still too big, consider the NORBERG folding desk from IKEA, which is a bit more compact and good for small projects.

There are a few drawbacks with this design, though — you cannot change its location or even move it around a bit, as it’s fixed directly to your wall. It also requires an empty wall where you can install it, which might not be possible if your walls are filled with shelves. But if you have a tiny garage, this will at least ensure that you’ll always have a surface to work on. Some folding worktops even come with a tool pegboard for storing your equipment, allowing you to solve two problems at once.

You need tools and lawn equipment to get things done more efficiently at home, but they also take up a lot of space when not in use. So, if you don’t have much space in your garage to keep them, it’s wise to invest in items that fold up and become more compact when stored.

This is especially important for large items like lawn tools, hand trucks, and even table saws. You can check out foldable items like these at Home Depot so that you don’t have to sacrifice your tool capabilities even if you don’t have a large garage for storage. 

You will have to spend extra to acquire folding items, especially if you already own these things. One way you can save money is by opting for used tools, and you can find some of the best ones at garage sales or online. You should know how to inspect them, though, before paying so that you don’t waste your money. Alternatively, you can purchase refurbished tools for some peace of mind, as long as you know where to look for them.

Standard residential garages have a height of eight to nine feet from floor to ceiling, while the most common SUVs are less than seven feet tall (unless you drive a lifted truck). This means that you have at least two feet of space for ceiling storage, probably even more if you drive a smaller vehicle.

So, instead of letting this unused space go to waste, you can add an overhead rack for keeping rarely used items stored in your garage. This is one of the things you can do to make your garage feel bigger, as it keeps your boxes out of your line of sight. You can even install it above your garage door tracks to ensure that it does not get in the way of anything.

However, we do not recommend that you DIY a ceiling storage installation, as it can cause a safety issue if you fail to do it properly. You should also never exceed its recommended weight capacity and should properly arrange the items it carries to ensure that you don’t stress the rack beyond its design limits.

Another downside is that it’s quite inconvenient to access, as you need a ladder to get your boxes and other stored items down from it. You also likely need to get your car out of the garage so that you don’t damage it in case you drop something.

Build recessed between-studs shelves Celso A

Torres Pirron A great way to add storage space without taking up floor space is to build recessed storage in your garage. This is called a between-studs shelf because you’ll have to cut away the drywall between two studs, exposing the empty space beneath. From there, you can add some shelves and finish it, and you’ll have a storage space for storing a few items.

The biggest downside here is that you’ll have to make major changes to the garage, which might not be possible if you’re only renting the space. Its depth might also be limited, depending on how thick your wall is. We also do not recommend building this on an exterior wall, as it might reduce the insulation in your garage.

If you have an available interior wall, that is a good candidate for hosting a recessed shelf where you can store lubricants and motor oil. This is a permanent modification, though, so you must either own your house or get written permission from your lessor. But if you get the go-ahead from your landlord (or your spouse), then this is an easy weekend project that will help reduce clutter in your garage.