27 Life-Changing Garage Organization Ideas

Label cabinet drawers with pieces of plastic laminate and a permanent marker. Hot-glue the labels so they're easy to pull off to relabel another drawer.

• Use muffin tins made from heavier gauge metal.
• Drill and countersink a 1/4-in. hole in the shelf top, so the top of the screw is flush with the shelf.
• Place 1/4-in. fender washers above and below the rim of the muffin tin.
• Tighten two nuts against each other on the underside so the threads won't loosen.

Organize your paint brushes, scrapers, roller frames, rags and paint cans with this shelf made from two 1x8 boards screwed together and reinforced with metal shelf brackets. We built ours 38 in. long to fit three brackets of sliding spring grips that we mounted under the shelf for tool storage. Build and attach this shelf to a shop or basement wall, and you'll enforce orderly storage on all your far-flung painting paraphernalia.

A few magnets stuck on a metal shelf support in a hardware or tool cabinet looks random—but in fact it's a truly ingenious way to store your assorted driver bits. They're always right there when you need them, and it's an easy way to keep all those bits magnetized.

Five plastic containers, six 2x2s and screws, and one hour's work are all it takes to put together this space-saving recycling storage rack. Our frame fits containers that have a top that measures 14-1/2 in. x 10 in. and are 15 in. tall. Our containers were made by Rubbermaid.

If you use different-size containers, adjust the distance between the uprights so the 2x2s will catch the lip of the container. Then adjust the spacing of the horizontal rungs for a snug fit when the container is angled as shown.

Start by cutting the 2x2s to length according to the illustration. Then mark the position of the rungs on the uprights. Drill two 5/32-in. holes through the uprights at each crosspiece position. Drill from the outside to the inside and angle the holes inward slightly to prevent the screws from breaking out the side of the rungs.

Drive 2-1/2-in. screws through the uprights into the rungs. Assemble the front and back frames. Then connect them with the side crosspieces. Want even more space in the garage? Check out these DIY garage storage tips.

• One 3/8-in. x 24-in. x 7-1/8-in. plywood piece for the sides
• One 3/8-in. x 24-in. x 4-3/4-in. plywood piece for the floor
• Two 1/2-in. x 4-1/2-in. x 4-in. plywood pieces for the ends
• Five 1/8-in. x 4-1/2-in. x 4-3/8-in. hardboard partitions

Ever had a plane, level or square get dinged up after falling off the pegboard? Never again. Bend an 8-in.-long pegboard holder into a corner shape by holding it in a vise and pounding it with a hammer to make the series of right angles. Make one corner to hold the left side of the tool and another to hold the right. Now just hold the tool up to the pegboard and insert the corner peg so it clasps the tool's corner.

Purchase a large spring clip (about $3) from an office supply store and screw it to the wall. Clip notepads or gloves to the clamp and they'll always be hanging around when needed.

Screw cut-in-half pie tins and heavy-duty paper plates to a shop wall and you've got space-saving storage for the sanding discs, circular saw blades and abrasive discs that like to hide in a drawer. Be sure to tape the sharp edges on the cut pie plates to protect your fingers!