Your backyard shed is a handy place to store extra things when you don't have enough room in your home. However, if your shed becomes unorganized, it can actually be a hazard instead of a help. Luckily, there are great solutions for keeping your storage shed organized. You can easily and inexpensively customize the interior of your backyard shed with organizational tools like shelves, hangers, hooks, pegboards, cabinets, and more. The following tips show you how to make organization simple by taking full advantage of the storage space in your shed.

Make A Plan First

To make a plan, stand inside your backyard shed and look around. Visualize where you can best place shelves, hangers, hooks, pegboards, cabinets, and other organizational helpers. Keep traffic flow, the need for large item storage space, and the location of doors and windows in mind. Don't place organizational helpers, like shelves, too close to the door of your storage shed. By keeping the area around the doorway clear, you will not have trouble navigating in and out of your shed. Small items, such as hand tools, store great on hooks and wall-mounted pegboard. Consider boxes on shelves for medium sized items. Large items, like lawn mowers, are usually best kept on the floor in a corner or out of the way of traffic flow. Corner cabinets and shelves are perfect for taking full advantage of storage space in awkward corners.

Install A Workbench With Drawers

If you have the space in your backyard shed, install a workbench with drawers. This makes working on projects simple and the drawers maximize the amount of storage space you have much better than a plain countertop. Organize the drawers of your workbench with drawer organizers so you can separate tiny items like fasteners, screws, and nails. The wall space in front of your workbench is the perfect place to hang pegboard and hooks to make hand tools easily accessible.

Categorize The Items You Store

Separate the items you will store by category and keep alike things together in marked cardboard boxes or plastic bins. If certain items will not be needed regularly, consider placing them in a cardboard box and taping it shut. Keep items you will access frequently in plastic bins with easily removable lids. Keep similar storage items together, like Christmas decorations, but separate storage items that should not be stored together. For instance, flea repellent spray and dog food may both be for your dog, but they should not be stored in the same box. In addition, consider temperature when choosing what to store in your backyard shed because some things may not be able to tolerate extreme high or low temperatures.

The Order Of Importance Is Important

One often overlooked aspect of organizing a backyard shed is to store less used items in less convenient spaces and to keep often used items where they are most easily accessed. This is also true for when you stack boxes. Place the boxes you will be getting into most often at the top, not at the bottom of the stack. In addition, consider ease of access when choosing the entry for your storage shed. A wider door makes moving in and out easier and a ramp makes moving lawn mowers and other large items simpler than steps.

Use Your Vertical Space

If the ceiling height of your backyard shed is high enough, consider using the available vertical space for storage. Build a small loft or install ceiling hooks. Store tall items wherever space allows and store other appropriate items up and away.

Locks For Your Backyard Shed

While you are organizing your backyard shed, it is a good time to think about installing locks. If the door to your storage shed does not have a door lock, install one immediately. In addition, consider installing locks on cabinets to secure chemicals, sharp tools, dangerous items, and valuables. Locks will provide you with security when you are away from home and will give you peace of mind if you have small children or pets who might like to get into some of the things stored in your shed that they shouldn't.

You can easily organize your backyard shed with some simple organizational accessories and planning. Just remember - if it is easy to access and replace an item back into your storage shed, you will.