Garden Storage Tools and Ideas
It’s no secret that storage sheds are popular among gardeners (or anyone who wants to have a neat and tidy backyard for that matter). While a wooden shed—such as those we manufacture here at Countryside Sheds in Oregon—can be a huge step forward for keeping your yard and garden tools near and handy, it can be all too easy to end up with a mess once you start to collect all your tools inside your shed.
In today’s post, we are going to explore various ideas and nifty inventions for keeping your garden storage orderly and convenient. There’s links here to DYI tutorials as well as some of the best materials and tools that you can purchase to improve your garden storage area right away. Ready?
1. Pegboard Garden Tool Organization
No post on tool organization would be complete without a mention of the widely-revered pegboard! Perforated hardboard (known on the street as Peg-Board) is a go-to solution for organization, and it’s everywhere! You’ll see pegboard used in retail environments, home workshops, industrial manufacturing factories, and beyond!
One nice thing about pegboard is how incredibly easy it is to source, install, and configure. Your local hardware shop will certainly supply not only the board but also a variety of hooks and widgets to adapt your pegboard to all sorts of tool storage requirements.
If you’re installing a pegboard wall in one of our sheds, you’ll be pleased by how sturdy the result is when backed by our standardized 16” centered studs. From there, you just need to install the appropriate hooks (and make sure you always hang your tools back where they belong when you’re done with them).
potting garden storage shed
rubbermaid garden storage tool in shed
2. Rubbermaid Tool Tower
Pegboard is cool, but it’s honestly not the best for storing large garden tools, like shovels and rakes. Fortunately, you don’t need to fret yourself with keeping these handy and orderly, because so many brilliant people have focused on solving this problem before you!
To start with, let’s look at the various tool tower products available from Rubbermaid, the popular organization brand. With one of these Rubbermaid designs, you can set up a neat and tidy corner for your yard tools in a cinch.
There’s a variety of sizes and shapes available, including some that fit into a corner, and some that line up on a wall. Just visit your nearest Rubbermaid retail store, or shop online to see which premade organizer fits your space and collection. Once you get the tool tower you want, just snap it together, place it in your shed, and end your garden storage frustration!
Read more at Vick’s Great Deals if you’d like to learn more.
3. PVC and 2x4 Garden Tool Organization
If you like the idea of a tool tower, but don’t feel like spending for a Rubbermaid (or don’t like the look and feel), you can easily create your own tool corner with a few 2x4s and PVC pipes, as illustrated by this DIY tutorial from hometalk.com.
Visit at Home Talk to learn more.
gardening tool reorganization diy garden storage shed
garden tool storage 6
4. Wire Shelving for Garden Tools
Even cutting and assembling something as simple as a homemade tool tower requires quite a few carpentry tools and a bit of patience and/or experience. If you’re into something “quick and dirty” to solve your garden storage tool dilemma, this brilliant wire shelving hack may be just the thing.
You can probably find a piece of wire shelving like this pretty cheaply, not only at your local hardware store, but perhaps at a local yard or garage sale. Hey, you might already have a few pieces laying around! To construct this solution, simply attach your shelving to the inner studs of your shed, prop up the outer edge, and enjoy your new organized tool corner!
Visit House to Home to learn more.
5. Old Filling Cabinet for Tool Storage
Still not convinced by any of the tool storage solutions we’ve showcased so far? Alright, here’s a novel solution that just might tickle your fancy! Have an old filing cabinet sitting around that’s not so useful since your upgrade to the digital age? Set that sucker on its side and fill it up with yard and garden tools instead!
If you feel like it, take the time to give it a fancy paint job, and attach some pegboard to one side. Hey, you could even attach some casters to the bottom to make this into a mobile garden storage solution. The sky’s the limit with this filling cabinet repurposing idea!
Visit Trash to Treasure to learn more.
garden storage cabinet
wooden gardne storage rack
6. Wooden Wall Rack for Yard Tools
Not everyone is a fan of handles sticking out every which way from a tool tower. For an even more elegant solution, check out this wall rack idea, brilliantly formed from two large wooden boards. You can pick this up from Etsy.com preformed, or make one yourself if you’re handy with a router or jigsaw. This solution is great for keeping your garden storage low-profile so you can use the rest of your space for other endeavors.
Visit Etsy to learn more.
7. PVC Garden Tool Storage
Not everyone is a fan of handles sticking out every which way from a tool tower. For an even more elegant solution, check out this wall rack idea, brilliantly formed from two large wooden boards. You can pick this up from Etsy.com preformed, or make one yourself if you’re handy with a router or jigsaw. This solution is great for keeping your garden storage low-profile so you can use the rest of your space for other endeavors.
Visit Ashbee Design to learn more.
pvc garden storage
pallet garden storage rack
8. Pallet Storage Rack
Still not feeling like spending the money, time, or effort for any of the above garden storage solutions? No problem. Grab an old (or new) pallet, tack it onto your shed wall, and start stuffing your garden tools inside of it. It doesn’t get any more simple than this, folks!
Visit Little Acre to learn more.
9. Decorative Garden Tool Storage Wall
Perhaps you’re a more decorative type and your hang-up is the look of the garden tool storage solutions you’ve seen so far. Well we just might have the perfect solution for you, compliments of this dazzling “Choose Your Weapon” garden storage wall from Design By D8.
You can take this however far you’d like, but you gotta admit that the painted wall, artistic lettering, and metallic-painted PVC sleeves, all combine to produce quite the effect. Show the world you’re serious about your gardening arsenal with this tool storage wall!
Visit Design by D9 to learn more.
garden storage tool wall
garden storage tool
10. Shed Exterior Garden Storage
For some of us, we don’t need anything fancy or glamorous, we just want our tools to be organized and handy when we need them. If you’re one of those people, you might want to consider using, not just the inside, but the outside of your shed as well for tool storage. Few of us are doing indoor gardening after all, and a shed with a generous overhang is perfect for keeping tools somewhat sheltered while absolutely organized and extraordinarily handy.
This image from Flickr demonstrates what’s possible with a few strategically-placed nails on the outside, rather than the inside, of your storage shed. If you arrange this on the side of your shed facing your garden, it practically compels you to get out and get your hands dirty, planting, tending, and harvesting those plants!
See the photo in Flicker.
11. Outdoor Pallet Garden Storage
Of course, let’s not forget the ubiquitous wooden pallet for an outdoor storage option. Nails are fine if you have the right penny and know how to place them strategically, but most any of the above indoor garden storage solutions should work well outside as well, especially the wall-tight designs.
Here’s an image showing off a very unique shed design with a pallet used on the outside for garden tool storage. If you don’t know where to get a pallet, ask around at a local business or two that does anything with delivery (or make your hubby do it for you!).
See the photo in Flicker.
outdoor pallet garden storage
collapsible garden storage pallet table
12. Collapsible Pallet Table
While we’re on the subject of pallets, let’s not forget that the possible uses for these wood frames are practically limitless, and some are infinitely useful for gardeners! While you’re scrounging around town for a pallet, pick up a few extra to make this brilliant foldable garden table made exclusively from pallets.
Follow along Jenna Burger’s extraordinarily detailed and straight-forward tutorial for how to make this table which you might find indispensable for your future gardening workflow. This design would work perfectly inside or outside a storage shed, and should fit right along side any tool storage design you prefer.
Visit Jenna Burger Design to learn more.
13. Garden Rake Tool Hanger
We’ve discussed large garden tool storage quite a bit so far, but what about keeping those small tools handy and organized? In an ironic twist of fate, this rake-turned-rack idea from This Old House suggests tacking up an old garden rake head to serve as a hook/hanger for your spade, trowel, and other small gardening tools. Brilliant!
Visit This Old House to learn more.
garden storage rake tool hanger
sho hanger for garden storage
14. Shoe Hanger for Garden Storage
Do you have a lot more smaller tools and supplies than would fit on the head of a garden rake? It’s inefficient to keep these organized on shelving, because of all the space they waste horizontally, without utilizing your shelving space vertically. A solution? Use a shoe organizer instead!
Here’s a quick and easy repurposing idea that suggests taking one of those cheap shoe organizers from your closest department store and hanging it up on the wall of your shed for storing small garden tools and supplies. This is another wall-tight solution that makes excellent use of space while keeping your gardening stuff orderly and handy.
Visit The Coupon Project to learn more.
15. Sand Storage for Garden Tools
As you’ve seen with our other garden storage ideas, there’s an endless number of approaches you can take to any problem you’re hoping to solve with your garden. This novel solution avoids the hassle of hanging tools, either on hooks or pockets. Instead, simply fill a bucket or pot with sand and press your small shovels and rakes inside for storage that’s tidy, but also helps to keep the tools sharp and clean!
Visit Creative Organizing to learn more.
sand garden storage
recycled jeans in garden storage shed
16. Recycled Jeans Garden Caddy
Garden Tool Bucket Caddy by instructables
Of course, a gardening tool is only as good as it is handy and useful, and there’s nothing more handy than keeping a tool right by your hand! That’s the idea of this garden caddy, which utilizes an few old pairs of jeans, of all things, to create a pocket-full caddy that you can use to keep your small garden tools organized and handy, both inside and outside of the garden.
Follow along on this Instructables course to recycle clothing into a garden storage solution you’ll love. Admit it, those old jeans don’t belong at the Salvation Army! Remake them, and your garden at the same time, with this brilliant caddy!
Visit Instructable Living to learn more.
17. Mobile Garden Tool Caddy
Okay, okay, not everyone is the DIY-type, and we admit there’s only so much you can do with a bucket-sized caddy. For a more robust and flexible solution, consider this premade hand-truck like caddy that will act as a currier for your gardening tools, large and small alike. Check it out from the Gardener’s Supply Company.
Visit Gardeners Supply Company to learn more.
mobile garden storaeg caddy
bucket hose reel garden starge shed
18. Bucket Hose Reel
Bucket Hose Storage by Martha Stewart
Your hand tools need a storage solution, but so do your hoses. Hose reels and racks are everywhere, but sometimes a home-spun solution can out-pace the competition both in looks and function. With this bucket hose reel idea from Martha Stewart, you get a storage solution that keeps the hose in place with the wedged design, and also provides a storage area for your hose accessories. A galvanized paint bucket and a couple strong wood lags are all you need to get started with this iconic and useful hose storage idea.
Visit Martha Stewart to learn more.
19. Drum Roll Hose Reel
If you do quite a bit of irrigation and watering, you might have quite a few hoses that need stored away at the end of your summer. Crowd-sourced innovation to the rescue with this “drum roll” hose reel idea. Lay your hoses out in parallel on the grass, and get rolling!
Visit Instructables Living to learn more.
drum roll hose reel gardne storage shed
backyard potting garden storage shed table
20. Backyard Potting Table
We’ve talked quite a bit about tool storage, and even suggested a work-table made from pallets. Here’s a tutorial on a simple and straight-forward potting center design that includes detailed plans and should assemble in a jiffy from wood that’s easy and cheap to purchase. This table could be a real asset to your gardening process either inside or outside of a garden storage shed.
Visit Sun Set to learn more.
21. Custom Potting Table
For a custom potting table that really raises the bar, check out this brilliant workspace from Setting for Four. This potting table takes us back to where we started with a pegboard back for small tool storage, a workspace for potting, shelves for storage, a hose reel for convenient water access, and tops it all off with a sink for cleanup!
Regardless of whether you’re more practical or extravagant, you’ll find something to love in this potting table. If you can’t or don’t care to build it yourself, you may want to hire a carpenter to build it for you, to make your gardening both a breeze and a thing of beauty. Even if choose to install a potting table in your small greenhouse, this setup will impress you like never before.
Visit Setting for Four to learn more.
custom potting garden storage bench
The Storage Shed: A Garden Storage Solution
That’s it for the ideas we have to share today. For a few more garden tool storage ideas, check out 8 Easy And Inexpensive DIY Garden Tool Storage Ideas on fromhousetohome.com.
Oh! And if the next step for your garden is a shed to store all those tools in, we’d love to help you get started. Get a quote for a shed or garage in the Wallowa Mountain area in Oregon or Washington.
