Your garden shed is a great place to store all your gardening tools and equipment. But if it’s not organised, it can be more of a headache than a help.
In this blog post, we’ll show you 9 hacks to help you organise your garden shed so you can find things when you need them, and enjoy using your shed more.
Hack #1: Clear out the junk the right way
Do it in one go, get everything out and put it on the ground. Group things into categories: Tools, planting, kids, sports, big machinery.
Go through each category and take objects one by one to assess whether you want to keep it or not. Opening a drawer and looking in for things you don’t need is tempting but ineffective, it will leave you with things you probably don’t need to keep cluttering up precious space.
When looking at each object, think about whether you like it and use it. Now is a great opportunity to get rid of gifts you didn’t really want, things you don’t use anymore, things that don’t suit your new garden style and anything broken. Divide things into ‘keep’ and ‘throw’ piles one by one.
Now you can give away, sell or throw out your ‘throw’ pile with gratitude that each object served its purpose, accepting that it doesn’t need to be useless clutter for your shed.
Hack #2: Categorise
When organising any space, a pro tip is to keep everything in the same category in one place. This way, everything has a home and objects will take up less space by all being in one place instead of spread out over different drawers and shelves. Even better, you’ll always know where to look when you need it.
Categories could include: Food related, tools, potting & planting, sports and decorations.
Hack #3: Don’t let it all hang out
One of the keys to making your garden shed look tidy is to put things away out of sight instead of strewn across shelves, stuffed under benches and cluttering the floor.
Places like Ikea and B&Q sell sturdy outdoor storage that you can fit into your shed – drawers are ideal because they naturally cover everything up, but steel and wooden racks and shelves can be used with storage boxes for a more flexible and cheaper solution.
Hack #4: Use vertical space
The great thing about sheds is that the walls can be a playground. To use vertical space well you have several options.
– Use long nails to hang individual tools from
– Install a mesh grid and use S hooks to hang collections of tools without damaging the walls
– Add shelves to the walls
– Add beams to the ceiling and use hooks to hang tools, the hose, tennis racquets etc. This can also double up for drying flowers and vegetables!
When displaying anything vertically think of how to make it look tidy; use boxes on the shelves or hang matching tools close together for a neater appearance.
Hack#5: Use a seed organiser
If you are a gardener that likes to grow your own flowers and veg you will probably have a pile or bucket of half-used seed packets, often spilling out to create a lucky dip scenario.
We suggest using a multi-section organiser to sort your seeds and labelling any that are no longer in a packet. Some gardeners like to organise in clear files with the months of the year for planting, that way you only need to open to the right page and you’ll know what to plant!
Hack #6: Organise your tools
There are many ways to organise your tools depending on their size and what you use often.
Whatever the case, think about how you can group things together to make sure everything has a safe and secure home.
Hanging heavy machinery from the ceiling is not going to be safe, think of putting heavy and dangerous tools under work benches in boxes or baskets, and arranging lighter tools on nails or racks on the wall.
When choosing storage for your metal tools think about the damp and dry places in a shed. You’ll want to keep your metal tools, screws and so on in a dry area, using storage drawers can help with this.
Hack #7: Add lighting
For darker corners and under-bench storage spaces consider adding some lights to help you find things quickly. Adding light will also help your shed look cleaner and neater.
Battery powered LED lights can be stuck to most surfaces, are fairly long-lasting and inexpensive.
If you want to use the space for relaxation you might like to consider some ambient lighting too, like fairy lights.
Hack#8: Keep a broom in the shed
Organising your shed is one thing, keeping it that way is another.
Instead of letting the dirt and clutter build up and having to clean the whole shed all over again, make it a habit to sweep the floor and sweep away any cobwebs every time you go into the shed.
Keeping a broom in the shed next to the door will be a good reminder to do this.
Keeping the floor and walls clear, and returning things to their home will keep your shed looking tidy and organised for much longer, and reduce the amount of work you need to do.
Hack #9: Add a personal touch
If you like the space, you’re more likely to treat it well and keep it tidy. Although sheds are thought of as more functional spaces, there’s no reason they can’t look attractive at the same time.
One way to jazz up your shed is by adding some personal touches. Try adding decorations like a colourful old teapot, a framed picture, a gardening calendar and ambient lighting.
A tidy garden shed can make your life much easier. You’ll always know where things are, you won’t have to search through a pile of junk to find what you’re looking for and you won’t have to spend hours cleaning the shed every time you want to use it. A few simple hacks can make a world of difference – give it a try!
