Hellobee Boards

We also keep tools, outdoor stuff, hoses, shovels, takes etc. bikes kayak a piano we haven’t gotten inside a spare fridge and freezer, basically anything miscellaneous that isn’t an inside item. We too park on the driveway all summer lol

We have two shelves, a large metal one and a smaller plastic one. Those are on the back wall. The large metal one has our artificial Christmas tree, an air conditioner, shop vac, one large cooler, one small cooler, four large plastic storage containers, cat carrier, most of DH’s fishing gear, and some miscellaneous crap that DH won’t sort through. The smaller plastic shelf has paper towels, toilet paper, tissues (we only keep a few of those things in the house and cycle them in), DD’s beach/yard/winter toys, helmets, life jackets, two medium size plastic totes, and a couple of random boxes. In between those shelves we have a pallet cut to the same depth and our two Christmas storage totes sit on top of it. On one side we have a trash can for returnables, our recycling bin, our grill, and there are hooks on the wall to hold our beach chairs, beach umbrella, and DD’s scooter. On the other side DH’s bike hangs from the ceiling, DD has a large toy stroller thing that is only used outside, a ladder, and on the wall we have our shovels. There is also a plastic three drawer storage piece that has all of our tools.

We do have a storage shed that holds our garden and yard related things. They would fit in the garage but it’s nice to have them separate. We are thinking of getting a small chest freezer. We always keep room for a car.

We have a fairly small garage - it was originally 1 car and the first owner added space to just fit 2. We always park our cars, we have a few yard tools hanging on hooks, ladders in the corner. We’ve lined the outside wall with a few old storage furniture (bookshelves, wardrobe, etc) that are too broken or beat up with use and mover damage for inside use - so that’s another thing you might be able to find for free or very cheap. Those have all kinds of random stuff - tools, paint, outdoor toys, random storage, etc. We cram our bikes and scooters in there but it’s really inconvenient - either the kids can’t get the bikes out by themselves, or we put them behind one car (so it can’t back out without moving them - less of a problem right now since we barely drive). We probably need a better long term solution there!

The one thing I really love that we didn’t originally plan to buy was a fridge/freezer. We have the perfect nook created by the stairs down to the garage that isn’t that useful otherwise. DH just happened to see one in the scratch and dent section that was a great price and now I don’t know how I’d live without it! It’s a top freezer/bottom fridge and inside we have a side by side, so in addition to just extra storage it has space if I need to fit something big like a cake or casserole.

@mrs.kiwi: Two cars and kid sh*t 🤣 No tools or lawn care equipment because we source all that out. Our garage is small but works perfectly for us. One whole section is outdoor toys for our four year old-chalk, bubbles, t-ball, bike, scooter, water toys, etc.

HAHAHAHAHA our car. That’s hilarious. The garage holds bikes (2 adult, 1 kid, 1 kid with training wheels, 1 tricycle), a wagon, 3 scooters, 3 pogo sticks, 3 sleds, 2 skateboards, the recycling bins, a bunch of light fixtures we replaced when we bought the house, our old dishwasher, some stools that we replaced but haven’t decided what to do with the old ones....etc. I know it’s absurd, we also have multiple sheds, and yet we still can’t keep it organized enough to fit the car.

The upside of not fitting the car in the garage is there’s less driveway to shovel because the car protects the driveway!

We love where it gets too cold in the winter to have much out there that we really car about, so it's just outdoor stuff for us. We have both cars, bikes, some tools, outdoor play toys, tools, snow blower, ladders and a work bench.

For organizing, we have a couple plastic shelving units from target that we got when when we were still renting a townhouse. They were about $25 each and hold a lot!

@mrs.kiwi: I wouldn't store food out there unless it's tightly sealed in a cooler or fridge. I know a lot of people with a garage fridge in all climates, and think it's fine, but as bhbee said, probably not something you want to spend a lot of money on just in case. We get all sorts of bugs, less than outside but still, and once found a chipmunk in there--no idea how it got in.

Bugs and stuff would also make me reticent to store clothes out there, but if they were in well sealed plastic tubs it'd probably be fine. I keep maternity and baby clothes in plastic tubs in the unfinished side of our basement, which isn't that all that different. Cardboard boxes might work if you put them on shelves, but around here (Vermont) you don't want to put cardboard boxes directly on an unsealed garage floor because the cardboard will wick moisture up from the concrete and get musty and the bottom will weaken and may fall out the next time you pick it up. Not sure if the same is true in CA since it's drier, but thought I'd mention.

We just finally cleaned out and reorganized our 1 car garage! We have shoe racks that stack up pretty high. 2 big storage shelves in the back that house a lot of DH’s drum/fishing stuff. We have another wall rack along one long side where we store coolers, lawn chairs, their wagon (foldable). It also comes with hooks so we hang a million things off there. I just got a tiny 3 tier shelf to go under there plus some bins to house extra bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and DH’s power tools. On the other long wall, DH has this wall thing that stores his fishing rods. We have a tools stand thing, and that side of the wall is parking for -

Double stroller
Stroller
Barbie motor car
473873 bikes and scooters

DH wants to clear up a spot to put an extra fridge in there too. FYI we do have a shed so bulky stuff go in there and we have 2 big storage bench in the yard too.so most gardening/yard stuff are in the back.

Two car garage. But only one car fits comfortably. Two cars can fit but then there’s no where to move around as well as with kids, I’m worried about denting the cars. One one side, we have our two trash cans, two shelving units: One for kids stuff like helmets, their outdoor toys like jump ropes, soccer balls, bubbles, roller skates, elbow pads etc and one shelving for my husband’s tools, lawn care stuff, pest control stuff, etc. I have two bins on the top of my husband’s shelves with seasonal wreaths and summer pool supplies. Our freezer also fits on this side.
On the other side of the garage, we have two super big bins (like it can fit all my 3 kids in comfortably) with our Christmas decorations and trees. On top of these bins, we keep our sports chairs, picnic mats, etc. On the wall where my car face, we bought cheap ikea bookshelves and use it as a shoe storage area (We’re Asian...no shoes go inside the house). On the floor next to the shelves are my kids bikes and scooters.