How to Organize Your Tools: 3 Tips for Storing Tools

Organizing your tools is an excellent DIY task that can help you work more quickly, efficiently, and with greater satisfaction. How you organize your tools depends on the particular project, tools, and workspace. Some tool storage ideas include:

• Shelving: Shelves are an effective way to organize a space. Shelves can be custom built to fit the specific function of your space, and they can be stationary or modular, depending on your needs. Shelving units can be made of wood, metal, or plastic, and you can purchase them at your local hardware store and assemble them at home. Alternatively, if you’re handy with wood—or even metal—you can build your shelving from scratch or scrap.
• Pegboards: One of the classic storage solutions is the wall-mounted pegboard. Made of a compressed fiber or wood, pegboards have evenly-spaced holes that can fit metal studs or hooks to support or hang your tools. Pegboards can help organize hand tools, like pliers, screwdrivers, hammers, and saws; power tools like drills, chargers, and electric saws; and woodworking tools like awls, planes, drill bits, saw blades, and chisels.
• Magnetic strips: Magnetic strips can be a great solution if you have the right equipment. Like magnetic strips in kitchens for storing knives, you can use magnetic strips to hang metallic tools containing enough iron to be magnetized.
• Drawers: Drawers are another option that can work for the DIY home storage system. Sets of drawers come in many sizes—you can use tiny ones for screws and washers or bigger ones for cordless power tools. You can build drawers into a workbench, sit drawers on top of a workbench, or rest a set of drawers on the floor. You can also place drawers on casters so that you can move them throughout the workspace.
• Storage bins: Bins tend to work better for long-term storage. If you have tools you use every once in a while or are too large and cumbersome to hang on a wall or rest on a narrow shelf, putting them in a bin might be the best choice. Storage containers like bins come in all shapes and sizes, many of them made from heavy-duty plastic. A toolbox is perhaps the best storage container and its portability is a significant asset.
• Storage cabinets: Often, you will want to store tools close by in a protected place. Tool cabinets can offer your tools protection from dust and moisture, and they can also protect your space from substances and chemicals that are corrosive, flammable, or otherwise harmful. Tools involving paints or solvents, gasoline, or cleaning materials, are best kept in a secure metal cabinet.

A simple way to keep your workshop tidy is to organize your tools as you acquire them. Consider these tips when organizing tools in your workspace:

1. 1. Keep similar items together. It is best to organize tools by function. If you’re organizing garden tools, try to keep the hand tools, like trowels and spades, in one space. Larger items like shovels, rakes, and even power tools like a lawnmower or a weed wacker, can be nearby but separate.
2. 2. Color coordinate. For quick access, it can be helpful to color your storage areas based upon the tools they contain. You can use wall paint to section off areas of your workspace, or place color tape directly on your tools. For instance, your woodworking tools can be one color, while your mechanical tools and accessories, like wrenches, nuts, or sockets, can be another.
3. 3. Use vertical space. Whether you are working in a garage, a woodshop, or a basement, it is advantageous to store tools vertically. Surfaces are often best kept clear for doing the actual work, while walls can feature shelves, pegboards, cubbies, or other ways to secure the tools. Storing tools vertically also allows you to scan your tools and access them with relative ease quickly.

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