Help me organize my garage

I have this set of shelves in one corner of my garage.  I hate them.

Top shelf:  Paint cans.  I rarely touch these, so the current method is fine.  I can stand on a stool and find what I need without moving too much out of the way.

2nd shelf down:  paint supplies & a couple random items.  Disaster.  Crate is mostly rollers, brushes, tubes of caulk and a caulk gun.  When I need something out of there, it becomes a huge mess than I shove back in the crate half-assed, just making the problem worse. 

3rd down:  Various screws, nails, hardware kits for other things around.  And battery chargers.  This shelf is a huge waste of space.  I feel like whatever is on it could be compressed into 10% of the space.  How do I make this more efficient?

4th:  power tools.  Drill & driver bits.  These things are impossible to store in a neat/organized way.  I hope someone has a secret trick for this.

bottom:  This one isn't too bad.  I should toss the car parts down there in the trash, or just put them back on my car.

For things like the boxes of nails and screws I like to use the plastic shoe boxes you can get at discount stores like this: https://www.dollartree.com/Plastic-Storage-Boxes-with-Lids/p330495/index.pro theyre a dollar each and get about a dozen of them. They stack tightly when empty and neatly when full and you'll find a use for them eventually. For the larger painting stuff get a few of the one size larger shoebox plastic tubs and divide the stuff up until it fits neatly in them. Label everything using either masking tape or post its and a sharpie. Don't need to get fancy on the labels just actually label things. It really helps to have consistently sized and stackable containers for this kind of stuff. 

Dollar tree also sells small black "tool boxes" that are great for small items like screw's. As for paint roller's I have found buckets are very good at holding them and related supplies, find the best size for your needs. I use a 5 gallon bucket with the lid, should fit on the top shelf.

FYI: Dollar Tree also sells paint rollers, one dollar for two rollers.

I'm a fan of pegboard for organizing power tools and keeping them "at hand" vs buried on a shelf. I'd hot link a pic, but mobile device...

dculberson said:

It really helps to have consistently sized and stackable containers for this kind of stuff. 

What he said.  I have some of those Dollar Tree shoeboxes and while they nest nicely when empty I don't like how the bottom doesn't hold as much stuff as the "footprint" would suggest.  I'm saving up Amazon shipping boxes to try to have uniform size, stackable, durable boxes for free.

For some reason, the picture isn't showing for me (neither here at work nor at home this morning).

Go digging through woodworking forums and books - lots of ideas for storing cordless tools.

Ooh, I like this.

I dig this too

I also like this; search for "pvc pipe cordless drill holder":

dculberson said:

I also like this; search for "pvc pipe cordless drill holder":

OH! I like this-especially since I've got this pipe currently sitting in my garage!

For screws and bolts and stuff, I love using fishing tackle boxes. Specifically, something like the Plano 3700.  You can configure it however you want with the little dividers.  I've started building up my inventory to the point of having a box for M6, a box for M8, etc.

I like those open storage concepts, but ever since a garage break-in in college, all my tools go back into my locked double bay Matco box at the end of the day.   If someone carts that off, they can have it!  I would hate to lose well over $2k in Milwaukee Fuel tools in a 30 second door-kick and grab operation.  

Some times peace of mind trumps organization.  

This thread is relevant to my interests as everything in the garage is currently in the living room and it'd be nice to have a plan to organize it better than before.

Wall hanging hooks are cheap at Home Depot- $1.50 each. IMO make a great way to put big tools on the wall, which is way easier access (as suggested) than a drawer or shelf. Air tools hang on piece advertised for trailers- available everywhere. Craigslist is a good place for commercial grade shelving. I picked up the units below for $15 each from a decommissioned warehouse. They were nasty but sturdy. Turned one of them into a workbench.