Up first…

The Ball Claw Basketball
Cost: Under $10
From: Target
Average Review: 5 Stars (Highest Possible Rating)

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Not sure what I like more: using the BALL CLAW to CLAW MY BASKETBALL, or just obnoxiously rhyming BALL AND CLAW as many times in one possible sentence reviewing the THE BALL CLAW BASKETBALL. Ok, I believe this is a stall. If ya’ll want me to get on the ball and review the claw, I guess I will indulge…

(Sorry.)

This thing is pretty self explanatory. It clamps onto your basketball so you don’t lose it in the garage. A nice – and clever – tool for garage storage when it comes to sports gear. And cheap too, costing about $8.99 currently at Target and other home department stores.

Included with the ball claw is the materials needed to mount it to any surface. Once that’s done, this makes for a totally stable basketball storage.

And for what it’s worth, they also make the same style product for the soccer ball, football, and volley ball. I guess baseballs were too small to bother with!

Suncast Golf Organizer
Cost: $80
From: Target
Average Review: 3 Out of 5 Stars

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This is a very usable golf organizer. It provides a generous amount of storage space for your golf gear, holding 2 large golf bags, with shelves on the side for all other golf gear, balls, tees, rain gear, and golf accessories that you don’t need inside the bag.

I’ve not assembled this personally, but have been told it’s “relatively easy to assemble” and is also “very sturdy”.

Basically, a good golf rack for the garage to hold all your misc. golf gear, including 2 packed golf bags that you can simply grab and then…go!

Rubbermaid Sports Station Storage Unit
Cost: $29.99
From: Target
Average Review: 4 out of 5 Stars

This is the type of sports rack I imagine people will get the most use out of for the price. At only $30, this is the perfect type of sports rack for putting in the garage and getting your kids to use to put all their gear and balls into.

The bottom of this “sports station storage unit” is a big mesh net, allowing you to both easily store and then SEE what’s inside it for easy retrieval. This is a good feature, as who wants to store their soccer balls and footballs inside something that you can’t see them anymore? Kids like to see their toys!

But the real magic of this unit is the upper portion of this sports rack. Take a look at the second photo here that I wanted to show you so you can see what I mean. It’s designed to securely hold all sorts of misc. sports gear in such a way that it really holds it in place, keeping it their, secure and stable. This is an awesome sports rack and I think you’d do well to buy this one over any other sports rack under $50 for the features it gives you.

It was also fun to read that one owner, in reviewing this item, stated their 7 year old put it together in all of 5 minutes. Now isn’t that the perfect sports rack? Not only will it get your kids to organize their sports toys, but your kids can even put it together themselves!

Please let us know your experience with any of these items, good or bad. How did it work for your sports gear? Would you recommend these sports racks to your family and friends? Why or why not?

Please leave your comments below. Thanks!

1. Leaving the bike in the yard.
2 Shoving the bike behind the mattress which is shoved behind the broken bookshelf which is shoved behind…
3. Just throwing the bike in the garage and letting nature take it course.

Sorry folks. Just kidding. If you’re here, you probably know what it means to not store your bike the right way already!

So let’s get down to business and take a look at some cool bike racks and bike stands for the garage!

The Ceiling Bike Lift
Cost: $20-25
From: Target
Weight Capacity: 50 Pounds
Average Review: 4 Out of 5 Stars

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There’s lots of variations of this idea, but here is a ceiling bike lift that costs between $20 and $25 at Target (currently $21.24 if you click here), meaning you won’t break the bank with theis cheap ceiling bike lift.

But will you break your bike? No, not unless you fill this to over capacity. Otherwise you will be fine! This bike lift is designed to safely hold a bike up to 50 pounds.It’s simple to install, taking only a few minutes to get it up and running and hoisting your bike overhead.
The ceiling bike lift featured here comes with a one year warranty from the manufacturer.

Gravity Bike Stand
Cost:$50
From: Target
Capacity: Holds Two Bikes
Average Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

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This is a very cool looking gravity bike stand. I love the gravity idea – it’s very clever and makes good use of space, and uh – the force of gravity?

Seriously though, what’s great about these gravity bike stands is how easy they are to set up and how compactly they hold two bikes. There are no screws, no fasteners, and no bolts involved in setting this up.

Also note this model has adjustable arms so you can properly hold your style or size of bike with this gravity bike stand.

Somke of the reviews point out things we all love to hear when it comes to a bike stand: “it was incredibly easy to assemble” , “it was extremely simple to put together”, “took 5 minutes to put together”, “is very stable”, and my favorite line, “this stand holds two bikes and you don’t have to drill anything into the wall.” Exactly!

Delta Design Single Bike Rack
Cost: $10-15
From: Target
Weight Capacity: 40 Pounds
Average Review: 4 Out of 5 Stars

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Here we have the bike stand concept at it’s most basic level. This inexpensive solution for storing a bike cost a little more than $10 and requires either a self-adhesive mount or screw mounted option (recommended – it only takes a minute and will make the bike rack far more secure) to set up. There are hardly any pieces and this stand will be up and running in no time.

This model has a wall guard so you won’t leave tire marks on the wall. Not as big a deal in the garage, but many find this type of single bike stand convenient to use in the bedroom or living room for storing their bike closer at hand (or in an apartment or dorm for that matter.)

Delta Design 4 Bike Rack
Cost: $89.99
From: Target
Capacity: 4 Bikes!
Weight Capacity: 140 Pounds
Average Review: 4.5 Stars (the highest here)

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Last up in our batch of reviews, we have a heavy duty bike rack for the garage. This sucker can hold up to 4 bikes weighing a total of 140 pounds. What’s great about this unit is that you get the ability to store that many bikes and that much weight without having to mess with mounting the arms or any parts into the walls or ceiling. Yes, this is a freestanding 4 bike rack! The arms are all independent from one another and adjustable, allowing you to correctly position them into place to hold your bike, no matter what the style.

The only downside of such a sturdy, space saving garage bike rack is that because it holds two bikes on the bottom and then two bikes on the top, the top bikes are somewhat hard to get on and off the shelf for shorter people.

However, that is really the only negative complaint I’ve heard about the Delta Design 4 Bike Rack. For under $100, it’s a real good stand for so many bikes, without the hassle of any crazy installation methods or tools!

Have you used any of these bike racks? Do you have any opinions on bike racks and bike stands in general? If so, let us know by leaving your comments below. Thanks!

When deciding on a shelf, in a broad view, we have two types: the type of shelf that stands on its own in the garage, and the kind of garage shelves that must be installed or mounted into the wall or ceiling. From here we can break it down into the materials used, such as stand alone shelving units constructed of metal and wood, versus ceiling or wall mounted shelves, which are usually made of metal since it’s metal parts are cheaper and easier to secure and install.

Let’s go through these types one by one.

Stand Alone Garage Shelving

Stand alone garage shelves are the type of shelves most of us are familiar with. These types of shelves don’t really differ all that much from bookshelves or other kinds of storage shelves in general. What sets them a part when it comes to garage storage is that they are more often than not constructed of metal. This is due to the fact that metal withstands the conditions of a garage better than wood. Other than metal, you will also find plastic as a common construction material for these types of shelves. It’s cheap and stable enough for light items, but definitely not good for heavy tools or equipment.

Here are some examples of garage shelving that rests on the floor; i.e. there’s nothing to mount or install into the wall.

Heavy Duty Plastic 5 Shelf Storage Unit
Cost: $80
From: Target
Weight Capacity: 150 Pounds
Dimensions: 74 Inches Height X 36 Inches Width 24 inches Depth
Materials: Constructed of Plastic

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Here we have a basic 5 shelf heavy duty garage shelving unit that Target sells for only $80. It has a total weight capacity of 150 pounds. It does require assemble but this assembly requires no other tools or parts not included in this products shipping.

Whitmore’s 5-Tier Supreme Steel Shelving System

Cost: $80
From: Target
Weight Capacity: 350 Pounds
Materials: Constructed of Heavy Duty Black Epoxy Steel
Dimensions: 72 Inches Height X 36 Inches Width X 14 Inches Depth

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The difference between this one and the last? The cost is the same, but here you get a black steel shelf with 350 pounds capacity, an increase of 200 pounds over the plastic shelves above.
Interesting, this shelf has a weaker depth that the plastic shelves, but still offer a much higher weight capacity. So if you need more room, the plastic shelves would be better, but if you need heavy duty weight capacity, 350 pounds is likely going to be more than enough for you.

Sterilite 4 Shelf Cabinet
Cost: $70
From: Target
Weight Capacity: 40 Pounds
Materials: Heavy Duty Plastic

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Now here we have a great shelf at a reasonable price considering it is equipped with 4 shelves, has two doors, and is lockable by adding a padlock to the doors themselves. The biggest drawback of a shelf like this is the meager weight capacity of only 40 pounds. You wouldn’t be usin this to store any heavy duty equipment. But it would be great for storing chemicals, paints, and other hazardous materials so common in the garage.

Side Note: This is one of the most popular garage shelving units at Target.com. There are nearly 50 reviews, which rated it overall 4.5 stars out of 5 stars. Assembly is required but it’s great to see many people stating it took them less than 10 minutes to assemble the entire shelving unit. That’s the kind of products we want to see!

Devant 4 Tier Corner Mesh Shelf
Cost: $40
From: Target
Materials: Metal

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For the stand alone garage shelves, let’s round things out and end this article on with a very cool little mesh shelving unit from Devant.

This item is designed to perfectly compliment and make use of the corners of your garage, an area of space often not properly maximized for storage. This shelf would be good for commonly accessed things of light weight, such as small tools, cans, and whatnot. It’s about a foot deep and a foot wide and stands roughly 4 feet high. This isn’t going to store your chainsaw, but it will store your extra extension cords and other random items that do need a home!

For $40, this isn’t a bad at all. Especially if the corners of your garage aren’t being put to good use.

Since this article is getting fairly long, I’ve decided to divide it up into two parts. In this section we looked at stand alone shelving units and gave an overview of 4 different types, covering both metal and plastic shelves, including corner shelving units.

In our next article we will do the same for mounted shelves, including both ceiling and wall mounted garage storage shelving products.

Have any thoughts about the items reviewed above? Please leave us your comment below. Thanks!

The term garage storage refers to any type of storage used in the garage, be it shelves, plastic storage bins, lockable ceiling mounted compartments, or storage work benches. But when we refer to garage storage systems, this modifier infers we are looking at how the storage components fit together as a whole, not just as individual parts. Simple, right?

To this end, garage storage systems are designed as an overall storage solution for your garage, not just a place to store old books or tools, but a place to store everything that belongs in the garage.

And that is actually a key component of what it means to design working garage storage systems. I’ll say it again: a place to store everything that belongs in the garage. Or to say it another way, everything that is stored in the garage needs to have a specific place it is to be stored. This is not so much as garage storage system principle as it is a principle of storage and organization in general. When every object has a place to go, then clutter is non-existent. Clutter and junk only exist in the garage (and elsewhere in the home, such as the closet), when there’s no place to put it.

This means when sizing up your garage storage options, we first need to identify what sort of objects are going to be put in the garage. For most people, we’d want to cross reference a list that might look like this:

• The Family Car (maybe)
• Lawnmower and gas container
• Tools for maintaining the lawn and the yard, such as rakes, trimmers
• Lawncare chemicals and bottles
• Painting tools, paint buckets, spray paints
• Sports Equipment and Sport Gear
• Bikes and Bicycle Stands and Racks
• Hobby items and tools, such as wood working equipment or arts and crafts equipment
• New Car Parts and related items such as oil containers, old oil, oil rags
• Broken or Old Car Parts
• Old Toys
• Extra Clothes
• Magazines and Books
• Storage Boxes – Cardboard (no!) or Plastic (better)
• Extra Household Furniture
• Old Mattresses, Captains Bed, or Bed Frames
• Extra Or Broken Book Shelves and Cabinets
• …And Lots of Other Random Stuff.

Before jumping into the game of buying storage items and trying to stack things away, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort by first:

1. Cleaning Out Your Garage.
This means sweeping the floor and throwing out trash and other stuff that’s obviously junk.

2. Getting Rid of As Much As Possible.
Hold a yard sale, give stuff away, throw it up on Craigslist, and if you must – just trash it. But don’t hold on to anything you don’t use. Have you touched it in the last year? Why are you keeping it then?

3. Now Assess How To Store What’s Left!

At this point when we get to assess what’s left and how to store it is when you should look into what specific garage storage system items you’d like to spend your money on. Once you know what’s actually going into garage storage, it’s much easier to seek out relevant storage items. Map out either mentally or on paper how you might store your items and where you would store them if you had the necessary shelves. Cross reference this with your storage budget and then with the cost of the actual items. Once you’ve got this figured out, it’s only a matter of buying and install the necessary storage items and placing your belongings into them. At that point you’ll have a working garage storage system.