How We Organized Our Garage for Play, Projects, and Peace of Mind
As a mom of two active little boys who spend countless hours playing in our backyard, keeping our outdoor space organized is essential. Our home in Falls Church, VA features a detached garage that sits at the heart of our backyard—and it serves as both a storage powerhouse and a hub for open-ended play.
Garages are some of the hardest-working storage spaces in a home. They need to hold everything from sporting gear and lawn tools to seasonal decor and toys. Here’s how we transformed ours into a functional and family-friendly space—perfect for life in Northern Virginia.
A beautifully organized garage with distinct zones for play, projects, and storage.
✅ Create Zones
We designated clear zones to keep things easy to find and even easier to put away. The left side of the garage is dedicated to kids’ items, while the right wall is home to lawn tools and equipment.
✅ Use Closed Cabinets
This year, we upgraded from two worn particle board cabinets to sleek black metal locking cabinets from Home Depot. They feature pegboard doors that hold magnetic hooks—perfect for maximizing vertical space.
The right-side cabinet stores tools and stays locked for safety. We added a magnetic key box to the top for easy adult access.
The left-side cabinet holds kids' essentials like bubbles, reusable water balloons, and rollerblades.
Sleek black metal locking cabinets store tools and equipment, with a magnetic key box for easy access.
✅ Install a Wall Rail System
If it can go on the wall, it should! We added FastTrack rail systems on two garage walls to keep the floor clutter-free.
The “kids zone” features a lower rail within easy reach and an upper rail for lesser-used items. A hanging container keeps soccer and basketballs in one place.
The left side of the garage features a playful "kids zone" with a lower rail system holding colorful toys, soccer balls, and rollerblades.
✅ Maximize Every Nook and Cranny
Tall, narrow shelves from The Container Store fit perfectly in our garage corners, providing bonus storage without wasting space. We used large metal bins from Target and extra wooden boxes from a previous project to keep everything organized.
Tall shelves maximize every nook and cranny of this garage.
✅ Think Vertical
We added a ceiling-mounted storage rack to take advantage of overhead space. Opaque white bins are labeled by season to minimize visual clutter. For example, when summer ends, the beach bag moves from the wall rail into the “Summer” bin—easy and out of sight.
An organized garage with distinct zones for play, projects, and storage. A perfect blend of practicality and fun for a family with active kids.
✅ Make Room for DIY Projects
We’re often in the middle of a home improvement project, so we installed two heavy-duty L brackets on one wall to hold scrap wood. It’s a game-changer—no more tripping over spare boards!
✅ Add Finishing Touches
Since we’re not planning on moving anytime soon, we splurged on an epoxy garage floor last spring. It looks fantastic and makes sweeping up a breeze. I also painted the walls a cheerful blue to hide the inevitable scuffs and add a pop of color.
Need garage organization in Falls Church, DC, or Northern Virginia?
Sort It Out is here to do the heavy lifting for you. We specialize in garage makeovers, family-friendly storage systems, and practical solutions tailored to your space.
Email us today for a free consultation—we’d love to help you create a garage that works just as hard as you do.
