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How to Easily Clean and Organise Your Garden Shed

Using your garden shed for storage is a great way to keep your house clean and your garden tidy. But even the most dedicated shed owners are guilty of just dumping stuff in our sheds haphazardly.

It’s a painfully familiar sight – a useful and spacious garden shed that’s turned into a messy dump. It makes the shed painful to be in, and even looking at it makes you ask: how on earth am I going to fix this?

If this is all too close to home, then don’t worry – we’re here to help!

In this quick guide, we’ll be showing you the best methods and tips to clean and organise your unruly shed, no matter how big of a challenge it is. With our step-by-step guide, you’ll have a clean and organised shed in no time.

Just scroll down for everything you need to know!

Cluttered and untidy shed
Does your shed look like this? Time to organise! Image Credit

1. Clear a Walkway

No matter how messy that shed of yours is, the first step for any clean-up is to make yourself a walkway. 

Now, we know that it can be difficult to get going with clearing efforts like this. Trust us, we’d rather be sat down having a cuppa too! But here’s a bit of extra motivation: cleaning is actually amazing for your mental health. While cleaning, think of it as a 2-in-1: you’re cleaning your shed and your mind. Two birds with one stone!

Back to the matter at hand – a walkway. Making a walkway isn’t much cleaning in itself, but it’s the first step towards an organised shed. Clear out a space, wide enough for you to walk down easily, from one end of the shed to the other.

And just like that, you have a walkway!

This walkway might not seem like a lot – but it’s going to be the backbone of your cleaning and organisation effort. It gives you easy access to pretty much every place in your shed. It’s also going to make the rest of the process easier and is the first step towards organising the space inside your shed.

 

Organised shed with central walkway
Image Credit

2. A Quick Clean

Before we crack on with organising your shed, there’s the small matter of cleaning it first.

Don’t worry, this cleaning doesn’t need to be particularly thorough! It’s simply a good idea to clean any areas of your shed that are so dirty that you can’t, or don’t want, to use.

Maybe there’s one corner full of dirt, or a wall covered in cobwebs. It doesn’t matter whether it’s on the walls, the roof, or in the corners, get rid of anything that makes you hesitate to store your stuff there.

Basically, this clean is just intended to make sure you can use all the space that your shed provides. Once that’s done, you’re in a perfect place to start organising in full.

3. Get a Desk or Table Inside

Now, we know what you’re thinking: aren’t we meant to be clearing the mess in my shed, not putting more things inside?

You’re completely right – and it’s worth noting that this step isn’t for every shed.

If your shed is on the smaller side in terms of square footage, then it might be worth avoiding putting a table inside, as it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth.

BillyOh Expert Tongue and Groove Apex Workshop with workshop table
BillyOh Expert Tongue and Groove Apex with Workshop Table

So why put a table inside in the first place?

Good question. It’s all down to using all the space your shed has on offer – especially its vertical space. Now that’s a phrase you’re going to see a lot of – and for good reason. The easiest and best way to turn your shed from a dumping ground into a hyper-organised storage shed is to use all of its vertical space.

The table will allow you to utilise some of this vertical space. You’ll be able to store things both below the table and on top of it, using the platform to take advantage of the vertical space. The table will also give you space to put things down for a second, provide an area for a potting bench, or even as a place to do some DIY!

If you like this idea, maybe install a large table – or put two next to each other! You’ll still be able to store your stuff underneath them, with the added advantage that they’ll be hidden by the table surface.

4. Installing Shelving

Installing shelving is all about – yep, you guessed it: vertical space!

Shelving is a hyper-efficient way to make use of all the space you have against your walls, with the added benefit that it’s very straightforward to install and use.

Shelves are great because you can vary their size and the space between them in order to store basically anything (provided it’s not too heavy). If you need a place to put all your gardening supplies, power tools, or sports equipment then look no further!

They work perfectly in conjunction with smaller storage units too, helping you to organise your shed the way you want to.

We understand the importance of shelving here at Garden Buildings Direct. That’s why all of our shed models come with a shelving kit as an optional extra. You can even choose how much shelving you want – from just along one wall to all the way around!

Shelving with tool and equipment storage
Image Credit

Installing shelves

To install shelving on your shed walls simply:

  1. Use a spirit level (or just a ruler) to mark where you want the bottom of your shed to be fixed against the wall. Then, mark where you want to install your shelf brackets (the things that will be holding it up). Make sure they’re placed appropriately to support the weight of the shelf.
  2. Grab your brackets and line them up with your markings. Again, using a pencil, mark through the bracket’s screw holes so you know where to drill into the shed wall.
  3. Drill holes into the wall.
  4. Hold your brackets up against the wall and fix them into the wall with screws.
  5. With your bracket installed, simply slide the shed on top and screw them into the bracketsand just like that, you’ve installed shelving!

5. Peg or Hook Board

If you already use your shed as a workshop, or you’ve caught on to our suggestion from earlier, then you’ll definitely want a Peg or Hook rack. You’re not using that wall space, so put it to good use!

Not only are these great for using your vertical space (!), these boards are a super-easy way to organise whatever you’re hanging up there. Wall hook racks can be especially useful for large tools like shovels or brushes. 

Pegboards are especially great because they’re so adaptable – you can change what kind of storage solutions you have on them at any one time. They’re ideal for tools, but can be customised to include shelving, storage spaces, or even plant pots. Whatever you want to store, it can take it.

If you want to make your shed super-organised, then definitely invest in a customisable pegboard!

Tools hung and organised on a black pegboard
Image Credit

6. Hanging Out!

Another great way to make the best use of your shed’s space is to hang your stuff from the ceiling. Storing things using hanging ceiling hooks can really help to alleviate the floor space of your shed.

Install some trusty hooks by nailing or screwing them into the ceiling boards, then hang whatever you want from them! Hanging hooks are great at storing large and clunky items like bicycles, stowing them away up above where there’s more than enough space for them.

Top tip: If you’ve not got enough room up on your ceiling for all those bikes, why not consider buying a dedicated bike store for them?

But don’t just stop at bikes! Hanging hooks can be used for a huge variety of storage options. Why not look into buying some hanging containers to pop a few things in? Or even spruce it up by hanging flower baskets or ivy from the roof? This is sure to add a bit of colour and a natural theme to your shed interior.

With all those bulky items out the way, you’ll find that you have so much more room to work with. 

7. Containers Big and Small

So you hung up the big and clunky stuff, fitted your gardening tools to a rack, and put away all the paint cans on those handy shelf units. But what about storing all the little things?

We all have them in our sheds: the nuts, bolts, seed packets, strings, light bulbs and so on. The seemingly thousands of small items that are just lying around on the floor and wherever else they wander off to. You need to store them, but where? 

The answer is simple: containers, containers, containers. Plastic, metal trays, even wood boxes – whatever you can get your hands on will come in useful! Even storage bins can work!

Now how you organise these smaller items is up to you. If you’re a finicky weekend inventor, you might want to sort all your screws by their specific sizes and widths in a labelled storage container. For those more inclined towards a lazy Sunday afternoon than one spent in a workshop, lumping all those nuts and bolts in one box will do!

The point is: organise to a level that makes you happy! What matters is that when you want to find it, you know where it is in your shed and how to get to it.

Hyper-organised shed interior with shelves and a desk
You don’t have to be this organised! Image Credit

Rounding Up

Cleaning and organising your shed is as simple as taking it one step at a time. Being patient with the process means you’ll get things done without the stress of rushing to do it! 

Speaking of those steps – let’s quickly run back over them.

  • Clear a walkway so you can easily access all areas of your shed.
  • Give your shed a quick clean to maximise the space you can use.
  • Install a desk to provide a little workshop and storage platform.
  • Put up some shelves and make full use of that vertical space!
  • Hang up a pegboard or hook rack for garden tools and equipment.
  • Use hanging hooks to store stuff from your ceiling.
  • Break out some containers to organise all the small stuff.

With those simple steps as a guide, you’ll be on your way to a clean and organised super-shed!

What’s that – you don’t have a garden shed? Or do you need a new one? Then check out these top 8 wooden sheds for storage!

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