Which Garage Drawers & Storage Should You Choose?
Are you looking to keep your garage tidy and organised? Our range of garage drawers and storage options is designed to help you create a neat and efficient workspace. Featuring durable steel garage drawers that provide ample storage space for your tools, and sturdy steel shelving that can handle heavy boxes, tools, and other items, our products ensure your garage remains clutter-free and functional.
Explore our garage drawers and storage shelving range today and transform your garage into a well-organised and practical space. With our high-quality storage options, you can easily find and access your tools and equipment, enhancing your productivity and maintaining a clean environment.
The Benefits of Garage Shelving
Most home garages have limited storage space once you’ve parked your car. The majority of the floor space is taken up by your vehicle, after all — but never forget all that valuable wall space.
Garage shelving makes excellent use of wasted wall space, whether it’s a floor-standing self-assembly model, a storage bin rack kit, or a modular storage cabinet unit.
First Mats’ garage shelving units are super-robust, offering support for up to 300kg per shelf. However, check the specs for our range of shelving units, as they provide different levels of support to suit your individual requirements.
The amount of available floor space determines the depth of your shelves, from 30cm to 60cm deep. And you could combine your shelving with a bin kit to help keep your screws separate from your drill bits.
What can you store on garage shelving?
Choose a unit with shelves deep enough for your needs — from 30cm to 60cm. Deeper shelves are perfect for storing power tools, such as drills, lathes, and tile cutters, while narrower shelves are suitable for storing paint pots, lawn feed and seed, and a range of other home and garden tools organised for easy access.
Alternatively, store your car supplies, such as antifreeze, windscreen solution, engine oil, and window scrapers, making those frosty mornings less stressful. No more rummaging through piles of cans, tins, and old rags — know exactly where your most essential items are on your garage shelving.
Use your garage shelving to store:
- Power tools
- Hand tools
- Nails and screws
- Glues and sealants
- Garden tools, such as secateurs, hedge trimmers, wire trimmers, hosepipes, etc.
- Garden furniture, especially fold-away chairs, parasols, sunbeds, and outdoor toys and games
- Garden feed and lawn seed
- Gardening accessories, such as pots, shovels, and lawnmowers,
- Car accessories, including ice melt, antifreeze, and car cleaning products
The Difference Between Garage Shelving and Garage Racking
Garage shelving is excellent for keeping bulky items in a safe, secure position, making it easier to find them when needed.
However, garage racking or a pegboard can help store larger garden tools, such as spades, forks, aerators, and large shovels.
Our American Pro Modular garage storage cabinets come with a metal pegboard, ready for hooking your most losable tools and accessories. And combined with a storage bin rack, everything will have its place.
Our storage bin racks attach directly to the wall - perfect in garages with limited floor space. The removable storage bins are available in blue or red, so you could even colour-code your items for quick differentiation between mechanical and garden kits. Perfect for workshops and store rooms.
The Advantages of Free-Standing Garage Shelving Units
Free-standing shelving units are light, quick to assemble and disassemble, and robust enough for heavy items. Take them with you when you move home — they’re surprisingly portable.
Free-standing shelving units don't require hanging or attaching to the wall — they're an almost instant fix for your messy garage. But one of the most significant advantages of free-standing garage shelving units is that they're modular, offering excellent expandability for large garages or standalone usefulness in smaller spaces.
Choose a free-standing unit with up to five shelves, and combine them with plastic boxes and bins to make organising your essential items easy.
How to use louvre panels in garages
Louvre panels help maximise your available wall space, offering solid and sturdy hooks for specially designed accompanying plastic bins that attach into louvred slots.
Louvre panels are available in sturdy sheets which attach to the wall, offering bin storage or louvre panel spigots that provide sturdy “pegs” for hanging tools, wire spools, and more.
However, you could also consider our Heavy Duty Workstation with Drawers and Pegboard, offering drawer and shelf storage, a robust working surface, and a pegboard for quick access to your most commonly used tools.
Garage Storage Tips and Hacks
You need to organise your garage storage, so let’s start from the beginning:
Clean out your garage
You've probably been hoarding things for years in your garage, so the best way to start is with a clean slate. Move your car out of the garage and empty everything in storage. You'll be amazed at the junk you've collected over the years.
Now, sweep and clean your floors. Perhaps consider garage flooring or paint — adding a new floor surface helps minimise dust and keeps your garage looking pristine.
Set up zones!
Creating storage zones means that you'll always know where to look. Perhaps you might use your floor-standing shelving for your car maintenance equipment and your pegboards for your garden tools.
Alternatively, our shelves are made from tough chipboard, which can be easily painted. So, you could colour code your shelves, making clear spaces for home goods, garden items, and engine parts, for example.
Invest in storage containers
With the best will in the world, items placed randomly on shelves can be challenging to find after several years.
So, invest in storage containers, such as plastic boxes and bins — label each box so you can see what you're looking for at a glance. It might seem a bit obsessive, but you'll be grateful you did it for years to come.
Make use of ceiling space
Most garages have reasonably high ceilings, so board out exposed eaves and use them as shelves for infrequently used items. It's an excellent place for the Christmas tree or extra garden chairs you might use when entertaining.
Additionally, hang bikes from ceiling racks to keep them out of the way.
Hang a curtain
Garages are supposed to be relatively messy, but hanging a sheet over the front of your shelving units makes the space feel tidier (and they keep valuable tools hidden from view when you open your garage doors).
Metal versus Plastic Shelving units
You might be tempted to buy cheap plastic shelving to help keep your garage tidy. But plastic lacks the strength of wood and metal.
And while plastic is fine for light items, there’s a limit to the weight each shelf can support. Investing in wooden shelves and a metal frame ensures your shelving units will last for years.
The Best Storage Cabinets for Garages
Storage cabinets are the perfect solution to messy garages, offering shelving that’s instantly concealed with robust doors. And our American Pro modular storage cabinets have lockable doors and drawers for optimal garage security.
The strong and durable metal finish can withstand knocks and bumps, and each unit has a durable worktop for project work.
And with ball-bearing sliding drawers, you’ll love using this modular system for super-versatile garage or workshop storage.
First Mats Choice
-
Complete 3 Drawer Metal Tool Chest with 93pc Tool Set
["Includes 93 piece tool set","Lockable with padlock","Available in red/grey or high-vis green"]
-
139 Piece Workshop Toolchest and Tool Kit
["Heavy gauge steel construction","Ball bearing drawer slides","Compact storage solution"]
-
5 Drawer Metal Tool Chests
["Nett weight: 20.33kg","Comes with one year guarantee","Finished in triple baked enamel"]