Garage Organisation Ideas for a Small Garage (Mudroom + Storage System)

The garage can easily become the most chaotic area of the house. It’s where everything ends up when there’s nowhere else for it to go. Luckily, garage organisation doesn’t have to be complicated. With a few simple storage solutions and a clear system, you can completely transform the space.

Our garage was never messy, but it definitely wasn’t working as efficiently as it could. With a little bit of planning and a few clever storage ideas, we turned it into a highly functional space that works perfectly for our family.

If you're looking for garage organisation ideas for a standard double garage, here’s exactly how we set ours up.

Garage mudroom bench with shoe storage and wall hooks

Our Garage Setup: Context Before We Started

Before diving into the organisation process, here are a few things about our lifestyle that influenced how we designed our garage storage.

• We both work office jobs and live in a development with a very small yard, so we don’t have a lot of gardening equipment.
• Most of our tools are essentially hobby tools, not professional-grade equipment. Instead of buying everything we might possibly need, we prefer to borrow tools occasionally rather than overcrowd our garage with items we rarely use.
• Our garage is a standard double garage, although we only park one car in it. When designing the layout we still tested it with two cars to make sure everything would fit comfortably.

And one more thing, it’s a garage, so it will get dusty. I don’t include it in my weekly cleaning routine. Instead, sections get cleaned when we use them. We also don’t store anything here that comes inside regularly. For example, our suitcases live in the garage and we simply wipe them down before bringing them inside for travel.

Creating a Garage Mudroom

One of my favourite parts of our garage organisation project was creating a mudroom-style drop zone. I’ve always loved traditional American homes you see in movies and on Pinterest. Many of them include beautiful mudrooms filled with cabinetry and storage.

Despite the name, a mudroom isn’t actually muddy. It’s simply the space where everything you need when leaving the house is stored.

This typically includes:

• Shoes
• Jackets
• Hats
• Bags
• Dog leads
• Outdoor gear

Since we enter our home through the garage every day, creating a mudroom area in the garage made perfect sense.

Designing Our Garage Entryway

We had a narrow section at the end of the garage that we could utilise, but there was one challenge. If we ever parked a large SUV in the garage, we still needed to be able to open the boot comfortably. That meant we only had about 30cm of depth to work with. Because our garage is a standard double garage, the solution was to maximise vertical wall space and use shallow storage.

Planning the Garage Storage Layout

Before building anything, I measured the entire area and made a list of everything we wanted to store in this space. One key requirement was a large cupboard to hide cables and electronics that were mounted on the wall. Once I sketched my ideal layout, I started researching IKEA cabinets to see if we could build the setup ourselves. However, it ended up being more expensive than expected, especially considering the amount of work involved. Instead, we requested a custom quote, and surprisingly it came back cheaper since we already had detailed measurements and a materials list prepared. Once the cabinetry structure was installed, we added decorative shelf brackets and MDF panels before painting everything white ourselves.

DIY Mudroom Bench Seat

One of my favourite DIY parts of this project was creating the bench seat cushion.

To make it, I used:

• A piece of MDF cut to size from Bunnings
• Filling from old pillows I had saved
• Fabric and staple gun

I stapled the fabric to one side of the MDF board, stuffed it with pillow filling, and then stapled the remaining side closed. It turned out a little lumpy, but it’s still incredibly comfortable and works perfectly for sitting down to put shoes on.

Keeping the Garage Floor Clear

One of our main garage organisation rules was to keep as much off the floor as possible. This makes it much easier to clean the garage, especially in winter when mud and dirt get tracked in. Because everything is mounted or stored on shelves, we can easily hose down the concrete floor to remove dust and debris. With a dog in the house, this has been incredibly helpful.

To help keep dirt from entering the house, I added an outdoor rug near the garage entrance. Outdoor rugs are perfect for this area because they’re designed to handle weather and moisture. They’re also easy to clean, and if we ever end up driving over it while parking a second car, it won’t be damaged.

Tool Wall Organisation

Before organising this area, all of our tools were simply stored in a basket and toolbox, which made them difficult to access. To fix this, we installed a garage pegboard tool wall. We used the Flexi Storage system from Bunnings, which allows you to completely customise your shelving and pegboard layout. One thing I would definitely recommend is planning your layout online before visiting the store. Every single component of the pegboard system is sold individually, which can be extremely overwhelming if you walk in without a plan.

Fold Down Garage Workbench

We also added a fold-down workbench to create a functional workspace when needed.

• The bench was made using:
• A $20 timber board from Bunnings
• Retractable brackets purchased on eBay

When folded down, it creates a simple but effective workspace for small projects. When folded up, it takes up almost no space.

Garage Storage Tub Wall

If you follow me on Instagram, you might recognise my famous “smurf tubs.” Originally, I had 50L Kmart tubs stacked against this wall. I tried spray painting them navy blue, but the colour turned out far lighter than expected and I hated it. Luckily, my sister-in-law and mother-in-law were organising their own garages, so those tubs found a new home.

I replaced them with IKEA 40L bins, which actually doubled my storage capacity. Each shelf now holds 80L of storage instead of 50L. These bins are narrow enough that we can also store items behind them that would normally belong in a shed.

For example:

• Spare roof tiles
• Building materials
• Miscellaneous bulky items

There isn’t exactly a beautiful storage basket for things like spare roof tiles, so this setup hides the ugly items while still keeping them accessible.

Before and after garage organisation with labelled storage system

Wall Mounted Storage for Bulky Items

Finally, all large items that didn’t fit into shelves were mounted on the wall using heavy-duty hooks.

These include things like:

• Suitcases
• Gardening tools
• Outdoor equipment
• Christmas trees and decorations

Grouping items by category keeps the garage organised and makes everything easy to find. We also left one wall mostly empty for future gardening storage as our needs grow.

Backup Household Storage

One of the most useful areas in our garage is our backup household supply storage. This is where we keep extra everyday essentials like toilet paper, nappies, wipes and toiletries so we always have a backup when things run out inside the house.

Rather than keeping these items scattered across cupboards, I wanted a dedicated system that made it easy to see what we had and when we needed to restock. To organise everything, I used a set of Tansel drawers, which are perfect for bulk storage while still keeping everything accessible.

Inside the drawers, I created custom dividers out of balsa wood so each category has its own section. It required no power tools and looked really good! This keeps things neat and prevents items from becoming a messy pile over time.

This system makes it really easy to grab what we need and also quickly check our stock levels when doing the grocery shop.

‍

_{This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.}

‍