Method 1 of 3:

1. Preparing your shed

Firstly, empty your shed to check for damage to its structure and contents. Before you proceed with the organisation of your shed, wait until its dry and drag everything outside. Check the shed and any of the contents for any water damage, this may mean your shed has a leak. Check for any pest attack such as moth damage, make sure all chemicals are sealed, containers are undamaged and labels are still legible. Repair any structural damage to the shed and give it a sweep before you put any back inside it.

2. Throw away

Throw out anything you don’t need.

3. Gather up messy tools

Garden tools tend to come in all shapes and sizes, and so does the rest of the contents of many peoples? sheds. Bundle some Velcro wrap around collections of garden canes or longer hand tools such as hoes and spades. This will hold them together. Use tall boxes to store long tools that you rarely use.

Method 2 of 3:

1. Raise things off the floor

This will improve your storage space. If you have a messy shed, it is probably because you have limited storage options. You could, install shelves, install a pegboard, install tool hooks or velcro tidy straps, a shoe tidy, storage racks or even a fold down workbench that could have shelves underneath.

2. Storing sharp hand tools

Consider using old ammunition boxes or stout wooden crates to store your sharp hand tools. You can also store them upright in a rigid plastic bin, such as an old dustbin. This will prevent any contact with the blade. It?s best if you don?t jumble bladed tools together to avoid blunting the edges.

3. Modify your sheds walls

There are a variety of ways, beyond shelves, to utilise the walls of your shed for storage. Consider these solutions:

• You can nail lengths of Velcro wrap to the shed wall and use these to attach your tools directly to the wall.
• Drive some hooks into the shed wall at a height just slightly above your knee. Take some bungee cords or ratchet straps with hooks on the end, hook them to the wall with fairly strong tension, and make elasticated wall storage that will hold your tools flat against the walls.
• Peg board is a terrific way to store items on walls. Get some hooks to hang your tools from the pegboard, and you can hang boxes from them for smaller items like screws.

4. Take advantage of your sheds ceiling

Don?t neglect to hang things from the roof. Here are some ideas for roof storage:

• Bikes can go on a bike rack or pulley system on the ceiling.
• Ladders can also rest in a simple frame holder you can hang from the ceiling.
• Also, consider hanging a length of rigid plastic pipe such as a water pipe length from the ceiling. You can slot long narrow items such as garden canes or lengths of dowling rod into this.

5. Storing miscellaneous items

Sheds are usually filled with all sorts of useful smaller objects that defy categorization, such as the fitting for a hose pipe, different sizes of screws, and tulip bulbs. One way to store smaller items is to glue the external lid of a jelly jar to the internal roof of your shed. Just reach up and unscrew the jar lid to access the contents.

• Avoid nailing through the roof as this will ruin the water seal. You can also nail or screw jars to the underside of shelves.
• Clear jars help you see what?s inside.
• Glue old cans or short sections of water pipe to the walls to make easy storage for small items like gardening gloves.

Method 3 of 3:

1. Dangers of putting chemicals in your shed

Perhaps you are storing chemicals in your shed such as weed killer, pesticides, or white spirits.

• You might also be storing petrol, diesel, oil or paints: all of these things are toxic.
• Some of these items are flammable; others like petrol can give off very noxious fumes, especially in a confined space like a shed.
• It?s very important that none of these chemicals are allowed to contaminate the water supply or the ground.

2. Store chemicals items properly

If you have any of the aforementioned chemicals in your shed, you can take some steps to ensure that they are stored properly. Here?s some basic advice for storage of chemicals in your shed:

• Always keep chemicals in the original container.
• Store substances such as petrol in containers intended for that purpose. Petrol is corrosive and can wear away at containers not designed for storing petrol, leaking into water and ground and causing a hazard.
• Store chemicals out of reach of pets and children, in a cool dry place out of sunlight.
• Only buy as much as you need for the year.
• Chemicals in powder form should be stored away from, or above, liquids to stop drips and leaks that can cause chemical reactions.
• Avoid keeping chemicals past their expiry date.
• Dispose of chemicals safely and never down drains or into water.