Storing the usual items, that’s easy. There are multitudes of cabinets, bins, organizers, and shelving made for boxes, and other normal-shaped garage and trailer items. But what about the things that are bulky, oddly shaped, or just plain challenging to keep handy, yet organized, and out of the way? Here are some ideas to get you started:

Use the “dead zone” next to the garage door to hang items with hooks.

Along the inside walls of your garage, on either side of the garage door is a great place to store long items. Things like weed eaters, snow shovels, garden hoses, and spare tires can hang from hooks or hangers mounted onto pegboard or directly onto the garage wall. You can even hang a fertilizer spreader up in the corner on the same wall as the garage door. It’s a space that’s just the right size and outside of the door track —but nearly always goes unused. And consider folding sawhorses—they’re real space savers that fold flat and can be stored out of the way nearly anywhere.

Use the right tool for the job to store specialty items

You might not realize it, but there are some specially-designed containers and/or hangers that exist for nearly every kind of item you need to store. Wondering what to do about loose folding chairs in your trailer? Look no further than this awesome Fold Up Chair Cabinet. Need a place to store a funnel so that it’s still in a usable position? Check. Zip ties are handy, but storing them can be a pain—until now. What can you do about canopies, totes, and door steps that are floating around in your trailer? Bungee ‘em up. How about air tools, T-handles, ladders, and rakes? All have their place—without messing up your place.

The right storage tool for a job may actually be a cabinet

Take the ultimate step to manage clutter with cabinets built specifically for your needs and lifestyle. Cabinets with a slim profile (such as this 10” deep model) will fit along your garage and trailer walls without taking up much precious space, yet still offer loads of storage area for loose and bulky items (think: jack stands) that would otherwise be rolling around your trailer or are underfoot in the garage. You can even buy cabinets with built-in work areas to further consolidate and open up more space. (And the fact that they simply look cool isn’t going to hurt your image, either.) Get the storage of those odd and bulky items under control and you’ll free up some space… for those new tools you’ve had your eye on!