Nothing hinders the flow state faster than clutter.
Whether mental clutter is wasting energy or time and space is wasted by disorganization, a streamlined woodworking storage space is crucial.
A pile of tools can turn your compact space into a messy shop. And having stationary tools like your router table blocking your exit path is a safety hazard.
With no established major equipment location, and electric tools, belt sanders, and machine tools, cleaning your entire space feels like the biggest project on your agenda.
But rather than constantly turning your pending furniture project into a messy shop climate project, we suggest implementing a few of our choice woodworking workshop storage ideas ahead of time.
This helpful guide will cover smart woodworking storage systems you can use to organize that messy shop. We’ll also offer creative craft storage ideas for keeping your workshop clean and maintained once you’ve got it where you want it.
Finally, we’ll reveal how Storage.com can help you find the perfect space for a storage unit woodworking workshop.
Workshop Storage Ideas for Setups & Materials
Implementing a new strategy for workshop storage ideas starts just like any other organised shop, office, garage space, or craft storage ideas. You’ve got to plan your systems ahead of time so you can be sure to secure the right materials.
For a happier shop experience, you’ll want to have a special tool organization method for all your major tools, from power tools and powered hand tools like your belt sander & stand, disk sanders, or drum sanders to your stationary tools and machine tools.
There are loads of shop storage methods to choose from. The superior storage process depends on the types of tools you use in your woodworking workshop.
We’ll run through a few of our favorite garage shop storage techniques. It’s up to you to experiment and consider your specific storage needs. Implementing the wrong storage solution can result in a complete disaster of disorganization.
Wall-Mounted Plywood
The more wall surface area you can utilize, the better, as wall storage frees up floor space and extra foot space for increased maneuverability.
- For starters, you can add a layer of three-quarter-inch plywood over your studs.
- A plywood fastening surface gives you the option of installing hammer racks and tool organizer wall mounts for long-handled tools, construction tools, etc.
You can add a few crude custom shelves to the plywood for power tool battery storage and install a metal or plastic drawer storage cabinet for garage organization underneath it.
Add a wall-mounted lumber rack to keep wood stored securely out of the way and to prevent warping.
Misc Drawer Systems
Some drawer systems offer deep drawers that can hold a whole pile of tools. For example, you can repurpose an old filing cabinet for your electric tools and powered hand tools.
Commercial metal cabinets with smaller drawers hold lots of drawers for different purposes. You can convert a narrow drawer to a misc drawer with punches, layout tools, sharpening stones, putty knives, and paint scrapers, so it functions as your miscellaneous drawer cabinet.
Hardboard Pegboards, Metal Pegboards, and Plastic Pegboards
Hardboard pegboard workshop storage ideas
Pegboard walls are a great way to get that heap of tools off your work table. Start by installing 1×3 strips above and below a section of wall panel, with a third strip every 16 inches in between the top and bottom rows of strips.
Then, install ¼ in hardboard pegboard to the strips using washer head screws.
Remember where the strips were and mount some screw hooks for long-handled tools and wheelbarrows. The strip-enforced pegboard is also great for garden tool organizers and tool organizer wall mounts.
You can make pegboard cubbyholes for shop pencils, saw blades, stir sticks, zip ties, and other slender tool storage by cutting short sections of PVC. Slide them over pegboard hooks so they’re standing up vertically, and stuff them full with those smaller shop accessories and household tools.
You can also mount recycling bins or wooden crates to a pegboard for a grab-and-go storage solution.
Metal pegboard workshop storage ideas
Metal pegboard strips are one of the most robust woodworking storage options. The metal strips allow magnetic rack mounts, and the increased sturdiness lets you hang hammer racks, long-handled tools, and heavy duty steel tools.
Heavy duty plastic pegboard craft storage ideas
Plastic pegboard is made from heavy-duty plastic that’s as rugged as hardboard pegboard, if not more so. The difference is that plastic pegboard often comes with slide-in connector technology, so you can hook panels in.
The folded edges ribs that run down the middle of the plastic pegboard add some sturdiness. With the quarter-inch holes plastic pegboard is ready for hook hanging action right out of the box.
Woodworking Storage Ideas for Vertical Space: Metal Shelf Units
We already mentioned building your own crude custom shelves into sections of wall-mounted plywood, but let’s take it a step further. You can leave the larger space in the center of the room free for work by tucking lots of shelves up against the walls.
- We suggest wire metal shelf units, but rugged plastic shelves are also an option–again, it depends on what you need to store.
- Take an extra organizational step by using heavy-duty plastic stackable tubs.
- One classic garage storage idea is to organize that heap of tools into different bins by type and dedicate a bin for each major tool type: electric tools, battery-powered tools, woodworking tools, household tools, etc. While commercial metal cabinets are a great way to maximize wall space, heavy duty plastic stackable tubs come in different sizes, making them more adaptable to your particular storage needs.
Mobile Bench Spaces, Flip-Top Tool Tables, and a Basic Workbench on Wheels
Any woodworking workshop needs a basic workbench or carpenter’s carriage table of the proper height. That said, if you’ve got a table you don’t use for whatever reason, it becomes a dust collector, taking up valuable floor space.
Make sure you’re using all your bench spaces, and get rid of any tables or chairs that sit around collecting coat after coat of dust.
- We suggest cross-utilizing surface areas in your woodworking workshop by utilizing flip-top tool tables.
- These stationary tools can flip upside down and convert into a basic workbench when the tool isn’t in use.
Better yet, try installing wheels onto your benchtop tools so you can wheel them up against the wall or underneath a shelf when they’re not in use. If you’ve got multiple flip-top tools and they’re all the proper height, you can keep one active as a stationary tool and double duty the other as your workbench until you need the tool inside—then you switch!
PRO TIP: You can raise your benchtop tools’ height with casters so they’re all the same.
Another classic garage storage idea is mobilizing your basic workbench, especially if your garage serves as your parking space when you’re not working.
- Move the car outside when it’s time to work.
- When you’re done, wheel your workbench against the wall, and your indoor parking space is ready for you to pull your car inside.
Woodworking Storage: Organization Strategies & Optimization
Now you have your woodworking storage space organized with the workshop storage ideas that work best for your particular setup. You’ll want to preserve the storage space flow with regular decluttering, maintaining the equipment location, and using a product label maker to make things easier to find.
- Create Dedicated Workshop Zones: Establish specific zones for cutting, assembly, finishing, and tool storage based on your woodworking workflow. Map out these workshop storage ideas on paper before you do the work of setting up the entire space.
- Set Aside Maintenance Time Once Every Three Months: Take a break from crafting for a full weekend once every 90 days for a woodworking storage space clean-up session. Optimizing your tools and major equipment organization techniques helps you focus, keeps you safe, enhances your productivity, and prevents your space from becoming a messy shop.
- Declutter Your Workshop: During your maintenance weekend, go through any tools and materials you haven’t touched since the last 90-day weekend maintenance session. Sort your supplies into “keep,” “donate/sell,” or “discard” categories.
- Group Similar Woodworking Tools: Keep all chisels together, all saws in one area, and measuring tools in their designated spot. Be honest about which specialty equipment location should change based on which tools you find yourself leaving out over and over again.
- Prioritize Tool Storage by Use Frequency: Put the tools you use most frequently in easy-to-reach shelves. Tools you rarely touch can stay closer to the garage ceiling. If your woodshop has ceiling joists, you can hang some bins or hooks to keep any equipment you rarely use up high and out of the way.
- Update Your Storage Solutions As Your Workflow Changes: Move the tools you’re using for the project to the pegboards for easy access. You can leave an empty shelf space for powered hand tools you’re using daily.
- Label Your Woodworking Storage Bins Clearly: Create durable product labels for drawers, bins, and cabinets containing hardware, finishes, hand tools, and small accessories. If you don’t have a label maker, you can use masking tape and a marker.
- Optimize Workshop Lighting: Install bright LED task lighting above workbench spaces and major equipment stations. LED lighting prevents accidents, increases work quality, and allows you to see and adjust the finer details.
- Take Safety Measures: Store finishes, stains, and solvents in fire-safe cabinets away from heat sources. Install proper dust collector systems near your miter saw station and router table. Keep fire extinguishers and first-aid kits handy in case of emergency.
- Make Your Workshop Enjoyable: Add personal touches like lots of pictures, comfortable seating, and a quality speaker system for jamming out or listening to audiobooks or podcasts during your woodworking sessions.
Adjusting your DIY organization hacks every few months based on your ever-optimizing workflow is a great way to maintain a happier shop experience by keeping your workspace free from clutter. A well-organized storage space with clear product labels turns your woodworking storage space into a creative sanctuary where you can do your best work.The Benefits of Building a Woodworking Workshop in a Storage Unit
We don’t all have a spare room to turn into a craft room or woodworking storage space. And for those of us who have a basement or garage to use for our woodworking workshop, we’re often cross-utilizing the space for laundry, sports equipment, and recreational vehicle storage, etc.
One solution is to find a storage unit for the other gear so you can dedicate your extra space to your woodworking workshop. For those of us who don’t have an extra room we can devote to our creative projects, converting a storage unit into our workshop may be the answer.
First, you need to find a storage unit that allows you to work within the units, especially if you run a woodworking business. Even if it’s just a hobby, we suggest letting the storage facility management know your intentions with the unit when you sign the lease.
You’ll also want to make sure you find the right size storage unit for a workshop. Once you’ve figured out those two aspects, it’s time to review the benefits of building a workshop in a storage unit:
Workshop Storage Units are Affordable
Whether you’re an enthusiastic hobbyist or contracting furniture projects, self-management starts with working within your means. Fortunately, renting a storage unit is one of the most affordable options.
We suggest renting at least 10×10 square feet for a workshop space. A 10×10 lets you fit your supplies with enough space to implement some of the workshop storage ideas we shared above.
But if you’re working on furniture projects and need to store your finished pieces, a 10×15 may be more your speed. Even a 10×20 square footer can be hundreds of dollars cheaper than renting a shop or studio space.
Workshop Storage Units are Safe and Secure
Working on woodworking crafts requires a flexible schedule, and relaxing into the creative space at any time of day requires some peace of mind. Storage facilities can provide both.
More than a few of the storage facilities in our listings offer 24-hour access, allowing you to keep working when you’re in the zone during those late-night woodworking sessions.
Self-storage security features like camera surveillance or on-site security guards can help you relax into your work.
Workshop Storage Units Offer Privacy
If you prefer the peace and quiet of a solitary woodworking workspace, self-storage is the perfect setting for you. A storage facility can be one of the quietest places around, as most other renters are either only in and out of their units when they need something or isolated inside their own workshop storage units.
Remember that Bluetooth station we talked about? You can jam your favorite woodworking playlist, podcasts, or audiobooks in your own personal craft storage sanctuary.
Workshop Storage Units can be Tax-Deductible
If woodworking is part of how you make a living, you may qualify for a tax break for your workshop storage unit’s costs. The 1040 form has plenty of opportunities to write off work-related expenses, and renting a self-storage workshop could be one of them.
Workshop Storage Unit Facilities are Inspirational
When a storage facility allows you to work out of your unit, you can bet you’ll be among an interesting group of tenants. Maybe there’s a musician down the hall. How about a photographer? A chef storing catering supplies? Or a motorcycle mechanic? Regardless of why your neighbors rent their storage space, other craft storage ideas can inspire your woodworking endeavors.
Interested in Workshop Storage Units? Storage.com Can Help!
Finding the ideal facility for an affordable and personalized woodworking workshop storage unit can feel intimidating, but we’re here to walk you through the next few steps. First, find a facility that permits you to work inside your storage space. Our Storage.com affordable self-storage locator tool can help you search facilities in your zip code based on key features.
For starters, you probably want a storage unit with electricity if you’re doing some woodworking. A storage unit without electricity can still work, thanks to battery-powered lamps, fans, heaters, and battery-powered tools. But if you’ve got electrically powered hand tools, a storage unit with electricity is a must.
If your storage studio lacks ventilation, you may need to work with the door open, especially in the summertime. That said, if you’re inhaling wood dust for hours on end, ventilation is probably a non-negotiable. Browse our listings to find a climate-controlled self-storage unit near you.
Storage.com gives you access to the largest marketplace for storage facilities with all kinds of features. To sweeten the deal, our storage search tool makes finding the facility with the features you need for a workshop storage unit as easy as entering your zip code, filtering the options, and scrolling through the results. Our site filters the results based on parameters like size, security features, and climate control, so you can find exactly what you need.
Again, be sure to clear your plans with the storage facility staff before you sign the lease. Some storage companies are happy to rent their units as workshop storage spaces, but others have strict no-work policies.
