Motivating tips & ideas for organizing the shop

For the last 48 hours I have found many distractions (yes, I'm online!) to avoid my most dreaded task : tidying the workshop. The "necessary stuff" categories are vast: plumbing, electric, garden, plastering, woodwork, car repair, paint. Any brilliant ideas beyond Marie Kondo? I'd like to avoid buying new storage bins, cabinets, shelves. For tidying supplies, I'd like to repurpose the kind of stuff that is already in most workshops: wood scraps, random hardware, metal remnants, wire, rope, boards, garden supplies and so forth. I'm staring at this clutter and really crashing. Any suggestions?

Currently, I am utilizing cardboard boxes because we have so many.

I ask Mr. Google about Marie Kondo and from the images I saw it looks like she likes boxes also.

For years when we had our homestead, I had a box of tools in my dining room.  I hated those tools but was not able to persuade the owner (dear hubby) to move them to a better location.  I had a huge laundry room with shelves, etc. where they would have been welcome to sit.

If I were in your situation, I might start by using boxes to sort everything together by category.

These were mentioned so this is a starting point for categories:

plumbing, electric, garden, plastering, woodwork, car repair, paint.

Then I would use my Flylady training to tackle finding a place for everything.

1) Put on shoes.
2) Three boxes labeled: Keep, Give Away, Throw Away.
3) Only tackle one category at a time: Plumbing
4) Find a home for all Plumbing related items before starting on the next category: Electrical, etc.

I am looking forward to everyone's suggestions.  I need to do this for my laundry room though as in my previous life the stuff belongs to dear hubby, and at least it is in the laundry room.

Best wishes for getting that workshop organized!

I feel truly blessed - we had a place we referred to as "The Bucket Place" where they've put out their plastic recycling and anyone could take it away. Since the business made lunches for schools and businesses, they bought things like sour cream and pre-cooked eggs on an industrial scale. Those buckets have been great for organizing.
On the un-blessed side, like Anne, Hubby keeps buying more tools and at some point it does get totally overwhelming.

Boxes aren't as sturdy as buckets, or as easy to move around, but if you've got a surplus, consider cutting extra pieces of cardboard and putting them flat on the bottom on the inside to improve the strength.

A friend of mine used a bunch of pallet wood to make a series of matching "bins", and my neighbor's now working on the same concept but mixing recycled sheet metal from air systems with the wood to organize all his nuts and bolts (he does repairs on "BIG" stuff like docks and tractors, so we're talking very large and heavy bolts. Just be aware that there's not a lot of consistency in pallet wood, so you have to be a bit choosy with finding the right pieces. At least any leftovers are burnable! If you got to collect some pallets, look for "HT" which stands for heat treated, as we don't want anything nasty on them.

From your description, you may have to do this in more than one stage - step one as Anne says, gather like together, sorting out potential raw materials for shelves as you go. Step 2 is to sit down and think about flow patterns and what would make the space functional both for working in and storing stuff. For example, would a heavy bench with storage under it, help you get jobs done faster (with a good vice on it for holding things). Step three would be to clear one area enough that you can build some storage boxes or shelves.  

Good luck!

My stuff, though I wouldn't say I'm good at keeping my workshop as organized as I'd like(or as would make projects go more smoothly), is in a combination of boxes - both wooden and cardboard, buckets, coffee cans, jars, and baskets (which, if it's a really great container, might even get some paper machet, for added strength &/or 'purtification').  Where possible, I put like tools together, but, most specialty tools, I keep with the rest of the items for that specialty. This applies to pretty much everything, for me, from my workshop in the garage, to my herb center (for making my herbal concoctions), to the bake center, and my craft room.

My shelves are typically just boards that I've found or, in some cases, bought. The braces for them, if there are none handy, when I'm in building mode, are just bits of wood. Sometimes, depending on where it's going (in the middle of a flat wall? In a corner? High? Low?) and what is going on it(heavy? Light? Bulky?) it might be as simple as a strip of 1x1 bolted to the wall(s). Other times, it might be more elaborate, and fold down out of the way, when not in use. My eyes are always scanning for stuff I can put to use, for these things - especially if they might be free or cheap, whether I'm in a resale shop, walking down the street, or strolling through our woods.

Jay said, "Those buckets have been great for organizing...

Boxes aren't as sturdy as buckets, or as easy to move around, but if you've got a surplus ...

My current laundry room has an orange "Homer" bucket full of tools because like you say it can be picked up and taken where ever we need it for repairs.  I didn't think to mention that because I was just using the Fly Lady lessons.

I am thinking that "kits" are the way to go. The tools and supplies for a job, together in one toolbox (could just be a cardboard box). That way, your main kit of general purpose tools doesn't get borrowed from for a "specialized task"...
So, for example: an electrical repair kit might include a few screwdrivers, pliers, wire stripper, electrical tape, wire nuts, spare faceplate screws, circuit tester, etc... It makes accomplishing a job quick, since it is grab and go, not a lot of gathering and putting away.

Another thing I struggle with is workshop vs. tool storage vs. materials storage. I like to save, and rescue, both tools and materials. The workshop suffers from lack of space to "work" sometimes... I hope to implement a separation of storage from workspace... There's quite a lot that does not need "first-order retrievability" or to be "right at hand in the workshop". I only need my painting supplies when it comes time to do finishing, my stash of "nice boards" waiting for their higher calling can wait someplace else...

This is incredibly helpful to have Permies suggestions and understanding. Thank you ALL for providing structure and simplifying what seems overwhelming.
At the 2 hour mark, I am losing interest and looking for junk food. I'll take a break and report.
WHAT'S WORKING:
1) Sorting. Really perfect. The stuff is so mixed up that I must first get everything into the right categories.
2) Four refuse bins are important here: recyclables, compostables, trash and give-aways. The compost bucket has water to presoak the sawdust, dirt, and paper. Composting feels creative and makes me happy
3) Boxes and buckets. The first sort is temporary. I'll put the stuff in drawers, cabinets and shelves later
PROBLEM STUFF:
1) Dirty boots and shoes piled up by the door. They're used every day for dashes to the outdoors
2) Gloves. Necessary but probably 30 mismatched, worn, dirty, patched etc.
3) Too many screws, nails and bolts to sort
4) Spare parts from manufactured spare parts that I don't want to throw away but will probably never use
5) Too much garden plastic (saved things for planting that I might use but probably not)
I'll go back out and keep sorting. This phase will probably take another 4 hours. I look forward to your ongoing thoughts.

Amy Gardener wrote: 2) Four refuse bins are important here: recyclables, compostables, trash and give-aways. The compost bucket has water to presoak the sawdust, dirt, and paper. Composting feels creative and makes me happy

 Anything that makes you feel happy while actually moving the sorting forward is worth its time and effort! And you'll make your compost feel happy also!

3) Boxes and buckets. The first sort is temporary. I'll put the stuff in drawers, cabinets and shelves later

This is a good approach, because you'll see the size of the problem and likely make better decisions in the long run.

1) Dirty boots and shoes piled up by the door. They're used every day for dashes to the outdoors

Piled up would drive me nutty. Shoes take up a lot of space, and it's about time us shoe-wearers accepted that and decided how we want to deal with them. Options: A) shelves for the shoes, with each family member having a shelf? B) tall area for the boots. If they're only worn on property, maybe mark pairs in some way? C) have a designated area for out of season shoes.

2) Gloves. Necessary but probably 30 mismatched, worn, dirty, patched etc.

Both my sisters have a "clothes line" for work gloves - this way they dry and you could encourage people to pin the pairs together? I mend gloves to extend their lifespan, but otherwise, you may need to be ruthless! We tend to wreck the Right glove first, so I took some left gloves and sacrificed them for repairing gloves that were worth fixing. This is something that can be done after dark in a warm place with nice music or goofy video on that doesn't take one's full attention.

3) Too many screws, nails and bolts to sort

 We use a bucket and baggie system. So the #8 SS hardware has a bucket, and inside the bucket, there are labelled bags for each size and for washers (both regular and fender size), and for each type of nut to go with. The 1/4 by 20 nuts and bolts have their own bucket. We have a bunch of matching small boxes that hold each type of screw (#8 flat head for example) and inside the box are bags or boxes with each length.  

This may seem like over-kill, but I know too many people who just want to get a job done, so they buy more hardware rather than finding what they already own. It's worth figuring out what will work for you - jars, boxes, baggies, bins, yogurt containers (not recommended - they don't last). Step 1 is simply gathering enough to prove your system. Step 2 is sorting them by type. Step 3 if it's worth it to you, is sorting them by length. All of these steps can be done somewhere pleasant and comfy when you need a break from harder tasks. Starting with a manageable quantity is key - if you try to sort the entire collection at once, you'll likely bog down and give up.

This all may seem to be a lot of work up front which no one will appreciate, but I suspect that once it's done and things are labelled, people will be less frustrated because they'll know where things are.

Amy said. "PROBLEM STUFF:
1) Dirty boots and shoes piled up by the door. They're used every day for dashes to the outdoors

See picture from Pinterest below:

2) Gloves. Necessary but probably 30 mismatched, worn, dirty, patched etc.

Sort through the gloves putting into pile or boxes, buckets then label: good, mismatch, worn, dirty, etc.

Dirty Shoes


source

Hang outside to wash off


Source

Inside


source


source


source


source


source

This is a very timely subject for me too. We're hoping to build an extension on the front of the house starting this year.  Our workshop is so cluttered we can't find anything. Unfortunately there's the fact that where I would put things isn't the same as my husband, but we're going to have to make a dent on the mess so we can actually work in the workshop.

I found a few useful sites particularly on small parts organising:
this site: https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-to-sort-screws-and-nails/ gives some idea of the value of sorting and how to go about it.  They suggest using small organiser drawers.

Have you got acccess to small children? This site has a 'play sort' for very small children. https://structuredplay.blogspot.com/2011/08/nail-and-screw-sorting.html It's still the kind of thing I would enjoy, given enough time. I guess if you have lots of Paul's podcasts to listen to, it would be a useful thing to occupy your hands.

As regards storage, here are a couple of neat ideas:




both from source

In an ideal world you'd find that all those jars that were kept for seed sowing and growing plants will be ideal for storing parts. I quite like these ideas:
jewelry stand from pop bottle bases:

source

Milk carton storage boxes:

source

I *REALLY* love that hang outside to wash idea!! Some of the others might or might not work, depending on how your home is set up, other furniture, space issues, etc. One of the things I forgot to mention is my closet. I haven't quite figured out how to do it, by the door, but in my closet, I put small, metal coat hooks, on a 2x4 mounted vertically, just inside the closet door. My shoes are handy, easy to see, no tripping over them, etc. On the opposite side, I'm going to put another one, for my motorcycle gear, with my boots on a hook at the bottom, the helmet at the top, and jackets and gloves, in between.

These are incredible ideas! The boots and grubby shoes take up at least 16' sq of floor space. Hanging them upside down on a wall will free up floor space. Hanging the gloves on a line with clothes pins will keep them in pairs and save floor space too. These will be fun creative winter projects.
Progress report:
>Wood screws, sheet metal screws, drywall screws, finishing nails, roofing nails, framing nails, lag screws, S-hooks, staples and staplers are >sorted into clear mixed nut containers (repurpose). I have one shoe box of random metal hardware. One cabinet shelf is dedicated to bulk  boxes of screws and nails.
>The paint cans are stacked under the work bench (not great but at least orderly)
>Camping gear is consolidated in one cabinet
>Plumbing gear is in a repurposed bin under the utility sink. Long pipes and pipe clamps are in a closet held back by a bungie cord
>Wire is in one box
>Garden hand tools are in a bucket with tool liner
>Plastic garden pots are in neat stacks outside
>Rope is in shopping bag
I'm only about half way.
Does anyone have any clever ideas for organizing and hiding unattractive long handled cleaning tools like broom, wet mop, paint roller, floor scrubber, extension pole duster?

Amy Gardener wrote:
Does anyone have any clever ideas for organizing and hiding unattractive long handled cleaning tools like broom, wet mop, paint roller, floor scrubber, extension pole duster?

I put hooks in the utility room, next to the washing machine, so they hang on the wall, about a foot above the floor. No falling, all contained, the bottoms of the mops and brooms hold their shape better...

Motivation? Not being able to lay my hands on a tool that I know damn well is in there. That makes me mad. Mad is the motivation to make frickin' order out of chaos. Enough, dammit! This shall not stand!

Carla Burke wrote:

Amy Gardener wrote:
Does anyone have any clever ideas for organizing and hiding unattractive long handled cleaning tools like broom, wet mop, paint roller, floor scrubber, extension pole duster?

I put hooks in the utility room, next to the washing machine, so they hang on the wall, about a foot above the floor. No falling, all contained, the bottoms of the mops and brooms hold their shape better...

And if whatever I want to hang, doesn't have a hole in the top to hang it from, that's what drills are for! However, some hooks don't cope with long narrow holes, so I often tie a bit of cord through the hole and hang the broom/whatever from the loop of cord.